Any Joan or Betty stories? I'd love to see a death pic of them, or hear any haunting stories.
Bet they are both nasty ghosts!
Any Joan or Betty stories? I'd love to see a death pic of them, or hear any haunting stories.
Bet they are both nasty ghosts!
I loved Mommie Dearest, if not for just the clothes "Joan" wore. I saw Joan Crawford on the old game show, "What's My Line?" She seemed like the warmest person ever. I wonder if it's really true of the mean things she's accused of doing to her children.
I read somewhere that the house on Bristol lane where Joan lived during her "Mommie Dearest" days was supposed to be demonically infested. Hence, her psychosis. I believe that was in the book Haunted Hollywood.
I read she had all the bathtubs removed from her brentwood home because it was "unsanitary to sit in ones bathwater."
Personally I believe she had...issues!!
i think "issues" is an understatement. she was a terrific actress, though.
Our mother's aunt and her husband lived in the same New York (5th avenue?) co-op as Joan, probably the in 50s or the 60s. They said they often saw her limo out front but not Joan herself.
Did anyone ever see "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?"
Yes, I was kidding. In it, Bette's daughter B.D. played the daughter of the woman next door. The one who brought flowers. Gawd help us, did she ever stink!!
She too had issues with her mother. I'd bet a lot of them stemmed from her not having an acting career, and the cause of that being ZERO talent.
Blanche: You wouldn't be able to do these awful things to me if I weren't still in this chair.
Jane: But cha AAH, Blanche, ya AAH in that chair.
I love that scene
These two hated each other. Bette once said of Joan:
??she??s slept with every male star at MGM, except Lassie?.
Joan's words back weren't very nice either.
Both wonderful and talented actresses and both marched to the beat of their own drums. Their acting in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane was brilliant.
IMDB lists her as Anna Lee, but I didn't know the name
joan crawfords house in bel air is suppose to be haunted.the wall behind her bed would catch fire.its pretty damn creey if you drive by it at night.it has a weird feeling about it.
Joan Crawford in the women...made me such a huge fan..even if she was a bitch and adopted kids as a publicity prop..i think that was more common back then from all the stories i seem to read.
What a feud this was! Honestly, my loyalties lie with Joan.
Funny trivia, though: When they were filiming "Baby Jane", I believe Joan was still on the Board of Directors at Pepsi Cola. In a classic move, Bette had Coca Cola machines installed on the set. I'm sure that sent ol' Joan into a tizzy!
Last edited by Laura1020; 10-09-2007 at 08:36 AM. Reason: spelling errors
"NO MORE WIRE HANGERS.....EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"...(Sorry, had to say it)..lol
I'm not sure that I do, either. I will admit that the first time I ever heard Joan's name was when my mom and dad rented "Mommie Dearest". I was about 8 or so. For a long time I took that to be the true Joan. Up until I turned 30, I thought of Joan only as the monster Christina made her out to be. Then about 2 years ago, I found Scott's site and read the JC page. He has some great info and links on that page, and they sparked my interest. My curiosity about JC's life took off from there. It's so hard though to really know what happned with Joan and her children. Christina and Christopher say one thing, Cindy and Cathy say another. It's the same with people who knew Joan. Some said she was a wonderful mother, others say she wasn't so wonderful. However, I do lean more toward the opinion that Christina is a liar.
This is a really good website for Joan Crawford info:
http://www.joancrawfordbest.com/
Alice Cooper got the idea for doing his eyes in the dark black spider type makeup for his eyes from "Whatever happened to baby Jane." It was one of the bands favorite movies and the way Betty Davis wore the stuff on her eyes in the movie inspired him!
He thought it looked cool!!!
Hey, that is a great website. The pics of Joan from the 20's really show her to be a beautiful woman in her youth. The ones from the 40's get to be a bit bizzare.
Speaking of bizzare, if you ever catch 'Johnny Guitar' the western she made in the mid 50's it is actually funny. Sterling Hayden (the tough crooked cop in Godfather or the crazy General in Dr. Strangeglove) is good as is Scott Brady.
Mercedes McCambridge, Ernest Borgnaine, and some other good actors are in it. Trouble is the script is a little off and the premise of seeing Joan Crawford in a western but still get full makeup as if she was on the MGM backlot is funny.
Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge hated each other too.
I read that somewhere.
I loved Joan in The Damned Don't Cry and Mildred Pierce...........classic.
It is a shame that most people associate her with "Mommie Dearest".
??You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good?Joan Crawford is dead, good!? Bette Davis
If you want a good so-called psychic phenomenon story between the two, this woman, Liz something, she was a friend of an old friend of Bette and Bette stayed at her house for a month during the NY hotel strike right after BD's book came out in the mid 80s. After Bette's death, this woman wrote a book about it called "Jezebel and Me." It was funny and very light-hearted. The woman, Liz, fashioned herself a psychic and convinced Bette to do a seance to talk to her dead mother, Ruthie. Liz claims she felt the presence of Crawford during the seance and told Bette as much. Bette howled with laughter and said, "Do ask Miss Crawford what she's doing for rubber gloves and falsies 'over there' and if she knows I'm still going strong!" Liz said the Crawford presence disappeared at that point. She also added that she didn't think Bette believed that either Ruthie or Crawford were ever actually present and didn't believe in psychics.
[SIZE=3]As a little kid and jr. movie buff - long before I read Mommie Dearest (the movie based on this is over the top hilarious if you haven't seen it) - Joan creeped me out. Always liked Bette though. At the time the book was such a big hit though, I can recall hearing that friends of Joan's (someone like Celeste Holm) denied she was everything Christina claimed. [/SIZE]
More common back then???? How about now... the Jolie/Pitts, Madonna. Every time some celeb wants cameras to flash they go to a 3rd world country and grab a kid. It is so sad. Just wait. In 20 years there will be another tell all about a kid being adopted by a famous celeb now.
The installation of the Coca-Cola machine at BETTE DAVIS' behest occurred on the set of
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO COUSIN CHARLOTTE ?
That was one of the stunts that drove JOAN CRAWFORD over the edge & running back to New York City to be hospitalized for a 'mystery ailment'.
Once ALDRICH realized that CRAWFORD wouldn't be back, he tried to get several other actresses before he lucked out and OLIVIA deHAVILLAND agreed to step in. The production title for the movie was then changed to
HUSH...HUSH...SWEET CHARLOTTE. When a columnist contacted CRAWFORD and advised her about deHAVILLAND taking over for the role of 'Miriam Deering', CRAWFORD responded,
"[SIZE=3]Oh, I'm so happy for OLIVIA, she needs the work...."[/SIZE] Ouch.
"Joan Crawford and Betty Davis"
Sorry, but as a hardcore Davis fan I just had to say something. It's "Bette", not "Betty". She was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis, but was called Betty for short. As a young girl, she decided to begin spelling her name "Bette" to be more original. She wrote to her father, who lived in Boston, and told him of this name change, and he responded with scorn, which made her more adamant than ever to forever keep the name "Bette", and make it famous.
Do ya'll think Joan Crawford was really that horrible to Christina and her other kids? Or just one of them getting back at her for not giving them anything in her will. I think she was tough, but man!
I think she may have been mean, but the movie might have over exagerated
Hard to call that one - some kids say she was, some kids say she was a wonderful mother.......I remember when I first watched 'Mommie Dearest', I was sad because I had always admired Joan. I think you have to take most books written after someone's death with a grain of salt.
She might have been nice in front of those she needed to be and a total witch at home with the kids - maybe not all of them, but a few of them.
Apparently a couple of the other kids are disputing the fact Joan was the way she was portrayed in the book and the movie. But they are the ones who got all her money!
I mean, why did Joan leave out Christina and Christopher from her will? "For reasons known to them" - anyone ever find out what those reasons were?
I'm saying it's possible that it all happened. People who are abusers like that tend to be such great people in public - but are total a-holes at home with the family.
I know all about that - since my father was the same way...
I have to remember Hollywood movies are here to entertain us. Isn't it the "Entertainment Industry". I believe books a whole lot more.
I ONCE called my mom "mommy dearest"...she then made me watch the movie and told me never to call her that again.
I was 8. I will never forget it.
I'm sure Joan should never have been given the opportunity to adopt, I doubt she was a very good mother. But I think Christina exaggerated a great deal, and I think Joan knew Christina was writing the tell all, which is why she was cut out of the will.
OMG.... my mom was a wicked woman when she was mad..... LOL I rem one time I was 14 and said " Mommy...... Mommy Dearest, why do you have to be so hateful sometimes "...... she said " what did you say to me " I was like Scooby and Shaggy leaving nuttin but a cloud of dust behind me. I knew if I would have stayed she would have brought out the hanger and chased me with it just to prove a point.
Joan was a terrific BITCH! I say that in the best possible way. A terrific over emoting actress (like most divas of the silver screen were back then) and not very maternal. Christina learned to be a drama queen from one of the best in the business.
i think she was a wicked mom and if she really drank alcohol like she did, she probably was a bad mom. back in her day everybody who was in hollywood drank and smoked it made you look beautiful. i have christina's book and she was not mean to the 2 other kids she adopted later on.that is probably why alot of us never knew she had other children. bing was the same way. the kids he had first, he was a horrible dad to them. but the kids he had later(mary crosby, kristin on "dallas")he was said to have been a great dad to them.
So was my mom. Nice enough to others, horrible to us....she reminds me of Joan in a lot of ways...shudder....
My mom cut some out of her will too for no real reason...people just do what dey do....
I think there's probably truth in the story, and exaggerations. Let's face it, we all can tell our side of something and make it worse than it really is sometimes. I still watch that movie when it's on TV, I have to admit....
Well Said!!!
I also came from an abusive mom and they are usually picture perfect in front of people....but I do think this was blown out of proportion by Christina and we all know movies like to use dramatic license. If I were to write about my mom I'd blow "Mommie Dearest" right outta the water lol!
My "Daddy Dearest" is now called "sperm donor". He's the ONE funeral I'll never attend once his time is up...
I had always wondered why she was left out of the will also! I wish Christina would tell the truth on that one.
I think Christina was one of the few people that stood up to Joan. They had some pretty bad fights. Even physical ones. And I also think Joan resented it when Christina started an acting career. I do believe that adopting the children was a PR move. JMO
I read or watched a TV program (can't remeber which now) about Joan and Christina. According to an interview with Joan's two younger daughters, the twins, the "fights" where not as bad as they make them appear in the movie. The twins reported that Joan and Christina did fight, but Joan did not "beat" Christina. I think Christina was pissed that she was left nothing and therefore thought she would "get even" BUT than you have to ask...why did Joan leave her nothing? Maybe Christina was a "bad seed"?
I'm fascinated with the entire Joan/Christina/Christopher situation; I don't think we'll ever know for certain, but this excerpt from actor Helen Hayes's autobiog My Life In Three Acts seems fairly well-balanced. Scroll down to Hayes, Helen, then click the link to the excerpt. Enjoy...
www.joancrawfordbest.com/h.htm
Was anyone else impressed with how much Faye Dunaway looked like Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest. I was shocked and now can't look at Dunaway without seeing Crawford LOL