Crawford Biography

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Mon Dec 27, 2010 12:33 pm

What's the best one to purchase?

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:54 am

None??

Oh, well.

Lamar · Post by **Lamar** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:07 am

The one by veteran Hollywood writer Bob Thomas. It came out around the same time as Mommie Dearest. Seemed to be pretty balanced when I read it then.

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 12:39 pm

Thanks.
How about Spoto's book?

George O'Brien · Post by **George O'Brien** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 12:51 pm

I haven't seen it, but I would not recommend any of Spoto's books. The Bob Thomas is probably the best, and can be picked up for practically nothing in any second hand book shop.

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 1:11 pm

How about this one:
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesw ... r/6829550/

Jay Schwartz · Post by **Jay Schwartz** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:00 pm

Not exactly what you were asking for, but if you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend checking out the truly startling NUDE HOME MOVIES of Joan Crawford, which were shown at Cinefest!

Not that I know how you can see them now...

George O'Brien · Post by **George O'Brien** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:00 pm

No. Charlotte Chandler's books are very idiosyncratic remeniscences rather than actual biographies.

What is it you want to know about Crawford? Just ask here; you may get more truth than from any published biography.

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:03 pm

There's nothing in particular I want to know. I just fancy reading a biography.

George O'Brien · Post by **George O'Brien** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:28 pm

Isn't she on Wikipedia?

A biography, especially in the case of Joan Crawford, is usually by someone who is an idolatrous fan, or by someone with an ax to grind.

Frederica · Post by **Frederica** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:49 pm

Michael O'Regan wrote:There's nothing in particular I want to know. I just fancy reading a biography.

There are two detailed websites on Crawford here:
http://www.legendaryjoancrawford.com/biography.html
and
http://www.joancrawfordbest.com/menupage.htm

Lots of pretty pictures.

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 7:19 am

George O'Brien wrote:
A biography, especially in the case of Joan Crawford, is usually by someone who is an idolatrous fan, or by someone with an ax to grind.

So, you don't read biographys?

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 12:54 pm

Frederica,

Those are both excellent sites. Thanks for the links.

George O'Brien · Post by **George O'Brien** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:35 pm

"So, you don't read biographys?"

Sorry, I meant movie star biographies.I read them, but there are plenty of bad ones out there. A good one is Douglas Fairbanks Jr's autobiography, "Salad Days". It sheds some light on the young Joan: he was her first husband.

Brooksie · Post by **Brooksie** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:06 pm

George O'Brien wrote:"So, you don't read biographys?"

Sorry, I meant movie star biographies.I read them, but there are plenty of bad ones out there. A good one is Douglas Fairbanks Jr's autobiography, "Salad Days". It sheds some light on the young Joan: he was her first husband.

I liked `Salad Days', and Fairbanks Jr comes across as a very endearing fellow, but I thought it deserved far better editing. Even moreso its followup, the first third of which is a recap of `Salad Days'.

There was a discussion a while ago that touched on Crawford bios, and the extent to which `Mommie Dearest' has made a good and balanced one nearly impossible (http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.p ... sc&start=0). No doubt it will take another decade or so before someone writes one without reference to it. I very much look forward to that day.

Brooksie · Post by **Brooksie** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:18 am

The latest New Yorker has just published a lengthy review of the new Donald Spoto autobiography - unfortunately their website only contains an abstract (they seem to be putting less and less of their material online nowadays).

It falls very much into the `let's move on from Mommie Dearest' category - it even suggests that the relationship between Joan and Christina imitated that of Mildred and Veda in `Mildred Pierce'. Slightly far fetched, but an interesting theory.

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 1:14 pm

Yeah, I just read that article in the New Yorker last night. It was written by David Denby.
Interesting enough read though Denby appears to feel that Spoto's book is a little heavy on the praise for Joans acting ability.

I was thinking about buying this book but someone earlier in this thread suggested that Spotos work generally wasn't worth the trouble.

Brooksie · Post by **Brooksie** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:44 pm

I'm definitely giving it a go. I don't mind Spoto - he dips his pen in the purple pot every now and then, but I liked his biography of Preston Sturgess.