- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1.68 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"4 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 2001-053", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21628", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1932-1976", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1932/1976"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1932
- date_inclusive_end
-
1976
- keydate
-
1932
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Joan Crawford papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. <span class=\"subarea\">Billy Rose Theatre Division.</span></span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Joan Crawford was a well-known Hollywood film actress, whose most active period was during the 1930s and 1940s. The collection consists mainly of personal correspondence and insurance papers from her later life, but also includes personal papers, business papers, handwritten notes, and photographs."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Joan Crawford Papers, *T-Mss 2001-053, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Crawford, Joan, 1908-1977", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Joan Crawford was born Lucille LeSueur on March 23, 1908. When her mother later married Henry Cassin, a theater manager from Oklahoma, her name was changed to Billie Cassin. (As an adult, many of her friends privately continued to call her Billie.) After winning a Charleston contest at the age of 13, she became determined to be on stage. By age 19 she was in the chorus line of the Broadway show <span class=\"title\">Innocent Eyes</span>, where MGM executive Harry Rapf discovered her, and signed her to her first movie contract.</p> <p>After a few minor roles under the name Lucille LeSueur, MGM sponsored a fan-magazine contest to pick out a new name for the young star. The freshly minted Joan Crawford's first big movie role was as Irene in <span class=\"title\">Sally, Irene and Mary</span> (1925), but the role that made her a star was as a flapper that literally danced on the tabletops in <span class=\"title\">Our Dancing Daughters</span> (1928).</p> <p>Unlike many silent movie era stars, Crawford's transition to \"talkies\" was smooth and by 1932 she was starring in classics like <span class=\"title\">Grand Hotel</span>(1932) with Greta Garbo. Throughout the 1930s Crawford worked steadily for MGM in films like <span class=\"title\">Letty Lynton</span> (1932), <span class=\"title\">Dancing Lady</span> (1933), and <span class=\"title\">The Gorgeous Hussy</span> (1936) co-starring with her future husband Franchot Tone. Crawford's popularity skyrocketed in 1939 with the release of <span class=\"title\">The Women</span>, in which Crawford played the iconic role of \"Crystal\", the hard-boiled husband-stealing shopgirl. Despite this, by 1943 magazines were proclaiming her to be \"box-office poison\" and MGM seemed to agree. Crawford soon left MGM for Warner Brothers, where she snagged the title role in <span class=\"title\">Mildred Pierce</span> (1945). Her performance in <span class=\"title\">Mildred Pierce</span> earned Crawford her one and only Oscar for Best Actress.</p> <p> In 1946 Warner Brothers signed Crawford to a seven-year contract at $200,000 per film, only to release her from her contract after just three years. Her 1955 marriage to Pepsi chairman and CEO Alfred Steele coincided with her waning movie career, and led to her subsequent career as a Pepsi board member and publicity executive. She continued her involvement with Pepsi even after Steele's death in 1959.</p> <p>In 1962 Crawford's acting career was briefly revitalized with the release of <span class=\"title\">Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?</span>, which paired her with her infamous rival Bette Davis. That year Crawford also penned a memoir <span class=\"title\">Portrait of Joan</span>. The popularity of the spooky <span class=\"title\">Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?</span> led to Crawford's appearance in a series of horror films throughout the 1960s, including a 1969 episode of <span class=\"title\">Night Gallery</span> with novice director Steven Spielberg. Crawford made her final film, <span class=\"title\">Trog</span>, in 1970. The1970s saw her public appearances decrease. She died in 1977 of pancreatic cancer.</p> <p>Crawford's personal life always took a backseat to her professional life. She was married five times: James Welton (1923-1924 divorced); Douglas Fairbanks, Jr (1929-1933 divorced); Franchot Tone (1935-1939 divorced); Phillip Terry (1942-1946 divorced); Alfred Steele (1955-1959 widowed). Crawford also adopted four children - Christina (adopted in 1940) and Christopher (adopted in 1944), twins Cathy and Cindy (adopted in 1947). A year after Joan Crawford's death, Christina Crawford published the tell-all book <span class=\"title\">Mommie Dearest</span>(1978). The 1981 movie adaptation of the book familiarized a whole new generation with Joan Crawford, ensuring that Crawford's reputation would live on.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The papers of Joan Crawford contain correspondence, business and personal papers, personal notes and a few photographs. The collection focuses on Crawford's later years in the 1960s and 1970s, as her acting career waned, and therefore contains no scripts and very little about her time in Hollywood. It is divided into three series: personal correspondence, business papers, and personal papers.</p> <p>The bulk of the collection is made up of personal correspondence. The letters to Crawford, as well as the notes she made for her secretaries (Florence Walsh and Betty Barker), give insight into her everyday life. Throughout the collection there are items designated by Crawford to be worthy of her \"treasure box\". \"Treasure box\" items are generally more personal notes to Crawford that contain particularly kind words or whose authors were particularly dear to her.</p> <p>Insurance appraisals, especially those by Wilson & Allen, contain interesting information about Crawford's possessions. The listings of her jewelry collections are especially thorough.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Joan Crawford papers are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21628#c315695'>Series I: Personal Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1959-1976</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains letters and telegrams from Crawford's friends and relatives, as well as a few letters written by Crawford. It is divided into four sub-series: correspondence from specific individuals, general correspondence, sympathy correspondence following Alfred Steele's death, and telegrams.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21628#c315757'>Series II: Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1932-1976</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains Joan Crawford's insurance policies and biographical ephemera: photographs, clippings, various awards and honors, documents concerning Crawford's Brandeis fellowship, as well as Crawford's handwritten address book.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21628#c315776'>Series III: Business Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1959-1976</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains checkbooks, records of donations, and papers concerning a 1973 cosmetics advertisement that Crawford made with Eva of Rome Cosmetics. There is also a folder of documents highlighting Crawford's relations with Pepsi, including a letter from Crawford declaring her intention to \"finish the tour\" for her recently deceased husband. A folder containing records of her rented storage spaces, both in New York and Los Angeles, finishes the series.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I: Personal Correspondence <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Individuals</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - General</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - Sympathy</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - Telegrams</li></ul></li> <li>Series II: Personal Papers <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Insurance</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Ephemera</li></ul></li> <li>Series III: Business Papers</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Joan Crawford Papers were purchased in 2001 from Charles Apfelbaum.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photocopying prohibited.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Jennifer Winters; Machine-readable finding aid created by Jennifer Winters.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
1.68 linear feet (4 boxes)
- date_start
-
1932
- date_end
-
1976