Brittany Wilson November 7, 2011 Ms.

Parrish period 2 Joan Crawford Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay Lesueur on March 23, 1905. Anna Bell Johnson and Thomas Lesueur were her parents. After the birth of Lucille, her Father, Thomas Johnson, left her and her mother. After the abandonment, Anna-Bell and Lucille moved to Lawton, Oklahoma. Months after the move, Anna-Bell married Henry Cassin. Henry Cassin was an operator at a local opera house. The marriage between Henry Cassin and Anna-Bell marked the interest of showbiz for the young Joan Crawford. Henry Cassin had a great influence on Lucille. Henry was the supported her interest in dancing and let Lucille mingle with the show people. As the interest grew stronger, Lucille began to make her own costumes and organize performances for herself and the kids in her neighborhood. The years have passed, and in 1916, the family packed up and moved to Kansas City. Lucille started attending a catholic boarding school called St. Agnes. Henry and Anna-Bell split up in September 1916. With Henry not there, money became scarce leaving Anna-Bell and Lucille to work for what they needed. Anna-Bell worked at a Laundromat and Lucille worked at St. Agnes for her stay at the boarding school. Lucille got older and started attending Rockingham academy. Lucille also had to work at the school to be able to stay. As Lucille attended this school life got tougher. During the week the headmistress would go out of her way to physically and mentally abuse Lucille. If that wasnt enough Anna-Bells

new man in her life would criticize and sexually abuse Lucille. Lucille is now in college. She attends Stephens College, an all-girls school. She also had to work for her stay. Lucille dropped out and started working in department stores. Lucille auditioned as a dancer for Katherine Emerines traveling show. She got the part but the traveling show ended within weeks. Lucille moved to Chicago and decided to make herself known. She crashed the office of Ernie young. Ernie young was a Chicago agent-producer mentioned by Katherine Emerine. She was immediately hired. Ernie sent her to do revues in Oklahoma City and at Detroits Oriole Terrace. Though she had already started at the bottom of the food chain to get this far, she had to start there again. Lucille began entertainment as a dancer for salesmen that would come and go at a cheap mid-west dance hall. Lucille worked her way up to a chorus girl in a show in New York City. She still had to work late night shifts in clubs to earn money. During her late night shifts, she was arrested for prostitution. J.J. Schubert saw her in a show and invited her to New York to appear in his production of innocent eyes which opened on March 24 1924. Lucilles work in Innocent Eyes caught the attention of MGM talent scout, who invited her to do a screen test. Lucille passed. In 1925 she went to Hollywood, signed a six month contract with MGM for seventy-five dollars a week. Three years after her arrival to Hollywood, she began to fight for her roles. She demanded to be cast in quality pictures. As her fame increased, her name changed. A name she never liked was chosen. Joan Crawford was born. Joan Crawford was among the best with her forty-five yearlong acting career. She grew up ignored and abused at home and at school. A girl from San Antonio, Texas came to be the epitome of lively, yet soulful flapper in the twenties. Joan Crawford was a beautiful woman that

shined in pictures like Grand Hotel, Johnny Guitar, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. It has been said that on screen I personified the American woman.-Joan Crawford. Joan would only take the best and be cast in the best. With her phenomenal acting skills and persnickety nature, she won an Oscar for Mildred Pierce. Joan Crawford made the 1920s what they were today. She showed the struggles of how it is to get where you want to go. From being born without a father to growing old with a career that enveloped her, she never let the little things talk her out of dreams. Joan had a goal at the time and that was to make kids that made fun of her feel foolish, and make enough money so she would never have to work like her mother did. Today we look back at her time and we reminisce the memories in the movies that she made her own. That autumn of 1928 I went around with my little box camera taking pictures of every marquee with my name in lights. From this period on, I was never carefree. Before, I had been absolutely sure of myself in a brash and very young way. Now I began to study and observe myself. Joan Crawford.