Joan Crawford

The Essential Biography

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by Lawrence J. Quirk and William Schoell

Type: Biographies
Subject: Actor > Joan Crawford
Keywords: Joan Crawford, actress, american cinema
Publishing date: 2021
1st publishing: 2002
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 344 pages
6 ¼ x 9 inches (16 x 23 cm)

ISBN

978-0-8131-8049-6

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Book Presentation:
Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography explores the life and career of one of Hollywood's great dames. She was a leading film personality for more than fifty years, from her beginnings as a dancer in silent films of the 1920s, to her portrayals of working-class shop girls in the Depression thirties, to her Oscar-winning performances in classic films such as Mildred Pierce. Crawford's legacy, however, has become somewhat tarnished in the wake of her daughter Christina's memoir, Mommie Dearest, which turned her into a national joke. Today, many picture Crawford only as a wire-hanger-wielding shrew rather than the personification of Hollywood glamour.

This new biography of Crawford sets the record straight, going beyond the gossip to find the truth about the legendary actress. The authors knew Crawford well and conducted scores of interviews with her and many of her friends and co-stars, including Frank Capra, George Cukor, Nicholas Ray, and Sidney Greenstreet. Far from a whitewash—Crawford was indeed a colorful and difficult character— Joan Crawford corrects many lies and tells the story of one of Hollywood's most influential stars, complete with on-set anecdotes and other movie lore.

Through extensive interviews, in-depth analysis, and evaluation of her films and performances—both successes and failures—Lawrence J. Quirk and William Schoell present Crawford's story as both an appreciation and a reevaluation of her extraordinary life and career. This fascinating book tells the behind-the-scenes story of one of Hollywood's great dames.

About the authors:
Lawrence J. Quirk (1923-2014) was the author of many books on film, including Bob Hope: The Road Well-Traveled. William Schoell is the author of several entertainment-related books, including Martini Man: The Life of Dean Martin.

Press Reviews:
Just when you though you'd heard the last work on Joan Crawford, here comes another bio aimed straight at you, the gale male Crawford fan. -Adelante Magazine

Expert.... The woman who emerges from these pages was tough, demanding, self-obsessed, horny, generous, and loyal. -Bay Area Reporter

This bio covers her entire career—a career that could only have been possible because of Joan's magnitude to listen and improve herself as she climbed higher and higher on the Hollywood ladder. -Buzz Magazine

Quirk complies the biographical links, recounting in an objective manner Crawford's progress from studio call girl, her multiple marriages and extensive list of lovers. -Charleston (SC) Post & Courier

Tells the whole saga, from difficult childhood to wanton chorus girl and starlet days (lots of juicy tidbits included)—blind ambition, Mommy dearest—it's all here, together with a complete filmography. -Copley News Service

A tough-minded but fair and immensely readable analysis of this legendary lady's colorful life and, especially, career. Lawrence J. Quirk knew Crawford and, with colleague William Schoell, writes with understanding but clear eyes. The result: the smartest, most absorbingly detailed and valuable work yet on a woman who was far more than a Mommie Dearest—one of the great stars of the 20th century. -Doug McClelland

An expert overview of the temperamental diva's career. -Film Review

A thoroughgoing, evenhanded review of Crawford's life and work, which in tone is neither academic nor gossipy but rather confessional, as if they are eager to set the record straight. -Library Journal

This work makes a strenuous effort to clear Crawford's name of the child abuse cloud that has hung over her image since the publication of Christina Crawford's Mommie Dearest and the fabulously out-of-control movie that book spawned. -Liz Smith

Unique in its scrupulous analysis of Crawford's entire body of work. -McCormick (SC) Messenger

Unique in its scrupulous analysis of Crawford's entire body of work. Schoell and Quirk move beyond the myths and misconceptions to look at her film work, which in many respects was Crawford's life. -Pink Pages

A serious study. -Richmond Times-Dispatch

An entertaining read... especially in the scene where a persevering Quirk tries to convince the legend that gay men have a special thing about her—which she won't believe on any account. -Sight & Sound

Joan Crawford was a sexual dynamo who used her bedroom prowess to seduce Hollywood's biggest starts—both male and female. -The Globe

This most welcome book goes a long way toward restoring the reputation of the most glamorous star to emerge from the Hollywood dream factory. -The State (Columbia, SC)

These two entertainment writers team up to bring a candid, no-holds-bar glimpse at Joan Crawford the person. Their individual knowledge of film (Quirk being an author of many film books and a friend of Ms. Crawford, and Schoell's entertainment writing and honest review stylings) helps to bring Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography to life in a way that was not only engaging but fascinating. It's an intimate look at Ms. Crawford both professionally and personally, which became merged as a reaction to the studio system at that time. Quirk and Schoell don't paint her with glowing strokes, instead, allow her truth to be the fever behind the stories. It's a true retelling of all the good and bad elements of one's life. The readers are hooked from page one, entranced as you go on a journey to unravel the complexity of the life of an early film star. -The Entertainment Section

An intriguing read, Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography offers a fine portray of Crawford's life and career, highlighting key moments both on and off-screen in her life. -Hometowns to Hollywood

Authors Lawrence J. Quirk and William Schoell knew Crawford personally and they make it clear that their objective is to shift the public and media focus from Joan's troublesome personal matters to her extraordinary oeuvre. And the book has achieved that.... Every paragraph oozes her extraordinary persistence in the quest of achieving the status of a decent actress at the feet of a very gate-kept system. By the end, as a reader, I thought this was a very humane, heartfelt story about a girl who "dreamed of going on the stage herself someday and garnering applause." -Mariami Razmadze, Film Matters