The Concluding Chapter of Crawford

The Joan Crawford Chronicle

1973

January: Joan is the guest of honor at an event at the Player's Club in Manhattan, New York.

February: Joan films a television commercial for Pan Am Airlines.

February 27 (#1): Joan signs a contract with Trahey Advertising for her likeness to be used by Trahey's client, Eve of Roma Corp., in advertisements of their products in national magazines. The advertisements are scheduled to appear in publications from March 1st, 1973 until February 28th, 1974. For Joan's involvement, she is compensated in the sum of $5,475.00.

February 27 (#2): Joan's eight grandchild, Chrystal, is born. Chrystal is the daughter of Joan's son, Christopher, and his second wife, Gale.

March: Joan travels to Detroit, Michigan on a Pepsi-Cola business trip.

Late March: Joan is quietly retired as a board member of Pepsi-Cola following the occasion her official 65th birthday. However, Joan does continue to do light work for Pepsi-Cola until the end of 1974.

April 8: Joan is honored on stage at Town Hall in Manhattan, New York in John Springer's "Legendary Ladies" series. A brief montage of Joan's films is shown to the audience before Springer interviews Joan, which is followed by submitted questions from the audience. The event is attended by approximately 1,500 guests. Following Joan's departure from Town Hall, her limousine is surrounded by so many fans and bystanders on the street that is is unable to move.

This is to be Joan's last official public appearance. Joan was the 4th, and final, woman to be honored in the "Legendary Ladies" series. The prior women had been Bette Davis (on February 4th); Sylvia Sidney (on March 4th); and Myrna Loy (on March 18th). The series was meant as a prelude to John Springer's book "They Had Faces Then," which was originally scheduled to be published in the fall of 1973, however, the book was not published until the fall of 1974.

April 24: Joan attends a Variety Clubs banquet dinner in honor of Floyd Starr. The dinner is attended by 110 guests, and held in the ballroom of the Pantlind Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan. During the banquet, Joan awards Starr with Variety Club's Achievement Award.

April 26: Joan meets with producer Morton Gottlieb before he leaves for Europe in regard to his proposal of casting her in a female version of his play "Sleuth."

May 9: Joan meets with Brazilian soccer player Pelé at a restaurant in Manhattan, New York.

June: Joan appears in a series of film introductions for her films; "Rain," "Mildred Pierce," "Humoresque," "Possessed," "Daisy Kenyon," and "Flamingo Road."
The introductions are for the "Joan Crawford Film Week" on WNEW-TV (Channel 5) in New York. The film week begins on June 10th. Joan agreed to do the film introductions in exchange for the network's promotion of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Early June: Joan attends a luncheon at the Four Seasons hotel in Manhattan, New York. The luncheon is attended by approximately 40 people.

Mid-June: Joan begins assessing the liquidation of her jewelry collection. Subsequently, during the summer and early fall Joan will sell a variety of her most valuable jewelry pieces.

June 20: Joan sells approximately half a dozen pieces of her jewelry to Van Cleef & Arpels of Manhattan, New York.

June 22: Joan is named, and given an official writ, as the "Lady Chamberlain of The Globe of The Great Southwest" by the Globe Theatre in Odessa, Texas.

July 6: Joan dismisses her long-time secretary Florence Walsh, and gives Walsh her final paycheck along with a very large bonus. Walsh is a secretary furnished to Joan by Pepsi-Cola, and along with Joan's retirement from the company's board of directors and official spokesperson fro the company, Walsh's salary is no longer compensated by Pepsi-Cola.

July 10: Joan attends a luncheon and preview reception for the opening of the Showcase Cinema Theater in Fairfield, Ohio.

July 26th: Joan hosts a 75th birthday birthday party for her maid, Mamacita. The party is held in Joan's Imperial House apartment, and attended by many of Joan's personal friends.

July 30: Joan sells eight pieces of her jewelry collection to Transcontinental Diamond Corporation in New York for the amount of $86,000.

August: Joan purchases apartment 22H in Imperial House for approximately $85,000. (Source: Carleton Varney)

August 25: It's reported that Joan, Bette Davis, Shirley Booth, and Bob Hope are among the actors being considered for the film "Follies."

September 2: According to a September 2nd, 1973 press release, Joan is among the celebrities who will appear on Jerry Lewis' MDA telethon beginning that evening at 6:30 pm. The telethon is televised from the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. (Webmaster's note: It seems most likely that Joan's appearance during this telethon is from a previously taped appearance.)

September 8: Carl Johnes helps Joan condense her personal library in preparation for her move to apartment 22H. (Source: "Crawford: The Last Years")

September 11: Joan says in a letter "I have no plans of appearing in the movie of "Follies" - can't imagine where that rumor ever started."

September 24: Joan sells three pieces from her jewelry collection to Transcontinental Diamond Corporation in New York for $98,500.

October 28: Joan has lunch with Carl Johnes. During the lunch, Johnes delivers to Joan scarfs Alice Landais designed, which she asked him to pick up for her on his recent trip to Paris. (Source: "Crawford: The Last Years")

November 1: Joan's Blackglama ad is featured, for the second time, in Vogue Magazine. The first appearance of this ad was in the October 1969 issue of Vogue.

November 5: Joan begins moving from apartment 22G to apartment 22H in Imperial House.

December 26: Joan's long-term close friend, William Haines, dies in Santa Monica, California at the age of 73 due to lung cancer.

December 27: Joan hosts a small after-Christmas cocktail party in her apartment for close friends. (Source: "Crawford: The Last Years")

Late December: Joan's houseman, Charles Grant, leaves her employment. Mr. Grant decides to end his employment with Joan after she insults him for his forgetting to pack away a box of Christmas decorations.

© All original Joan Crawford research and original text herein is property of Webmaster Bryan Johnson and is copyright protected by the United States Copyright Act of 1976. Copyright © Bryan Johnson

THE CONCLUDING CHAPTER OF CRAWFORD