The Joan Crawford Chronicle
1973
January: Joan is the guest of honor at an event at the Player's Club in New York.
February: Joan films a commercial for Pan Am Airlines.
March: Joan is unexpectedly and without notice "retired" by Pepsi-Cola, following her official 65th birthday.
April 8: Joan is honored on stage at Town Hall in New York as the final guest of the season in John Springer's "Legendary Ladies" series. A brief montage of Joan's films is shown before Springer interviews Joan, which is followed by a Q&A from the audience. This is Joan's last official public appearance.
April 26: Joan meets with producer Morton Gottlieb before he leaves for Europe in regard to his proposal of casting Joan in a female version of his
all-male play "Sleuth".
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.
July 6: Joan dismisses her long-time secretary Florence Walsh and gives Walsh her final paycheck along with a very large bonus.
Walsh was a secretary furnished by Pepsi-Cola, and along with Joan's removal from the company's board of directors, Walsh's salary was no longer compensated.
July 10: Joan attends a luncheon and preview reception for the opening of the Showcase Cinema Theater in Fairfield, Ohio.
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 2, 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 appeared during the telethon on a prior taped appearance.)
September 8: Carl Johnes helps Joan "weed out" her 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".
October 28: Joan has lunch with Carl Johnes, when he delivers scarfs by designer Alice Landais to Joan.
Johnes had picked up the scarfs for Joan, via Joan's request, while on a recent trip to Paris, France. (Source: "Crawford: The Last Years")
November 5: Joan begins moving from apartment 22G to apartment 22H in Imperial House.
December 26: Joan's friend, William Haines, dies at the age of 73 of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California.
December 27: Joan hosts a small after-Christmas cocktail party in her apartment for close friends. (Source: "Crawford: The Last Years")
© 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