THE CONCLUDING CHAPTER OF CRAWFORD

Joan Crawford Biographies

 Joan Crawford is an interesting, and marketable, topic. Over 20 biographies have been written about her life and career.

With so many biographies, it's hard to know which ones are useful resources, and which ones are inaccurate and should be avoided. This page will document all of the biographies, along with a review by this Webmaster. These reviews and opinions are based on my 25-plus years as a Crawford researcher.


Aside from Joan's own two autobiographies, there are only three biographies I recommend:

"Joan Crawford" by Bob Thomas (1978); "Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face" by Scott Eyman (2025) and "Crawford: The Last Years" by Carl Johnes (1979).  

However, it is my opinion that the definitive Joan Crawford biography has yet to be published.


(Biographies are listed in chronological order by the date of their publication)

"A Portrait of Joan" by Joan Crawford and Jane Kesner Ardmore, 1962 (Published by Doubleday) (202 pages)
"A Portrait of Joan" is the warm, sincere account of an underprivileged Kansas City girl who, through hard work and determination, rose to become an honored actress of great magnitude and a respected figure in American industry. It is full of glamorous moments, heart-warming episodes and exciting personalities."


Webmaster's review: 5 Stars
Joan's first autobiography is typically ridiculed as too "whitewashed," however, Joan is rather straightforward in the telling of her life. This autobiography was published before the time when it became fashionable to shock the reader with personal confessions in order to sell the book. Joan does not present herself as perfect, or as someone who always made the right choice. She cites her faults, but does so with class and taste. This book is the best biography on Joan Crawford because you are obtaining the information directly from the source.


"The Films of Joan Crawford" by Lawrence J. Quirk, 1968 (Published by Cadillac Publishing Co., Inc) (220 pages)


Webmaster's review: 5 Stars
This biography was published at the end of 1968, therefore, Joan' final film "Trog" is not included in the first edition. However, subsequent editions published after 1971 include "Trog." It is a nice resource to chronicle Joan's film career, and includes a synopsis, photos and cast listing for each of Joan's films. Quirk would later also publish "Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography" in 2002. This is a wonderful resource to learn about Joan's filmography. Joan also sanctioned this book's publication, and actively promoted it on television and attended book signings. 


"Joan Crawford" by Bob Thomas, 1978 (Published by Simon & Schuster) (273 pages)
"Here, at last, is the complete and extraordinary story of Joan Crawford's life, her films, her marriages, her secrets and her loves, in an intimate biography that delineates the character and the personality of the Ultimate Star."


Webmaster's review: 3 Stars
This is the first complete biography published about Joan Crawford in America. It was written by reporter Bob Thomas, who used many of his own published articles and some of his personal accounts with Joan to compile the book. Thomas conducted over 150 interviews for this book in 1977. However, the book's writing suffers due to it being written by a columnist who is obviously accustom to writing articles with as few words as possible. Therefore the book focuses more on Joan's film career rather than Joan Crawford the person. The book's writing feels rushed and this may have to do with it being written quickly in order to be published at the same time as Christina Crawford's "Mommie Dearest," which was October 1978. Thomas' book was published in November 1978.


     In my opinion, this is the most complete Joan Crawford biography available, despite its many errors of fact and lack of real insight into Joan the person. In addition, Thomas implemented a biased viewpoint throughout the book to portray Joan as a temperamental movie star diva. After I obtained all of Thomas' research material, I discovered that his biased approach included  omitting use of many, if not most, of the positive stories he was told about Joan, and taking other stories out of proper context to create a negative persona of Joan. This biased narrative almost found its way into the book's title. Thomas' original title for the biography was "Joan Crawford: The Dark Side of A Star." Most of the Crawford biographies published after this one took the bulk of their material from this book and simply re-worded it.


"My Way of Life" by Joan Crawford, 1971 (Published by Simon and Schuster in the United States, October 1971; Published by H.W. Allen in the United Kingdom, May 1972) (224 pages)
"Written for every woman who wants to live beautifully and successfully, by a woman who has triumphantly done both, this fascinating and wonderfully revealing book by our greatest star is both an autobiography and much more than an autobiography."


Webmaster's review: 5 Stars

This autobiography is interesting because it's more of a "how to be Joan Crawford" guide than an actual autobiography. Though, Joan does offer a great deal of personal information about her life and opinions within the pages. It's a rather unique book from a celebrity, particularly from an actor. It is a must-read for Crawford fans.


Click here to read this book in its entirety. Click here to read the book's original manuscript.


Click here to listen to and download Joan Crawford reading "My Way of Life" for free.


"Joan Crawford" (A volume in the "Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies" series) by Stephen Harvey, 1974 (159 pages)


Webmaster's review: 3 1/2 Stars
There was a series of these Hollywood actor books published by Pyramid during the 1970s. Each had a different writer. For Joan's volume, Jeanne Basinger, a Wesleyan University professor who taught a Joan Crawford film class, was originally offered the writing assignment, but she turned it down due to other commitments. Stephen Harvey did an acceptable job chronicling Joan's film work, but I believe it would have been much better had Basinger been the writer.



"Joan Crawford: The Raging Star" by Charles Castle, 1977 (Published by New English Library, London, England) (186 pages)


Webmaster's review: 2 Stars
This is the first biography published after Joan's death. The book's cover bares the bold, and untrue statement, "Charles Castle's Authorized Biography," however, no proof or accounting is presented within the book to demonstrate that Joan had any involvement with the book's research or writing; or that she sanctioned the book's publication. The content is highly sensationalized, with numerous errors of fact. Much of the biography's information is suspect due to the author's claim of it being "authorized" by Joan. This book was, in no way, "authorized." This claim by Castle resulted in a lawsuit against the author and publisher by Joan's estate. It was discovered the purported 1974 letter from Joan to Castle, which is depicted at the beginning of the book had been doctored by Castle from another letter Joan had sent to him. This was achieved by Joan's assistant, Betty Barker, who retrieved the carbon of the letter sent to Castle. I give this book 2 stars rather than 1 star due to the interesting photos in the book, as well as some of the rare interviews Castle did conducted with some of Joan's friends. However, Castle intended this book to be a hit-piece to portray Joan as a "diva," and the context of some of the 


Click here to read further about this book's publication, and to read the book in its entirety.


"Crawford: The Last Years" by Carl Johnes, 1979 (Published by Dell Publishing Co.) (172 pages)
"Carl Johnes was as new to his job at Columbia Pictures as he was to the sophisticated world of New York. Joan Crawford was the towering star who dominated the screen with her explosive blend of beauty and talent for nearly forty years, the rare friendship that would bring Johnes into Joan Crawford's very personal life. Thus begins a rare memoir that illuminates the real Crawford."


Webmaster's review: 5 Stars
This is my most highly-rated biography of Joan Crawford. This is because I have personally validated much of its information through my interviews with many of the people mentioned within the book's pages. It is written by a first-hand source, and exhibits a neutral point of view on Crawford. The only drawback is that it only pertains to the last five years of Joan's life - particularly the years of 1974 through 1975, when Johnes' friendship with Joan was at its height. It is a must-read for Crawford fans.

Click here to read the book in its entirety.


"Jazz Baby" by David Houston, 1983 (Published by St. Martin's Press) (203 pages)
"A biography documenting Crawford's formative years in Oklahoma as Lucille LeSueur. The biography contains several rare photos of Crawford's youth, and photos of relevant locations relating to Crawford's youth."


Webmaster's review: 1 1/2 Stars
This biography offers some interesting research that David Houston conducted in Lawton, Oklahoma and Kansas City, Missouri. However, Houston also includes obviously fabricated conversations and situations where he had no source (i.e undocumented conversations between Joan, her mother and stepfather, Henry Cassin, when Joan was a child). Therefore, the book is sullied due to the author inserting his own fabricated dialogue between Joan and her family.


Houston also made factual errors in his research. For example, he wrote that Joan's mother, Anna Bell Johnson, married "Harry Hough," when, in fact, Anna Bell married a man named Leonard Hough. There was, in deed, a man named "Harry Hough" who lived in Kansas City, and who did work at the Gate City Laundry, where Anna Bell worked in the 1920s. However, Harry Hough did not marry Anna Bell. This Webmaster discovered this fact through my own research and obtaining the 1923 marriage certificate between Anna Bell  and Leonard Hough. It is logical to think Houston made the error by falsely assuming the "Mr. Hough" Joan spoke of in "A Portrait of Joan" was the "Harry Hough" who worked at the Gate City Laundry. Nonetheless, due to Houston's research error, the name "Harry Hough" has been published countless times in Crawford biographies. Therefore, in today's world, fans wrongly think Joan's family lived on Genessee Street in Kansas City, where Harry Hough did live - which his actual wife, who was not Anna Bell Johnson.


I also question several of the alleged interviews Houston claims to have conducted with people who knew Joan as a child.

This book is worth reading, and it is clear that Houston did attempt to research Joan's early life. However, I advise not taking the unsourced, and obviously fabricated, conversations as fact. I suggest looking past these incidences and focusing on the actual verified facts contained within the book, but even then, the information is questionable.


"Conversations With Joan Crawford" by Roy Newquist, 1980 (Published by Citadel Press) (175 pages)

Webmaster's review: Zero Stars
This biography is written using alleged interviews Newquist conducted with Joan from 1962 until her death in 1977. However, the true authenticity of this book is to be held in great question. Newquist states in the preface there were no audio recordings of the conversations (interviews) he conducted with Crawford over the 15 year span, and he claims to have documented the interviews via shorthand. This is in direct contrast of Newquist's confirmed interviews with celebrities, whereby each interview was audio recorded.


Of the book's 175 pages, only 108 pages (62% of the book) actually contain Joan's "interviews." A very minimal amount considering Newqust allegedly interviewed Joan for over 15 years. Furthermore, it has been stated that Crawford's secretary, Betty Barker, claimed to have no records of any appointments Newquist ever had with Crawford, and no records of any interviews he conducted.
This Webmaster can confirm by my own first-hand knowledge that Newquist's name is not within either of Crawford's voluminous telephone directories from the 1960s and 1970s.

The fact is of the matter is there are no aspects contained within this book that were not previously told, or alluded to, in Joan's own autobiography "A Portrait of Joan," or Bob Thomas' biography, thereby making this book very easy to have manufactured from prior published sources.


This Webmaster personally interviewed Newquest's children, who also questioned this book's legitimacy. Newquist's children also referred to their father as a life-long alcoholic and "con artist." I wholeheartedly contend this book is completely fraudulent.


"Joan Crawford The Ultimate Star" by Alexander Walker, 1983 (Published by Harper & Row)
"Superbly designed and including over 250 often rare pictures, the book is both critical study and a collector's item."


Webmaster's review: 3 1/2 Stars
An attractive picture book filled with high-quality photos of Joan. The book does offer written insight into Joan's life, however, some of the passages contain factual errors, and many quotes are taken from the fictitious book "Conversations With Joan Crawford."

Had Walker not re-published Newquist's fabricated interviews in his book, I would have given this book 4 or 5 stars. In addition, I do not like the fact that I learned through the book's production records that Walker felt the need to obtain an interview with Faye Dunaway for this book. Dunaway ultimately did not grant an interview to Walker, however, she did supply photos of herself in costume as Joan, which Walker published those photos within the book. Walker publishing photos of Faye Dunaway dressed as Joan in this book was totally inappropriate, sensationalist, and utterly tasteless. 


     Through my own research in obtaining all of Walker's original research and documents pertaining to the book's publication, I discovered the title of the book was originally "Joan Crawford: A Pictorial Biography." It was then changed to "Joan Crawford: The Life-Style of A Star," before it was titled "Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Star."


     Click here to view documents pertaining to the pre-publication of this biography, including correspondence, book order communications and the contract between Walker and his literary agent.


"Legends: Joan Crawford" by John Kobal, 1986 | American edition 1988 (Published by Little, Brown & Company)

(109 pages)


Webmaster's review: 4 Stars
This is strictly a "picture book." No significant information is featured within its pages. A tastefully-presented picture book with full-page photos of Crawford throughout her life and film career. I do think it is a shame Kobel did not include some photos of Joan during the 1960s; the last photo in the book was taken on the set of "Autumn Leaves" in August 1955, therefore, the book only covers a little over two-thirds of Joan's life. It's a nice book to add to your collection, but in today's world, the internet will offer fans far more interesting photos than found within this book. I give it 4 stars because at the time it was published, it would have been a very nice asset to a fan's book collection. 



"Bette & Joan: The Divine Feud" by Shaun Considine, 1989 (Published by Dutton Adult) (415 pages)
"A joint biography of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford which follows their deadly rivalry throughout their careers. They only worked together once, in the film "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" but their real life dislike of one another transcended even the antagonism depicted in the film."


Webmaster's review: 3 Stars

This book offers decent insight into the timeline of the careers of Joan and Bette Davis. However, it is littered with baseless, unsourced rumors, false second-hand information and the author's narrative, which is to amplify Joan and Bette Davis' alleged "feud" to more than it was in reality. This book is better viewed as entertainment than biographical due to the many exhibitions of erroneous rumors provided therein. The rear of the book does offer citations for sources, however, the most outlandish claims found within the book conveniently does not offer any source citations by Considine.


Webmaster's Note: I personally knew Shaun Considine. Within my own research into Joan Crawford, I continued to find inconsistences between the information I was uncovering, verses the claims in Considine's book. I confronted Considine on these inconsistencies. Initially, Considine offered excuses to me, such as claiming that he did not have his research materials in front of him to cross-check his sources. Later, he finally admitted to me that his publisher wanted a "juicy" book, and he included rumored information and second had gossip, rather than facts he had validated himself. This admission by Considine confirmed the book's questionable passages as most probably false information. Unfortunately, it devalues the actual research Considine did do for this book (which was vast), thus making it difficult for the reader to distinguish between what is the truth and what is a fabrication. 


"Crawford's Men" by Jane Ellen Wayne, 1988 (Published by Prentice Hall Press) (237 pages)
"Drawn from innumerable interviews with people in the entertainment industry - including Crawford herself - Crawford's Men presents a compelling portrait of a driven. power-hungry woman and the men in her life."


Webmaster's review: Zero Stars
One of the shortest of all the Crawford biographies. The book is poorly researched and skips through Joan's life, giving a sloppy summary of the highlights, but lacks any real information on who Joan was as a person or actress. The book is essentially a shortened rip-off of Bob Thomas' 1978 biography. Incidentally, Thomas' biography is cited throughout as the source material. The book also repeats some of the same factual errors found in Thomas' biography. In addition, the book also contains un-sourced conversations between Joan with her various friends and co-workers. These conversations appear to have simply been fabricated by Wayne.


The only distinctive aspect of this book is the preface by Wayne regarding three interviews she conducted with Joan for a biography she was writing on actor Robert Taylor. However, due to this author's tenancy to include obviously fabricated dialogue into her book, I am not convinced much of the preface dialogue is legitimate. Nor does the author give a date for these encounters, which were, presumably, conducted one year prior to Wayne's publication on Robert Taylor in 1973. My advice is to skip this book.


"Joan Crawford: The Last Word" by Fred Lawrence Guiles, 1995 (Birch Lane Press) (202 pages)


Webmaster's review: 1 Star

This biography attempts to bring forth a better image of Joan than other biographies, however, it is a mess of inaccurate information. For example, in the biography’s first few pages, Guiles makes inexcusable, sloppy errors of facts such as claiming Joan’s brother, Hal, had died in the winter of 1963 (he died on May 3rd), that “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” began filming in June 1963 (it began in June 1964), and claiming Joan was living in her house on Bristol Avenue during the filming of “Charlotte” (Joan had sold the house in April 1960).


Giles also blatantly lied in the book regarding the contents of Joan's F.B.I. file, and her interaction with Marylin Monroe. Click here for an entire debunking page on that aspect. 


The only redeeming quality of this biography is that Guiles interviewed a few people who knew Joan, first-hand, and who had not already been quoted in the preceding Crawford biographies. However, this small amount of research isn't enough to hold this book together. Don't waste your time with this book.


"Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography" by Lawrence J. Quirk & William Schoell, 2002 (Published by The University Press of Kentucky) (270 pages)
"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."


Webmaster's review: 2 Stars

Lawrence Quirk knew Joan from the 1950s until her death, however, their friendship is not documented very much in Quirk's biography for a very good reason; their friendship was not much more than an acquaintanceship. However, Quirk and his partner/lover William Schoell used Quirk's association with Joan to offer outrageous accusations within this biography. Namely the claim that Joan confided in Quirk that she and her stepfather, Henry Cassin, engaged in a sexual relationship starting when she was 11. This biography is the genesis of this sexual abuse rumor which is now widely-circulated online and in the media, particularly in the television series "Feud Bette & Joan." I reject the claim by Quirk that Joan ever told him such a story.

Not only was Quirk merely an acquaintance, but he was also a frequently out-of-work writer who would ask Joan for money, although Quirk, conveniently, does not document this aspect of their association in his book. In my opinion, Joan was entirely too savvy and guarded of a person to have revealed such a shocking revelation to a struggling writer who could have sold the story to a tabloid or newspaper. Additionally, Quirk does not indicate when Joan told him this, the context or setting of this alleged conversation, or any other distinguishing description for why Joan would have randomly confided such a secret to him. I believe that if Joan told Quirk of any sexual issue she may have had with one of her mother's suitors, it would have been her mother's forth husband, Lawrence Hough. Joan stated in "A Portrait of Joan" that Mr. Hough became inappropriate with her during her teenage years in Kansas City. For the benefit of the doubt, perhaps Quirk is confusing the details all these decades later. However, Quirk plays-up all sexual aspects of Joan's life in his biography, including the unfounded, and unsourced, claim that Joan's brother, Hal, had homosexual encounters. This element is in keeping with Quirk's seemingly obsessive need to play-up homosexual elements.


Otherwise, this book is another sensationalized Bob Thomas biography knockoff. The writing is decent, but the information is flawed. Nothing new is learned here.


"Not The Girl Next Door" by Charlotte Chandler, 2008 (Published by Simon & Schuster) (294 pages)
"She was beautiful, talented, irascible, ruthless, vulnerable, and a true Hollywood legend. Now, Charlotte Chandler gives us a revealing and often surprising portrait of Joan Crawford, much of it in her own words."


Webmaster's review: 1 Star
Author Charlotte Chandler attempts to whitewash Joan's entire life to a degree that makes the book laughable. The research efforts of this book are enormously lazy, and Chandler adds nothing new to the already published material on Joan. It's most likely that Chandler obtained much of her material for this book from Bob Thomas' 1978 biography.


The only new information offered within the book is the erroneous claim that Joan told Chandler that Christina began writing "Mommie Dearest" prior to Joan's death. This is my main issue with this book. Chandler is outright lying. I base this assertion on factual evidence to the contrary. For instance, Charlotte Chandler was, by no means, a close confidant to Joan. I believe Chandler interviewed Joan only once in the mid to late 1960s for an article (which was never published). Chandler actually recalls this ONE meeting with Joan in her 1984 autobiography, "The Ultimate Seduction." However, by 2008, Chandler claimed she met with Joan several times throughout the late 1970s. I reject this claim by Chandler. This is primarily because Chandler's name is not located in either of Joan's voluminous telephone directories. One of which was written in long-hand by Joan, and was frequently updated by her until 1977. If Chandler was a "close friend" to Joan, her name would have been in this telephone directory, which lists every person Joan was in contact with at the time. Secondly, Chandler claims she was introduced to Joan by publicist John Springer, and that each time she met with Joan (from 1974-1977), Springer was present. I have found documentation that Joan had no further interactions with John Springer after September 1974, when he announced Joan as the hostess for his book's publication party without her consent.

In addition, I have interviewed several close confidants to Joan during her last years and none of them were ever told by Joan that she had any knowledge of Christina writing a book. Therefore, it is extremely odd that Joan would have shared this personal information with Chandler, who was, at best, an acquaintance. Furthermore, Chandler was already an established writer by 1978, and if her claims that Joan told her this information was true, it is extremely suspicious that she did not publish an article to this effect at a time when it would have made national news, or even in "The Ultimate Seduction" in 1984. Instead, Chandler wrote this information in her own biography on Joan, which wasn't published until 2008 - 30 years later - and after John Springer's death. Making Chandler's claims even more suspect. Don't waste your time with this book.


"Joan Crawford: Her Life In Letters" by Michelle Vogel, 2005 (Published by Wasteland Press) (217 pages)
"From published author, Michelle Vogel, comes Joan Crawford: Her Life in Letters. The letters derive from Ms. Crawford's meticulous attention to her fan base. She encouraged letters from her adoring fans and made the uncanny effort to answer them. What emerges is a chronological biography of filmdom's ultimate movie star."


Webmaster's review: 1 Star
A useless book that is comprised primarily of letters the author took directly from the internet. Vogel's editorial, and the letters chosen for the book, does not offer any real insight into who Joan was as a person or actress. This biography adds nothing to Joan's legacy, or knowledge of her life.


In an apparent attempt to "validate" this poor book, Joan's grandson, Casey LaLonde, provide the book's foreword. However, LaLonde is too much of a novice on his grandmother's life to authorize a biography on her life.

Additionally, Vogal makes factual errors in the book and on photo captions. She also includes letters that weren't even written, or signed, by Joan, but rather signed by Joan's secretary, Betty Barker. Don't waste your time or money on this book.


"Joan Crawford: Hollywood Martyr" by David Brent, 2009 (Published by Da Capo Press) (261)
"Drawing on a wealth of unpublished material and interviews with stars like Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks, David Bret presents a fascinating portrait of a single-minded, uncompromising woman."


Webmaster's review: Zero Stars

One of the worst (if not THE worst) biographies written about Joan Crawford, and that is saying a lot considering how bad many of the Crawford biographies are when it comes to writing and research. 


This book is poorly written and extremely poorly researched. Like Lawrence Quirk's 2002 biography, Brent's book includes a lot of unsourced sensationalized material that I believe David Brent maliciously fabricated himself. In simplest terms, it is yet another sensationalized rip-off of Bob Thomas' 1978 biography. When confronted with these facts on social media, Brent's response was to say that Christina Crawford was a "friend" and that she helped him cope with his "abusive father." Followed by the comment that he "limped all the way to the bank" from the proceeds of this book. These comments by Brent are aside from the usual degrading words David Brent regularly uses to refer to women on social media. Brent comes across as a mentally ill misogynist, who has obvious longstanding parental issues which motivated his resentment of Joan Crawford. It appears he wrote this book with a clear agenda against Joan. 


"Joan Crawford: The Enduring Star" by Peter Cowie, 2009 (Published by Rizzoli Intentional Publications, Inc.) (218 pages)
"Drawing from archives around the world and including more than a hundred photos unseen in the past twenty-five years, Joan Crawford: The Enduring Star reintroduces us to this ultimate Hollywood legend."


Webmaster's review:
A decent coffee table book. I would not categorize this as a biography as much as a picture book, similar to "Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Star" by Alexander Walker or "Legends: Joan Crawford" by John Kobal. However, it seems more effort and time went into Walker's book than this one. It is definitely worth obtaining a copy if you are a fan of Joan Crawford or classic Hollywood photography. 


"Just Joan: A Joan Crawford Appreciation" by Donna Marie Nowak, 2010 (Published by Bear Manor Media) (574 pages)
"Illustrated with over 300 photos, many of them rare and never before in print, JUST JOAN is a compilation of over four years of comprehensive research, culled from rare Lincoln Center archives, original magazines and those who knew her."


Webmaster's review: 1 12 Stars
This biography is obviously written by an admirer of Joan Crawford, which is nice. However, the book is composed primarily of subjective opinions by the author and reads more like a fan blog than a biography. The author may have conducted some limited research for this biography, however, the majority of the information offered within this book's pages is taken directly from the previously-published Crawford biographies. Beyond that, the book includes a lot odd fan-made imagery that gives the book a cheap "coloring book' quality and distracts the reader.

This biography is what the title states, an "appreciation" by a fan. I do not consider this book to be a valuable resource for Crawford fans who are hoping to learn about Joan Crawford. There are other Crawford biographies better written than this one, which suffers from an identity crisis and lack of focus. 


"Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford" by Donald Spoto, 2010 (Published by Harper Collins) (292 pages)
"New York Times bestselling author Donald Spoto has already brilliantly explored the lives and careers of numerous Hollywood stars Possessed is a fascinating study of the real Joan Crawford, a remarkable actress, businesswoman, mother, and lover."


Webmaster's review: 2 Stars
This biography was written by an author who publishes biographies every year or so on a different person. Spoto, who appears to fancy himself as a respected intellectual, published six biographies (including this one) on six different people within a time frame of four years. A reader of this biography will gain no further insight into Joan than can be obtained from Bob Thomas' 1978 biography, Considine's "The Divine Feud" and Johnes' "Crawford: The Last Years" - all of which Spoto took material from for his book.

Spoto simply rewrote what had been previously published, and included information from some transcribed magazine articles he took from Crawford websites, as well as Spoto taking photos off the interent to use in the book, many of which appear in the book heavily pixilated. Spoto apparently equates blatant theft from prior works as "good research."

The only redeeming factor to this book is what Spoto did not do, which was to introduce new erroneous rumors on Joan in the way Lawrence Quirk and Charlotte Chandler did with their biographies. However, do not misunderstand, Spoto's biography is still filled with the same erroneous information he copied from the preexisting Crawford biographies. Most of which were also written by writers who did not do proper research.


"What Ever Happened To Mommie Dearest?" by John William Law, 2012 (Published by Aplomb Publishing) (202 pages)
"Filled with photos and rare details from behind the screen, What Ever Happened to Mommie Dearest? offers a look at Joan Crawford's evolution from movie star to horror queen and literary monster and back to Hollywood icon."


Webmaster's review: Zero Stars

An unneeded and worthless book. The majority, if not the entirely, of the information for this book came directly from previously-published Crawford biographies and the internet. Despite its claim to offer "rare details," this book offers nothing in terms of new information. It is poorly-written with very low quality granulated photos the author sourced from the internet. Do not waste your time or money on this book. 

"Four Fabulous Faces" by Larry Carr, 1970 (Published by Arlington House(1st edition hardback) (492 pages)


Webmaster's review: 5 Stars

This is an absolutely incredible picture book! It exhibits many photos of Joan, Marlene Dietrich, Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo throughout their lives and careers. The book itself is quite large and hefty, which is exactly what you want in a picture book.


Joan sanctioned the book, and gave it her blessing. In fact, she stocked her closet with copies of the book and would give signed copies to her closest friends. However, Joan was not happy with one of the photos displayed in the book of her from on the set of "Trog" in 1969. Therefore, she cut out the photo before signing copies of the book. In the subsequent editions of the book, Carr used an alternate photo of Joan (at the 1962 Academy Awards) in place of the this photo. Click here to read more about the photo Joan removed of herself from this book, and to see the signed copy Joan gifted to her Imperial House neighbors, Anne and Curtis Anderson.


This book is truly a must-have for Crawford fans, Hollywood fans, or fans of interesting books. For the full effect, I recommend obtaining the first edition with the original cloth-veneered case.


"The Other Side of My Life" by David Gary Deatherage, 1991 (Published by Winston Derek Publications, Inc.)


Webmaster's Review: 4 Stars

While this is not a Joan Crawford biography per se, David Gary Deatherage (a.k.a. the first Christopher Crawford) chronicles his fascinating journey into his past, which included his discovery that he was once adopted by Joan Crawford shortly after his birth in 1941, and shortly thereafter returned to his biological mother. Naturally, Deatherage had no memories of his time with Joan, but the book includes details about Joan's adoption of him, and his birth mother's extortion attempts against Joan when she discovered her baby had been adopted by a celebrity. As a result, Joan gave him back to his biological mother, and his mother subsequently gave him away again. It was a sad situation, and Joan never fully recovered from the emotional trauma.

You can read more about this story, including experts from Deatherage's book, here.


Beyond his connection with Joan, Deatherage had an interesting life, and covers much of it in this book. It is a must-have for Crawford fans, because you will read all about the life of the "fifth adopted Crawford child" from the source himself.


"Ferocious Ambition: Joan Crawford's March to Stardom" by Robert Dance, 2023

(Published by the University Press of Mississippi) (340 pages)

"Robert Dance’s new evaluation of Joan Crawford looks at her entire career and—while not ignoring her early years and tempestuous personal life—focuses squarely on her achievements as an actress, and as a woman who mastered the studio system with a rare combination of grit, determination, beauty, and talent."


Webmaster's review: Zero Stars

Grossly disappointing, unnecessary, and a complete waste of paper. Fans and potential readers should know this book does not offer one single solitary new piece of information on Crawford that has not already been published in the other two dozen (poorly researched) Crawford biographies published over the last 45 years. In fact, it appears this author did little more than “copy and paste” the information from those books into this book. Namely, Bob Thomas’ 1978 biography (which has been used as the source material for most of the Crawford biographies that followed), Christina Crawford’s “Mommie Dearest,” Roy Newquist’s fake bio “Conversations with Joan Crawford,” and Shaun Considine’s largely fictionalized “Bette & Joan: The Divine Feud.”

If you have already read those books, then you have read this book, too. I would be surprised if any Crawford scholar or ardent Crawford fan found this book to be of any use whatsoever. 


The book’s title alone is absurd, “Ferocious Ambition.” Anyone who has ever researched Crawford, beyond reading the other highly sensationalized trash biographies on her life, would know how foolish the title, itself is, and is an indication of how little to expect from this book.


The book’s description states it “focuses squarely on her achievement as an actress, and as a woman who mastered the studio system…” I disagree. This book does not focus on Crawford’s achievements as an actress or as a woman. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Dance focuses on the sensationalizing tidbit pieces of backstories that he repeats in his book from the other Crawford biographies. In many instances, he outright ignores Crawford’s work as an actress. Such is the case with Dance’s coverage of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” Instead of an analysis of Crawford’s excellent work in this film, he spends time calling attention to mundane elements, such as the Keane painting that is seen in the background inside of the neighbor’s house, and his obvious love for the 2017 mini-series “Feud: Bette & Joan.”


Beyond Dance’s obvious lack of research into Joan Crawford’s life and career, it seems one objective was to repeat many of the sensationalized rumors and claims against Crawford that were published within the pages of the prior Crawford biographies without verifying if the information was accurate. (BTW: Most of those stories are not) He even gets simple details, such as dates, wrong throughout this book.

The book does offer photos throughout, which is nice, however, the photos are uninspired and the typical Crawford photos that fans and the public have seen over and over for many years. Nothing unique about them.


At the front of the book, Dance lists 25 people who he states, “assisted me while I wrote this book.” I am very curious why 25 people needed to assist him, considering the bulk (if not all) of his material is simply lifted from the other Crawford biographies and from free online magazine articles. Interestingly, the author also cites this website as having “assisted me over the years.” Please know that Robert Dance has never reached out to this Webmaster for assistance in researching Crawford, and based upon the very little coverage Dance gives to Joan's last 20 years, he took no inspiration from the website. 


The book’s list price is $38.00. In my opinion, it is not worth 38 cents.


"Starring Joan Crawford: The Films, the Fantasy, and the Modern Relevance of a Silver Screen Icon" by Samuel Garza Bernstein, 2024 (Published by Applause) (222 pages)
"Starring Joan Crawford" is a rollicking exploration of the powerful women Joan Crawford vividly brought to life in her films―and the lasting, ever-evolving impact she has had on popular culture. Having carved out a revolutionary path through the entertainment industry while relying on men as little as possible―whether her studio bosses or her many husbands―she created a gallery of strong, assertive women who outsmarted men and refused to conform to gender expectations."


Webmaster's review: Zero Stars

This book serves no purpose as a "biography" of Joan Crawford. Rather, it serves as a platform for the odd author to focus on Joan's relevance as a gay icon. However, even in that arena he fails to offer much insight to the reader beyond cliché and amateur writing, fan-made "art" that he sourced from Facebook, and a.i.-enhanced screenshots from Joan's films. Bernstein attempts to offer his reviews of Joan's films, but, again, he fails at this task. His reviews and synopsises seem to be little more than filler in a book that doesn't have much to offer fans. Bernstein had drag queen "Lypsinka" to write the book's forward, and ends the book by giving his "deep appreciation and love to every drag queen in the world." Just nauseating. None of this has anything to do with Joan Crawford. Plus, Joan resented her status as a "gay icon," and stated such in her later life.


In "researching" his book, Bernstein joined this website's Facebook group where he attempted to privately message members to interview them about themselves and Joan in order to use their lives as his "research." This was exploitation, and he was readily showed the door. Although, Bernstein did cite this Webmaster and this website positively multiple times throughout his book.


Thank you - but, NO, THANKS!


"Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face" by Scott Eyman, 2025 (Published by Simon & Schuster) (386 pages)
"Joan Crawford: A Woman’s Face" looks at the reality of this remarkable woman through the prism of groundbreaking primary research, interviews with friends and relatives, and with the same insightful analysis of character and motive that author Scott Eyman brought to John Wayne and Cary Grant, among others. Joan Crawford was a woman like no other, and Joan Crawford: A Woman’s Face is the first full telling of her dazzling, turbulent life."


Webmaster's review: 3 1/2 Stars

Despite its rather uninspiring title, it appears Mr. Eyman put forth more research effort than most Crawford biographers have done over the past couple of decades. The vast majority of Crawford biographers have simply "cut-and-pasted" Bob Thomas' 1978 Crawford biography into their own. It does not appear Eyman did that as much as the previous Crawford biographers. Although, Eyman's efforts fall flat several times throughout the book when he makes lazy factual mistakes, such as the timeline of certain events, the names of projects Joan filmed (i.e. the "The Lucy Show" is called "Here's Lucy"), and repeating several of the same old falsehoods that are always repeated in every Crawford biography, despite the fact that a vigilant Crawford researcher would/should know these falsities have been debunked over the years. On the bright side, I do not think Mr. Eyman wrote this biography with an agenda or narrative to make Joan into a "diva," as so many biographers have done, and I am very grateful to him for that.


On the subject of research, one issue is Eyman's obvious haste in conducting his research. Joan Crawford was a very multifaceted person. I know, first-hand, researching her life takes immense time and effort. Most of the (new) information offered in his book comes directly from newspapers and magazine articles Eyman sourced from the internet (I know because when reading he information, I know exactly the source). At times, the book's writing bounces the reader along quickly as if Eyman was flipping his way through one article to the next while writing the book. Better context to transition one event to the next is needed throughout this book. Better personal antidotes by those who knew Joan would have improved the book's flow and storytelling.


Too often, entire sections (years) of the book hinge on the memories of one singular person, rather than an assortment of people's memories. On page 388, Eyman claims that when he began his research for the book, he, "set about finding people who had known [Joan]." However, I don't think he tried that hard. It seems the list of people Eyman interviewed specifically for this biography is relatively small: Pascal Tone (Franchot's son, who shared with Eyman what he shared with me in 2019); Kim Braden (Joan's co-star in "Trog"); Jim Brochu (who is an enormous liar when it comes to his alleged "long-term friendship" with Joan, and who is featured far too much in this book); David Ladd from "The Sixth Sense" episode (who provided a few paragraphs of memories of Joan); and Jeanine Basinger (a film historian who was friendly with Joan in the 1970s). Then, of course, there's Casey LaLonde's alleged "memories" of Joan, which contradict his own past interviews, as well as the interviews I have of his mother, Cathy. For example, Casey claims the LaLondes visited Joan once or twice a month, and that he last saw Joan in March 1977. Casey's claims aren't accurate according to Cathy LaLonde. In a 1978 interview, Cathy stated the last time she saw Joan was in January 1977.

Cathy explained she happened to be in Manhattan with her two children for the day and called Joan to ask if she would like to visit because it had been some time since Cathy had seen her mother, so it is obvious the Lalonde visits were no where near as often as Casey claims. 

Fortunately, those quoted in the book speak well of Joan, which has been my own experience in meeting and interviewing those who actually knew Joan. However, I think Eyman could have done a better job of seeking out those who knew Joan. Even though Joan died in 1977, I myself have personally managed to track down and interview approximately 100 people who either knew Joan first-hand, or the children of those who knew Joan. Mr. Eyman knew of this website's existence when writing his book (he obviously used material from it and cited the website in the source notes). However, Eyman never attempted to contact this Webmaster to ask any questions, or to obtain contact information for some of the fantastic people still alive who knew Joan that are featured in this website's "About" section.


It also seems that Eyman also used this Webmaster's research information regarding Joan's sister, Daisy. There was never any information about Daisy, or her death, until it was made public on this website. Now, that information has found its way onto website's like "Find-A-Grave." Previously, it was impossible to find online information about Daisy because her name was Daisy McConnell, not Daisy LeSueur, as fans always thought. It was not until after I learned that Joan's mother was married to Ed McConnell before Thomas LeSueur that I obtained a copy of their 1901 marriage certificate, and was then able to uncover the information about Daisy, including her actual name.


I believe one of Eyman's biggest mistakes was including Casey LaLonde in his book, and overestimating LaLonde's actual knowledge and truthfulness. LaLonde is one of Joan's eight grandchildren. Since approximately 2006, LaLonde has attempted to wiggle himself into any Crawford biography that he can, while posing as a "representative" of Joan's Estate. Casey's efforts appear to be more self-serving and for his own monetary gain than in tribute to Joan. This became more evident when Casey's "fee schedule" became public information, whereby he demanded a minimum of $6,000 to appear in a Crawford documentary.

In December 2022, Casey LaLonde created a business entity in the state of Pennsylvania named the "Joan Crawford Estate," presumably so that he can legally (but deceptively) call himself a "representative" of the "Joan Crawford Estate." Although, Casey's business entity has absolutely nothing to do with Joan's actual Estate. Many of Casey LaLonde's actions have been documented on "The LaLonde Expose" webpage. Beyond Casey's self-serving shenanigans, as a 26-years researcher of Joan Crawford (since 1999), I believe Casey LaLonde is one of the most worthless people to interview regarding Joan's life. When listening to Casey speak on the subject of Joan Crawford, it is clear he gets flustered, gets facts wrong, and ultimately deflects the subject because he doesn't know the answer. Often, it seems Casey merely repeats what he has heard Crawford fans say, rather than any inside information he should have as a grandson. I find his interviews to be cringey and disingenuous. It has been stated for many years throughout the Crawford fan community, and confirmed by Casey himself in interviews, that he and his mother, Cathy, were estranged for a very extended period of time. Therefore, he did not have the opportunity to talk to his mother about Joan to gain any insight. Casey was obviously too young to remember much about Joan (he was barely 5 years old when she died in 1977). According to Cathy, the LaLondes were not that physically present during Joan's last two years of life. Unfortunately, Casey's opportunistic stink is littered throughout this book, starting with the book's prologue (where LaLonde's "Crawford home movies," which everyone has already seen, are peddled as if they are the holy grail for Crawford fans).

Then, the (poor resolution) photos featured in the book are credited to "The Casey LaLonde Collection." One would think photos from Joan's grandson would be some marvelous, unseen shots of Joan in private. Not the case here. The photos in this biography are the same old photos and film stills that every Crawford fan has seen dozens of times. The one and only rare photo in the book was provided to Eyman by Pascal Tone. It's a 1968 photo of Joan with Franchot that this Webmaster gave to Pascal when I interviewed him in 2019.


This biography is not without its faults, there are obviously many. Mr. Eyman is more of a "man's writer" (most of his biographies on men rather than women), and that comes through it the writing. However, this is one of the better Crawford biographies. Granted, given the slop Crawford fans have had to way through over the past 45 years, that isn't a miraculous achievement. It simply means Eyman cared enough to try and do a good job with his book, and he does. It's not a fantastic book, but a decent book, and is still lightyears better than sensationalist trash like Jane Ellen Wayne's "Crawford's Men," David Brent's "Hollywood Martyr," or the more recently published hit-piece "Ferocious Ambition" by Robert Dance. 


Webmaster's Note: Mr. Eyman states in the "Acknowledgment" section of his biography that Karen Swenson called him "out of the blue," to offer him her research material from the unrealized Crawford biography that she researched in the 1990s.

Interestingly, a few years ago Hollywood biographer Mark A. Vieira was partnering with Karen Swenson and Casey LaLonde on a Crawford biography. I know this because in 2018 Mr. Vieira approached this Webmaster to be a part of that deal, and he sent me an outline of his biography. Mr. Vieira told me that Swenson was providing her research materials to him. Vieira wanted to combine my research, Swenson's research, and Casey's incoherent ramblings into one biography. His exact words to me as I was leaving his home in Los Angeles after our meeting was, "There'll be plenty of money for everyone." I declined the offer.


In November 2020, Mr. Vieira told me that he could not get a "top level publisher" for his Crawford biography, but that he wasn't giving up on the idea. By 2022, suspecting that Vieira's Crawford biography wasn't going to happen, I wrote to Swenson to ask about her research materials. Swenson did not respond to me until May 2024. I replied, providing Swenson with insight into my research focus on Joan and a link to this website, but she never responded. Considering Swenson and Casey LaLonde were a part of Eyman's biography, I assume both were already involved with Scott Eyman as they once were with Vieira when I reached out to Swenson. If the extent of Swenson's research material is what is found within Eyman's biography, I know that I made the right decision to decline any type of collaboration of research for join credit, because I have far more research material than what is offered within this book.