Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford was one of the most incandescent film stars of all time, yet she was also one of the most misunderstood. In this brilliantlyresearched, thoughtful, and intimate biography, bestselling author Donald Spoto goes beyond the popular caricature—the abusive, unstable mother portrayed in her adopted daughter Christina Crawford’s memoir, Mommie Dearest—to give us a three-dimensional portrait of a very human woman, her dazzling career, and her extraordinarily dramatic life and times.

Based on new archival information and exclusive interviews, and written with Spoto’s keen eye for detail, Possessed offers a fascinating portrait of a courageous, highly sexed, and ambitious womanwhose strength and drive made her a forerunner in the fledgling film business. From her hardscrabble childhood in Texas to her early days as a dancer in post–World War I New York to her rise to stardom,Spoto traces Crawford’s fifty years of memorable performances in classics like Rain, The Women, Mildred Pierce, and Sudden Fear, which are as startling and vivid today as when they were filmed.

In Possessed, Spoto goes behind the myths to examine the rise and fall of the studio system; Crawford’s four marriages; her passionate thirty year, on-and-off-again affair with Clark Gable; her friendships and rivalries with other stars; her powerful desire to become a mother; the truth behind the scathing stories in her daughter Christina’s memoir; and her final years as a widow battling cancer. Spoto explores Crawford’s achievements as an actress, her work with Hollywood’s great directors (Frank Borzage, George Cukor, Otto Preminger) and actors (Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, John Barrymore), and later, her role as a highly effective executive on the board of directors of Pepsi-Cola. Illuminating and entertaining, Possessed is the definitive biography of this remarkable woman and true legend of film.

Fiche Technique

• ISBN-13 : 9780061856006
• Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
• Publication date : 11/2/2010
• Author : Donald Spoto

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Hollywood legend Joan Crawford (1905-1977) began her career as a chorus girl in traveling revues; only after a relentless campaign of self-promotion did this long-legged showgirl become a film star. In Possessed, Donald Spoto, the prolific, bestselling celebrity biographer of Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock and others, casts fresh light on the complicated life of one of this iconic actress. A scintillating bio brimming with film-worthy tales of offstage feuds, stormy romances, and one of Tinsel Town's greatest comebacks. "Mommy Dearest" as you have never seen her before.

Library Journal

Author of more than 20 celebrity biographies, Spoto (High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly) begins his latest by sharing a response from Joan Crawford to a fan letter he wrote when he was ten. Though much has been written about Crawford, who died in 1977, Spoto justifies his contribution by writing, "because no other movie star—with the possible exception of Marilyn Monroe—has been so underappreciated, misrepresented by rumor, innuendo, fabrication, unfounded allegation and rank distortion." Does Mommie Dearest ring a bell? So it seems Spoto wants to thank Crawford for her kindness to him as a boy by setting the record straight and clearing her name. He relies on the Joan Crawford papers, scrapbooks, letters, and ephemera housed at the New York Public Library, as well as what has already been written. VERDICT What sets this biography apart from previous titles? Where other biographers made sensational statements about Crawford as fact, Spoto makes assertions based on his research as to what would and would not have been likely or possible. This is a balanced and readable account of a possibly misunderstood and maligned star. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/10.]—Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA

Kirkus Reviews

Hollywood biography machine Spoto (High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly, 2010, etc.) presents the life and career of screen queen Joan Crawford (1905–1977), a movie star whose iconic status owed as much to the actress's sheer willpower as to her perfect bone structure and improbably large, expressive eyes. Crawford, in marked contrast to her rival Greta Garbo, employed a maniacal determination and inhuman work ethic to earn and maintain her place in Hollywood's firmament of stars. Born into poverty, uneducated and profoundly insecure, Lucille LeSueur parlayed a successful dancing career on Broadway into a movie work, acquiring the name Joan Crawford in a magazine contest held to christen MGM's newest contract player. Spoto deftly analyzes Crawford's changing persona through her long career, from plucky flapper to suffering matron to leering grotesque, and recounts her failed marriages, numerous affairs and alcoholism with great sympathy.

In fact, this perhaps overly reverential treatment is a bit of a letdown, as Crawford's outsize diva histrionics, promiscuity and alleged abuse of her adopted children are key components of her continuing fascination for film audiences. Spoto discounts or explains away Crawford's less-than-salubrious reputation, and the result feels a bit whitewashed. Crawford's daughter Christina's infamous autobiography Mommie Dearest (1978), and the subsequent film, cemented the public image of Crawford, perhaps unfairly, as an unhinged martinet, obsessed with order and cleanliness. Spoto works hard to refute Mommie Dearest's damning portrait of the actress, but Crawford's housekeeping mania, strict discipline and emotional instability are widely acknowledged. Christina's brother Christopher, who corroborated her account, is described by the author as a troublemaker who was constantly running away from home, which begs a fairly obvious question. Still, the book is useful for its diligent consideration of Crawford's films and legacy. A worthy but toothless consideration of one of Hollywood's most distinctive performers.

Meet the Author

Donald Spoto has written two dozen bestselling biographies of film and theater stars—among them Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Ingrid Bergman, and Marilyn Monroe. Born in Westchester County, near New York City, he now lives in Denmark.