Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography [Hardcover]

Lawrence J. Quirk (Author), William Schoell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2002

" 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 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. Filled with new interviews, Joan Crawford tells the behind-the-scenes story of the Hollywood icon. Lawrence J. Quirk is 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

She wasn't the greatest actress of the silver screen, but was there ever a bigger star than Joan Crawford? Who else had made ten films with Gable, danced with Fred Astaire, won an Academy Award for best actress (in 1945, for Mildred Pierce), outlasted her contemporary Greta Garbo by nearly three decades-and was hardly ever in a good film? And just as she was fading from memory, she got a new lease on notoriety with the publication of adopted daughter Christina's Mommie Dearest. In a dual preface, Quirk (The Films of Joan Crawford), a personal friend of the actress, rejects much of that highly unflattering account, while Schoell (Martini Man: The Life of Dean Martin) debunks it entirely. Their study is 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. It should go a long way toward restoring Crawford's reputation as a hardworking professional who lived for her fans and managed to slap almost every leading man who ever played opposite her. In Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson's character famously observed, "I'm still big; it's the pictures that got small." Perhaps the same could be said of Crawford. Recommended for all film collections in public and academic libraries.
Edward Cone, New York
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"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)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky; First Edition edition (September 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813122546
• ISBN-13: 978-0813122540
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not that essential, January 17, 2003

By 

W. Oliver (Alabama) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography (Hardcover)

If you have read any of the earlier books on Joan Crawford's life and career and hope to find new information in this book, don't bother. Aside from snippets about her stepfather and Christina Crawford, everything is old hat. Indeed, this book tends to focus more on her movies, giving a lenghty snyopsis of each one and analyzing her acting as well as her co-stars, and while there is nothing wrong with this, it has been done before! Aside from the movie analysis', the authors always follow with a paragraph or two on who Joan went to bed with during the making of the film (which, unless he was gay, married or ugly, was just about all of them). I was hoping for a biography that delved more into Crawford's private life - what made this woman tick? - what kind of beliefs did she have? - what did she do when she was not working on the set? - what did she eat for dinner at night?. This pedestrian bio only scratches the surface - by page 10, Crawford has already made her first movie - very little info about how she reached this stage in her life is given. The authors apparently only talked to a handful of people for this book and most of the information apparently comes from the author's own interviews with her in the 50s and 60s. And it is very annoying when the author (or co-author) writes about himself as if he were someone else! So, sadly, a definitive biography of Crawford has yet to be published.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Yes and No, March 15, 2003

By 

Jennifer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography (Hardcover)

While I enjoyed this book's thorough discussions of Crawford's films, I found much to be annoyed by. The authors portray Crawford as nearly a saint--and while I know she was capable of great kindness, I don't believe her motives were ALWAYS pure, and the one-sidedness of this book makes it difficult to swallow. EVERY SINGLE TIME the authors bring up a dispute or spat or negative information from a Crawford rival, they dismiss that person as jealous or washed up or a has-been. Similarly, they dismiss her "jealous" daughter's claims of child abuse as some kind of good old-fashioned "discipline." I don't claim to know whether Mommie Dearest contains a shred of truth or not, but this book does nothing to prove it as inaccurate as they claim. The main source of information here is Lawrence Quirk's own conversations with Joan in her elder years, and let's face it, anybody who's ever read Joan's "My Way of Life" knows that truth-telling is not her forte.

A more balanced biography is Fred Lawrence Guiles's The Last Word (1995). Guiles, at least, is not afraid to discuss unpleasant incidents in Crawford's life from several different viewpoints, and he refrains from opinionizing whenever the truth is unclear.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Danger, Joan Crawford fans, danger!, April 22, 2003

By 

Miss Mazeppa (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography (Hardcover)

I just finished reading this "essential" biography and am so disappointed. To me, one of the authors seems to feel a saintliness toward Joan while the other goes from liking her films to trying to like her films. As I read this book, I felt like Quirk and Schoell were trying to convince me about aspects of Crawford's personality and events in her life and believe about them as they do. The job of a biographer is to write an objective narrative of someone's life. It is enjoyable reading but unfulfilling given the subject. One annoyance is encountering the phrase "chewing up the scenery" way too often. Then, there's the bombshell finale chapter in which Christina is put in the pan and roasted. The writing is almost like Faye as Joan - out of control!

I have been a Crawford fan all my life and am fascinated watching her in films, looking at her photographs and reading about her. If only someone in modern times would...could write an accurate objective biography that delves more into the woman, what she was about, what made her tick and NOT try to make her a saint or crucify her. Joan Crawford truly was one of the most fascinating personalities of the Twentieth Century. She deserves that much.

So, I guess we'll have to stick with JOAN CRAWFORD, A BIOGRAPHY by Bob Thomas or JOAN CRAWFORD: THE LAST WORD by Fred Guiles in the meantime. These two biographies are really good, and I highly recommend them.