Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford

Donald Spoto

Nov 2010 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

As a kid, Joan Crawford made me uncomfortable. I don't know why, even to this day. Then I read Mommie Dearest and like many others, fell for the claptrap her ungrateful daughter spoon fed a willing audience. I don't know what compelled me to read this book but I am so glad I did. We forget sometimes that actors are real people, with real feelings, and real problems. Many do not handle themselves with the grace and dignity Ms. Crawford did, and I know I certainly don't. She has taught me much.

It's a lot of descriptions of the movies she was in with a little bit of what she actually did other than acting in between. Ok, but I could have done without a play-by-play of every movie she ever appeared in.

About the author

Donald Spoto was born on June 28, 1941 in New Rochelle, New York. He received a B.A. from Iona College in 1963 and a M.A. and Ph.D. in theology (New Testament studies) from Fordham University in 1966 and 1970, respectively. He taught theology, Christian mysticism, and biblical literature at the university level for twenty years. He has written more than 25 biographies of film and theatre celebrities including The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams, Diana: The Last Year, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life, Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn, High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly, Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford, and The Redgraves: A Family Epic. He also wrote biographies on religious figures including The Hidden Jesus: A New Life, Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi, and Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint.