The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $25 million internationally against a $10 million budget. Despite receiving mostly negative reviews from critics, the film's perceived bizarre script and performances, particularly Dunaway's, have brought a cult following to the film.
'' she asked, referring to the 1970 low-budget horror movie that was her mother's last film role. She said that she has enjoyed her part in this odd revue. She has republished her book because the original is now hard to find, she said, despite selling 700,000 copies in hardback and roughly three million in paperback.
What happened to Joan Crawford's money when she died?
A funeral was held at Campbell Funeral Home, New York, on May 13, 1977. In her will, which had been signed on October 28, 1976, Crawford bequeathed to her two youngest children, Cindy and Cathy, $77,500 each from her $2 million estate.
Christina Crawford is the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the memoirs Mommie Dearest and Survivor, as well as the women's history book Daughters of the Inquisition.
Twins Cathy and Cynthia “Cindy”: unveiling their lives & hidden story of Joan Crawford
How much money did Joan Crawford leave Christina Crawford?
Crawford left about $2 million in her will. On October 28, 1976, less than a year before her death, she had made a new will. She left a trust fund of $77,500 to each of her adopted twin daughters, $35,000 to her longtime friend and secretary, Betty Barker, and smaller bequests to a few other people.
She said on air ''My mother was a very warm person. She was always there when we needed her. She was a working mother, but she always had time for us, and as far as Mommie Dearest, it's a great work of fiction. Christina must have been in another household.
Often considered to be one of the worst films ever made, it was nominated for nine Razzies at the 2nd Golden Raspberry Awards, and won five, including Worst Picture and Worst Actress for Faye Dunaway.
Joan Crawford purchased the 10 room house at 426 N. Bristol Avenue in the summer of 1928 for $57,500, after her success in the film "Our Dancing Daughters." Construction on the house began in July of 1927.
MGM Studios was shot on location now Sony Studios in Los Angeles. Chadwick School was shot on location at 26800 Academy Drive in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California. The convent was shot at Alverno High School at 200 North Michillinda Avenue in Sierra Madre, California.
By the early 1940s, MGM was no longer giving her plum roles; newcomers had arrived in Hollywood, and the public wanted to see them. Crawford left MGM for rival Warner Bros., and in 1945 she landed the role of a lifetime.
Why did Mommie Dearest ruin Faye Dunaway's career?
"I think it turned my career in a direction where people would irretrievably have the wrong impression of me," she candidly told People. Before "Dearest," Dunaway won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1977's "Network" and had two other nods for "Chinatown" and "Bonnie and Clyde."
During the Inside the Actor's Studio interview, Dunaway explained that the film was based on an exploitation memoir. She had hoped that the film adaptation would be more nuanced, but the final product, she admitted, was just as exploitative.
Among those who attend are: Joan's adopted children, Christina, Cathy and Cindy, and son, Christopher; Joan's secretaries, Betty Barker and Florence Walsh and Joan's Christian Science practitioner, Marque Campbell.
Both Christopher and Christina successfully contested Joan's will, according to The Guardian. He also told the Los Angeles Times that he'd received $1500 from waiving his rights to Christina's book, Mommie Dearest and the 1981 film based on the book. Christopher died of cancer in 2006 at the age of 62.
She was one of Hollywood's top stars of the 1930s, earning an Oscar for her lead role in 1945's Mildred Pierce. She later became known for the horror classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and was the subject of the memoir Mommie Dearest. She died on May 10, 1977, in New York City.
Joan Crawford died in 1977. The movie Mommie Dearest was released in 1981. So, unless Joan Crawford “abused” Faye Dunaway from the grave, there is no story there.
Crawford's children don't all agree with the legacy of Christina's tell-all book, and because of that family feud, Joan Crawford's twins, Cathy and Cindy, have stayed largely out of the spotlight.
