Crawford was born in DeKalb, Illinois, on February 20, 1966, the daughter of Daniel Kenneth Crawford and Jennifer Sue Crawford-Moluf (née Walker). She has two sisters, Chris and Danielle, and a brother, Jeffery, who died of childhood leukemia at age 3.
Then, in 1943, she adopted another boy named Phillip after her then-husband. Years later, when she divorced Phillip, she renamed her son Christopher. In 1947, she adopted a set of twins: Cathy and Cindy.
Caption Options. Unable to have children, she had adopted five: a girl, Christina, in 1940; a boy, Christopher, in 1942, who was soon reclaimed by his birth mother; a second boy, also named Christopher, in 1943; and twin girls, Catherine (Cathy) and Cynthia (Cindy), in 1947.
Christina Crawford is an American author and actress, best known for her 1978 memoir and exposé, Mommie Dearest, which described the alleged abuse she was subjected to by her adoptive mother, film star Joan Crawford.
The hidden truth of the Crawford twins Cathy and Cindy | Joan Crawford
How much of Mommie Dearest is true?
Christina has repeatedly stated that the film is highly inaccurate, and that the portrayal of her mother in the film is nothing like the real Joan Crawford, emphasizing that she never wrote in her book that Joan chopped down a tree with an axe, or beat her with a wire hanger as depicted in the film.
Crawford was married four times. First to actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and then to actor Franchot Tone. Her third husband was actor Phillip Terry, and her fourth and last husband was Pepsi executive Alfred Steele.
She left $77,500 each to her two younger daughters, Cathy and Cynthia. She also bequeathed money to several other people and numerous charities. Cathy also inherited all of Joan's property including the Oscar for Mildred Pierce.
Did Joan Crawford get her children from Georgia Tann?
Notable personalities who used Tann's services included actress Joan Crawford (twin daughters, Cathy and Cynthia were adopted through the agency while daughter Christina Crawford and son Christopher were adopted through other agencies).
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.
Supermodel Cindy Crawford is a distant descendant of the King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. Actress Brooke Shields learned she was descended from French royalty, while actresses Hilary Duff and Uma Thurman are distantly related the British royal family.
But did you ever think kids used to bully her while she was growing up? In her new memoir, Becoming, Crawford reveals that she wanted to have her signature mole removed after boys on her school's football team used to taunt her.
Crawford's wealth is largely due to her 17-year-old skin-care line, Meaningful Beauty, a $400 million brand of which she owns 50%. She got her skin in the game in 2004: Then 38, Crawford wanted something she would never be “too old” to market—so she created a line of anti-aging products.
But when her eldest adoptive daughter, Christina Crawford, released the tell-all memoir Mommie Dearest in 1978 — within a year of Crawford's death — it painted a much darker picture of the actress, one of an alcoholic and abusive mother prone to fits of rage.
She made such a positive impression during her early film career that MGM head Louis B. Mayer launched a fan-magazine contest to find her a new name. The result was "Joan Crawford," a name she claimed she never liked. Her career with MGM stretched from 1925 to 1942, and she became one of that company's biggest stars.
Joan Crawford was born Lucille LeSueur, but her studio thought her surname sounded too much like "sewer." So, her stage name was decided via a magazine competition.
What happened to Joan Crawford's daughter Christina?
In 1981, the best-selling book was made into a blockbuster movie. Christina shortly thereafter suffered a major stroke from which she recovered. A couple of years later, she and David divorced. Since then, she has lived in Northern Idaho, operated a bed-and-breakfast, and continued writing.
Actress Joan Crawford brought the dark-haired infants she'd adopted from Tennessee Children's Home Society in Memphis home to her sprawling Brentwood, Calif., mansion, in the summer of 1947. She named the twins Cathy and Cynthia.
Joan Crawford demonstrates the personality disorders of histrionic, narcissism, and OCPD. When it comes to mood disorders, Joan demonstrates bipolar disorder.
At the age of 75, Bette had a mastectomy due to breast cancer. Nine days later, she suffered a stroke. Despite her failing health, she continued to act until her death. Bette passed away October 6, 1989 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
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.
