Latest news with #JoanCrawford
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Mia Farrow, 80, reveals which very famous Hollywood icon was 'scary in person'
Mia Farrow has lived a storied existence appearing in some of Hollywood's most memorable movies and growing up among Hollywood legends. The Tony nominee, 80, dished about her life growing up with her parents, actress Maureen O'Sullivan and director John Farrow, in Interview magazine. She said meeting stars such as Vivien Leigh, Katharine Hepburn and director George Cukor was a common occurrence. In the chat with Tony winner Cole Escola, 38, Farrow admitted she found one grand dame of the silver screen, Joan Crawford, to be 'scary.' Farrow said she first met the Oscar winner when she was a young actress when they ran into each other on the Fox lot in Los Angeles. 'I forget what movie was shooting, probably that one with Bette Davis, the scary one,' she told the Oh, Mary! star. 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' he asked. 'If that was shot at Fox, then that was what they were shooting. And for whatever reason, she started sending a whole refrigerator of Pepsi Cola for my trailer 'cause I was in a TV series called Peyton Place.' she revealed. 'She's scary. And she was scary in person as well,' Crawford was married at the time to Alfred Steele, who was the president of Pepsi-Cola at the time, and she became a prominent face for the company. 'I don't particularly like Pepsi Cola, but a lot of Pepsi Cola kept coming to my trailer, more than anyone would ever want,' she explained. The two had another encounter when Crawford visited her mother's home in New York City, and Farrow said she got 'a strange vibe' from the Mildred Pierce star. 'So I'm back in New York, and she knew my mother. I hung up people's coats for my mom when they came into the house. And I hung her coat and out falls a flask of alcohol. She grabbed it like that, and she put it in her handbag. She drank quite a lot,' she said of The Women actress. 'Then she invited me to her apartment. I thought it was a party, but I arrived, and I was the only one there,' she said. 'I was 17, and everything was green in her apartment. It just had very low lighting. And there were no other guests, just Ms. Crawford and me. And I just wasn't very comfortable.' To get out of the situation the Secret Ceremony star quickly came up with an excuse. Farrow said Crawford once invited her to her apartment in NYC. 'I thought it was a party, but I arrived, and I was the only one there,' adding she quickly made up an excuse to leave, telling Crawford she didn't feel well; circa 1950 'I just made up a lie that I wasn't feeling very well and I didn't want to give her any diseases. I think I said the word 'diseases' as I walked out of the room. I was scared of Ms. Crawford,' she said. Farrow also mentioned it was a bit of luck that helped her land one of her most memorable roles, that of a new mom with a devilish child in the thriller Rosemary's Baby. 'Jane Fonda and other great actors had turned it down because they had never heard of Roman Polanski, and it was just a little horror movie,' she said. 'I'm eternally grateful because it really gave me my career. And people still watch it, at least on Halloween.'
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Who would dare write a warts-and-all biography of their own mother?
Writing biography is a perilous exercise. To do it properly, one must know one's subject – either personally or through extensive research – and yet avoid hagiography or hostility. The matter can become more complicated if the subject is a member of the author's family. The most notorious example was Mommie Dearest, a biography of Joan Crawford by her adopted daughter, Christina, who shredded the actress's reputation as a mother. Harriet Cullen cites the Crawford book in her recent biography of her own mother, Lady Pamela Berry: Passion, Politics and Power (Unicorn, £25), in describing what she sought to avoid in writing about a woman whose attitude to motherhood was itself somewhat eccentric. Lady Pamela's name will be familiar to readers of a certain age: for 46 years she was married to Michael Berry, after 1968 Lord Hartwell, who from 1954 to 1985 was the much-admired proprietor of The Daily Telegraph. As the wife of the owner of a great newspaper, Lady Pamela established the foremost political salon of her time; and as her daughter demonstrates, her influence extended across the Atlantic to Washington. Cullen has produced one of the most compelling and finely-written biographies of recent times. She has the good fortune not merely to have a Technicolor subject, but also a glittering cast of supporting characters, from Nancy Mitford to Lord Beaverbrook. Lady Pamela was immersed in politics from her early childhood. Her father was F E Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead; he would take his daughter from the age of seven or eight to dinner parties with his smart and influential friends. This precocious rush to adulthood gave her a self-confidence that bordered on arrogance, but attracted more people than it repelled. She married Michael Berry in 1936, nine years after his father, who became Lord Camrose, acquired The Telegraph. By the time Berry became the proprietor, on his father's death, she was a leading figure in London society, whether literary or political. Within a couple of years, Lady Pamela had the influence to make direct and indirect interventions in politics – but these are not the most riveting part of the book. That accolade belongs to the chapter about her family life. Cullen describes how her mother took her and her siblings to France on a beach holiday, but blew all her foreign currency on objets d'art in Paris on her way there, and had no money left to feed the children. To make matters worse, she had invited Evelyn Waugh, without first ascertaining that there was somewhere for him to stay, and Waugh – who was not of the rosiest disposition at the best of times – not only had to endure inferior lodgings, but also had to save the Berry children from 'malnutrition'. Cullen describes, commendably neutrally, her mother's lack of interest in most of her children, partly because of her obsession with society and, for a decade, because of her affair with Malcolm Muggeridge, and how it strained their relationships with her. As a result, she has created a truly fine biography – and an object lesson in how to do it properly.
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sudden Fear: the 1952 noir that cemented Joan Crawford's star
'It's the kind of a drama we used to call a thriller,' Joan Crawford said in a radio appearance in 1952, teasing an upcoming film. 'In fact, it's so exciting that the first time I read the script some friends rang my doorbell about 9 o'clock at night and I was afraid to open the door.' Imagine, for a second, a frightened Joan Crawford home alone, stirred up by the story that would soon become her next movie: Sudden Fear. In the collective memory, Crawford is imagined with fear always in mind. Fear of being disliked or forgotten, fear of the box office, of bad lighting, even fear of wire hangers. The prevailing view of Crawford was that of the scary lady: frightening and frightened. In 1943, after remaining under contract with MGM for 18 years, Crawford moved to Warner, the studio that would help her win her best actress Oscar for Mildred Pierce. But soon she became displeased with the roles available for a woman in her late 40s (her exact year of birth, even now, is still up for debate). Then came Sudden Fear, a film noir she took to competing studio RKO that once again won her Academy favour. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning With Sudden Fear, Crawford forged an unprecedented Hollywood archetype: the now prevalent actress-turned-executive producer. She presided over the entire project, hired director David Miller, chose the screenwriter and cinematographer and personally selected co-stars Jack Palance and Gloria Grahame. In Sudden Fear, Crawford plays Myra Hudson, a successful playwright and wealthy heiress lovestruck by a younger man. Sitting in on a rehearsal of her latest play, Myra decides that leading man Lester Blaine (Palance) must be recast. He 'just doesn't look romantic', she says, and we're inclined to agree. Like Crawford, Palance is a singular beauty: a skull rather than a face, craterous in black and white. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion By chance, the two meet again on a cross-country train to San Francisco. In close quarters, Myra is disarmed by Lester's charms. She absolves him of her early judgments, and casts Lester as her romantic lead off-stage. There's a snag, however: Lester's brassy lover Irene Neves, with whom he concocts a plot to murder Myra for her fortune. Mid-dinner party at Myra's, Lester and Irene steal away to the host's office voicing their plans – let slip only by the then-futuristic dictation machine accidentally recording them. Of course, Myra ends up hearing the recording – and under the web of intrigue, there's a tragic confession. 'Love you?' Lester declares on the dictation machine. 'I never loved you. Never for one moment.' In perfect melodrama, the camera never leaves Crawford's face as she stumbles around the room reacting – or over-reacting. The filmmaker François Truffaut called her performance 'a question of taste' – one that, I feel, should be acquired rather than challenged. The disembodied voice, played back by the recording device, lends Crawford the chance to reprise her silent-film-star status once more: by 1929 she was one of very few to survive the transition from silents to talkies. The conversation she hears takes on a paranoid quality. Is this how people speak about me when I'm not around? As a filmmaking tool, the voice-over typically serves as an internal monologue, but here it's terrorising: both absent and presently threatening. The voices come from elsewhere, estranged by time, and now they are lodged in Myra's head! Wide awake with conspiratorial voices keeping her up at night, Myra plans her counterattack, writing the rest of the script before it is written for her. She forges letters, breaks into Irene's apartment, feigns sickness and dramatically falls down a flight of stairs to intercept her violent demise. It's in these moments that Crawford's own bias seeps into the text, and her attraction to Sudden Fear is exposed. Myra is a woman at the top of her game who chooses not to fold when she is undermined, instead taking back control and coming out the other side. Sounds like Joan Crawford to me. Ten years after Sudden Fear and, at her nadir, Crawford would campaign for the novel What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? to be adapted as a motion picture, starring herself alongside – nay, underneath – twin flame Bette Davis. The film cemented their conjoined cult status and spawned a whole new subgenre: hagsploitation. If What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was the story of industry roadkill, then Sudden Fear was Crawford in the driver's seat of her own star vehicle. No Way Out is streaming on Tubi in Australia and available to rent in the UK and the US. For more recommendations of what to stream in Australia, click here
Buzz Feed
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
People Are Sharing The Pettiest Things Celebs Have Ever Done, And I'm Taking Notes
Recently Reddit user Fun Ferret 3300 asked people to share the pettiest things celebs have ever done, kicking things off themselves with " Julia Roberts and her DIY 'A Low Vera' shirt." The user explained, "The shirt (and the paparazzi appearance in which she was seen wearing it) was intended to throw shade at the then-separated wife of Roberts's now-husband Danny Moder (named Vera), who Roberts believed was dragging out their divorce and preventing the new relationship from taking off." The question prompted a lot of interesting responses. Grab your popcorn and get ready to take notes... 1. "Miley releasing 'Flowers' on Liam's birthday." 2. "The internet was in scrambles trying to figure out if Beyoncé will be at Kimye's wedding, and she posted this selfie from bed." 3. "The 2017 VMAs, after Camila Cabello left Fifth Harmony — the silhouette falling off stage was presumably intended to represent Cabello." MTV 4. "Kendrick's 'Say Drake, I heard you like 'em young' at the Super Bowl halftime show with this look at the camera." "Absolutely diabolical. That face has been burned into my brain ever since the halftime show, I can't even begin to imagine how Aubrey feels." — goldencalculator 5. " Stevie Nicks writing songs about what a horrible boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham was and making him play guitar on them. Lindsey writing songs about what a terrible girlfriend Stevie was and making her sing them. That is a level of pettiness most of us cannot ever hope to aspire to." — Lil_Artemis_92 6. "Stephanie March ALLEGEDLY having a plane fly saying 'CHEATER' over Bobby Flay's ceremony for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." — scottstottz 8. "Arnold Schwarzenegger pretended to be interested in starring in Stop or My Mom Will Shoot to trick Sylvester Stallone into signing onto it. Because he knew it was a stupid, stupid movie and Stallone was his major rival at the time." 9. "Jason Sudeikis serving Olivia Wilde custody papers while she was onstage." 10. "Mika spent his first paycheck having his posters plastered all over his ex-girlfriend's neighborhood, because she told him he'd never make it in the music industry." 11. "Patti LuPone takes the petty crown with her 'Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool'". "Patti was in the London run of Sunset Boulevard. Her contract had it that she was also to appear in the Broadway run. When it came to Broadway in the late '80s, he replaced her with Glenn Close, and she sued him. She then used the cash she won from that lawsuit to install a pool in her Connecticut home, which she called the 'Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool.'" — Ambitious_Stay7139 12. "When, after winning gold, Simone Biles posted a photo with her teammates, captioning 'lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions' as a dig to Mikayla Skinner lmao." 13. "Bette Davis when Joan Crawford died: 'They say you shouldn't speak badly of the deceased, you should only say good things. Joan Crawford is dead, good.'" Warner Bros Pictures — Shagrrotten "On the set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Joan Crawford added additional weight on her belt in a scene where Bette Davis has to pull her body across the floor (Bette had back problems), and Bette actually kicked Joan in the head during an altercation scene. Bette got an Oscar nomination for that role, while Joan didn't, so Joan apparently campaigned against Bette. Bette lost to Anne Bancroft, and Joan accepted the Oscar on Anne's behalf. Just the tip of the iceberg of their legendary feud." — summercloudsadness 15. "When asked that he thought about Jack Kerouac's writing, Truman Capote replied, 'That's not writing, that's typing.'" 16. "When Kendall Jenner tweeted that if Rihanna didn't perform 'Complicated', she was going to be very upset, and Rihanna told her not to come." — MyKinksKarma 17. "Taylor Swift is the reigning queen of petty, so much so it's hard to pick one thing. But her inviting all her high school haters along to the 2009 CMAs so they could see her take home basically every award immediately springs to mind." 18. "I really enjoy 50 Cent's petty out the first 3-4 rows of a Ja Rule concert is my favorite." 19. "Burt Reynolds used a helicopter to literally drop shit on the National Enquirer's Christmas tree." 20. "Daniel Radcliffe wearing the same outfit for six months straight so the paparazzi would have no new pictures to use."
Axios
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
San Antonio's history of Oscar winners
Ahead of Sunday's 97th Academy Awards, we dove into the Oscars database to find out where past Best Actress and Best Actor winners were born. The big picture: Hollywood may be the movie capital of the world, but many of the industry's most celebrated actors aren't originally from there. By the numbers: Just six of the 86 men who have won Best Actor and five of the 87 women who earned Best Actress were born in the Los Angeles area. Zoom in: The San Antonio area is home to one winner each from the Best Actor and Best Actress categories — Joan Crawford, who won for "Mildred Pierce" in 1946, and Matthew McConaughey (from Uvalde), who won for "Dallas Buyers Club" in 2014.
