Classic Movie Legend Tribute: Joan Crawford

Happy Birthday to Classic Movie Legend, Joan Crawford, born March 23rd, 1905!

So, I’m going to honest with you all – my first impression of Joan Crawford was not actually Joan Crawford. Like many young children with a taste for flair and flamboyance, my first Joan Crawford experience was Faye Dunaway screaming “No more wire hanger!” in the movie Mommy Dearest. Now, I don’t want to start a debate over the validity of the film or claims against Crawford because, well, that’s just been done to death. What I want to say is that I’m glad I was able, in my teen years, to overcome that first impression and develop an appreciation for Crawford as a movie star.

What I appreciate about Crawford is not simply her on screen glamour, though glamorous she most definitely was. What makes me truly appreciate and respect Crawford was her dedication to her fans. Living under the credo that she was nothing without her fans, Joan Crawford would sit down for hours at a time and write personalized responses to her fan letters. If Joan Crawford were alive today, that would be the equivalent of answering every fan tweet she received — except instead of doing it in 140 characters, she, ya know, wrote whole entire letters. It’s estimated that in her lifetime, she wrote over three million letters. I can’t help but think that there are many people who probably haven’t written three million words, let alone three million letters, in their lifetime. So, to celebrate this most gracious of classic stars let us observe her being just that.

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Joan Crawford smiling at all her fan mail.