Spotlight: Joan Crawford & Bette Davis
JOAN CRAWFORD
Rising from a modest background to become one of MGM’s brightest stars, Joan Crawford embodied ambition.
She captivated audiences in the 1930s with modern, working-girl roles before delivering one of the great screen comebacks in Mildred Pierce – a performance that won her the Academy Award for Best Actress and reaffirmed her status as a force to be reckoned with.
But Crawford’s strength extended beyond the screen. She navigated the ruthless studio system with strategic brilliance, understanding publicity, image and power long before personal branding was a concept. She fought to protect her stardom in an industry that was quick to discard woman as they aged.
Fun Facts:
- Born Lucille Fay LeSeur, she later used the stage name Billie Cassin, before MGM held a fan magazine contest to name her, resulting in Joan Crawford.
- Despite her screen image, she was a natural redhead.
- She was notorious for scrubbing doorknobs, cleaning her house, and checking that guests hadn’t touched surfaces.
- She spent hours answering fan letters personally and would never leave a crowd without signing every autograph.
- She refused to smoke a cigarette unless she opened the pack herself to ensure no one else had touched it.
- Her exact birth year was never confirmed.
BETTE DAVIS
Few stars in Hollywood’s Golden Age burned as fiercely and fearlessly as Bette Davis.
Davis redefined what it meant to be a leading lady. She chose roles that were flawed, ambitious, volatile – and made them unforgettable.
She won an Academy Award for her role in Dangerous Jezebel, and later, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?. This psychological thriller reignited her stardom and cemented her place in cinema legend.
Davis famously clashed with studios over the quality of her roles, taking on the powerful Warner Bros. in a ground-breaking legal battle for artistic control. At the time when when actors, especially women were expected to comply, she refused. She fought for better scripts, better parts, and better pay. She lost the court case, but she shifted global discourse.
Beneath the steely exterior was extraordinary craft. She wasn’t afraid to look unglamorous, to age on screen, to be unlikeable – because she understood that truth was far more interesting than beauty.
Fun Facts:
- The first person to earn 10 Academy Award acting nominations.
- In 1937, she unsuccessfully sued Warner Bros. to break her restrictive contract, become one of the first actors to fight the studio system.
- Installed a Coca-Cola machine on the Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? set to annoy Joan Crawford, who was married to a Pepsi executive.
- First woman to receive the AFI Life Achievement Award.
- Names the Academy Award statue the “Oscar”.
- Co-founded the Hollywood Canteen during WWII (a club that provided entertainment and food to soldiers)
- Attended the 1963 Academy Awards with her dress on backwards.
Discover the infamous rivalry of Bette David and Joan Crawford live on stage in BETTE & JOAN, playing 20 Mar – 25 Apr.