"Nothing goes away. Not on its own. You deal with it, or it deals with you." —Jonathan Safran Foer, Here I Am
artwork by instagram.com/grave.daisy
@MissAdventurous ohmygosh You’re either low on headlight fluid or your license plates need rotated 🤔
Lucille LeSueur never met her father, who abandoned her mother Anna Bell Johnson in San Antonio, Texas while she was pregnant. Anna later married Henry Cassin, who operated a theater in Lawton, Oklahoma. Little Lucille, whose nickname was Billie, grew up believing Cassin was her father and she was called Billie Cassin.
After Cassin was accused of embezzlement, the family moved to St. Louis. When Billie was in the third grade her mother left Cassin and took up with (and possibly married, the record is unclear) a man named Henry Hough. By some accounts Billie was abused by Cassin, Hough, or both of them. Whatever the truth of those claims, there is no doubt that Billie had a challenging and difficult childhood and that she developed a rebellious personality. Around age 14 she was enrolled in a boarding school for “difficult” girls, where she later claimed she was treated essentially as a maid and beaten nearly every day.
In 1923 Billie landed a job as a dancer in a traveling chorus. By then her brother had told her the truth about her father, and when she signed her contract, she identified herself as “Lucille LeSueur.”
The chorus show soon went bust, and with only two dollars to her name, she traveled to Chicago and was able to land another dancing job, eventually making it to Broadway. There the 5’3” freckled redhead impressed an MGM talent scout, and on Christmas Day 1924 she received a telegram offering her a five-year contract at $75 per week. At about 17 years old (her exact year of birth remains unclear), Lucille “Billie” LeSueur left for Hollywood, where she was destined to make a big splash.
After appearing in five silent films, an MGM executive decided she needed a better name (remarking that “LeSueur” sounded too much like “sewer”). So the studio announced a “Name the Star” contest, inviting the public to suggest a new name. “Joan Arden” was the winning entry, but when they discovered that name was already being used, they replaced “Arden” with “Crawford.” Joan Crawford, it was.
With a powerful work ethic and a determination to succeed, Joan transitioned from silent films (where she usually played a flapper) to talkies, becoming a star and excelling in roles as working-class girls climbing the ladder of success. When her popularity began to wane, she transitioned to “older women” roles and revived her career, going on to some of her greatest achievements, including an Academy Award for best actress in 1946. She appeared in ninety films over the course of her nearly five-decade career.
But, of course, an explosive memoir by one of her children has cast a huge shadow over Joan Crawford’s life and career.
Each of Joan’s four marriages lasted about four years, the first three ending in divorce and the last, to Pepsi CEO Alfred Steele, ending with his death. Joan had no biological children, but adopted four—Christina, Christopher, Cathy, and Cindy.
Less than two years after her mother’s death, Christina published a memoir titled “Mommie Dearest” describing Joan Crawford as an egotistical, alcoholic, and abusive mother. Christopher supported his sister's claims, but many of Joan’s friends and colleagues blasted the book, denying its allegations and defending Crawford’s character. Joan’s youngest children, Cathy and Cindy, also vehemently denied Christina’s allegations, as did Joan’s first husband Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. But Christina adamantly defended her claims, and her book became not only a best-seller but a major Hollywood film.
Whether Joan Crawford was an abusive mother remains in dispute, but her impressive legacy as an actress remains. “I came from nothing,” she said near the end of her life, “but Hollywood took me from nothing and gave me everything good that I’ve learnt and that I have.”
Joan Crawford, born Lucille Faye LeSeuer, died in New York City at about age 70, on May 10, 1977, forty-six years ago.
The photo is from 1946.
@MissAdventurous , I wish you lived on the east coast, I could use a really positive friend in my life!
🍃Go tell it to the Bees Ye olde Tradition of telling the Bees, is one that is still done to this day. Tis known that it be the Bee keepers duty to tell the Bees of any news that needs to be told. Such things like weddings, death or birth must be told to the Bees🍃
🍃And, they do say that if the Bees aren’t told of such things, Well, there be trouble indeed. Why, the Bees would surely take to rest and not produce honey, or they would leave the hive or in the worst case they would sadly pass away🍃
Written by Athey Thompson Vintage image
@OhioMike gasp, I never knew you were a mechanic....teach me your ways 🤣😉
DID YOU KNOW? … back in 1926, a Bluegrass delicacy known as the Hot Brown (a Signature Menu Item at Hall’s) made its debut in Louisville, Kentucky. Chef Fred K. Schmidt created this dish in hopes of appealing to the more than 1,200 late-night ballroom dancing guests at the Brown Hotel. When the band took their break, all the patrons were seated for a bite to eat - with a limited menu of ham and eggs or club sandwiches.
Chef Schmidt wanted to offer the famished hoofers something new and unique to the hotel. He crafted an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and Mornay sauce, topped with pimientos, then baked it bubbly brown under the broiler. According to an executive chef at the Brown Hotel, the original Hot Brown was served with peaches! Be sure to check out Hall’s on the River’s take on the original, with the addition of salty country ham, cheddar cheese, and a slice of red ripe tomato.