Born Lucille Fay LeSueur in 1906. She was one of the MGM stable of stars back in the day when there were long-term studio contracts. She won her only Oscar for Best Actress in 1945 for "Mildred Pierce", though she was nominated other times. She made almost 100 films in her career.
"Might as well have "Property of MGM" tattooed on my backside!" -- Joan Crawford
She and Bette Davis were arch-rivals and hated each other.
"She's slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie." -- Bette Davis
Her adopted daughter, Christina, wrote a book called, "Mommie Dearest" which was later made into a terrible film starring Faye Dunaway, who apparently thought she was making Bride of Frankenstein instead.
Blue Öyster Cult's studio album Fire of Unknown Origin and 1982's Extraterrestrial Live both feature a strange track called 'Joan Crawford' inspired by the movie Mommie Dearest. (Credits: Albert Bouchard, David Roter, Jack Rigg). The studio and live tracks are each strange, in different ways.