Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford\xa0(born\xa0Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190?[Note 1]\xa0\u2013\xa0May 10, 1977)\xa0was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on\xa0Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by\xa0Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer\xa0in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known\xa0flapper\xa0by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues\xa0Norma Shearer\xa0and\xa0Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by\xa0Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of\xa0Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison".