Who is Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. Crawford is named as the tenth Greatest Female Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.
Starting as a dancer on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in 1925 and played small parts. By the end of the ’20s she became a famous flapper. Beginning in the 1930s, Crawford’s fame rivaled fellow MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. She often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These “rags to riches” stories were well-received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. By the end of the decade, Crawford remained one of Hollywood’s most prominent movie stars, and one of the highest paid women in the U.S.
Joan Crawford Quotes
1. Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.
2. Don’t fuck with me, fellas. This ain’t my first time at the rodeo.
3. I find suggestion a hell of a lot more provocative than explicit detail. You didn’t see Clark[Gable] and Vivien[leigh] rolling around in bed in Gone With The Wind, but you saw that shit eating grin on her face the next morning and you knew damned well she’d gotten properly laid.
4. I think that the most important thing a woman can have- next to talent, of course- is her hairdresser.
5. Any actress who appears in public without being well-groomed is digging her own grave.
6. I need sex for a clear complexion, but I’d rather do it for love.
7. I love playing bitches. There’s a lot of bitch in every woman – a lot in every man.
8. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door.
9. Damn it . . . Don’t you dare ask God to help me.
10. love is fire. but whether it is going to warm your heart or burn down your house,you can never tell.
11. I think the most important thing a woman can have – next to talent, of course, – is her hairdresser.
12. No wire hangers!
13. Learn to breathe, learn to speak , but first ..learn to feel
14. No wire hangers!!!
15. I’ve persuaded myself that I hate things that are bad for me—fattening food, late nights, and loud and aggressive people head the list. I’m friends with myself, so I do things that are good for me, otherwise I couldn’t be good for others.
16. Love is a fire. But whether it’s going to warm your heart or burn down your house, you can never tell.
18. Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your heart or burn down your house, you can never tell.
19. surround myself with happy colors—yellow, coral, hot pink, and Mediterranean blues and greens.
20. There are a number of ‘kitchen recipes’ for feeding hair. It needs the contents of your refrigerator just as much as your skin does. Right back to mayonnaise! Olive oil, eggs, and lemon juice. Massage the mixture into your hair, let it stay on for ten or fifteen minutes, then rinse it off with cool water. Cool – or you’ll have scrambled eggs on your head.
22. For years I washed my daughter’ hair with raw eggs, never soap or shampoo. I wet their hair fist and then rubbed in six whole eggs, one by one – a trick I learned from Katherine. Hepburn. (Four eggs will do for short hair, but theirs was long.) Some people use eggs beaten up with a jigger of rum; others mix an egg with red wine.
23. Hot oils is good for dry hair. Apply it with the fingertips and then wrap your head in a warm towel. Keep changing the oil for an hour, to keep it hot and penetrating. Then shampoo.
24. I believe in brushing. I made my girls give their hair the old-fashioned hundred strokes every night, using two brushes, and bending forward from the waist. It stimulates hair grows, and the rush of blood to the face is an added benefit. I pull my hair gently to encourage growth too.
25. Most of the bankers also felt that women are more emotional, leas stable than men.
Not true! I think by nature a woman is more stable. Life gives her so many different things to cope with, and she learns almost from infancy to cope and not to let it show. A woman who has married and brought up children has had a thousand emergencies — illnesses, broken plumbing, appliances refusing to operate,the children’s naughtiness, her husband’s moods, the bills — and has trained herself to take them all astride.
26. Men have great respect for a woman who can be both competent and attractive. Competence without charm can irritate some men. I think you should be appealing, but not in a phony way. It has to be part of your personality. If it isn’t, acquire it, and they’ll forgive your know-how. After all, men really love women more than they hate them!
27. In an office, being feminine doesn’t mean being seductive. […] Even a flirtation, when it wears off, causes some bad feeling, and somebody is going to be moved into another department — or out of the company. Quite likely you!
There are no hard-and- fast rules for fending off an outright pass, especially if it comes from the boss. Every intelligent woman has her own method of turning it off without wounding a sensitive male ego. An even cleverer woman knows how to prevent the pass in the first place. She’s charming, friendly, capable — and not seductive. If you can’t control your cleavage, your perfume, your walk, and your eyelashes — you’d better stay out of business.
28. I love preshrunk cottons for traveling. Mamacita can wash and press them overnight — another space-saving trick. Whatever I’ve worn that day goes into the hotel bathtub for a good soak and some squishing back and forth, and then after a time Mamacita goes in and rinses them, rolls them in big towels, and irons them while they’re still damp.
29. No working relationship can be based on the premise, ‘Me — woman; you — man!’ It’s ‘we two’ trying to make a job better.
When I’m working on a picture, if a scene goes wrong in rehearsal I say, ‘There’s something wrong with this — it goes wrong right here.’
It happened not long ago, and Robert Gist, the director, said, ‘I know, I feel it every time when you get to that one line.’
‘Let’s try it again,’ I said, “and let me try it as it comes to me that the character, Marion, would do it.
30. Where the tact came in was in my referring to the character, and what the script earlier SHE would do. I didn’t say ‘This is what a woman would do,’ or, ‘This is what I, Joan Crawford, think should be done.
31. No working relationship can be based on the premise, ‘Me — woman; you — man!’ It’s ‘we two’ trying to make a job better.
When I’m working on a picture, if a scene goes wrong in rehearsal I say, ‘There’s something wrong with this — it goes wrong right here.’
It happened not long ago, and Robert Gist, the director, said, ‘I know, I feel it every time when you get to that one line.’
‘Let’s try it again,’ I said, ‘and let me try it as it comes to me that the character, Marion, would do it.
32. Where the tact came in was in my referring to the character, and what the script earlier SHE would do. I didn’t say ‘This is what a woman would do,’ or, ‘This is what I, Joan Crawford, think should be done.
33. They [best dressed women] don’t want to look like their daughters. They want their own individual brand of chic. […] The cut and fit must be exactly right, and they are willing to spend hours in the fitting room to make sure of it. They spend money, too. But if any one of them went broke tomorrow she’d rather choose one perfectly cut expensive dress and make it do for years than buy a dozen cheap ones.
34. The intelligent woman adapts herself to fashion, but never to fad. She knows what is best for her, and her way of life, and sticks to it. She raises and lowers her hemline — with discretion — but she goes on with her timeless dresses made with the basic lines and fabrics that flatter HER, define HER life style. She’s secure, and so she can be an elegant individual.
35. I think a marvelous stunt would be to have your best friend (or the most critical acquaintance) take some candid color snapshots of you from all angles, dressed just as you usually appear at, say, six in the evening. The same hairdo, the same makeup, and if possible the same expression on your face. Be honest! Be sure to have her take the rear views, too.
There ought to be some other shots of you wearing your best going-out-to-dinner dress, or your favorite bridge-with-the-girls costume — hat, gloves, bag, and costume jewelry. Everything. Then have that roll of film developed and BLOWN UP. You can’t see much in a tiny snapshot. An eight-by-ten will show you the works — and you probably won’t be very happy with it. Sit down and take a long look at that strange woman.
Is she today’s with-it person — elegant, poised, groomed, glowing with health? Or is she a plump copy of Miss 1950? Is she sleek, or bumpy in the wrong places? How is her posture? Does she look better from the front than from the back? Does she stand gracefully? […] Feet together or one slightly in front of the other, is the most graceful stance.
[…]
I always pin my bad notices on my mirror. How about keeping those eight-by-ten candid shots around your dressing room for a while as you dress?
36. That trick shouldn’t be reserved for the movies or stage. I pass it on for any woman to use […]. For a romantic scene by candlelight, let your face and figure — and your expression — play the leading roles. Underdress. Play down the accessories. Leave the startling hat or jewel at home. For a public appearance, on the other hand, when I’m going to be mingling with hundreds of people, I try to give them something stunning to look at. I especially like to give them color.
37. If you think the dress is right for you, where are you going to wear it? Does it fit into the kind of life you lead? (If you live in the country, what are you doing with all those town suits and hostess pajamas?) Supposing the dress is all right. If so, what shoes do you wear with it? What hat, gloves? Handbag, jewelry? […] So many women fall in love with a dress, bring it home, and find absolutely nothing that will go with it.
38. Closets should be completely emptied twice a year. […] Then inspect every item in your wardrobe. Things you’re doubtful about are probably wrong. […] Give things away to someone they do compliment, or send them to charity or a thrift shop and resolve not to make the same mistake again.
That old saw, ‘When in doubt, don’t,’ is never so true as when it comes to clothes. Or getting married.
39. [Joan’s rule for dressing well] When you finish a creation, take something off. Diminish, diminish, diminish.
40. French women choose a scent when they’re girls and use it until they’re grandmothers. It becomes their trademark.
‘Ah,’ he murmurs in the dark theater, ‘Giselle is here tonight!’
But I think that a woman usually outgrows a fragrance every decade or so.
41. My most important [wardrobe] rule is: Never put anything back soiled.
42. Whenever I have to pick something off the floor I bend down, keeping my legs straight. Dutifully touching your toes fifty times every day is a crashing bore. But there are almost as many times when something has to be picked up anyhow — or a lower drawer has to be opened — so I automatically do it in a manner that keeps me fit. I try to make a graceful gesture out of reaching for things on high shelves, too. I don’t make it easier by dragging out a little step stool.
42. You’re on your feet. Maybe you’re phoning, or combing your hair, or taking off your makeup. Plant your bare feet about twelve inches apart and grip the floor with them, keeping your knees rigid. Then try to push your feet together – but without letting them budge. Try as hard as you can. This is a wonderful example of getting muscles to work against each other and it’s a tremendous thing for the inner thighs – they are another terribly flab-prone area.
43. Always warm up to exercising. You can’t suddenly jolt a stiff body into a rigorous workout. My doctor has told me that the best time to exercise is at the end of the day, before dinner, when the body is limber and a little fatigued. Begin slowly by swinging arms around in a circle. Do a little jogging in place. Get your circulation going to fuel your muscles. Do your exercises to music. […] As your body gets used to all this unexpected activity you can do each exercise just about as often and as long as you like. But start gently.
44. For serious problems you should schedule two sessions a day: half an hour before lunch and half an hour before dinner. Write them down in your engagement book. Give them priority. […] For less serious problems, ten minutes morning and night will get you into trim and keep you there. Or twenty minutes once a day, if that fits your schedule better. And don’t forget the while-you’re-doing-something routines. You can be pampering your body most of the day if you remember them, and your body will be very grateful.
45. One of my favorite routines for keeping my rear in good form is to sit down on the floor and ‘walk’ across it on my buttocks, holding my arms out straight in front for balance, and then ‘walk’ back again, backwards.
[…]
For more hip improvement – and the waist, too – I lie on my back with my elbows on the floor at my sides. With my legs straight out I make my knees touch the floor on either side, keeping my shoulders and elbows firmly on the floor.
Then I stretch my arms out to the sides, I raise my knees as far as I can and bring them over my left shoulder to my left elbow, and then back and over to touch my right elbow. […] When you succeeded in touching your elbows with your knees, then try to touch the floor.
46. When he came home I was well groomed, fragrant, feminine. He never saw a laundry bag, a dust cloth, or a hair curler. I hope he never knew that such things existed!
47. Lie on your back with arms straight out at your sides and very slowly, with knees straight, raise your legs high and hold them in the air. Take a deep breath and very slowly lower them again.
Then with your legs still against the floor, draw the small of your back into the floor until you can feel that your back is one straight line. Hold for a count of ten.
Then begin the leg-rising exercise again. Work up to ten times.
As your stomach muscles become firmer add this routine: Anchor your feet under the bed or a heavy armchair and raise and lower your body slowly, keeping your knees rigid and your back very straight.
48. Often Alfred’s meetings began again at six. Two or more business associates would come and closet themselves in the study for almost an hour. Sometimes I’d join them, bringing in a tea tray and a few things to munch on—because no man with low blood sugar ever comes to a happy agreement about anything. With either tea or cocktails I like to give a busy man something hearty, like slices of salami or sausage. Or peanut butter and bacon on black bread slipped under the grill until it sizzles.
49. Whenever you walk through a doorway at home, stop, press the palms of your hands flat against the top of the door frame, get up on your toes, then push up with your arms and try to get your heels back on the floor. But don’t let them budge – you’re pushing against the calf muscles and recontouring them. Hold it for few seconds and then go on about you chores.
50. Sit on a straight chair, point your toes out straight, and kick up as high as you can with each leg. You’ll feel a healthy pull in the calf muscles.
51. After a few kicks, stand up on your toes and lower yourself very slowly to a squatting position, still keeping your weight on the balls of your feet. Then pull slowly up again. It’s fair to balance yourself lightly with your hands on the back of a chair if you have to.
52. Put a book on the floor and place the balls of your feet on the book and your heels on the floor. Raise yourself slowly until you’re on tiptoe on the book. Then lower yourself just as slowly. The thicker the book, the better the results/
These four exercises will slim down fat calves and build up thin ones. The point is that the muscles are being firmed, and no matter what your problem the result is lovelier legs.
53. I’ve described one of my favorites for keeping the ankles slim – rolling a Pepsi bottle under the arch of the foot. Another simple exercise is to stick your leg out straight and, not moving it, rotate your foot in wide circles in both directions for a minute or two. Then push your foot up and down for a couple of minutes.
54. I never regaled him with an account of what the children had done, the lateness of deliveries because of traffic, or the neighborhood gossip (unless it was a particularly juicy bit!). There’s nothing less stimulating for a man than the day-to-day business of raising four children. That’s woman’s work. If she’s lucky she revels in it. If not, she gets it done anyhow, and in the time allotted for it.
55. It’s not easy at all to run a house—small or, as in my case, large as it was then-give the children all the attention they should have, adjust to day-to-day crises, and be cool, collected, and captivating at six o’clock. Not only must the children and the housekeeping be dealt with and finished, the wife should also emerge at that hour “finished”—in the sense that she has all her beauty treatments behind her and is groomed, fragrant, and looking ready for an evening with her favorite beau.
56. If you like wearing slim skirts, there’s nothing uglier than having two additional bulges just below where the hips naturally curve. And of course if you have them you can’t possibly wear pants. The first three exercises, all done from the same starting position, are good for the buttocks as well as the outside of the thighs. They should be done as often as possible, on both sides, and as long as possible for the quickest results.
57. Lie on your side with one arm stretched out under your head. Bring the knee of the upper leg slowly up to your chest, and slowly back into position again. Do this a few times (to dreamy music) and then roll over and do it with the other leg.
58. In the same position on your side, raise the upper leg and move it forward and back as far as you comfortably can. Roll over and do this with the other leg.
3. Raise the top leg and raise the bottom leg up to meet it. Slowly lower the bottom leg, and then the top one.
59. For the inside of the thighs, lie on your back with your knees up, feet flat on the floor, and a small rubber ball between your knees. Squeeze the ball, and hold it with all the muscle pressure you can.
5. Kneel, with your knees apart, and try to bring the knees together. But don’t let them move. Pull until you feel the tug on the inside thigh muscles and hold it as long as you comfortably can – or a little longer.
60. Now sit on the floor, and press the soles of your feet together. Press your knees down, to either side, as far as you can. Keep pressing till it hurts.
