The Postcard
A postcard that was published on behalf of the Sunday Circle, the popular illustrated religious weekly.
The card was posted in Wantage on Wednesday the 23rd. March 1904 to:
Miss A. Bird,
78, Spring Road,
Abingdon,
Berks.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Reached home safely
at 7 o'clock. No rain.
C. M. arrived at 1 a.m.
Very cold wind still.
No news yet.
Will write later.
L. B."
Arthur Ingram
Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939.
He was born on the 26th. January 1858 in Worcestershire, and was educated at Marlborough College and Keble College Oxford.
During the Great War he threw himself into supporting the war effort, and visited the troops on both the Western Front and Salonica, as well as the Grand Fleet.
Arthur died on the 26th. May 1946, having lived for 88 years and 4 months.
He is commemorated in some of the street names in the Hampstead/Highgate area, e.g. The Bishop's Avenue, Winnington Road and Ingram Avenue.
Joan Crawford
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, the 23rd. March 1904 marked the birth of the film star Joan Crawford.
Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas, to Anna Belle (Johnson) and Thomas E. LeSueur, a laundry laborer. By the time she was born, her parents had separated, and by the time she was a teenager, she had had three stepfathers.
It wasn't an easy life; Crawford worked a variety of menial jobs. However she was a good dancer, and -- perhaps seeing dance as her ticket to a career in show business -- she entered several contests, one of which landed her a spot in a chorus line.
Before long, she was dancing in big Midwestern and East Coast cities. After almost two years, she packed her bags and moved to Hollywood. Crawford was determined to succeed, and shortly after arriving she got her first bit part, as a showgirl in Pretty Ladies (1925).
Three films quickly followed, and although the roles weren't much to speak of, she continued toiling. Throughout 1927 and early 1928, she was cast in small parts, but that ended with the role of Diana Medford in Our Dancing Daughters (1928), which elevated her to star status.
Crawford had cleared the first big hurdle; now came the second, in the form of talkies. Many silent film stars saw their careers evaporate, either because their voices weren't particularly pleasant, or because their voices, though pleasant enough, didn't match the public's expectations (for example, fans felt that John Gilbert's tenor didn't match his very masculine persona).
However Crawford wasn't felled by sound. Her first talkie, Untamed (1929), was a success. As the 1930's progressed, Joan became one of the biggest stars at MGM. She was in top form in films such as Grand Hotel (1932), Sadie McKee (1934), No More Ladies (1935), and Love on the Run (1936); movie patrons were enthralled, and studio executives were satisfied.
By the early 1940's, MGM was no longer giving her plum roles; newcomers had arrived in Hollywood, and the public wanted to see them. Crawford left MGM for rival Warner Bros., and in 1945 she landed the role of a lifetime.
Mildred Pierce (1945) gave her an opportunity to show her range as an actress, and her performance as a woman driven to give her daughter everything garnered Crawford her first, and only, Oscar for Best Actress.
The following year she appeared with John Garfield in the well-received Humoresque (1946). In 1947, she appeared as Louise Graham in Possessed (1947); again she was nominated for a Best Actress from the Academy, but she lost to Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter (1947).
Crawford continued to choose her roles carefully, and in 1952 she was nominated for a third time, for her depiction of Myra Hudson in Sudden Fear (1952). This time the coveted Oscar went to Shirley Booth, for Come Back, Little Sheba (1952).
Crawford's career slowed after that; she appeared in minor roles until 1962, when she and Bette Davis co-starred in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Their longstanding rivalry may have helped fuel their phenomenally vitriolic and well-received performances. Earlier in their careers, Davis said of Crawford:
"She's slept with every male
star at MGM except Lassie."
Crawford said of Davis:
"I don't hate her even though the press
wants me to. I resent her. I don't see how
she built a career out of a set of mannerisms
instead of real acting ability. Take away the
pop eyes, the cigarette, and those funny
clipped words, and what have you got?
She's phony, but I guess the public really
likes that".
Crawford's final appearance on the silver screen - Trog (1970), was in a flop. Turning to vodka more and more, she was hardly seen afterward.
The Death of Joan Crawford
On the 10th. May 1977, Joan died of a heart attack in New York City. She had disinherited her adopted daughter Christina and son Christopher; the former wrote a tell-all book called "Mommie Dearest", published in 1978.
The book cast Crawford in a negative light and was cause for much debate, particularly among her friends and acquaintances, including Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Crawford's first husband.
In 1981, Faye Dunaway starred in Mommie Dearest which did well at the box office.
Crawford is interred in the same mausoleum as fellow MGM star Judy Garland, in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
