I have to first say that I absolutely love the Golden Age of Hollywood, and anything to do with it. I will also tell you that I do not watch the films of today, since I feel that everything is either a cartoon or a remake (just my own personal opinion). Actors back then were true stars, while today they are just actors. And there is a difference...

Saying that, I will also admit that I have thousands of movies from the silent age on up, and hundreds of biographies and autobiographies of actors, studios, directors, etc. So, when this book was offered to me, I naturally jumped at the chance to read it. I will also tell you that I have read biographies of Joan Crawford that have been stinkers. I am not one to hold back nor lie; because the truth is paramount above all.

Therefore, when I tell you that Scott Eyman is one of the foremost authors of Golden Age Hollywood, you can believe it. He has never disappointed me, and I grab his books as soon as they are published. He is a fair (meaning honest) writer of his subjects.

Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face is an interesting tome that takes us back to the beginnings of Miss Crawford, back when she was Lucille LeSueur, and Billie Cassin. We learn that she grew up in near poverty, and worked her way to where she wound up: a true Hollywood star. This book taught me that while some thought her cruel and selfish, she was neither of those things. She was a woman who was looking for approval, love, and above all, security.

She never made the studios wait; she was always on time, knew her lines, and while some may not appreciate all her films, they tell a story: the story of Billie, who changed from poor girl who wants to be loved, to a woman who can do it on her own independently. Watching her films, you see this. Yet it was never the same in her real life.

Joan Crawford was married four times, and I have read much on those marriages, which I will not go into detail here. She had four adopted children, of which most know, but I will tell you that in my humble opinion, Christina Crawford's depiction of Joan is fiction. A bitter daughter who wanted revenge for what she thought was unfair, and I find it interesting that the book was not published until Joan passed away.

Except for a few, most people loved her. Joan was always 'on stage' when she was out and about, being Joan Crawford, the star. In real life, she was a tiny woman with red hair and freckles. She loved to cook (we have that in common) and did so for her friends. She always needed a place for everything, and almost single-handedly gave the late actor-turned-decorator William Haines a new career. She never failed her friends.

Reading this book made me have a new appreciation for Joan. I have a habit of watching films with the actor/director, etc. I am reading about, and while reading this book I watched Possessed (with Robert Montgomery); The Women; and Humoresque. These films allowed me to see the change in Miss Crawford throughout the years, and examine her acting, which, being who I am, I always do. It also gives me insight into the person.

But the greatest insight came from Mr. Eyman's extensive research and interviews. He leaves nothing to chance. The bibliography is massive; he has definitely done his homework, which he does on all his books. We get who Joan Crawford was an an actress; a star, and a person. Three different people rolled into one. Many of her friendships were lifelong, and it was because they stood by each other, in bad times and good.

I will not go into her "feuds" with other actresses; you will have to read the book to discover that. I won't go into how she raised her children, or why her marriages failed. This is more than I have space for in this review, and I will tell you in the end that Joan Crawford created herself. She became what she wanted the world to see; and few were allowed to see who she truly was.

When I finished Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face, I will tell you that it took me a couple of days of thinking about the book before I reviewed it. It is because this book spoke to me, and I needed time to take it all in. Certain books have this effect on me, but this one is exceptionally good, and I will definitely purchase it when it comes out in November. It's a must-read for anyone who loves classic movies and actors as much as I do, and for those who want to discover more. Highly recommended.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

This is an excellent, inclusive, well-written biography of Joan Crawford. I have read at least three ithers, and this was the best by far.

A wonderful biography that I will highly recommend.
I learned so much about Joan Crawford’s life and film career.

The book offers nothing new on Crawford. The crime in this book is that there were no pictures. How can you write about a movie star and not have pictures. I had the Kindle version and maybe the paper copy was different. But I can't recommend the Kindle version for that reason.

I received a copy of the book "Joan Crawford" by Scott Eyman, from NetGalley. The book writes about Joan Crawford from her birth when her name was Lucille to her death in the 1970s. She did not have the happiest of childhood's. Her father left the family when she was a young child. she was not close to her family. She started out as a dancer, but not a great one. She eventually got cast in movies slowly working her way up to more roles.
The author writes of her many marriages, Finally her happiest when she married A steele. she adopted four children,
She could be demanding as a movie star. the author writes of the good and bad of Joan Crawford's career. I found this to be a good book about the actress. I think the author tries to be fair about Joan Crawford's life. He states the facts but not smearing her life. I liked the book.

Not very well researched - if you’ve read Joan Crawford’s autobiography you already know all these stories. The author doesn’t even probe to see if they are true or not. Crawford’s autobiography is still in print and a bargain on Kindle. I recommend reading that instead.

This is an extremely thorough book if you want every detail of Crawford's life and her movies, especially if you want them in a very positive light. It's rather hard to paint Crawford in an especially positive light and be anywhere near accurate because even her friends would tell you she had serious, massive flaws but this book does it well.

Eyman relies heavily on what others wrote in their memoirs about Crawford and somewhat on what her grandson (who adored her and was a child of one of the favored children). Even relying mostly on just the positive stories and quotes, the book is rife with inconsistencies because it's all hearsay by people who each saw what Crawford wanted them to see. There are countless stories about her lifelong, daily, heavy drinking, and then Eyman says that one of the twins said that she "only sipped" liquor and was never drunk. That's just ludicrous when we've just read hundreds of pages of stories by even those who loved her about her dependence on massive amounts of alcohol on a daily basis. Eyman says at one point that Crawford didn't believe in the afterlife and had always eschewed religion, yet at the end of the book we hear again and again about what a devout Christian Scientist she was.

The problem is that Crawford created a different persona for everyone and everything in her life. Even her children got dramatically different mothers. The oldest two got abuse (no two ways about it) and the youngest twins got a totally different version of their mother because she had sent the oldest two away (Christopher to military school and Christina to a convent school) and then she married an incredibly kind man who brought her happiness for the first time -- and she stopped acting during their youth.

And this brings me to my biggest issue with this book. Eyman chooses who to believe and he discounts any hint of abuse even when he acknowledges behavior that is CLEARLY ABUSIVE. He tells us that Crawford had the maids tie Christopher to his bed (hands and feet) every night of his childhood from the time he was young until at least the age of sleepovers (a terrified friend was worried she'd be tied up too but Christopher reassured her it would just be him and showed her after the maid left that he had learned how to slip out of the restraints). Supposedly Crawford told a friend (whom she showed the tied up child to when he was 4 or 5 as if it were perfectly normal) that she did it because he sucked his thumb and "threw off the covers." For years??? WTF, dude. That is not good mothering.

Christopher ran away again and again throughout his childhood, starting at only 4 or 5. That is not the sign of a happy child. In adulthood, he was injured and scarred from serving in Vietnam, badly injured doing hard labor jobs, and worked for very little money. Yet Crawford never helped him. When he introduced her to his young wife and newborn, she told them the baby didn't look like either of them and "must be a bastard." She wouldn't even accept a call from him when he called a few months before she died. And this is the stuff Eyman accepts and passes on as if it's just interesting. He seems to think this just shows that Crawford was tough and valued hard work.

He also quotes the twins and Crawford's friends to "prove" that Christina made up everything in "Mommie Dearest." This is the other thing that really made me livid as a reader. I was a domestic violence advocate and my aunt was murdered by her abusive fiance (who was viewed as Mr. Perfect by everyone in the community). I have a lot of experience with abusers. They don't abuse everyone in their lives and they don't walk around wearing signs in public to prove they are abusers (although Crawford practically did at times and still gets a pass here). Just because her youngest children, her good friends and her grandson had good experiences with her does not mean that her oldest children and many others did not truly live through what they said they lived through. Abusers can be charming. Abusive people can have tragic back stories and still be abusive people. People are multi-layered and complicated.

I came away from this book with a detailed idea of Crawford's career and early years. I did ultimately feel sorry for her (especially in old age) but I don't hold the same opinion of her that Eyman has. She was incredibly hard working in an era where work ethic was revered. But she was only kind when it served her. She was a much better mother to her dogs than to at least half of her children, and I kind of agree with Jackie Kennedy -- "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."

I would recommend reading this book with her daughter's and then averaging them out for probably the best view of who Crawford was, but really I don't think anyone will ever truly know her. She played parts, and she did it well.

I read an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

Fantastic well told biography. Another hit for Eyman. He captures Crawford - makes her appeal understandable. Just the right amount of film and acting analysis mixed with loads of good stories /gossip. No one does this better. Just fascinating - covering the whole of Crawford’s life ithe book explains how she became what she became. It’s a great story. Highly recommended.

I had mixed feelings about this book. It was interesting for sure and well written. But I felt it elided over some of the more troubling aspects of a very damaged person—particularly her relationships with her children — and some of her extremely aggressive sexual behavior. The book rightly highlights Crawford’s professional achievements as well as her loneliness and over-the-top generosity . I was also surprised by how intelligent she seems. Ultimately, the book concludes with a portrait of an individual with a disturbing lack of a stable center.

This book is a classic written about a classic. Everyone should read it. Well done. Anyone who enjoys reading about film history will love this book.

A well-written biography of Joan Crawford joins the stable of books produced by Scott Eyman. He understands the Hollywood Golden Age with a kind eye toward the circumstances that formed the people. He's also neutral, giving a fair view. If your only knowledge of Joan Crawford is a few of her movies and the cruelties of "Mommie Dearest," this will give you a more balanced view.

This book also has a clean well-written style with few, if any, noticeable typos.

Crawford had her difficulties, and this was not unusual in the leading actresses of the era. For that matter, things probably are the same today. The nice are nice, and the others are hell to work with. Sometimes both personalities in the same day. This biography gives you a chance to know the actress as a hard-working professional who did good movies.