I have recently been searching throughout the media and the internet for all information and opinions related to actress
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deem_bastille — 11 years ago(July 23, 2014 04:15 PM)
Betty Hutton,
Helen Hayes,
James MacArthur (Hayes' son),
June Allyson,
Liz Smith,
Rex Reed,
and Vincent Sherman
stated that they had witnessed some form of abuse.
Joan Crawford's secretary, Jeri Binder Smith, confirmed Christina's account.
and apparently joan was so distraught she haunted Lorenzo llamas and pleaded with him to clear her name!!
OH THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU SO
BLOODY
MUCH!!! Basil Fawlty -
molly-31 — 14 years ago(March 10, 2012 10:08 PM)
I believed it the minute I heard it, long before the book came out, and I will never change my mind.
Also, if Joan insulted the Chadwick authorities half as bad as the book and film had it, no wonder Tina couldn't go back.
You want sausage? I've got sausage, too. -
the_daria — 13 years ago(April 17, 2012 05:10 PM)
I remember seeing "Mommie Dearest" years ago, and I did believe Christina then. But now, I
know
that Christina was telling the truth about her mother's abuse.
I was just watching an episode of "The Will: Family Secrets Revealed" which focuses on Joan Crawford and her children, and it sent a chill down my spine when they discussed that Christopher had to be strapped to his bed not because he had a problem with sleepwalking, but because he would try to run away from home even as a very small child. It reminded me of something my ex once said: his mother (my former mother-in-law) would use the sofa to block the front door in their apartment because he kept trying to run away to his grandparents house as his father was extremely abusive. My ex was about two or three years old at that point.
Another detail I noticed is that Christina and Christopher both endured a lot of abuse from Joan, but their younger twin sisters did not. My ex was the oldest child in his family and endured most of his fathers abuse, but his youngest siblings are spoiled by their father. So, this kind of behavior pattern is not unheard of. It also sounded like the twins didnt see much of Christina or Christopher when they were growing up either, so I wouldnt doubt that they would have different kinds of relationships with their mother.
You can't take the sky from me. -
tzogas — 10 years ago(May 10, 2015 10:31 PM)
the_daria - I recognize the behavior you are describing - it's called "selective abuse", and it is the reason why people sometimes get confused about why one child may report/show signs of abuse, while the other child(ren) seem fine, even adored.
Have an A1 day -
Siriry — 9 years ago(April 04, 2016 12:29 AM)
That was the way it was with my mother, she was horribly abused physically, emotionally and mentally by her mother. My mother's younger sister though was never abused.
Siri
Don't Make Me Have to Release the Flying Monkeys! -
d-s-wallner — 13 years ago(April 29, 2012 03:18 PM)
Christina Crawford is on youtube - everybody can check for himself, if he thinks she is credible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znbLxQLmXt0 -
rabbyt1 — 13 years ago(May 05, 2012 04:25 PM)
Of course she's telling the truth, her younger sisters were TEN years younger, and she was obviously nicer to the younger ones, she didn't want to screw up four kids, two was enough. She definitely treated them badly. I've seen older children treated like dirt and younger children treated like royalty, people just always want to think the best of people. WHY on earth would someone want to admit their mother was a psycho who beat them and made their lives miserable?
And I know people say "oh people who have been abused can't joke about it later" Uh, YES they can. It's called moving forward. -
cookiela2001 — 13 years ago(June 14, 2012 11:47 AM)
<< Of course she's telling the truth, her younger sisters were TEN years younger, and she was obviously nicer to the younger ones, she didn't want to screw up four kids, two was enough. >>
The twins were more mild mannered and subservient than the two elder childrenwho also went through tougher times with Crawford, when her nerves were frayed from career and romantic ups and downs.
Still, the weird thing about the twins is, when Crawford built her "dream home" in NYC with Al Steele, THERE WERE NO ROOMS FOR THE CHILDREN. The twins were still at boarding school, and were put in a nearby hotel with a nanny when they visited Mommie. Crawford had elaborate dressing rooms and closets built in the new place, with huge rooms and soaring ceilings, but not even one little bedroom for those two young daughters to share.
Sad. -
solex10 — 10 years ago(August 20, 2015 06:46 PM)
This shows more than ever that Crawford was mentally fracked up, and should have not been raising kids at all. It's a tragedy that she was not investigated, and her children taken away from her, as almost happened (IIRC) to Rita Hayworth during her marriage to Dick Haymes.
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rixrex — 13 years ago(May 07, 2012 11:34 PM)
Anyone with even a little bit of studying of personality types and disorders could easily see that Joan Crawford was an insecure narcissist, not unlike some other actors and actresses. For Joan, her children were supposed to behave like her legion of fans with unquestioning adorationm but they made the mistake of being mere children.
Nicely fitting that Joan ended up playing weirdos in B movies later on. My favorite Joan Crawford portrayal is in the original I Saw What You Did, where John Ireland gets to take care of her in a manner she deserves.
The Eyes of the City are Mine!
Mother Pressman / Anguish (1987) -
claudja777 — 12 years ago(July 23, 2013 01:09 PM)
shw was a psycho,but
I don t think she did anything of what she did on purpose
she sent em on boarding school cause she thought it was for the best
and all that crazy moves was because she was obsessed with having her children not becoming retarded spoiled brat.Crawford had a brother who was living on her money and that never achieved anything in hollywood even if joan gave him a part in all her movies and more.couldn t even become an extra.she was sure that people's life could lead to something only through sofference cause that's what happened to her.She always felt that the only reason she achieved something is because of all the effortn she put even on littlest thing.she was all about fights over fights and how she said, she never could enjoy really her success.Never felt "arrived".this is a woman who spent months in wirting personal answer to her fans. -
larkpraise — 12 years ago(November 18, 2013 10:11 PM)
Of course Christina was telling the truth. The truth doesn't negate that some of Crawford's films are entertaining and that she was a better actress than given credit for. That's why she was such a phony and people believed her when she said horrible things about Christina and Christopher.
Barack Obama IS DESTROYING AMERICA!! -
SilverStormm — 12 years ago(December 27, 2013 06:06 PM)
It is well known behaviour of a narcissistic parent that they usually make 1 or more of their children the 'scapegoat(s)', the ones who can do nothing right and the other child/children are the 'golden child' types who can do no wrong. This way the parent creates a divide between the children and sets up a situation where the children will never unite against them.
That the twins deny any cruel behaviour toward the eldest 2 means little - there could be 2 reasons for this:
a. the age gap was large enough so the eldest 2 were away by the time the twins would have been old enough to be aware of events around them etc etc
but more importantly
b. 'golden' children have learned to always seek the narcissists approval, always to be perfect (which in itself must be exhausting) and never ever to go against the parent, sometimes to the point of becoming said parents 'informer', justifying and sometimes even encouraging any punishment meted out to the 'scapegoat' child/ren. Knowing that this will reinforce parental approval and also ensuring that they themselves never fall victim to the wrath of the parent.
I obviously can't say that the twins ever behaved as in part b. above but you can see by this example that in the family of a narcissist some children would deny that their parent ever behaved badly toward their siblings simply because they spent their whole lives 'brainwashed' into believing that their siblings either 'deserved it' and/or to admit the parent was at fault in anyway is totally unthinkable to them.
I feel sorry for all children with a parent such as that.