Joan, Christina, & Mommie Dearest

[Snarky Oracle!]

Wasn't H.L. Hunt the oilman who inspired the character of J.R. Ewing?

Apparently. And Larry Hagman played Jack Jones, a composite character oil banker, at the Murchison party in Oliver Stone's NIXON movie.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

 

[Crimson]

Dunaway has often expressed a self-pitying resentment of the impact MOMMIE DEAREST had on her career, but has she ever expressed any regret towards what a hatchet job she did on Joan (especially considering that Joan spoke highly of her)?

Crawford probably deserved whatever damage was done to her image from Christina's allegations, but it wasn't the book the all-but destroyed Joan's memory. It was the film -- exaggerated and not even particularly accurate to Christina's claims -- that wrecked Joan, in large part due to Dunaway's monstrous performance. (And I'll pause for a moment to consider the gross irony of a woman who was a dutiful adherent of Hollywood for decades being so thoroughly trashed by it.)

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

but has she ever expressed any regret towards what a hatchet job she did on Joan

Oh, yes, she has been very critical of how the book and movie trashed Joan, as if she wasn't the willing participant she was.

 

[ClassyCo]

 

[ClassyCo]

I just initiated natural gas service (through my job at city hall) for a man named Christopher Crawford.

Did I just come face to face with Joan's son and Christina's brother?

Nah, he wasn't the right age. This gentleman I waited on was born in 1952, unless he shaved a few years off his age like Mommie Dearest did.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I just initiated natural gas service (through my job at city hall) for a man named Christopher Crawford.

Did I just come face to face with Joan's son and Christina's brother?

Nah, he wasn't the right age. This gentleman I waited on was born in 1952, unless he shaved a few years off his age like Mommie Dearest did.

Christopher, who backed Christina's story, died a few years ago.

He apparently never spoke to Joan again after he presented his firstborn child to Grandmommie Dearest herself in 1962, who reminded her adoptive son that she had no bloodline connection to the child by saying, "Well, he looks like a bastard to me!"

For the record, last year I had a plumber who worked on my shower, and his named was "Anthony Perkins."

I've never felt quite right since. I mean, is hygiene really all that important??

 

[Jimmy Todd]

So many stories about Joan and her children. One story I read was the past time Joan saw Christopher he spit in her face. Another was the last time he saw her he visited her at her NY apartment with his wife and baby. After ringing for her she said she'd be right down, but never showed, keeping them waiting.

 

[DallasFanForever]

So many stories about Joan and her children

Yet the other two children she adopted (their names escaping me now) have always claimed she was the greatest mother you can ever ask for and their experiences seemed entirely different than Christina & Christopher’s. Go figure.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Yet the other two children she adopted (their names escaping me now) have always claimed she was the greatest mother you can ever ask for and their experiences seemed entirely different than Christina & Christopher’s. Go figure.

First of all, the twins -- Cathy & Cindy -- came along a bit later and were privy to little that went on with Christina & Christopher; the girls were shipped off to boarding schools much more quickly, and benign Albert Steele was in the picture pretty soon.

Also, it has to be said, if you've ever seen the twins in a rare interview, that they were a bit on the pathetic side --- one got the impression they had serious self-esteem issues (which might've come from anywhere). Christina asserted that they weren't really twins (a story she got from Joan herself) but legal things came up, and Christina, rightly or wrongly, was slapped down.

Joan also adopted a fifth child who was shipped back before the warranty expired.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Joan also adopted a fifth child who was shipped back before the warranty expired

Never knew about the fifth child! From the interviews I’ve seen of “the twins” over the years it sounds like they grew up in an entirely different house than the other two. Like you say they did come along much later in life so maybe their experiences were much different overall. I’ve heard them say that Joan mellowed a lot as she got older.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Never knew about the fifth child! From the interviews I’ve seen of “the twins” over the years it sounds like they grew up in an entirely different house than the other two. Like you say they did come along much later in life so maybe their experiences were much different overall. I’ve heard them say that Joan mellowed a lot as she got older.

Actually, Joan herself said in the '70s she'd "mellowed" -- a huge concession from Mommie Dearest!

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It's been years since I've read the book and I believe Christina has revised it in recent years -- both adding and removing material -- so I don't know if her account has changed

Christina later hints that Joan may have been complicit in Alfred Steele falling down the steps to his death, and that she was a peripheral player in the Kennedy Assassination.

I just tend to accept both assertions on face value.

Joan, Christina, & Mommie Dearest

Oh, I know this has been discussed here before, so please don't skin me at the stakes, but this is a topic that's been batting around in my head almost all week. Ever since Mommie Dearest was published in the late seventies, it has blurred Joan's reputation. Her name cannot be mentioned...

www.tellytalk.net

"We're going to kill your ass on Friday, sugar...."

 

[DallasFanForever]

Christina later hints that Joan may have been complicit in Alfred Steele falling down the steps to his death

I remember the interview with Larry King where she talked about this. I had never heard Christina mention this before and it was quite jarring. I think she claimed Alfred was not a sick man to her knowledge so she had a difficult time believing a heart attack as being the cause of death. Wasn’t she inferring that Joan had accidentally pushed him down the stairs during an argument or something like that? Personally I’d like to believe it’s not true.



“I’m so sorry Paley (Joan)! I thought using wire hangers for my suits was okay? Let me take these downstairs right now and get rid of them for you. Can I bring you back a cola?”

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I remember the interview with Larry King where she talked about this. I had never heard Christina mention this before and it was quite jarring. I think she claimed Alfred was not a sick man to her knowledge so she had a difficult time believing a heart attack as being the cause of death. Wasn’t she inferring that Joan had accidentally pushed him down the stairs during an argument or something like that? Personally I’d like to believe it’s not true.

"Accident"?? Every true diva must kill a partner; otherwise, her ticket to hell hasn't been generated and her earthly success will not continue flowing.

Bette knew it. Crawford knew it. Lana knew it... Don't tell Joan Collins (but she's a dilletante anyway).

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Has anyone heard of/listened to the podcast "Six Degrees of Joan Crawford "? The last episode is about that movie and the book. Very interesting.

 

[Crimson]

Major Motion Problems podcast most recent episode is about MOMMIE DEAREST and CHARIOTS OF FIRE. Seemed like an odd combo, but the podcast's theme is discussing the Best (Oscar) and Worst (Razzie) winner of a particular year. I've only heard a few snippets, so I don't know if it's worth a listen.