Mommie Dearest

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Original book cover

Mommie Dearest is a memoir and exposé written by Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of actress Joan Crawford. The book was published in 1978.

Contents

1 Contents of book
2 Reaction to the book
3 Epilogue
4 Editions
5 See also
6 External links

Contents of book

The book depicts Christina's version of her childhood and her relationship with her mother.

Among Christina Crawford's statements in the book:

Christina contends that she was victim of child abuse during her mother's battle with alcoholism, including sexual abuse that occurred at the hands of one of the women that worked for her mother.
The book suggests that Crawford was more concerned about her motion picture career than the well being of her four children, and suggests she may have adopted them for publicity purposes.
Besides a long list of affairs with men - whom Christina was required to call "uncle", she suggested that her mother was involved in liasions with other women.
Christina recounts several evenings where Crawford's behavior was unbalanced, and at least one encounter with her mother where Crawford physically attacked her. Among some of the incidents that Christina recounts in the book is a tirade that she alleges occurred when her mother was looking in Christina's closet. Crawford discovered some of Christina's clothes hanging on wire hangers, instead of higher-quality hangers, and allegedly launched into a tirade that has become known as the infamous "No wire hangers" moment.

Reaction to the book

The book's publication in 1978 created an enormous amount of attention. Although "tell-all" books regarding celebrities are somewhat commonplace now, Mommie Dearest was the first book of its kind. The book received a great deal of press attention.

Several of Crawford's friends disputed Christina's book. In particular, Myrna Loy, Joan's friend since 1925, became one of her staunchest defenders in the aftermath of the book. Loy said that she had personally observed bad behavior on the part of Christina on numerous occasions, both during her childhood and when she was completely independent of her mother; especially during the Chicago stage production of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park, in which Loy and Christina both appeared. While acknowledging that Joan Crawford was a highly ambitious woman and was an alcoholic for most of her life, critics have also suggested that Christina largely embellished the areas of her story where she had legitimate grievances. The two younger Crawford children, Cindy and Cathy, who grew up in the Crawford household from the late 1940s, have stated categorically many times that they did not witness any events as described in the book, even though they were there, and have distanced themselves from their elder sister. However, when the twins were growing up, Christina and her brother had already been sent away to a boarding school; therefore, they would not have been aware of the majority of abuse the book recounts.

However, other stars such as Betty Hutton have verified some of the stories in Christina's book. Hutton had previously lived near Joan Crawford's Brentwood, California home and has stated that she saw the children during or after various moments of abuse. She would often encourage her own children to play with Christina and Christopher to draw them away from their challenges at home.

Epilogue

The last pages of Christina's book suggest that Christina was not about to let her mother have the "last word" by omitting Christina from her will. Christina appears to have gotten the last word, as Crawford's name has become a byword for parental abuse and cruelty.

Christina Crawford has stood by her story, releasing a "Twentieth Anniversary Edition" with one hundred pages of additional material. The author promoted the republication of the book, which was done with a smaller publishing company, in some unconventional ways, including appearing at campy airings of the film based on the book and appearing at readings with entertainer Lypsinka, who often appears as Joan Crawford in drag.

Editions

Mommie Dearest, Christina Crawford, William Morrow & Co., 1978, ISBN 0688033865, hardcover
Mommie Dearest, Christina Crawford, Seven Springs Press, 1997, ISBN 0966336909, expanded edition, paperback

External links