From her 1930s heyday as a leading MGM box-office draw, to her 1962 performance in the horror classic and cult favorite Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Joan Crawford incarnated, in the words of Henry Fonda, "a star in every sense of the word." The MGM style of star packaging emphasized glamour, and Crawford achieved her luminous appearance through an extensive wardrobe and fastidious presentations of her gleaming, trademark lips, arched eyebrows, sculpted cheek and jaw bones, and perfectly coiffured hair. Crawford herself famously said, "I never go out unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door."

Born Lucille LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas, on March 23, 1904, Crawford embarked on a dancing career when only a teenager. She worked cabarets and travelling musical shows until her discovery in the Broadway revue The Passing Show...