[20th Century Photographer] — Joan Crawford

London: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, [Ca. 1930s]. Original B&W sepia-toned photograph issued as a postcard. 5.5 x 3.5 inches. Very Good+. Printed on verso: The "Milton" Post Card, Printed in England. Signed in the plate. Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? - May 10, 1977) was an American film and television actress who began her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting as a chorus girl on Broadway. Crawford then signed a motion picture contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925; her career spanned six decades, multiple studios, and controversies. At different stages of her career, she was noted for her diverse roles playing sympathetic and unsympathetic characters, and for realistic yet multi-layered performances. Her films ranged in genres from contemporary crime, melodramas, film noir, several historical costume dramas, romances, mysteries, musicals, suspense, horror, to three westerns and over a dozen comedies. Regardless, her greater successes and perhaps most memorable performances were in romantic dramas and melodramas. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Crawford tenth on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema. .