Joan Crawford and Christina Crawford

I don't think that little girl is Christina. Joan is wearing her late 1930s hairstyle . Christina would have been an infant or toddler at that time.

ditto to what R1 said.

I wonder who that cute innocent little girl is?

That's right. I don't think Joan Crawford adopted Christina until the 1940's and this photo looks like from the late 1930's.

Photo credit shows 1937. Christina was born in 1939. However, there are sites that list it as her, so confusion is understandable.

Whoever the kid is they look like they're about to bust out into an atrocious Buzby Berkely dance number.

[quote] Buzby Berkely

Oh, dear.

You managed to wipe out on BOTH names, R6. Impressive.

That's her brother Hal's daughter, you nitwit.

The child is Joan Crawford's biological niece. She is the daughter of Hal Lesueur, Joan's brother.

You can see where this little pint-sized harlot gave Joan the idea to adopt Christina.

It's a shame that proper discipline wasn't better appreciated by the world, or by Christina. It's a must in any household. And sometimes, if bad behavior persists, one must seek a more....permanent solution.

@r9, That's interesting, I didn't Joan Crawford had any biological links to anything human

Let me help you, Helen Keller. The uniform tone and matchy mathcy in the photo is CREEPY.

The kid looks terrified

*Bette Davis*

Oops, myself @r11

Go give your Aunt Joanie a kiss and ask her for the check.

[quote] Betty Davis

It's BETTE, you fat whore!

^ Are we a little slow today? See r14

R17 It bears repeating. That mistake is simply inexcusable, R11.

What a dump

^ Speaking of inexcusable, why is there pancake syrup dribbled all down the front of that lovely new caftan you're wearing?

That little girl doesn't have that annoying, ungrateful little brat look that Christina gave off in spades.

Seriously, are there any surviving blood relatives of Joan Crawford still around?

Interesting how the outfit covers every square inch of the child's skin except the face - no risk of revealing any bruises, welts, or burns.

^ Also, notice the little girl only has one arm, Joan bit the other one off

Matching mother-daughter (aunt-niece?) outfits are so insane. They always make me think of the Motherboy event from "Arrested Development," with the matching mother-son outfits.

Psychologically speaking, what does it indicate when an adult insists on dressing their child in a matching outfit? A little bit of narcissism maybe?

^ It was a "Joan thing", you wouldn't understand

R26- I have to tell you something-

Adopted children are luckiest because THEY were chosen.

^ Yeah and the check's in the mail and I'll stop if it hurts

I love that prior to adopting, she posed with random kids in outfits that matched hers. That's so JOAN.

Joan was a model mother

if they only had matching cigarettes.

I couldn't handle the socks.

Kids were part of Joan’s personal PR campaign. Can’t let the kiddies get more/all the attention.

I'm a fan of Diane Arbus. She took that photo of Joanne and Christine.

Was the niece ever seen alive again after that photo shoot?

I love Joan's monogrammed pin. Wearing your initials on clothes and accessories was a big thing back then, apparently.

R34 Who is Joanne?

From a Joan Crawford Facebook group:

JOAN CRAWFORD LESUEUR (aka Joan Lowe) - The niece of actress Joan Crawford (December 2nd, 1933 - December 15th, 1999) Joan Lowe was the only child of Joan's brother, Hal LeSueur. She was christened with the name "Joan Crawford LeSueur" after her famous aunt, though, she was often simply called "Joanie Pants." As a child, she was very close to her aunt Joan, and would often have extended stays at Joan's Brentwood house. After her parents divorced in the late 1930s, her aunt Joan wanted to adopt her as her own. While Hal LeSueur wasn't opposed to this idea, his ex-wife, Kasha, wasn't prepared to give up her child. Shortly afterword, Kasha and little Joan moved to Manhattan, New York with Kasha's new love interest, an older vaudevillian, named Charles ("Uncle Charlie") Lowe, and little Joan assumed the name "Joan Lowe." In New York, Charles and Kasha married and opened a talent and dance studio, where they trained young talent - - one of the most prominent students being actor Elliott Gould. Surrounded by the allure of show business, little Joan took an interest in it, and by the mid 1950s, Joan Lowe had started her own career as a singer/dancer/actress. Joan married writer Bernard Simon in September 1958. The couple later divorced, and Joan married a man named Don Fowler, with whom she would have a son, Scott. Joan Lowe did still maintain communication with her famous aunt, Joan Crawford, and even joined her aunt Joan, and family, on a vacation to Montego Bay, Jamaica for Christmas in 1962. Unfortunately, Joan Lowe's career didn't flourish, and her most notable career role was as a dance extra in the Barbara Streisand play "Funny Girl" in August 1964. (Perhaps it's not a coincidence that Joan Lowe got a role in a Streisand play, and Streisand was newly-married to Charles Lowe's former student Elliott Gould.) Joan Lowe would come to have personal issues in the 60s and 70s, namely with alcoholism. A problem which her mother, Kasha, repeatedly attempted to get corrected. Of her daughter, Kasha stated in an October 1974 letter to her former sister-in-law, Joan Crawford; "There seems to be a deep underlining jealous of both you and me. She once screamed at me that 'we were rocks and she was just a pebble." Joan Lowe passed away in New Jersey on December 15th, 1999, two weeks after her 66th birthday. At the time, she was the closest living blood relative to actress Joan Crawford. Today, that person is Joan Lowe's son, Scott, with whom I have located and interviewed.

Oh shit, sorry about the formatting! I included paragraphs but it didn't post that way!

[quote]Joanie Pants

That's just weird.

Thanks, r38, I had asked the question above if there were any blood relatives of Joan still around and you answered completely. I wonder now about this Scott Lowe and what became of him