Mildred "Fierce"

The shoulder pads, as if she’d mugged a linebacker. The thick eyebrows, which resembled two comatose caterpillars. The damning charges, in a memoir and a movie, accusing her of being an abusive mother, obsessed with wire hangers.

Joan Crawford may have died 50 years ago, but her legend lives on in the minds of classic film fans. In the 1920s, she emerged from a Dickensian childhood to become a Charleston-dancing flapper. In the 1930s, she was one of MGM’s top female stars, sharing the spotlight – and competing for the best scripts -- with Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer. But in 1943, pushing 40 and labeled “Box-Office Poison” by a trade publication, Crawford’s reign came to an abrupt halt...though the best was yet to come.

Two days after driving off the MGM lot, Crawford rebooted her career by signing a deal with Warner Bros. Sounds like a lucky break, right? Unless you learn that Crawford’s new boss, studio chief Jack. L. Warner, contracted her services for 1/3 of her former salary, and didn’t even bother to greet Crawford on her first day at work. In fact, Warner grumbled, “I’ve got better things to do than say ‘Hello’ to that dame. We’re only using her because Barbara Stanwyck's too busy.”

Knowing she needed to choose her comeback role with great care, Crawford sat on the bench for two years, making only a cameo appearance playing herself in the rah-rah wartime musical, Hollywood Canteen. At long last, Crawford went after the lead in Mildred Pierce, based on the scorching novel by best-selling writer James M. Cain. Too bad Jack Warner and director Michael Curtiz didn’t want Crawford – or as Curtiz rudely complained, “Why should I waste my time directing that has-been?”

Undaunted, Crawford did the unthinkable: She shot a screen test for the part, a humiliating experience for a superstar of her stature. And it gets worse. At Crawford’s wardrobe test, she recalled, “Curtiz took one look at me and snarled, ‘You and your damn shoulder pads! Then he ripped my dress from my neckline to my hemline and stared at me in shock. I said, ‘I’m not wearing any shoulder pads’ and burst into tears. He strode off in total embarrassment. We got along pretty well after that.”

(In Roget’s Thesaurus, Crawford should be synonymous with “pit bull.")

Once she got the gig, Crawford worked tirelessly to ensure Mildred Pierce would become a blockbuster. She personally coached 16-year-old Ann Blyth on how to play Mildred’s duplicitous daughter Veda – even going so far as appearing in Ann’s screen test. Contrary to the shocking portrayal of Crawford in her daughter’s tell-all book Mommie Dearest, Ann called Crawford "the kindest, most helpful human being I've ever worked with.”

In the end, the movie didn’t just resurrect Joan Crawford’s career. It earned half of Warner Bros. total profits in 1945 (not bad for a “has-been”)! Mildred also notched six Oscar nominations, but guess who scored the flick’s only trophy? “Comeback Kid” Joan Crawford.

And talk about a Best Performance by an Actress: Terrified of a humiliating loss, Crawford called in “sick” on Oscar night. However, after the radio broadcast Crawford’s win, she “miraculously” recovered, and reporters swarmed her mansion to capture her triumph. The next morning, other Oscar winners had to settle for group photos backstage, but Miss Crawford? She dominated the front pages of national newspapers with pics of her in bed, wearing glamorous lingerie, with perfect hair and makeup, clutching her coveted award.