Mommie Dearest Information & Mommie Dearest Links at HealthHaven.com

Mommie Dearest
Author	Christina Crawford
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Memoir
Publisher	William Morrow & Co.
Publication date	October 1978
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	286 pp
ISBN	0688033865
OCLC Number	4114625
Dewey Decimal	791.43/028/0924 B
LC Classification	PN2287.C67C7

For the 1981 movie adaptation, see Mommie Dearest (film)

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

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

Among Christina Crawford's statements in the book:

Christina contends that she was a victim of child abuse during her mother's battle with alcoholism.
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.
Christina contends that her mother had a long list of affairs with men — whom Christina was required to call "Uncle" and rarely "Daddy". She even mentions that she had many affairs with women as well.
Christina recounts several evenings where Crawford's behavior was unbalanced, and at least one encounter with her mother where Crawford attempted to strangle her. Among 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.

[edit] 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 one of the first books of its kind. The book received a great deal of press attention.

Some of Crawford's friends disputed Christina's book. Van Johnson, Ann Blyth and in particular, Myrna Loy, Joan's friend since 1925, became staunch defenders in the aftermath of the book. While acknowledging that Joan Crawford was a highly ambitious woman and was an alcoholic for much of her life, critics have suggested that Christina embellished the areas of her story. Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Crawford's first husband, described the book by stating, "The Joan Crawford that I've heard about in Mommie Dearest is not the Joan Crawford I knew back then." The two younger Crawford children, Cindy and Cathy, born 1947, have stated categorically many times that they did not witness or experience any events as described in the book.

Other stars such as Helen Hayes, June Allyson, and 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. Crawford's best friend, actress Eve Arden, even sided with Christina about Crawford's abilities of being a parent, saying that Crawford suffered from bipolar disorder; a good woman in many ways but, as an alcoholic with a violent temper, simply unfit to be a mother. One celebrity's account of abuse, Shirley Temple, has been seriously questioned, as she states she witnessed the events in 1938, before Crawford had adopted any of her children.

In the book Understanding the Borderline Mother author Christine Ann Lawson suggests that Joan Crawford may have had Borderline personality disorder (BPD) along with an obsessive compulsion with cleanliness.

[edit] Epilogue

The last pages of Christina's book suggest that Christina was not about to let her mother have the "last word" by omitting her daughter from her will.

Christina Crawford has stood by her story, releasing a "30th Anniversary Edition" with one hundred pages of additional material and the omission of about 50 pages of original material — of note, there were a surprising number of typographical errors in this printing.^{[citation needed]} In the second edition, some individuals who were not named in the original edition were named. This second edition focused more on Christina's relationship with her mother from her high school graduation until the 1970s. It also revealed what became of her brother and several incidents involving him. 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 (though she only lectured about the new edition of the book and did not stay for the screening) and appearing at readings with entertainer Lypsinka, who often appears as Joan Crawford in drag.

[edit] Mommie Dearest in popular culture

The book and the phrase has become widely referenced in popular culture, with countless occurences ranging from Absolutely Fabulous to Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

[edit] Editions

Mommie Dearest, Christina Crawford, William Morrow & Co., 1978, ISBN 0-688-03386-5, hardcover
Mommie Dearest, Christina Crawford, Seven Springs Press, 1997, ISBN 0-9663369-0-9, expanded edition, paperback.
The book's 20th Anniversary Edition restored approximately 100-pages previously cut from the original 1978 print. Christina Crawford bought back the book rights.

[edit] References

[edit] External links