Salt Lake Telegram | 1935-09-14 | Page 6 | Tomboy, College Kitchen Slavy-Joan Crawford Tells Own Life Story

Tomboy College Kitchen Slav Slavy Slavy Joan Crawford Tells Own Life Story BY BY BYr BYA r rA A long Ions rough trail is the the road road to screen stardom and fascinatIng fascinating ing lug are arc the life stories of ot actors and actresses who have won their way to the top Several Seve-ral of ot the tho greatest celluloid stars tell of ot th their Jr struggle toward fame writing writ writ- ing the stories of ot their careers in their own wn words A At the moment I feel very much lUto liko the girl in th the film Biography of ot a Bachelor Girl Remember She was asked to o write the story of her life lite and didn't didn t know how to begin You were born weren't you 1 the editor said I sternly Begin with that II I Iwas I was born then in San Antonio in the the fisted two d state of ot Texas You needn't know what year although my birthday is March 23 I was promptly nicknamed Billie h heaven heaven aven av- av en knows why My name was until the screen changed it Lucille Le Lc LeS S eur I 1 remember nothing about San Antonio because we moved to Lawton Lawton Lawton Law- Law ton Okla when I was 6 months old I t was reared there in Ina a ram rambling Ung brown house on ona a tree shaded street I My try father was vas a a theater o operator and it was in his theater that I first deter determined to become a dancer Those Tomboy Days While still in pigtails I I was conder considered con con- der- der derda da a to tomboy bo in in Lawton v because se i 1 play playing ng They Lucy were more imaginative and more enthusiastic about the shows actor w we staged in a big barn behind the house The outstanding memory of my ms childhood is pain painful CuI I was hurryIng hurryIng hurryIng hurry- hurry Ing to play one day when I cut my ray foot deep on a piece of jagged glass Wo We all aU went barefoot in Lawton I barely escaped lockjaw and for a time it seemed that I might never walk correctly again much less dance About a year later we moved to Kansas City I was placed in a con con con- vent I hated it Ilat at first then cameto came cameto to like it I had been there a year when my mother and father sep It was arranged that I should re remain remain remain re- re main in the convent earning my my way in the kitchen and serving atthe at tho the table I think this sort of social than foran for foran foran blow v is harder for Cor a child an adult Worked at C College When I left th the convent about a means of f year later laterI I continued this means getting educated at a private e school then later at Ste Stevens ns college college col col- col lege at Columbia Mo I liked the college I had become accustomed to the work an and carrying trays made me appreciate the occasional dance permitted the g ls Intent i ion on dancing professionally 1 I had won several school cups by this time ime I left college and found a full time job in a 8 Kansas City department department department depart depart- ment store Living with my mother saving every penny possible I managed to o accumulate a small wardrobe I rehearsed ballroom dancing whenever whenever whenever when when- ever I could I was determined to tog too toI g o on the tho stage Finally a theatrical I producer booked me for a show in i middle west It must have looked pretty tawdry to a dance wise audience but it was wasa a a. new life for me In time I found myself in Detroit always always' York you see dancing in the chorus of a rather go good d cafe Chance in New Y York orle Fortunately a Broadway producer producer pro pro- ducer in town to tryout try out Innocent Eyes a new show was a patron one night When Innocent Eyes opened in in New York I was with it itan an an anonymous pony in the back line inc Soon I was in the front line then earning extra money by doubling in a night club after the show I was lonely though and about to visit my mother in Kansas City again when Harry an M M-G-M executive offered me a screen test The result was a contract not of course as' as an important player but butas buts buta as s a girl capable of dancing and nd playing bits The rest is a long story chronologically chronologically chrono- chrono logically a saga of hard work excitement ex ex- cit ment mo more e hard work and more elation It closes with the picture finished just the other day titled I III Live My Life directed by W. W S. S Van S. Van Dyke and with Brian Aherne gracing what we we call the male lead I Ive I've ve decided its it's R a good idea to put ones one's life lite on paper I realize again I have a good deal to be grateful for and I am grateful Report or ru rumor or notwithstanding I genuinely like the motion picture business r Il Z 0 r I 1 i j iJ i z 28 4 r f I 1 A Jo Joan n Crawford I