Joan Crawford's Acting Credentials: Awards and Highlights of Her Storied Career

Joan Crawford was nominated for 15 awards during her career that spanned over 50 years, winning nine. And this leading lady knew how to make a show at the awards shows – during the Oscars in 1962, her co-star Bette Davis was up for Best Actress and Crawford managed to steal the show by campaigning to accept the Oscar on behalf of one of the other Best Actress nominations should they beat out Davis.

Anne Bancroft did, in fact, win over Davis, and Crawford was there to accept the award on her behalf – essentially stealing the spotlight from Davis.

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Here's a look at some of Crawford’s most notable awards:

Academy Awards

Crawford’s singular Oscar win was for her classic film, “Mildred Pierce.” In dramatic Crawford fashion, she was apparently sick in bed during the ceremony, but when her name was announced as the winner, she rushed the press into her bedroom to accept the award. The next day, her photo was everywhere, perturbing some of the actresses that had actually been in attendance.

As Vanity Fair (among other publications) speculated, “As Hollywood Legend has it, Joan Crawford feigned illness before the 1946 Academy Award ceremony ... Crawford believed that Ingrid Bergman would win the Oscar for “The Bells of St. Mary’s” and did not want to be present for the loss. After discovering that she had won, however, she reportedly applied her makeup and invited members of the press into her bedroom as she accepted her statuette in bed.” Crawford was also nominated for Best Actress for “Possessed” and “Sudden Fear” (1953) by the Academy.

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Golden Globes

Crawford was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in “Sudden Fear,” but she won the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1970, which acknowledged her lifetime achievements in entertainment that had spanned five decades.

Other Awards

On Feb. 8, 1960, Crawford earned her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1752 Vine Street. She also won best actress by the New York Film Critics Circle for “Mildred Pierce” and won a Golden Laurel for 1953’s “Sudden Fear.”

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