​​​The Joan Crawford Chronicle

1970​​


Early January:
Joan has lunch with Audrey Davenport Inman at Cafe Chauveron. During lunch, Joan discusses the autobiography she is writing. ​Inman would later co-write Joan's 1971 autobiography "My Way of Life."

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​​January 4: WNEW-TV Channel 5 in New York City hosts a month-long "Sunday Night Joan Crawford Theater" film festival which starts at 7:00 pm each Sunday in January. The festival begins with he film "Mildred Pierce" on January 4th.

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January 6: Joan attends the Millinery Institute's spring fashion show. During the show, a model unexpectedly leaves and Joan volunteers, from her seat in the audience, to take the model's place, asking "Do you want me to come and help?"

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January 16 (#1): Joan and director Robert Gist appear on "The David Frost Show" to promote Joan's appearance on the television show "The Virginian.During the show, Joan talks about her marriage to Alfred Steele, Pepsi-Cola, winning an Academy Award and recites the poem Desiderata. Also during the show, Joan reveals she had just fired her hairdresser prior to the show's taping for being late for the fifth time, which results in Joan wearing a turban for her appearance on the show.​ In preparation for her appearance, Joan furnished the entire crew of "The David Frost Show" with cases of Pepsi-Cola.​

January 16 (#2): Joan films an appearance on the television talk show "The Merv Griffin Show."​ For her appearance, Joan is paid $265.

Mid-January: Joan travels to Sao Paulo, Brazil to attend the dedication ceremony of a new Pepsi-Cola bottling plant. During her visit, Joan stays at the Othon Palace Hotel.

January 21 (#1): Joan attends a press conference in Sau Paulo, Brazil. ​​

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January 21 (#2): Joan appears on the television show "The Virginian," portraying the character "Stephanie White" in the episode "Nightmare."

February 2: Joan attends the 27th annual Golden Globe Awards, which is presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The ceremony is held at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. During the ceremony John Wayne presents Joan with the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

February 8: Joan attends a party at Raffles in New York City. The party is given by Earl Blackwell in honor of recently Knighted Noel Coward. Other guests at the party include; Ethel Merman, Celeste Holm, Myrna Loy, Anita Loos, Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant, Doug Fairbanks Jr, Elaine Stritch, Jack Cassidy and Shirley Booth.

February 15: Joan hosts a party at the 21 Club in Manhattan, New York in honor of the Knighting of Noel Coward.​​

February 22: Joan represents Pepsi-Cola at the International Speedway Races, which are held in Daytona Beach, Florida.

February 23: Joan travels from Daytona Beach, Florida to New York City.

February 24: Joan hosts a party in honor of Noel Coward at 21 in New York City. The party serves as a farewell to Coward before he leaves for Jamaica.

March: Joan is named "one of the top ten outstanding women in business" via a poll of 575 business and financial editors.

March 2: Joan attends a luncheon in honor of Helen Hayes' 65 years on the stage. At the luncheon, Hayes is presented with a plague by New York senator Charles E. Goodell. Other guests at the luncheon include; James Stewart, Carol Channing, producer Ross Hunter, Maureen Stapleton and Phyllis Diller.

April: Mississippi NAACP president Aaron Henry calls for all citizens of Mississippi to protest against Joan Crawford. Henry refers to Joan as the "czar inheiritress of Pepsi-Cola." ​This protest is in relation to Henry's scheduled May 19th picketing of Mississippi Attorney General John N. Mitchell's speech to the Delta Council, which Henry branded a "segregationist, racist" organization.​ 
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Joan's involvement stem solely by her connection to Pepsi-Cola. Attorney General Mitchell had ties to Pepsi-Cola via his business partnerships with Pepsi-Cola president Donald Kendell, and then-president Richard Nixon (whom had previously served as legal counsel for Pepsi-Cola).​​
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April 2: Joan attends a Pepsi-Cola public-relations function to help launch Pepsi-Cola's new plastic bottles.

April 19: Joan attends a party in New York City, which is hosted by ​​Morton Frank, the president of Family Weekly newspaper.

April 28: Joan records an appearance for the television talk show "The Merv Griffin Show."​​ For her appearance, Joan is paid $265.

May: Joan signs her contract to star in the film "Jenny By Nature," which is scheduled to begin filming in August 1970. The film is later delayed and ultimately canceled.

May 13: Joan visits Stephans College in Columbia, Missouri. Joan gives a speech in the Windsor Auditorium, which begins at 2:30 pm. During her speech, Joan reminisces to the assembly about her short enrollment at the college and her life and career. 

May 14: Joan arrives in Sedalia, Missouri at 11:00 am to attend the dedication ceremony of a new Pepsi-Cola bottling plant on May 16th. During her visit, Joan stays at the Holiday Inn motel. Beginning at 1:00 pm, Joan co-hostess a tea in the banquet room at the Holiday Inn motel. ​

May 15: Joan holds a press conference from 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm at the Sedalia, Missouri Holiday Inn motel.​​ Later, Joan attends a cocktail party from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, which hosted by the Sedalia Pepsi-Cola plant manager Julian H. Bagby, and his wife. ​

May 16: Joan attends the dedication ceremony of the new Pepsi-Cola bottling plant in Sedalia, Missouri. ​​The dedication ceremony begins at 10:00 am, followed by an open house celebration to the public from 11:30 am - 4:00 pm.

May 19: Joan canceled a previous request to be a special guest at the Delta Council meeting ​​in Indianola, Mississippi on this day due to "business engagements in Europe."

May 21: Joan is awarded the "Marketing Woman of The Decade" award. Joan is given the award for her "distinguished achievement in the science of marketing."​​ ​The ceremony is held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

May 28: Joan travels to Copenhagen, Denmark to the dedication ceremony of a new Pepsi-Cola bottling plant. Follwoing the ceremony, Joan travels to Paris, France, with her returning to the United States via the S.S. France.

June: Joan travels to ​​Puerto Rico, Brazil on a Pepsi-Cola business trip.

June: ​Joan travels to four cities in Missouri, and to Erie, Pennsylvania on Pepsi-Cola business trips.

June: Joan is inducted as a member of the TV Academy's board of governors.

June 24: Joan attends the "Miss Venus Beauty Pageant.​"

June 29: Joan is interviewed, via telephone, by Tom Pryor​

July: It's reported that Joan is slated to be a guest star on the television shows "Matt Lincoln" and "The Men From Shiloh" ​​​in the fall of 1970.

Early July: Joan travels to Los Angeles, California.​​

Late-July: Joan attends photograph sessions in her apartment for her book "My Point of View," which is later re-titled "My Way of Life."​

August: Joan entertains Russian singer Ivan Rebroff while he is in New York for a concert.

Early August: Joan signs her contract to be a guest star on the CBS television show "The Tim Conway Comedy Hour." Joan appears on the show's season premiere episode. 

August 12: Joan arrives at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joan is in Minneapolis to attend Dayton's department store's "Festival of Old Films."

August 13: Joan attends the "Festival of Old Films" at Dayton's department store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joan selects "Dancing Lady" to be shown at the festival, which is sponsored by the American Film Institute. Joan returns at 7:30 pm to attend Dayton's "High School Fashion Fling" fashion show.  

Early September: Joan travels to Los Angeles, California.​

Early September (#2): While shopping in Phyllis Morris Originals boutique in Beverly Hills, Joan asks for a beverage and is given a Coke-Cola. Joan later sends the store 20 cases of Pepsi-Cola with a note saying "Pour all those Cokes down the drain."

September: Joan appears on the television talk show "The Merv Griffin Show" to promote her film "Trog."

September 6 (1#): Joan appears on Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon. ​The telethon starts at 10:30 pm on September 6th and continues until 3:30 pm on September 7th.​​​​​​ It is most likely that Joan's appearance was pre-recorded, being that Joan was filming her appearance on "The Tim Conway Comedy Hour" in Los Angeles, California on this day.

​September 6 (#2): Joan tapes her guest appearance for the television show "The Tim Conway Comedy Hour" in Los Angeles, California.​​

September 9: Joan hosts a dinner at "The Bistro" restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. ​Among the guests at the dinner are; British director Michael Anderson and his wife Vera Carlisle; Cesar Romero; William Haines and Jimmy Shields.

September 10: Joan arrives in San Antonio, Texas from Los Angeles, California. At 3:00 pm, Joan gives a press conference at the St. Anthony Hotel on behalf of the South Texas Chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. During her three days in San Antonio, Joan visits with Mr. & Mrs. Richard Gill, and their son Peter (Peter Gill is Joan's godson).​

September 11: Joan attends the "Gala Espana" at the Institute of Texan Cultures.​​​​ Joan is the guest of honor at the event, where she gives a dramatic reading. Other guests attending the event are; "The Tonight Show" orchestra leader Doc ​Severinsen, Sr., Aurelio Valla (Minister-Counselor in the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C.), Texas Governor Preston Smith and George Landau (country director for Spain and Portugal in the US Department in Washington, D.C.).

September 12: Joan departs San Antonio, Texas.​​

Mid September:
Joan travels to San Francisco, California. During her visit, Joan stays in the presidential suite at the Fairmont Hotel.

Mid September (#2): Joan dines in the Wellington Room at Phil Lehr's Steakery in San Francisco, California. ​
September 22: Joan is the guest of honor at the Food Editors Convention​​ in San Francisco, California. While on stage, Joan prepares her famous meatloaf for reporters. Later, in Joan's suite at the Fairmont Hotel, she gives an interview to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Stanley Eichelbaum. Eichelbaum publishes the interview in a September 25th article, and cites Joan as being "66" (with a 1904 birth year). Joan writes Eichelbaum and corrects him, stating that she was born in 1908.

September 30: The film "Trog" is released nationally in America. The film is primarily shown in American theaters as a double feature​​ with the film "Taste The Blood of Dracula."​​

October: It was announced in July 1970 that Joan would begin filming "Jenny By Nature" in October. However, the production is canceled in October 1970.​​

October: Joan's daughter, Cathy LaLonde, gives birth to her first child, Carla.​​

October 2: Joan attends the dedication ceremony of the new Pepsi-Cola company headquarters in Purchase, New York.​​

October 4 (#1): Joan appears on the CBS television show "The Tim Conway Comedy Hour."​​


October 4 (#2): Joan speaks and gives a dramatic reading at the Starr Commonwealth Founder's Day ceremony ​​in honor of Floyd Starr in Albion, Michigan.
     ​Also attending the event are Olympic track star Jesse Owens and Pepsi-Cola president James B. Somerall (A native of Albion Michigan).

October 22: Joan attends an Indianapolis Advertising Club luncheon in Indianapolis, Indiana.​​

October 28: Joan's daughter, Christina, guest stars on the television show "Medical Center," in the episode "My Name Is Jenny."

November 1: Joan travels from New York to Canada, then to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Pepsi-Cola.​

November 17: Joan poses as a model at a luncheon and a Blackglama Mink fashion show held at Chez Vito in New York.      
​The luncheon is to raise money for the Masterworks Laboratory Theater, which presents experimental productions at the Theater-in-the-Courthouse at Second Avenue and Second Street. ​Actress Salome Jens is also among the models. 

November 25: Joan attends a book signing and publication party for Maurice Chevalier's new autobiography ​"I Remember It Well" at Brentano's bookstore
​in New York City.

Early December: Joan signs-on to guest star in the NBC television show "The Name of The Game" in the episode "Potomac Fever" (Later re-titled "A Capitol Affair" and also known as "Duel On Capitol Hill" ) portraying a misguided Washington, D.C. columnist named "Victoria Stuart." 
     ​The episode is scheduled to begin filming on December 14th with Larry Hagman and Suzanne Pleshette co-starring with Joan in the episode.

December 3: Herbert L. Barnet, former Pepsi-Cola president, passes away from a heart attack at age 61 at New York University Hospital. ​​
     ​Barnet was the president who appointed Joan to the company's board of directors in May 1959, and was Joan's personal friend.

December 4: Joan travels to Dallas, Texas to attend a dedication ceremony of a new Pepsi-Cola bottling plant to following day. Upon her arrival in Dallas, Joan attends a press conference.​​


December 5: Joan attends the dedication of a new Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan bottling plant in Dallas, Texas.​​
     Also attending the ceremony is Dallas Cowboy Quarterback Craig Morton, Offensive Lineman John Nyland and Defensive Lineman Jethro Pugh.​

December 11: Joan cancels her plans to guest star on an episode of the television show "The Name of The Game" due to "illness." She is replaced with Mercedes McCambridge in the role.

December 11 (#2): Joan attends a Mental Health Association benefit at the Vanderbilt International Racquet Club. Other guests include; Mrs.William Randolph Hearst Jr., Mrs.Winthrop Rockefeller, Mr. & Mrs. Edward F. Hutton and ​Amy Vanderbilt.


© All original Joan Crawford research and original text herein is property of Webmaster Bryan Johnson and is copyright protected by the United States Copyright Act of 1976. Copyright © Bryan Johnson

THE CONCLUDING CHAPTER OF CRAWFORD