Christina Crawford Has No Sympathy For Faye Dunaway

At her Surviving Mommie Dearest show last night, Christina Crawford took questions from the audience, so I raised my little hand and said, “Faye Dunaway was always embarrassed by Mommie Dearest…”

“She should,” interjected Christina, sharply.

“Is it possible that Faye didn’t care for the movie’s editing or marketing?” I continued, playing devil’s advocate. “Maybe some things were taken out of her hands.”

“Nothing was taken out of her hands,” said Christina, sternly.

Ouch. Don’t mess with a Crawford woman.

By the way, in the documentary she’d shown the audience just before that, Tina had talked about how Anne Bancroft was supposed to play Joan in the movie, but the scripts coming in were awful, so she backed out (something Joan herself should have probably done on occasion towards the end of her run.)

Once Faye decided she wanted the role, she dressed uncannily like Joan from head to toe and went to the house of producer Frank Yablans, aiming to impress him. When Yablans saw what looked like back-from-the-dead Joan standing before his eyes, he almost had a heart attack and plotzed. Faye was Possessed. And Mr. Producer felt Sudden Fear.

And I bet Faye wishes she’d never done that and gotten the part.

Still, whether it was taken out of her lacquered hands or not, I feel she should embrace the thing already. Or at least go with Christina’s new mantra: “I feel nothing.”