Short answers, pulled from the story.
Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas. Her stage name was chosen through a public contest called "Name the Star" run in Movie Weekly; the original winning name was "Joan Arden", but after another actress held prior claim, the surname "Crawford" was selected as the alternative.
Joan Crawford won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Mildred Pierce, released in 1945. She also received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for Possessed (1947) and Sudden Fear (1952).
On the 3rd of May, 1938, Harry Brandt, president of the Independent Theatre Owners Association of America, placed an advertisement in the Hollywood Reporter labeling Crawford and several other major stars as "Box Office Poison". His argument was that their high salaries did not reflect in ticket sales, hurting movie exhibitors, despite their acknowledged dramatic ability.
Crawford married Alfred Steele, president of Pepsi-Cola, on the 10th of May, 1955. After Steele's death on the 19th of April, 1959, she became the first woman elected to Pepsi's board of directors and served as goodwill ambassador, estimating she traveled over 100,000 miles a year for the company. She retired from the board in 1973.
Mommie Dearest is a memoir published on the 2nd of October, 1978, by Christina Crawford, alleging that her adoptive mother Joan Crawford was emotionally and physically abusive. Crawford's twin daughters Cathy and Cynthia denied the allegations categorically; Cathy called the book a "great work of fiction" on national television and later sued Christina for defamation, settling for $5,000 plus court costs.
Joan Crawford died on the 10th of May, 1977, from a heart attack in her apartment in Lenox Hill, New York City. Her cremated ashes were placed at Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, New York, next to her fourth husband Alfred Steele.