--- title: Joan Crawford's Birthday: Read Her Advice for Ladies description: The star of classic Hollywood cinema was born on March 23, though she always hedged about the year. canonical: https://time.com/4230871/joan-crawford-advice/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-23T13:20:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:23.290Z og:title: Read Joan Crawford's Advice About Social Graces and Vegetable Etiquette og:description: The star of classic Hollywood cinema was born on March 23, though she always hedged about the year. og:url: https://time.com/4230871/joan-crawford-advice/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3287d862aa10302b/69887e528e0601887d464ae1/160219-joan-crawford-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1593 og:image:height: 896 og:image:alt: Joan Crawford og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Joan Crawford's Advice About Social Graces and Vegetable Etiquette twitter:description: The star of classic Hollywood cinema was born on March 23, though she always hedged about the year. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3287d862aa10302b/69887e528e0601887d464ae1/160219-joan-crawford-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Joan Crawford's Advice About Social Graces and Vegetable Etiquette > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 23, 2016 1:20 PM UTC  Joan Crawford hugs her two children, Christina and Christopher, while sitting on the beach in 1945. Joan Crawford hugs her two children, Christina and Christopher, while sitting on the beach in 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 23, 2016 1:20 PM UTC Joan Crawford was many things in her life. First she was a leading lady of classic Hollywood cinema, then “box office poison,” then a comeback queen. First she was the adoptive mother to four children, then the subject of one of the first Hollywood tell-alls, _Mommie Dearest_, in which her oldest daughter portrayed her as an abusive alcoholic. And in her later years, Crawford—born on March 23 in the first decade of the 20th century (she was never keen on sharing her exact year of birth, though it was probably 1905 or 1906)—was also a purveyor of social advice for ladies. In her 1971 “handbook of social savvy,” _Joan Crawford: My Way of Life_, the Oscar-winning actress offered up advice for women, much of which she had dictated while visiting Pepsi plants around the world in yet another role: as a director at that company, for which her late husband, Alfred Steele, had been board chairman. In a LIFE profile pegged to the book’s release, several of her tips were revealed, as paraphrased by writer Thomas Moore: --- > “” --- Her advice ranged from grooming to relationships to kitchen management, but it would have disappointed those hoping the book might be a tell-all reflecting on a career that had as much drama offstage as on it. Talking to Moore, as she fed cheese puffs to her shih tzu, Princess Lotus Blossom, Crawford admitted that even she sometimes found herself difficult. “I often have to handle me with kid gloves,” she said. “I always treat me as another person. I don’t like all the things I do. Sometimes I lose my temper, and I don’t like that. But if I’m a Miss Mushy Mouth all the time, I wouldn’t like that either.” _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Joan Crawford hugs her two children, Christina and Christopher, while sitting on the beach in 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Joan Crawford and her daughter Christina wear identical outfits, 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Joan Crawford and her then-husband, Philip Terry, have a picnic with their children and dog, 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Joan Crawford and her daughter play together, 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Joan Crawford fixes her daughter's hair as the 5-year-old smies proudly, 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Crawford and her husband, Philip Terry, relax on the beach, 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Joan Crawford and her Philip Terry take a break from golfing, 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Joan Crawford chats with artist Salvador Dali as her husband Phillip Terry looks on at the Del Monte resort, 1945. 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