JOAN CRAWFORD - Her Last Chance at LOVE

AFTER THREE DIVORCES, THE ACTRESS FINALLY MET A MAN WHO WASN'T INTIMIDATED BY HER SUCCESS

In 1956, construction began on the New York apartment of Joan Craw ford and her husband, Pepsi executive Alfred Steele. The renovation combined two apartments on the top floors at 2 East 70th Street into one expansive family home with seven large, sun-drenched rooms and views of Central Park. It was the start of a new life for Joan. “I wanted everything — stardom, happiness in marriage and children. And I was sure I could have it, too,” she said.

After her third marriage ended in 1946, Joan never expected to wed again. “It is very difficult for an actress, a busy one, to have a happy marriage,” said the silver screen icon, who had more than 100 credits to her name before her retirement in the early 1970s. “A career, particularly if you are a star, demands your time, your energy, everything.”

After almost a decade on her own, the Mildred Pierce Oscar winner met Alfred Steele at a party in 1954. “I was utterly lonely,” admitted Joan, who was raising the four children she adopted as a single mother. “I can’t tell you how many nights after I put the children to bed I’ve stayed up alone, all alone. I am a woman with a woman’s need, a husband.”