JOAN CRAWFORD - Her Last Chance at LOVE

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

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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.”