Christina Crawford - Acting Career

Acting Career

Crawford appeared in summer stock, including a production of Splendor in the Grass. She has also acted in a number of Off-Broadway community productions.

In 1961, Crawford appeared in a small role in Wild in the Country starring Elvis Presley. She also had a role in Faces (1968), directed by John Cassavetes and starring John Marley and Gena Rowlands. In 1962, she appeared in the play The Complaisant Lover. She played five character parts in Ben Hecht's controversial play Winkelberg. In October 1965 she appeared in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park, opposite film legend (and friend of her mother) Myrna Loy.

She played "Joan Borman Kane" on the TV soap opera The Secret Storm in New York from 1968 until 1969. When Christina went on sick leave in October 1968, Joan Crawford, then over 60 years old, asked for the role of the 24-year-old character while her daughter was incapacitated. She did this without mentioning it to her daughter, and appeared in four episodes. An action that caused Christina to feel betrayed and embarrassed as her mother appeared to be intoxicated while performing. Viewers increased 40% during this replacement time. Christina was let go from the series, and felt her mother's interference had contributed to this. The producers claimed that the character and her storyline had simply run its course.

Christina Crawford also appeared on the TV series Medical Center, Marcus Welby, M.D., Matt Lincoln, Ironside and The Sixth Sense.