This group in on the Oscars past and present.

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July's Oscar winner of the Month is Joan Crawford (1904-1977).

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She was born on March 23, 1904 in San Antonio, Texas. Her real name was Lucille Fay Le Sueur and she used another name of Billie Cassin while appearing in a Charleston contest which she won leading her to a modest dancing career in Detroit and Chicago nightclubs. She was spotted in a Broadway chorus line by Harry Rapf of MGM who invited her to Hollywood and offered her a contract. To choose a name for her to use in film MGM sponsored a nation wide contest. With her new name she started in silent films and soon became a flapper rival to Clara Bow. In the late 30's and early 40's she became the epitome of Tinseltown glamour. However, there was a period during the late 1930's where she, along with several other actresses, was labeled "box office poison". She was released from her MGM contract in 1943 and moved over to Warner Brothers where she became a true star, winning an Oscar in 1945 for her work in Mildred Pierce, 1945. By the 50's she was playing mature women often involved with younger men. In the early 60's she appeared with her rival, Bette Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, 1962. She and Davis were reported to have fought during the whole production of this film and their feud caused world wide publicity. She was married five times and three of her husbands were actors, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Franchot Tone, and Philip Terry. She then married a Pepsi-Cola executive, Alfred Steele, and became active as a board member and publicity executive for Pepsi. She wrote two memoirs, A Portrait of Joan, 1962 and My Way of Life, 1971. She died on May 10, 1977.

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Next Oscar winner of the Month is Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003)