Who Were Joan Crawford’s Four Adopted Children?

Joan Crawford and four children, Christopher, Cathy, Cynthia, and Christina romp on lawn following party given by Ann Rutherford for daughter Gloria's 5th birthday. — Bettmann/Getty Images

Joan Crawford isn’t known for being the most wholesome and loving mom in the world (Mommie Dearest, anyone?), but a mom she was. Crawford was married four times, to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Franchot Tone, Phillip Terry and Albert Steele. When her second marriage ended, she wanted to adopt a child. However, in the ’30s, it was illegal for a single woman to adopt a child in California, so she adopted her oldest child, Christina in Las Vegas in 1939. The actress went on to adopt four children in total.

Now, let’s learn more about Christina as well as Christopher, Cindy and Cathy.

Christina Crawford (85)

Author and Actress Christina Crawford attends the documentary screening of "Christina Crawford: Surviving Mommie Dearest" at St. Luke's Theater on November 20, 2013 in New York City

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Christina was adopted shortly after she was born on June 11, 1939. Many know Christina for her book-turned-movie, Mommie Dearest, which was released a year after Crawford died on May 10, 1977. The memoir alleged that Crawford was abusive and an alcoholic. Before she died, she reportedly knew that Christina was releasing a tell-all memoir and the two were estranged.

Although the pair didn’t have the best relationship, Christina did follow in her mother’s footsteps to become an actress. She appeared in the Elvis Presley film Wild in the Country, the soap opera The Secret Storm and on Broadway. In more recent years, she owned a restaurant in Idaho and released a 2013 documentary about her childhood. She’s also published several other books including Survivor, Black Widow, No Safe Place, Daughters of the Inquisition and Scammed.

Christopher Crawford (d. 2006)

American actress Joan Crawford with her children Christopher and Christina, circa 1947

Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Christopher was adopted by Crawford and Terry shortly after he was born in 1943. While Christina has said that the older siblings relied on each other during times of abuse, Christopher has never come out and shared his side of the story. He served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Vietnam, and mostly lived a very private life. He was also estranged from his mother and both Christina and Christopher were taken out of Crawford’s will when she died; however, they ended up challenging the will and split $55,000. He passed away in 2006 at the age of 63, reportedly from cancer.

Cathy Crawford (d. 2020)

Actress Joan Crawford being kissed by two of her daughters, twins Cathy and Cynthia, London Paddington station, August 3rd 1956

M. Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Crawford adopted fraternal twins Cathy and Cindy just days after they were born on January 13, 1947. Cathy has come out and said that the twins had a very different experience growing up than Christina did, and that Crawford was only loving to them. Cathy and Christina were not on good terms, as Cathy even sued Christina for defamation after she told people her mother lied about Cathy and Cindy being twins. Cathy won the suit.

Not much is known about her life, but she was married to a Naval seaman named Jerome LaLonde, with whom she had two children. The twins reconnected with their biological family in the 1990s and Cathy ultimately passed away in 2020 at the age of 72. She died of lung cancer.

Cindy Crawford (d. 2007)

3rd August 1956: Joan Crawford (1904 - 1977) the screen name of Lucille Le Sueur who was also known for a time as Billie Cassin, attending the Film Exhibition in Pall Mall, London

Folb/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Cindy has shared similar sentiments as Cathy about their mother, and said that she was a disciplinarian but she never saw her mother drunk and added that they had a good childhood. Not much is known about Cindy’s life after she grew up, but she died in 2007 at the age of 60.