Joan Crawford was an actress.
Joan Crawford . But her career gradually improved in the early 1940s , and she made a major comeback in 1945 by starring in Mildred Pierce , for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress . She continued acting in film and television regularly through the 1960s , when her performances became fewer ; after the release of the British horror film Trog in 1970 , Crawford retired from the screen .