Casey LaLonde, a grandson of the iconic actress Joan Crawford who helped ensure that her Hollywood legacy lived on, is dead at 54.
On June 15, LaLonde died at his home in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, his family announced in an obituary.
“Casey was an amazing advocate for his grandmother’s legacy by taking control of the narrative that has been presented about Joan and focusing on her career and what she meant to him and his mother,” the family wrote. “… He loved meeting her fans and had built amazing friendships throughout this community.”
In fact, LaLonde helped introduce a 4K restoration screening of the 1932 film Letty Lynton, starring Crawford, at the TCM Classic Film Festival in May. The Warner Bros. movie was removed from theaters in 1936 due to legal issues and hadn’t been played publicly in 90 years.
“It would be an understatement to say this was one of my best days, ever, LaLonde captioned an Instagram post from the festival. He also planned to attend a screening of the film at the American Legion’s Hollywood Post 43 theater in July.
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Crawford rose to fame in the late 1920s; one of her first hits was the silent film Our Dancing Daughters (1928). She went on to star in films like Grand Hotel (1932), Dancing Lady (1933), The Women (1939), A Woman’s Face (1941), Mildred Pierce (1945), Sudden Fear (1952), Johnny Guitar (1954), and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), among others.
During her lifetime, Crawford adopted four children: Christina in 1939, Christopher in 1943, and twins Cathy (LaLonde’s mother) and Cindy in 1947. She was married four times, first to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., followed by Franchot Tone, Phillip Terry, and Alfred Steele.
Crawford died at 73 in 1997, while Cathy died at 72 in 2020. LaLonde is survived by his wife, Heather; his sister, Carla; and six nieces and nephews.
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