


I got knocked down maybe twice-she hit me hard in the chest.” 7. “Initially, Frank wanted both me and Jocelyn to pull her off Diana, but she saw Faye was out of control and said, ‘No way.’ We did maybe 10 takes and Frank had to deal with it because Faye wasn’t gonna change what she was doing. “When saw me go down after Faye hit me, she said, ‘I can’t afford to be injured, just spent six months in the hospital,’” Alda recalled. In an interview with Gay City News, Rutanya Alda recounted her uncomfortable experience with Dunaway. DUNAWAY GOT PHYSICAL WITH RUTANYA ALDA ON SET.

According to Inside the Actors Studio, Crawford once said, “Only Faye Dunaway has the talent, class, and courage to be a real star.” 6.

Regardless of what the film’s cast and crew thought of Dunaway, the woman she embodied loved her. Everyone was on pins and needles when she worked, and everyone relaxed when she didn’t. Faye was despised because she was so rude to people. “People despised Faye,” Rutanya Alda, who played Joan’s assistant Carol Ann, told the Bay Area Reporter. One of the most frequently reported rumors from the set of Mommie Dearest was that Faye Dunaway was a bit of a nightmare. THE CREW STRUGGLED TO WORK WITH FAYE DUNAWAY. If we just called her ‘Mother’ or ‘Mommy,’ she corrected us over and over and over again.” 4. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Christina Crawford opened up about the film’s famous title, saying that, “‘Mommie dearest’ was a term of enslavement. “MOMMIE DEAREST” WAS A TERM OF ENSLAVEMENT FOR CHRISTINA CRAWFORD. According to the New York Post, Sinatra rushed to her Hollywood trailer and spent 15 minutes with Dunaway, rehabilitating her voice. FAYE DUNAWAY CALLED FRANK SINATRA FOR HELP WHEN SHE LOST HER VOICE SCREAMING, “NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!”Ī 1981 clip in The Southeast Missourian reported that Faye Dunaway received vocal coaching from Ol’ Blue Eyes himself when she lost her voice during the film’s most infamous scene. Robinson was set to play Joan Crawford, until she read Frank Perry and his co-writers’ script, which prompted her to drop out. ANNE BANCROFT WAS ORIGINALLY ATTACHED TO STAR.Īccording to TCM, The Graduate’s Mrs. It also became a point of contention among everyone involved in its making, from the source novel’s author to the film’s reportedly difficult star, Faye Dunaway. The film-an adaptation of Christina Crawford’s book about her abusive upbringing with her adoptive mother, iconic actress Joan Crawford-was annihilated by critics, but fully embraced by fans. It has been over 35 years since Frank Perry’s cult classic Mommie Dearest came out and rocked Hollywood and audiences alike.
