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Marriages

On June 3, 1929, Crawford eloped with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church (known as "The Actors' Chapel", owing to its proximity to Broadway theatres) in Manhattan, although neither was Catholic. Fairbanks was the son of Douglas Fairbanks and the stepson of Mary Pickford, who were considered Hollywood royalty. Fairbanks Sr. and Pickford were opposed to the sudden marriage, and did not invite the couple to their home at Pickfair for eight months after the marriage.

The relationship between Crawford and Fairbanks, Sr., eventually warmed; she called him "Uncle Doug", and he called her "Billie", her childhood nickname, but one that close friends used throughout her life. Following that first invitation, Crawford and Fairbanks, Jr., became more frequent guests. While the Fairbanks men played golf together, Crawford was either left with Pickford, who would retire to her quarters, or simply left alone.

In May 1933, Crawford divorced Fairbanks, citing "grievous mental cruelty". Crawford claimed Fairbanks had "a jealous and suspicious attitude" toward her friends, and that they had "loud arguments about the most trivial subjects" lasting "far into the night".

In 1935, Crawford married Franchot Tone, a stage actor from New York who planned to use his film earnings to finance his theatre group. The couple built a small theatre at Crawford's Brentwood home, and put on productions of classic plays for select groups of friends who lived in the popular Brentwood area like Clark Gable and Charley Chase. Tone and Crawford had first appeared together in Today We Live (1933), but Crawford was hesitant about entering into another romance so soon after her split from Fairbanks.

Before and during their marriage, Crawford worked to promote Tone's Hollywood career, but he was not interested in being a star, ultimately wanting to just be an actor, and Crawford wearied of the effort. During their marriage they tried on two separate occasions for children, both ending in miscarriage. Tone allegedly began drinking and became physically abusive. She filed for divorce, which was granted in 1939. Crawford and Tone later rekindled their friendship, and Tone even proposed in 1964 that they remarry. When he died in 1968, Crawford arranged for him to be cremated and his ashes scattered at Muskoka Lakes, Canada.

Crawford met actor Phillip Terry in June 1942 after press agent Harry Mines asked if he could bring Terry along for dinner at Crawford's home. On July 21, 1942, the couple married 10 minutes after midnight at the home of Crawford's lawyer, Neil McCarthy, by Judge Flynn, six weeks after their first date in San Fernando Valley. On December 16, 1945, Crawford and Terry separated. Later, on March 12, 1946, Crawford filed for divorce on "grounds of cruelty". On April 25, they divorced.

Crawford married her fourth—and final—husband, Alfred Steele, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas on May 10, 1955. Crawford and Steele met at a party in 1954. By that time, Steele had become president of Pepsi-Cola. He later was named chairman of the board of Pepsi-Cola. They remained married until his death in May 1959.