Looking Back on Mommie Dearest 40 Years Later
HER 1978 MEMOIR, Mommie Dearest, shocked readers with its accounts of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, Joan Crawford. Now Christina Crawford, 79, has released a 40th anniversary edition — and she’s still not ready to forgive and forget. “Forgiveness is a two-way street — the person who has committed the wrong has to ask for forgiveness,” she tells Closer. “If the person has no option of remorse or doesn’t understand what they have done wrong, they are not entitled to forgiveness. The only person you can forgive is yourself.” Christina’s also not happy about the campy 1981 Faye Dunaway movie based on her book; if she could do it again, she says, “I would’ve never sold the rights.” She is, however, cowriting a musical version of Mommie Dearest, which has had two readings in NYC. “People will be completely surprised and entertained,” composer David
Nehls tells Closer.
“It’s really been a great collaboration.”