[3][4] After graduating from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, she moved from California to Pittsburgh to attend Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.

[5] After fourteen years as an actress, Crawford returned to college, graduating magna cum laude from UCLA and receiving her master's degree from the Annenberg School of Communication at USC.

[13] In October 1965, she appeared in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park, with Myrna Loy, a friend of her mother, before being fired after the cast complained of Christina's unprofessional behavior.

[15] In the early 1970s, Crawford also appeared in other TV programs, including Medical Center, Marcus Welby, M.D., Matt Lincoln, Ironside and The Sixth Sense.

[citation needed] Cathy LaLonde, another of Crawford's daughters, and her husband, Jerome, the complaint charged, "took deliberate advantage of decedent's seclusion and weakened and distorted mental and physical condition to insinuate themselves" into Joan's favor.

Allyson stated in her autobiography that she witnessed Joan put Christina in "time-out", and did not let her go to a friend's birthday party as a punishment.

[28] Christina Crawford has published five subsequent books, including Survivor, Black Widow, No Safe Place, Daughters of the Inquisition and Scammed.

LaLonde stated neither claim by Christina was true, and attached copies of the twin girls' birth certificates and adoption documentation to the lawsuit.

On November 21, 2017, the e-book editions of Mommie Dearest, Survivor and Daughters of the Inquisition were published through Open Road Integrated Media.

She is also currently working with composer David Nehls on a stage musical adaptation of Mommie Dearest, to be produced in regional theater.

[35] Crawford met her first husband, Harvey Medlinsky, a director and Broadway stage manager, while she was appearing in the Chicago national company of Barefoot in the Park.

[citation needed] A member of the Democratic Party, Crawford worked on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.