MILT & JOAN

Apparently when she wasn't torturing her kids or pushing Pepsi on everybody, Joan Crawford was a heckuva nice gal.  She had a friendly relationship with Milton Caniff, who often cited her as an inspiration for his most famous femme fatale - the Dragon Lady.

Here's a better look at the drawing Caniff was giving to Ms. Crawford in 1964.  It sold at auction last year for $2100.

Here's another drawing he did for her in 1965.  I'm not sure of the dimensions or what the occasion was, but it resembles his "chalk talk" style.

Their friendliness continued.  Here's Caniff's response to a letter from Crawford in 1973.  She had written him earlier that year regarding the ending of "Terry and the Pirates", after the death of George Wunder.

I always thought Copper Calhoon, the villainess from "Steve Canyon", looked more like Joan.  It appears in the press photo that she was flattered by Caniff, though she likely gently reminded him, "No wire hangers!"



The press photo at the top of this post came from an article on Caniff by his nephew, Harry Guyton.  You can find that article at the Animation Resources website.