Cathy Crawford LaLonde Dies: Daughter Of Joan Crawford Was 72

Anita Bennett

Cathy Crawford LaLonde, daughter of Hollywood legend Joan Crawford, died Friday at her home in Pennsylvania after a long battle with lung cancer, her family confirmed to Deadline. She was 72.

Cathy and her twin sister Cynthia (Cindy) were adopted by Crawford in 1947, after their biological mother’s death in Dyersburg, Tennessee.

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The Academy Award-winning actress moved the twins to Brentwood, where they began their new life. Cathy attended Vernon Court Junior College and the Fashion Institute of Technology before marrying in 1968. Cathy and her husband separated in 1984 and eventually divorced. She reconnected with her biological family in Tennessee in the 1990s.

Cathy had a bit part in the 1979 film Roller Boogie as a featured skater. She also made cameos on The Mike Douglas Show and What’s My Line? in the 1960s.

Screen star Joan Crawford adopted a total of five children. After her death, daughter Christina released the controversial memoir Mommie Dearest in 1978, detailing allegations of abuse.

Despite claims about Crawford in the book and the 1981 movie adaptation, Cathy countered Christina in an interview with ABC News, and said their mother was “very loving.”

Cathy’s family said Saturday “she led her life feeling blessed to have had the opportunities of a great education, traveling throughout the world and a nurturing upbringing that molded and shaped her into the woman she became.”

She is survived by her daughter Carla LaLonde, son Casey LaLonde and Carla’s daughter Olivia Lalonde. Heintzelman Funeral Home in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania is handling the funeral services. Details are still being finalized.

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