More than 30 years after her death, the dominant image of Joan Crawford is one of caricature.

First came Carol Burnett’s hilarious takeoff “Mildred Fierce,” complete with shoulder pads that probably would fit Eli Manning. Far less benign was the dam age inflicted by “Mommie Dearest,” the vicious book written by Christina Crawford, the oldest of Joan Crawford’s four adopted children, and the movie based on it, in which Faye Dunaway, in the title role, not only chewed the scenery but also added pepperoni and devoured it.

Now, in time for the centenary of her birth, comes “Not the Girl Next Door,” the latest of Charlotte Chandler’s Hollywood biographies—and a profoundly sympathetic account.

Born 100 years ago today on March 23, 1908, in San Antonio (although some believe she shaved a few years off her age), Joan led a brutal, poverty-stricken childhood. Her father deserted her mother before she was born, and her mother relocated Joan and her older brother to Oklahoma and then Kansas City, Mo.

But Joan loved to dance, and she made her way to Hollywood in 1925. After lots of chorus-line work and some small parts in silents, she earned bigger parts in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movies. Her breakout role came in 1932’s “Grand Hotel,” and she excelled as the other woman in 1939’s “The Women.”

Superstar though she may have been for MGM, Joan didn’t hit her peak until her first film for Warner Bros., 1945’s “Mildred Pierce,” for which she won her only Oscar.

Meanwhile, she had married and divorced three husbands, all actors—Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Franchot Tone and Phillip Terry. Serial miscarriages led her to adopt four children: daughter Christina, son Christopher and twin daughters Cathy and Cindy.

As she slipped into middle age, good roles kept coming, including her classic portrayal of Blanche Hudson against Bette Davis’ Jane Hudson in 1962’s “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” Meanwhile, her fourth husband, Pepsi-Cola executive Alfred Steele, had died of a heart attack less than four years into their marriage.

Joan continued to make movies, but everything after “Baby Jane” was mediocre at best. She died in 1977.

Chandler, who portrays her subject as hardworking, kind and generous, bases much of “Not the Girl Next Door” on interviews with Joan, first husband Fairbanks, publicist John Springer and others. Although they’re revealing, they don’t have the biting bitchiness of those the author conducted with Bette Davis for this book’s immediate predecessor, “The Girl Who Walked Home Alone.” This book’s postscript comes from an interview with Cathy Crawford LaLonde, who fiercely defends her mother against sister Christina’s hatchet job.

As much a Valentine as a biography, “Not the Girl Next Door” is a light read that will appeal primarily to fans of classic films. When “Mildred Fierce” and “Mommie Dearest” are forgotten, the movies will live on. As director George Cukor told Chandler:

“Joan Crawford and her camera. It was the greatest love affair I have ever known. She was married many times and had many lovers, and I was never in her bedroom, but I’m certain no man ever saw the look on her face that she had as the camera moved in.”

Contact Jay Strafford at (804) 649-6698 or .