Joan Crawford said later, speaking frankly about the first year of her marriage to Alfred Steele. “But that was only because we were getting used to each other’s lives, making adjustments. Alfred lived at a very fast pace, keeping appointments on the split second. Sometimes I couldn’t keep up, and it embarrassed me. But I did what I could,” and in fact the occasional dissensions were outnumbered by the long periods of mutual, intense happiness. “We were very much in love. Everybody warned him it wouldn’t last—'You’re marrying one tough broad!'—but he knew my toughness was an act.” Part of that toughness came from Joan’s compulsive need to maintain her image as a star, which she now had to transform and reinvent as the full-time wife of a business executive.There was no question about where the newlyweds would live. Joan soon sold her home in Los Angeles and moved into his New York residence, at 36 Sutton Place South. The address, on a quiet, tree-lined block near the East River, was impressive—but the dimensions of the two-bedroom apartment were not, and soon the Steeles required a larger space for business entertainingand larger rooms for Joan’s wardrobe.
