Casey LaLonde, a grandson of Joan Crawford who helped preserve her legacy as a Hollywood legend through public screenings of her films and home movies, has died. He was 54.
LaLonde died suddenly Monday at his home in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, his family announced.
Just last month, LaLonde was on hand at the TCM Classic Film Festival to help introduce a 4K restoration screening of the Crawford-starring Letty Lynton (1932), a big hit back in the day. Because of legal issues, the Warner Bros. film had been pulled from theaters in 1936 and was not seen publicly in the ensuing 90 years.
“It would be an understatement to say this was one of my best days, ever,” he wrote of the TCM event in a post on a Joan Crawford Instagram account that he managed.
He was scheduled to attend another screening of the film in July at the American Legion’s Hollywood Post 43 theater.
