NAMES IN THE NEWS : Dunaway ‘Career Suicide’ Told

Faye Dunaway’s overheated portrayal of a driven, abusive Joan Crawford in the movie “Mommie Dearest” was “career suicide” and a film she still is recovering from, the actress says.

Dunaway, 49, has spent the last six years in a self-imposed exile, making only one movie, the critically acclaimed “Barfly,” which was not a big box-office success.

In an interview published in the March issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, Dunaway spoke of the problems she had with “Mommie Dearest.”

“That film was career suicide,” she said. “It turned into an exploitation movie that verged on camp, and I’m still recovering from it.

“Going in, the role seemed tricky and interesting,” she said. “I said ‘yes’ because I listened to advice from someone in my private life--the last time I’ll ever do that.

“While making ‘Mommie Dearest,’ I woke up with nightmares about her, and afterward I couldn’t get out of bed for a month,” Dunaway said. “Sure, I overdid her.”

The Golden Raspberry Foundation on Monday nominated “Mommie Dearest,” along with four other films, as the worst of the 1980s.