Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow (born
Harlean Harlow Carpenter,
March 3,
1911 –
June 7,
1937) was an
American film actress and top
sex symbol of the
1930s. Known as the "Platinum Blonde" for her famous hair, Harlow starred in several films mainly designed to showcase her magnetic sex appeal and strong screen presence before transitioning to more developed roles and achieving massive fame under contract to
MGM. Known as "The Baby" to family and close friends, Harlow's enormous popularity and "laughing
vamp" image were in distinct contrast to her personal life, which was marred by disappointment, tragedy, and ultimately her sudden death from
kidney failure at the age of 26.
Harlow was born
Harlean Carpenter in
Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Mont Clair Carpenter, a
dentist, and his wife, Jean Poe Carpenter (née Harlow). Young Harlean's father came from a working-class background while her mother was the daughter of a wealthy real estate broker, Skip Harlow and his wife Ella Harlow (neé Williams). The marriage was arranged by Skip Harlow; Jean Carpenter, a very intelligent, strong-willed woman, resented it and would become very unhappy in the marriage.
Unlike many Hollywood stars, little Harlean's childhood was not marked by poverty and unhappiness; in fact she lived with her parents in a very large house in Kansas City that was her grandfather's second home. The only grandchild in the family, Harlean was nicknamed "The Baby", a moniker that would stick with her through her whole life. Without any siblings, Harlean became extremely close to her mother, and Jean Carpenter, unhappy in her marriage, turned all her focus onto her daughter. She was extremely protective and coddling to young Harlean, instilling in her a sense that Harlean owed everything she had to her mother, which in turned inspired a deep devotion from daughter to mother, another aspect which would carry through to adulthood. So coddled was young Harlean that when she began to attend school at Miss Barstow's School, a private school in Kansas City with other children at the age of five, she did not learn till then that her name was actually Harlean and not "Baby".
With her daughter at school, Mother Jean become increasingly frustrated and filed for divorce (no small matter at the time) which was finalized, uncontested,
September 29,
1922 and was granted, among other things, sole custody of her daughter. Harlean would only see her father again once more in her lifetime.
In 1923, with hopes of becoming an actress, Mother Jean and Harlean moved to Hollywood, where Harlean briefly attended the Hollywood School For Girls. However with no good prospects forthcoming in acting for Mother Jean and dwindling finances, they returned to Kansas City within two years. In the summer of 1925, Harlean's grandfather sent her to a summer camp called Camp Cha-Ton-Ka in
Michigamme,
Michigan. It was during this summer that Harlean would catch
scarlet fever. From there Harlean attended the
Ferry Hall School in
Lake Forest,
Illinois. Freshman were paired with a "big sister" from the senior class, and fifteen-year-old Harlean was paired up with a girl who would introduce her to nineteen-year-old Charles "Chuck" McGrew, heir to a large fortune in the fall of 1926. Harlean and McGrew fell in love and were married at the end of 1927, to the annoyance of Mother Jean (who had earlier that year married Marino Bello) - marriage would free Harlean from her control.
Shortly after the marriage, Chuck McGrew turned twenty-one and received part of his large inheritance and the couple moved to Los Angeles, where Harlean thrived as a wealthy
socialite and more importantly away from her mother. In Los Angeles, Harlean befriended Rosalie Roy, a young aspiring actress. Lacking a car, Roy asked Harlean to drive her to
Fox Studios for an appointment she had. It was there, sitting in the car waiting for her friend, Harlean was noticed by Fox executives. Approached by the executives, Harlean was given dictated letters of introduction to the Central Casting Bureau despite stating she was not interested. Recounting this story a few days later, Rosalie Roy made a wager with Harlean that she did not have the nerve to go back and audition for roles. Unwilling to lose a wager and pressed by her enthused mother, Harlean drove to Central Casting and signed in under her mother's name: Jean Harlow.
|
"Jean Harlowe" (as her name was rendered in this early image) |
After several calls and turned-down job offers from Central casing, Harlean was pressured by her mother (now relocated to Los Angeles) into accepting work. Harlean then appeared in her first film,
Honor Bound as an unbilled extra, for $7 dollars a day. This led to a slew of other roles, and Harlean landed bit parts in silent films such as
Why is a Plumber? (1927),
Moran of the Marines (1928) and
The Love Parade (1929). She had a more substantial role in
Laurel and Hardy's short
Double Whoopee (1929). Under pressure from Harlean's career ascent, she and Chuck McGrew separated in June 1929 and Harlean moved in with her mother and Bello.
During filming of
Weak But Willing in 1929 she was spotted by James Hall, an actor in a then-shooting
Howard Hughes film called
Hell's Angels. Hughes, re-shooting the film from silent into sound, needed a new actress as the original actress Greta Nissen's Norse accent proved undesirable for a talkie. Harlean met briefly with Hughes and was hired on the spot. Hughes signed Jean Harlow to a five-year
contract on
October 24 1929. It was during shooting that Harlow would meet
MGM executive
Paul Bern.
Hell's Angels premiered in Hollywood on
May 27 1930 at
Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Harlow was a sensation with audiences; critics however were less than besotted.
The New Yorker called Harlow "plain awful" though
Variety was a bit more lenient in remarking "It doesn't matter what degree of talent she possesses....nobody ever starved possessing what she's got", referring to her sex appeal. Loaned out by Hughes'
Caddo Company to other studios, in 1931, Harlow began to gain more attention when she appeared in
The Public Enemy (with
James Cagney),
Goldie,
The Secret Six (with
Wallace Beery and
Clark Gable), and
Platinum Blonde with
Loretta Young. In fact, Hughes convinced the producers of "Platinum Blonde" to rename it from its original title of "Gallagher" in order to promote Harlow's image. Though the films ranged from smash to moderate hits, Harlow's acting ability was damned by critics as awful and was mocked, with some saying she ruined any scene she was in.
Concerned of Harlow's status, Hughes sent her on a personal appearance tour of the East Coast in late 1931. To the surprise of many, especially Harlow herself, she packed every theatre she appeared in, often appearing multiple nights in one venue. Despite critical assailment and poor roles, Harlow's popularity and following was large and growing, to the extent that the tour was extended through early
1932. A sidenote of this is that many of Harlow's female fans were dying their hair platinum to match hers. To capitalize on this craze, Hughes's team organized a series of "Platinum Blonde" clubs across the nation, with a prize of $10,000 to any beautician that could match Harlow's shade.
Appraised of this, Paul Bern (now romantically involved with Harlow) spoke to
Louis B. Mayer about buying out Harlow's contract from Hughes and signing her to MGM. Mayer would have none of it; MGM's leading ladies were just that and Harlow's silver screen floozies were abhorrent to Mayer. Bern then began urging good friend
Irving Thalberg, production head of MGM, to sign Harlow, noting Harlow's pre-existing popularity and established image. After initial reticence Thalberg agreed and on March 3, 1932, Harlow's twenty-first birthday, Bern called with the news that MGM had bought Harlow's contract from Hughes for $30,000. Harlow would afterwards be required to report to MGM and officially joined the studio on
April 20, 1932.
|
Publicity shot for Red Headed Woman, 1932. Photographed by George Hurrell. |
With Harlow's star on the ascent, she gained the attention of studio brass at
MGM who bought out her contract from Howard Hughes. MGM was where Harlow would become "Harlow", not only with the image but be given superior movie roles to show off not only her beauty but her natural talent for comedy. In
1932 she had the starring roles in
Red-Headed Woman, for which she received a salary of $1,250/week, and
Red Dust, her second film with Clark Gable. These films showed her to be much more at ease in front of the camera and highlighted her skill as a comedienne. Harlow and Gable worked well together and co-starred in a total of six films.
It was during the making of
Red Dust that Harlow's second husband,
MGM producer
Paul Bern (neé Paul Levy) committed suicide at Harlow's home, creating a scandal that reverberates to this day. Initially, the Hollywood community whispered Harlow had killed Bern herself, though this was just rumor and would quickly be disproven. But doubts linger. Harlow would survive this, one of the first great Hollywood scandals, and would come through unscathed and more popular with audiences than ever. Harlow moved on with her life.
Years later it was suggested by screenwriter
Ben Hecht that Bern was murdered by an unbalanced former lover,
Dorothy Millette, who actually committed suicide the next day. (Years later, the Bern-Harlow house became the home of
Jay Sebring and, for a time,
Sharon Tate. They and others were later murdered by
Charles Manson's followers in August of
1969.)
By
1933, Harlow was becoming a superstar. She had a great comedic part in
Dinner at Eight, and later that year she starred in
Bombshell.
Because of Harlow's indiscreet affair with boxer
Max Baer (Heavy Weight Champion of the World and key figure in the recent film '
Cinderella Man'),
Dorothy Dunbar, Baer's wife, threatened divorce proceedings, naming Harlow as a co-defendant for "alienation of affection," then the common term for
adultery.
MGM diffused the situation by arranging a quick fixed marriage between Harlow and
cinematographer Harold Rosson. Still feeling the aftershocks of the mysterious Bern death, the studio didn't want another Harlow
scandal on its hands. Rosson and Harlow were prior friends, and the gentle cameraman went along with the plan. They divorced quietly seven months later.
After the hits that were 'Hold Your Man' and 'Red Dust', MGM realized the goldmine of the Harlow-Gable vehicle, putting them in two more films:
China Seas (
1935, with
Wallace Beery and
Rosalind Russell) and
Wife vs. Secretary (
1936, with
Myrna Loy and
James Stewart). Other co-stars included
Spencer Tracy,
Robert Taylor and
William Powell. She was allegedly involved romantically with Gable, Powell and Taylor.
By the mid-1930s Harlow was becoming one of the biggest stars in America and the foremost female star at MGM; Harlow was still a young woman with her star continuously on the ascendant while by this point the popularity of other female stars at MGM such as
Greta Garbo,
Joan Crawford and
Norma Shearer were waning. Her movies continued to make huge profits at the box office even during the middle of the
Depression; some credit Harlow's films with keeping MGM in the black while other studios fell into bankruptcy.
Following the end of her third marriage, Harlow met MGM star
William Powell and quickly fell in love. They reportedly were engaged for two years, but differences kept them from marrying swiftly (she wanted children; he did not). Harlow also said that studio head
Louis B. Mayer would never allow them to wed.
Harlow fell ill with influenza during the early part of 1937; although she recovered, the attack weakened her body against the onslaught of a more serious illness that was just beginning to take hold: kidney failure. In retrospective analysis, Harlow's kidneys may have been slowly failing during the ten years since she contracted
scarlet fever while in her early teens. In the days before kidney dialysis and transplants, this condition was fatal.
While filming
Saratoga (1937) with Clark Gable, Harlow collapsed on set and was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with
uremic poisoning. She died just days later, at the age of 26.
Harlow is buried at the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in
Glendale, California.
William Powell paid for her tomb, which bears the simple inscription "Our Baby". Her funeral took place in the Wee Kirk O' The Heather Chapel at
Forest Lawn Cemetery.
She was buried in the negligee that she had worn just weeks before, while filming a scene from the movie
Saratoga. It's been reported that a single white gardenia with an unsigned note attached that read "Good night, my dearest darling" were placed in her hands. It is assumed that both were from William Powell, who also paid for her final resting placeâ€"the $25,000, 9x10-foot private room lined with multicolored imported marble located in the "Sanctuary of Benediction".
Many myths have swirled around Harlow's death and it was not until the early 1990s that her long-sealed medical records were uncovered. Legend had it that Harlow's mother, a follower of
Christian Science, prevented doctors from attending to her dying daughter, but this myth has been extinguished; records prove Harlow received constant medical attention. Other long-standing myths, such as the suggestion that Harlow's kidneys were damaged in a beating from husband Paul Bern or that bleach from her hair seeped into her brain and killed her, are equally untrue.
*Harlow was linked to
American mobster
Bugsy Siegel and was the godmother of his daughter Millicent. She also dated mobster
Abner Zwillman at one time. He bought her a
Cadillac and a jeweled bracelet, as well as getting her a two-picture deal with
Harry Cohn of
Columbia Pictures due to a loan he made to Cohn.
*Was the idol of
Marilyn Monroe, who said she had a scrapbook with pictures and writing about Harlow as a child. Monroe's life mirrored Harlow's in many ways: Both were hugely famous, blonde sex symbols; both had several failed marriages and both suddenly died young under strange circumstances.
*Is one of the many classic stars name-checked in
Madonna's 1990 hit "
Vogue", as well as the songs "
Bette Davis Eyes" by
Kim Carnes and "
I've Never Been to Me" by
Charlene.
*Jean's beautiful green eyes were deep-set and she had to be lit just so for film and photo sessions in order to bring them out in contrast to the angle of her nose and the cleft in her chin. Her trademark extremely-arched eyebrows were drawn in after her own comparatively straight eyebrows were shaved off.
*Although a natural ash blonde, Harlow achieved her trademark platinum tresses through weekly bleaching sessions using a mixture of peroxide, ammonia, Clorox and Lux Flakesâ€"an extremely painful and harsh process.
*Harlow died as her last film,
Saratoga, was 90% completed. Word got out that MGM intended either to reshoot the film with a new actress or scrap it altogether. Hearing this news, thousands of fans wrote letters to MGM asking them not to scrap Harlow's last film, but to release it to theaters. The last 10% of the film was completed using a soundalike and a body double, Mary Dees, mostly accomplished with wide-angle shots. The film broke box-office records and became the biggest picture of Harlow's career and MGM's top grossing film of 1937, further proof that Jean Harlow kept MGM afloat during the Depression,
Clark Gable remarked that during filming scenes after Harlow's death, he felt as if he "were in the arms of a ghost."
*Two competing films, both titled
Harlow, were released in 1965.
Carroll Baker played Jean in the more successful film, although Baker was almost a decade older than the age Harlow was when she died. More age-appropriate, but less successful at the box office, was
Carol Lynley in her "quickie" film version. In the 1950's, there was talk that
Marilyn Monroe might make a film on Harlow's life for 20th Century-Fox and Columbia Pictures considered making a Harlow biopic with either
Cleo Moore or
Kim Novak but neither project got off the ground.
*
Gwen Stefani made her acting debut playing Jean Harlow in the
2004 Martin Scorsese movie
The Aviator. Like Baker, Stefani was 34 when she played Jean Harlowâ€"who was 19 years old at the time she was discovered by Hughes.
*
Marilyn Monroe was offered a part to star as Harlow in a biopic of her life. Monroe initially turned it down, saying "I hope they don't do that to me when I'm gone". With later renewed interest, Monroe was scheduled to meet with prospective producers of a Harlow film the week she died.
Honor Bound (
1928)
Moran of the Marines (
1928)
*Chasing Husbands
(1928) (short subject)
*Liberty
(1929) (short subject)
*Fugitives
(1929)
*Why Be Good?
(1929)
*Why Is a Plumber?
(1929) (short subject)
*Close Harmony
(1929)
*The Unkissed Man
(1929) (short subject)
*Double Whoopee (1929) (short subject)
*Thundering Toupees
(1929) (short subject)
*Bacon Grabbers
(1929) (short subject)
*The Saturday Night Kid
(1929)
*The Love Parade (1929)
*This Thing Called Love
(1929)
*Weak But Willing
(1929) (short subject)
*New York Nights
(1929)
*Hell's Angels (1930)
*City Lights (1931)
*The Secret Six
(1931)
*The Public Enemy (1931)
*Iron Man
(1931)
*Goldie
(1931)
* Platinum Blonde (1931)
*Beau Hunks (1931) (short subject) (appears in photo)
*Talking Screen Snapshots
(1932) (short subject)
*Hollywood on Parade
(1932) (short subject)
*Three Wise Girls
(1932)
*The Beast of the City
(1932)
*Red-Headed Woman (1932)
*Red Dust (1932)
*Hold Your Man
(1933)
*Dinner at Eight (1933)
*Bombshell (1933)
*The Girl from Missouri
(1934)
*Reckless
(1935)
*China Seas
(1935)
*Riffraff
(1936)
*Wife vs. Secretary (1936)
*Suzy
(1936)
*Libeled Lady (1936)
*The Candid Camera Story (Very Candid) of the Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Pictures 1937 Convention
(1937) (short subject)
*Personal Property
(1937)
*Saratoga'' (
1937)
*
Haunted Hollywood*
gay icon*
Jean Harlow: The Platinum Page*
Jean Harlow at Classic Actresses
