Jean Harlow

• Born: March 3, 1911
• Birthplace: Kansas City, Missouri
• Died: June 7, 1937
• Place of death: Los Angeles, California

Identification American film star, for whom the term “platinum blond” was coined

Harlow was a Hollywood sex symbol but did not possess the vanity often associated with such status. Lacking any formal training, she learned on the job and became a gifted comedian, with a unique talent for portraying “bad” girls with compassion and wit. The mysterious suicide of Harlow’s second husband, Paul Bern, and her own sudden death fueled much public speculation; this, as much as her too-brief film career, has kept the actor alive in the public’s memory.

Born Harlean Carpenter, Jean Harlow had no “rags-to-riches” back story; she was born into a comfortable upper-class family and attended a finishing school. Her domineering mother left her father and moved young Harlow to Hollywood, hoping to break into films herself. However, it was Harlow who started as an extra at Twentieth Century-Fox, then appeared in Hal Roach’s comedy short subjects, after eloping at the age of sixteen with Charles McGrew. After two years of marriage, Harlow divorced McGrew, then got her big break when Howard Hughes cast her in Hell’s Angels (1930). Though Harlow’s wooden performance was panned by critics, her star quality was obvious, and her “platinum blond” hair—a phrase coined for her by a press agent—caused U.S. sales of peroxide to skyrocket.

In 1932, Harlow played the lead in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s (MGM’s) Red-Headed Woman, which proved to be a major turning point in her career. Not only did she discover her natural gift for comedy, but she also played for the first time the role that became her trademark: a “bad” woman transformed into a comic character.

In July, 1932, Harlow married Bern, Irving Thalberg’s right-hand man. A few months later, Bern was found dead, apparently by suicide, leaving behind a cryptic note that fueled much speculation, suggesting impotence and sexual humiliation. However, Harlow maintained a dignified public silence throughout the subsequent investigation and came through the scandal with her popularity intact.

Red Dust, released November, 1932, further established Harlow’s image as a hard-boiled girl with a heart of gold, and critics praised her performance. Her costar Clark Gable, who made more films with Harlow than any other actor, became a close friend and remained so throughout Harlow’s life.

In September, 1933, Harlow married MGM cameraman Harold Rosson and made several more films, notably Bombshell and the classic Dinner at Eight. Divorced in 1934, she began dating actor William Powell, with whom she remained romantically involved for the rest of her life—though the two never married.

In March, 1937, Harlow began to exhibit signs of ill health. As the shooting of her final film, Saratoga, neared completion, Harlow became so ill that she had to stop working. Within days she was dead; she was twenty-six.

The cause of Harlow’s death was a topic of public conversation for decades afterward. Some wondered if her death was the result of a botched abortion, peroxide poisoning, or injuries sustained from a beating by her former husband Bern. Others blamed her mother for hastening her death by refusing medical attention, citing her Christian Science beliefs. In actuality, Harlow died of acute nephritis, better known as kidney failure. Her kidneys had been failing for years, stemming from a bout of scarlet fever in her teens. She received constant medical attention from the moment she left the set of Saratoga (1937). There simply was no treatment available in 1937 that could have saved her. Harlow was laid to rest at Forest Lawn, in Glendale, California, in a crypt paid for by Powell. The inscription reads “Our Baby.”

Impact

The original “blond bombshell,” Harlow was an icon of American pop culture. A great Hollywood sex symbol and a gifted comedian, she was number twenty-two on the American Film Institute’s list of the greatest actors of the Golden Age. In May, 1937, she was the first female film actor to appear on the cover of Life magazine. Her early death only heightened her popularity, leading to endless speculation about what might have been.

Bibliography

Conway, Michael, and Mark Ricci, eds. The Films of Jean Harlow. New York: The Citadel Press, 1965.

Golden, Eve. Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow. New York: Abbeville Press, 1991.

Jordan, Jessica Hope. The Sex Goddess in American Film, 1930-1965: Jean Harlow, Mae West, Lana Turner, and Jayne Mansfield. Amherst, N.Y.: Cambria Press, 2009.

Marx, Samuel, and Joyce Vanderveen. Deadly Illusions: Jean Harlow and the Murder of Paul Bern. New York: Random House, 1990.

Stenn, David. Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow. New York: Doubleday, 1993.