The dentist's daughter eloped at age 16 with a young businessman and wound up in Los Angeles where she found work as an extra and bit player (e.g., Moran of the Marines and Liberty) and somewhat more prominently in Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy shorts (Double Whoopee, Bacon Grabbers). Her first big break came in 1930 when Howard Hughes remade his 1927 "Hell's Angels" in a sound version, replacing the heavy accented Swede Greta Nissen with the girl who, with her divorce in 1929, had adopted her mother's maiden name, Jean Harlow. Hughes loaned her out for a number of movies which, like Frank Capra's Platinum Blonde, featured her platinum hair and more than obvious sexuality (she claimed she never wore underwear). In 1932 Hughes sold her contract to MGM, and her Red-Headed Woman for that studio led the Hays Office to forbid the depiction of unpunished adultery. She married Irving Thalberg's right-hand man, Paul Bern. The marriage ended after a few weeks: just after his former common-law wife met Harlow, Bern shot himself, and a few days later the other woman also committed suicide. Harlow had another brief marriage, to cinematographer Harold Rosson, followed by an affair with William Powell. She made three films with Spencer Tracy and six with Clark Gable, receiving much improved critical acclaim for her acting, allure and comedic talent. During the filming of Saratoga she was hospitalized for uremic poisoning, dying June 7 of cerebral edema, aged 26.
Saratoga (1937): $4,000/week
Born to Be Kissed (1934): $3,000/week
Red-Headed Woman (1932): $1,250/week
Hell's Angels (1930): $1,500
Honor Bound (1928): $7/ day
Was the godmother of Millicent Siegel, daughter of the notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel. Dated the notorious mobster Abner "Longy" Zwillman, who secured a two-picture deal for Harlow with Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures by loaning Cohn $500,000 in cash. He also purchased her a jeweled charm bracelet and a red Cadillac. Height is often listed as 5'2"-5'3 1/2" Refused the lead in King Kong, as well as the lead in the Tod Browning classic Freaks. Was photographed nude at age 17 by Hollywood photographer Edward Bower Hesser in Griffith Park in 1928. In the 1933 Hollywood satire Bombshell Harlow is known as "the 'if' girl" -- a spoof loosely based on 1920's sex symbol and "It girl" Clara Bow. Went on a salary strike from MGM in 1934, during which she wrote a novel, "Today is Tonight." The book was not published until 1965. Her final film, Saratoga, became the highest grossing film of 1937 and set all-time house records, due almost entirely to her untimely death. Was the idol of Marilyn Monroe, who backed out of a bio-pic on her life. After reading the script, Monroe reportedly told her agent, "I hope they don't do that to me after I'm gone." Both Harlow and Monroe costarred in their last films with Clark Gable, Harlow in Saratoga (1937) and Monroe in The Misfits (1961) The premiere of her first feature film, Hell's Angels, on May 27, 1930, drew an estimated crowd of 50,000 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. The film also has an expensive eight-minute two-color Technicolor sequence - the only color footage of Harlow that exists. Ranked #22 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Legends" list in June 1999. She was the very first film actress to grace the cover of LIFE magazine in May 1937. Born at 5:40pm-CST Her funeral wasn't the average funeral. Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, took charge and made it a Hollywood "event." He had Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy sing his favorite song, "Oh, Sweet Mystery of Life" ,in the church chapel, followed by a huge banquet with an orchestra. She was at a dinner party and kept on addressing Margot Asquith (wife of prime minister Herbert Asquith) as MargoT (pronouncing the 'T'). Margot finally had enough and said to her "No Jean, the T is silent, as in Harlow". Had two famous superstitions: She always wore a "lucky" ankle chain on her left leg (visible in some films if you look closely), and had a "lucky" mirror in her dressing room. She wouldn't leave the room without first looking at it. Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Benediction, at the end of the corridor, on the left side, second to the last private room marked "Harlow." Favorite brand of cigarette - Fatima. Never wore any underwear and always slept in the nude. She had to stick to a strict diet to keep thin, eating mostly vegetables and salads. She used to put ice on her nipples right before shooting a scene in order to appear sexier. A new musical called "In Hell With Harlow" about an after-death meeting between her and Protestant WWII martyr Dietrich Boenhoffer never reached the stage. The production, written by best-selling author Paul L. Williams, was to star Dawn Winarski and Greg Korin. Measurements: 34B-25-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Her birth name was Harlean Carpenter - the first name an amalgam of her mother's maiden name, Jean Harlow, which she later took as her stage name. At the height of her career, it came out that this wasn't her real name, and the insatiable public wanted to know what her real name was. The studio released her 'real' name as Harlean Carpentier. The 'I' they added in her last name was done to make it sound more foreign and romantic. She was voted the 49th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Following the end of her third marriage she met actor William Powell. They were together for two years, but Jean became ill and died before Powell proposed marriage. Known as the "original blonde bombshell", pre-dating Marilyn Monroe as a blonde sex symbol. For many years, it was a widely-held belief that she died because her mother, a Christian Scientist, refused to let doctors operate on her after she became ill (Christian Scientists prefer prayer to be their primary physician). This story was even reprinted in David Shipman's famous book "The Great Movie Stars", but it has recently been proven to be completely untrue. On the day Hollywood canine superstar Rin Tin Tin died at age of 16 (112 in doggie years), Harlow, who lived across the street from his master, Lee Duncan, came over and cradled the dog's head in her lap as the famous pooch made his final exit to Doggie Heaven. Is portrayed by Gwen Stefani in The Aviator, by Carroll Baker in Harlow, by Susan Buckner in The Amazing Howard Hughes, by Lindsay Bloom in Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell and by Carol Lynley in Harlow Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue" She spent the night of April 6, 1933 - the day when Prohibition was set to expire at midnight - at the Los Angeles Brewing Co. with fellow movie star Walter Huston. A maker of "near-beer" and de-natured alcohol (the alcohol was subtracted from the full-strength beer the company continued to brew during Prohibition, but could not legally market), the company was ready to immediately get back into the market for strong waters. Skipping the denaturing process, Los Angeles Brewing whipped up a huge consignment of the genuine stuff (to be marketed as Eastside beer and ale in bottles and kegs), which was loaded onto trucks parked at the brewery, ready to roll the day when suds could be shipped legally. Two treasury agents and many guards were there that night in the company parking lot, to ensure things went smoothly, safely and legally. At 12:01 AM at the dawning of the new day of April 7, 1933, when the sale and consumption of intoxicating beverages was once again legal (if not a constitutional right) in the United States, Huston gave a short speech and Harlow broke a bottle of beer over the first truck lined up and ready to deliver its legal load of liquid refreshment, thus christening the reborn brewery. The trucks rolled out, many staffed with armed guards riding shotgun lest the thirsty multitude get too frisky along the delivery routes. When the night was over, the brewery had done over $250,000 in business (approximately $3,387,000 in 2005 dollars) and had collected a stack of cash 18 inches high. Harlow has stayed the night, partying with brewery employees. Once lived in Chateau Marmont, the famous Los Angeles hotel. One of the last photos taken of Jean showed her carrying a copy of 'Gone with the Wind'. She was determined to read it, but as her illness progressed, couldn't get past more than the first few pages. When she was admitted to hospital, she reminded one of her nurses to pack it. The nurse, realizing how serious Harlow's illness was, remarked "She'll never finish it." Her words came true when Harlow died later that week. Everyone on the MGM lot called her 'The Baby' with the exception of Clark Gable. A very close friend, he always called her "Sis". Attended the 1936 Oscars with her then lover William Powell, her close friend and co-star Clark Gable, and his new lover Carole Lombard, who was Powell's ex-wife. Harlow was so ill during the evening, Lombard had to help her to the Powder Room to recover and to re-apply her make-up. Of her final performance in "Saratoga" (1937), critic Graham Greene wrote "Her technique was the gangster's technique - she toted a breast like a man totes a gun". Was portrayed by singer Gwen Stefani in The Aviator (2004). When she died in 1937, her estate was valued at over $1 million, left entirely to her mother.