Who was Hollywood’s first “Blonde Bombshell”? We would all have to agree that it’s none other than Jean Harlow. It is a pity this striking star died so young, only 26! You’d have to get past her platinum-hair and sex symbol status to appreciate her talent. Unfortunately we will never know how far she could’ve gone in Hollywood. I’d have to guess she would’ve made it.
Harlow made over 30 movies between 1927-1937, with many being bit parts. Her real break in the movies came when she landed a role in Howard Hughes’ Hell’s Angels (1931). It was her role that made this movie a hit. Shortly after this movie, Hughes sold her contract to MGM for $60,000–where her career took off. Soon after starting in many films like Platinum Blonde (1931) she came to be known as a “sex symbol.”
I think that this title of “sex symbol” was the reason why we see her in roles like a cheap tramp, dumb blonde, and home wrecker. She was never a great dramatic actress, but her comedy, beauty, and energy made her bigger than life on the screen. How can we forget her role as Kitty Packard in Dinner at Eight (1934)? This is my absolute favorite Harlow movie. I don’t know about you, but I saw potential in Harlow when I saw her in this role. I think she could’ve gone beyond comedy and “lady of the night,” roles. Her biographer Eve Golden said “in the last year or two of her life she was really starting to take charge…” We will never know how far she could’ve gone.
Born Harlean Carpentier on March 3, 1911, she would’ve turned 96 tomorrow. She ran away at the age of 16 and married a businessman. The marriage was ill fated, let’s just say that her first marriage was a prelude to all her future relationships with men. Her short life filled the tabloids of the day. Stories were written about her second husband, director Paul Bern that allegedly committed suicide, nude photos of a 17-year-old Harlow surfaced, her greedy stepfather, and an abortion of a child allegedly fathered by actor William Powell. The tabloids had plenty of material for the gossip column. Her sensuality on screen did not go unnoticed by the Hays Office. In response to Harlow’s role in Red-Headed Woman, the Hay’s Office ruled that adultery on film couldn’t go unpunished. The adulterous had to have an unhappy, if not tragic, ending.
She died of kidney failure while filming Saratoga (1937). She died before the film was completed and so they had to use a double. If you’ve ever seen this film, you will clearly see a weak and sickly looking Harlow. Clark Gable said that he felt like he was working with a ghost. And in a sense he was right, she was an apparition that danced on the silver screen for a brief moment. Happy Birthday Jean.
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