Jean Harlow

About Jean Harlow

Born Harlean Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 3, 1911, the daughter of a dentist and his wife, she would come to be known as Jean Harlow. At sixteen, she eloped with businessman Charles McGrew, twenty-three, and the young couple relocated to Los Angeles. It was there that the aspiring actress began her film career as an extra, securing a small part in Moran of the Marines in 1928. Driven by ambition, she pursued every casting opportunity, appearing in eleven films in 1929 alone, portraying a variety of incidental characters from a pedestrian to a whimsical ballerina. Her marriage to McGrew dissolved after only two years, granting her greater focus on her burgeoning film ambitions. While feature film roles proved elusive, she found more success in short productions, notably a significant part in Hal Roach's Double Whoopee in 1929. Her career trajectory dramatically shifted in 1930 with a pivotal role in Howard Hughes' massive World War I success, Hell's Angels. Shortly after the film's premiere, Hughes sold her contract to MGM for sixty thousand dollars, propelling her into stardom. Her performance in Platinum Blonde in 1931 solidified her status as America's preeminent sex symbol. The following year brought her together with Clark Gable in John Ford's Red Dust, the first of six collaborations with the iconic actor. During the filming of Red Dust, a forty-four-day production costing $408,000, she learned of the suicide of her new husband, MGM producer Paul Bern. His tragic death briefly jeopardized production, with MGM chief Louis B. Mayer reportedly considering Tallulah Bankhead as a replacement, though this proved unnecessary. Red Dust, released late in 1932, was an immediate sensation, marking Harlow's ascent to superstardom. In the glittering ensemble cast of MGM's Dinner at Eight in 1933, she delivered a masterful comedic performance as the wife of a domineering tycoon seeking to acquire a rival's failing enterprise. Later that year, she captivated audiences as Lola Burns in Victor Fleming's hit Bombshell, a thinly veiled cinematic exploration of the public and private lives of Hollywood stars, mirroring aspects of Clara Bow's and Harlow's own experiences, from her demanding stepfather to her lavish home and beloved pets, even recreating scenes from the popular Gable-Harlow hit, Red Dust. In 1933, she wed cinematographer Harold Rosson, a marriage that endured for only eight months. In 1935, she reunited with Gable for another adventure, China Seas, with two more shared projects, Wife vs. Secretary in 1936 and Saratoga in 1937, rounding out their celebrated filmography. It was her on-screen partnership with Gable that would ultimately define her enduring cinematic legacy