Usually I was too fat, she remembered. The picture was released on March 1, 1926. In 1927, she had the female lead role in "Wings," the first Oscar winning "Best Picture." With the advent of talkies, and despite her thick Brooklyn accent, Clara starred in several hit movies. He told her she was too old, and Bow had to spend the rest of the appointment convincing him she was a kid after all. He wanted to contract her for a three-month trial, fare paid, and $50 a week. Both Clara and her mother nearly didnt make it, and Bow later recalled how the two of them looked death in the face that day. "[89] Time singled out Bow, complimenting her on saving the picture as, "Only the amusing and facile acting of Clara Bow rescues the picture from the limbo of the impossible. Bow commented: "(Alverna] was bad in the book, butdarn it!of course, they couldn't make her that way in the picture. Clara's grandparents were English and Scottish on her father's side. I got a lot of credit from the gang for that. Bow was born into tragedy. Her interests include the European Renaissance, popular culture, and Internet history. [78], I'm almost never satisfied with myself or my work or anything by the time I'm ready to be a great star I'll have been on the screen such a long time that everybody will be tired of seeing me (Tears filled her big round eyes and threatened to fall). Even when she has the opportunity to woo the audience by displaying her charms in a comedy such a Mantrap (How she vamps with her lamps, praised Variety), her inveterate flirting condemns her to an unhappy ending. My right arm was developed from pitching so much Once I hopped a ride on behind a big fire engine. Director: Elmer Clifton | Stars: Marguerite Courtot, Raymond McKee, William Walcott, Clara Bow. [141] In 1944, while Bell was running for the U.S. House of Representatives, Bow tried to commit suicide. Hollywood's first sex symbol, the ' It ' girl, Clara Bow was born in the slums of Brooklyn in a family plagued with alcoholism and insanity. 9, and P.S. Only this is Clara Bow were talking about, and she didnt have a quitting bone in her. Her parents met as neighbours in a New York State farming neighbourhood. She became an iconic movie star. "[110] The Film Daily wrote that "Clara Bow gets a real chance and carries it off with honors(and)she is really the whole show",[111] and Variety said "You can't get away from this Clara Bow girl. her notorious tell-all memoir in Photoplay. [94], Years after Bow left Hollywood, director Victor Fleming compared Bow to a Stradivarius violin: "Touch her, and she responded with genius. Clara Gordon Bow (/ b o /; July 29, 1905 - September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929.Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". "[107] Carl Sandburg wrote that it was "The smartest and swiftest work as yet seen from Miss Clara Bow. "[73] Loaned out to Universal, Bow top-starred, for the first time, in the prohibition, bootleg drama/comedy Wine, released on August 20, 1924. Enraptured audiences and critics called her The Brooklyn Bonfire.. In 1929, Bows life and stardom changed forever. It was very hard at the time and I used to be worn out and cry myself to sleep from sheer fatigue after 18 hours a day on different sets, but now [Early 1928] I am glad of it. Hush contest. [16], It was snowing. In late 1925, Bow returned to New York to co-star in the Ibsenesque[98] drama Dancing Mothers, as the good/bad "flapperish" upper-class daughter Kittens. As fellow actor Lina Basquette said: She wasnt well liked amongst other women in the film colony. 338 pp. This profile was written in response to a request in the comments by Dickthetag. Bows friends wondered what Tui was possibly getting out of the marriage. In order to cry on cue, Bow put herself through intense mental anguish. Reviews were nothing less than outstanding: The New York Times said that "(Bow)is vivacious and, as Betty Lou, saucy, which perhaps is one of the ingredients of It. She also studied at Bay Ridge High School for Girls. Its contents were heartbreaking. [55] Director Frank Lloyd was casting for the part of high-society flapper Janet Oglethorpe, and more than 50 women auditioned, most with previous screen experience. Clara's life is both inspiring and sada glimpse into a Hollywood sodden with sexism long before the enlightenment of the #MeToo movement. Bow met her first boyfriend, cameraman Arthur Jacobson, and she got to know director Frank Tuttle, with whom she worked in five later productions. At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. [23], According to Bow's biographer, David Stenn, Bow was raped by her father at age sixteen while her mother was institutionalized. I couldn't analyze it, but I could always feel it". It makes a full-sized star of Clara Bow. Lugosi must have gotten confused about this arrangement, because during this time he marriednot Clara Bow. Little Clara came into the world in a bleak, sparsely furnished room above [a] dilapidated Baptist Church, and these very humble beginnings were about to turn into an absolute nightmare. Who are we, after all, to say she is wrong? View The Obituary For Clara Bow George of Bowling Green, Virginia. The film proved to be a tremendous box office success that lent Clara Bow the nickname the "It" Girl. Only when I remember it, it seems to me I can't live. [5] With No Limit and Kick In, Bow held the position as fifth at box-office in 1931, but the pressures of fame, public scandals, and overwork, took their toll on Bow's fragile emotional health. That year, Bow discovered her secretary and confidant Daisy DeVoe had been mismanaging her money, and took her to court. Occupation Actor Family Father - Robert Walter Bow (1874-1959) Mother - Sarah Frances Bow (ne Gordon) (1880-1923) Siblings - Clara had 2 older sisters who died in infancy. [95], Bow's bohemian lifestyle and "dreadful" manners were considered reminders of the Hollywood elite's uneasy position in high society. Doran. The films she went on to make there included some silent classics: they, and she, were precociously flirtatious, youthful and saucy. The New York Times said, "The flapper, impersonated by a young actress, Clara Bow, had five speaking titles, and every one of them was so entirely in accord with the character and the mood of the scene that it drew a laugh from what, in film circles, is termed a "hard-boiled" audience",[57] while the Los Angeles Times commented that "Clara Bow, the prize vulgarian of the lot was amusing and spirited but didn't belong in the picture",[58] and Variety said that "the horrid little flapper is adorably played". When Clara was born, New York was in the middle of a ravaging heat wave, with temperatures rising over a punishing 100 degrees. Desperately eager to please, Bow nailed her five scenes and even managed to cry real tearsa feat many actresses today cant even match. "[16] A close friend, a younger boy who lived in her building burned to death, something which haunted her. As Bow once retorted, They are snobs. This was a condition apart from the seizures known to cause disordered thinking, delusion, paranoia, and aggressive behavior. In June 1925, Bow was credited for being the first to wear hand-painted legs in public, and was reported to have many followers at the Californian beaches. Her love life was far more thrilling and varied than the films she made, and theres a reason why she negotiated not to have a morals clause in her Paramount contract. In January 1929, Clara Bow received more than 45,000 letters in a single month. Theres always a price for stardom, and its never pretty. She became socially withdrawn and, although she refused to socialize with her husband, she also refused to let him leave the house alone. The personal quality"It" provides the magic to make it happen. [17] She was later diagnosed with "psychosis due to epilepsy". what was her significance of the . It was shot on location at Pomona College in the summer of 1925, and released on December 15, but due to block booking, it was not shown in New York until July 21, 1926. Besides her flaming red hair, Bows lips were also a national sensation. Appropriately chastised, Brownlow included a whole segment on Bow in his next documentary, sparking renewed interest in the lovely, effervescent, and indescribable Clara Bow. As a part of her beauty routine, she also put henna in her hair to give it extra depth and brightness. Real nice, 1920s casting directors, real nice. 1930: Clara Bow (1905 - 1965), American leading lady of the 'flapper' era poses seductively in a scene from 'Her Wedding Night', directed by Frank Tuttle for Paramount. I'm sure her 'infinite variety' would keep her from wearying us no matter how many scenes she was in. She played games with boys her age, and they didnt seem to mind her patchy sweaters. Clara Bow, (born July 29, 1905, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.died September 27, 1965, Los Angeles, California), American motion-picture actress called the "It" Girl after she played in It (1927), the popular silent-film version of Elinor Glyn 's novel of that name. It was two years before she moved to Hollywood, and another three before she signed a contract with Paramount. If you ever felt even a little bad for Claras father, you should know one thing. Clara's family needed help . [32] As Bow grew into womanhood, her stature as a "boy" in her old gang became "impossible". I never did anything to hurt anyone else. Of all of Bows scandalous affairs, her tryst with horror star Bela Lugosi was the most bizarreright from the very beginning. Please join us in Loving, Sharing and Memorializing Clara Bow George on this permanent online memorial. Im a curiosity in Hollywood. [67] In November 1933, looking back to this period of her career, Bow described the atmosphere in Hollywood as like a scene from a movie about the French Revolution, where "women are hollering and waving pitchforks twice as violently as any of the guys the only ladies in sight are the ones getting their heads cut off. In an attempt to overcome her youthful looks, Bow put her hair up and arrived in a dress she "sneaked" from her mother. Clara Bow attended P.S. When her friend Tui Lorraine faced exile from America and desperately needed a cash injection, Clara generously offeredher own gross father, Robert. . Clara had a devoted pal and live-in secretary, Daisy DeVoe, a former studio hairdresser. [117] Bow fumed: "They yell at me to be dignified. Clara Bows biography could have been a fairy story but instead it is a cautionary tale. TIMES STAFF WRITER. Frightful snobs Im a curiosity in Hollywood. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Now we can watch It and Wings, and many other of Bows movies on DVD, but there was a time when her name had slipped through the cracks of film history. When Sarah was just a teenager, she fell from a second-story window and was never the same again. By the time the reclusive Clara Bow passed, almost no one remembered her. [75] While Grace Kingsley of the Los Angeles Times said; "Don't miss Wine. But they also discovered Bows biggest, darkest trauma, While in the sanatorium, Bow told doctors about the darkest period of her lifeand it went back to the very beginning. . Not done yet, she began reaming him out for daring to control her private life, and finished by strutting her world-class stems out the door. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Reportedly, all she had to do was listen to the lullaby Rock-a-Bye Baby to turn the faucet on. Flapper movies such as The Plastic Age or Dancing Mothers were perfect for Bow, who had a stunning ability to move naturally in front of the camera, bobbing and smirking with humour and sexiness. "[56] It was released on January 4, 1924. . Bows family life gave new meaning to the word dysfunctional. Her father, though intelligent, was aimless andusually absent. She is endowed with a mentality far beyond her years. Her imagery and electric, sexy performances spoke to the flapper persona of the times. This had devastating consequences. But having "It" didn't . And they say love isnt real. Yeah, sit down Rex. As fellow starlet Louise Brooks put it, Bow became a star with nobodys help.. Bow asked her father, but he told her not to worry. Bow might have looked sweet, but you best not cross her. [14] Her mother, Sarah Frances Bow (ne Gordon, 18801923), was told by a doctor not to become pregnant again, for fear the next baby might die as well. She screens perfectly. Although she had a turbulent relationship with her mother (more on that later), Bow never stopped being her biggest defender. RM EC80AK - Red Hair, 1928, with Clara Bow. As it turned out, the director actually wanted a young tomboy type for the part, and Bows disguise worked a little too well. Sarah didnt listenand the conditions of Claras birth couldnt have been worse. The greatest box-office draw of her dayshe once received 45,000 fan letters in a single month, Clara Bow's on screen vitality and allure that beguiled . of Children: 2 Son Son: George Beldam, Jr. , Rex Bell Jr. . Once she hit Hollywood, Bow gained fame not only for playing flapper roles, but for being a riotous flapper herself. Description. When Schulberg learned of this arrangement, he fired Jacobson for potentially getting "his big star" into a scandal. She said she was horrified and hurt by the gesture. Bow dealt with her trauma in a tragic waythat is, she didnt deal with it at all. Clara Gordon Bow Born 29 Jul 1905 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States Ancestors Daughter of Robert Walter Bow and Sarah Frances (Gordon) Bow [sibling (s) unknown] Wife of George Francis (Beldam) Rex Bell married 3 Dec 1931 in Las Vegas, Clark, Nevada, United States 3 bd | 3 ba | 1.6k sqft. "[16] Lloyd told the press, "Bow is the personification of the ideal aristocratic flapper, mischievous, pretty, aggressive, quick-tempered and deeply sentimental. Find out where Clara Bow was born, their birthday and details about their professions, education, religion, family and other life details and facts. Clara Bow always had a cartoonishly beautiful face and an iconic tuft of red hair. American actress Clara Bow. "Miss Bow will undoubtedly gain fame as a screen comedienne". Some of her most famous flings included the heartthrob actors Gary Cooper and Gilbert Roland. RM EC8004 - Clara Bow in 'Hula', a 1927 silent . Her nerves were all shot, and Photoplay even reported sightings of bottles of sedatives by her bed in one long row. Clara Bow, of course. It is 100 per cent at the box-office. For all that they were making stacks of money off of her, Bows studio executives and directors were incredibly demeaning of their star. In a purely-postage world, thats a lot of licked stamps. [29] The Bows and Bakers shared a housestill standingat 33 Prospect Place in 1920. Only the audiences can do it. After leaving the institution, Bow lived alone in a bungalow, which she rarely left, until her death. "[90], Bow began to date her co-star Gilbert Roland, who became her first fianc. The Legacy Of Clara Bow, America's First Sex Symbol. The young girl was miraculously able to escape and then disarm her mother before she could hurt her, and she quickly locked Sarah up. [17] Bow said that her father, Robert Walter Bow (18741959), "had a quick, keen mind all the natural qualifications to make something of himself, but didn't everything seemed to go wrong for him, poor darling". Her costumes in the film were so scarce, one magazine noted they wouldnt weigh two pounds soaking wet. Maybe more scandalously, Bows new husband Rex Bell was less than pleased about her giving away the goods. When relatives gathered for the funeral, Bow was so upset that she "went crazy" and tried to jump into the grave to be with her, shouting that they were "hypocrites" and that they hadn't loved or cared for her mother while she was alive. "[114] Parker in actuality was not referring to Bow or to Bow's character in the film It, but to a different character, Ava Cleveland, in the novel of the same name.[115]. [35], Grit was released on January 7, 1924. After this blow, all her inner torment reached a terrifying climax. "[16], Bow's parents were descended from English and Scots-Irish immigrants who had come to America the generation before. Bow was a working class girl who fought her way to the top. Though this is exactly what helped her cry at the drop of a hat, Tuttle also noted that it made Bow full of nervous energy and pitifully eager to please everyone. Soon enough, this tendency would ravage Bow. Hollywood's first sex symbol, the 'It' girl, Clara Bow was born in the slums of Brooklyn in a family plagued with alcoholism and insanity. [147] Her pallbearers were Harry Richman, Richard Arlen, Jack Oakie, Maxie Rosenbloom, Jack Dempsey, and Buddy Rogers. When the hapless victim is scared into speechlessness, she gurgles with naughty delight and tries another. This did not please her studio executive B.P. The film gave Bow her nickname, "The 'It' Girl." But she is full of confidence, determination and ambition. When Bow was 16 and alone, Robert attacked her in the bedroom. She certainly has that certain 'It'and she just runs away with the film. By appropriating traditionally androgynous or masculine traits, Bow presented herself as a confident, modern woman. Either way, no one was surprised when it ended, but they were downright astonished by just how quickly things went south. It almost worked: They had two children together and lived happily at first. And the reason Weeks cited for the split? Just as Bow was beginning to be happy with Rex, she started showing disturbing signs. We want our readers to trust us. The portrait was commissioned by Kende's fellow Hungarian (and another Hollywood legend), Bela Lugosi, with whom Clara Bow had a brief affair. Now thats how an Old Hollywood starlet does mean girl. That said, Bow tried to get her revenge. Well, can you blame her for having a such a maladjusted view of affection? Claras Bows final public performance was not on the silver screen, but on the radio. Bow became a personality of the 1920s. 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