Jean Harlow: The career that wasn't

She would have worn wigs after her hair fell out from all that hair dye.

Then she would have killed herself from having to fuck all those studio heads.

She probably would have married someone in the industry (she had a habit of doing that) and would have retired when the roles dried up, and been a happy wife and mom.

Maybe some of Carole Lombard’s roles? She would likely have been cast in some of the 40s screwball comedies, like Fireball. The 50s would have brought us The Jean Harlow Show on CBS!

I love that her mother referred to her as “The Baby” her entire life. Harlow is one of those people you read about and wish they never went into show business. (Linda Darnell is another.)

Bombshell was a great book on Harlow. Very well researched. Clara Bow, who was the big MGM star just prior to Harlow, was very kind to her, which says a lot about Bow’s (often disparaged) character. Stenn wrote a good bio on Bow, too. She, unlike Harlow, came out of utter squalor, poverty, and abuse in Brooklyn and, while the movie business was cruel to her at the end of her career, she probably would have had a miserable life without it. Instead, she became a superstar and then she settled down with Rex Bell and had a family.

As far as Harlow had she lived: I agree with r2 because she just wanted to settle down. She had very basic values. But MGM would have ruined her one way or another.

Carol...

Carroll...

[quote]I love that her mother referred to her as “The Baby” her entire life.

And in death. "Our Baby" is carved on the outside of her crypt at Forest Lawn.

She probably would've married William Powell and retired from showbiz to raise a family, and then make a comeback after divorce to play Marilyn Monroe's mother in "Ladies of the Chorus" and a series of faded dames in film noirs at Warner Bros.

She was doomed to die young. There were no antibiotics or cures for the health problems she had.

Wow, both trailers at R5 and R6 look like horrible movies. You can just tell both of them are campy (not in a good way) pieces of shit.

The Joseph E. Levine / Paramount production of "Harlow" with Carroll Baker had a bigger budget, but it was a cheap, tawdry, fictionalization of Harlow's story, with many of the real life people surrounding Harlow renamed. Even MGM is renamed Majestic Studios.

Interestingly, this project originated at 20th Century Fox, with Marilyn Monroe set to star under her new contract with the studio. Upon her death, the project was sold to Paramount.

Had she lived I think Jean's career would have faded very quickly and maybe by 1939 (she could have played Crawford's role in "The Women" maybe?) she might have been all done. Her talent was very specific, and I can't see her in war era films with that persona. She would have struggled for decent roles the same way Joan Blondell did once her early good looks hardened.

I like her a lot. I just saw "Red Dust" recently and she's just great in it.

Yes, but her moves through Monte Carlo were legendary and allowed Charlene to show ‘em what she’s got.

[quote] She would have struggled for decent roles the same way Joan Blondell did once her early good looks hardened.

I wouldn’t say Blondell’s looks hardened, so much as she simply matured, but not all that badly. So while she was not as adorably cute as when she was young, she simply aged into a MILF. Or GILF.

She would have starred in a 50s sitcom, "I Married Jean."

^^^ from the them song: She sucks me ween, and that's why I married Jean"

M-G-M had MAISIE in development as a vehicle for Harlow at the time of her death. According to Wikipedia, the character was "a brassy but kindhearted Brooklyn burlesque dancer." The movie was made in 1939 with Ann Sothern in the title role, and it was successful enough that Sothern continued to do a series of ten MAISIE films over the next decade.

Harlow was a major box-office star for the studio, and this property would have been tailored to highlight her popular appeal. At that time in the late 1930s, M-G-M was setting up several recurring series -- the Thin Man and Andy Hardy films, for example -- featuring top stars but moderate budgets, which were very profitable.

Jean Harlow would have NAILED the part of Scarlett O'Hara.

[r12] nails it. Like the 60’s rock stars who OD’ed, death was a good career move.

She is one of those old school stars I simply do not get the love for as an actress or personality. Give me Clara Bow any day, she was magnetic.

Carole Lombard was a million times the actress (and beauty, let's be honest) that Harlow was. Harlow was a sex symbol because she looked "easy."

Harlow was an ugly bitch . I dont care what the standards were in those days,she was never attractive. Never understood the love for her.

[quote] She probably would have married someone in the industry (she had a habit of doing that)

Hello?

The original resting bitch face.

[quote]Interestingly, this project originated at 20th Century Fox, with Marilyn Monroe set to star under her new contract with the studio. Upon her death, the project was sold to Paramount.

Sources, please.

Jean Harlow as Scarlett O'Hara

Jean would have played Madame Curie for MGM.

"Oh, lookie here, Pierre! I've isolated RADIUM!"

She had a fleshy face which would become unappealing in middle age.

In the 40s, aging Harlow would have had to fight Barbara Pepper and Iris Adrian for supporting "brassy dame" parts in second features.

I dont think had she lived she would have kept acting. From all I have read about her, she just wanted to get married and start having babies. She was also starting to really become resentful of Mother Jean, which is most likely how she would have ended up looking after a pregnancy or two.

She didn’t have one tenth of Hedy Lamar’s head for science. What could she have contributed to the cell phone industry?

R24,

Whatever Happened To Baby Jean?

R32 The husband died in suspicious circumstances, I think.

"Bride of Frankenstein" (Elsa would have moved aside for a hundred-dollar bill and a ride home.)

"Bells of St. Mary" (Picture that sweet face in a nun's wimple, coif and veil, and that smoking body subdued by a slightly-too-tight habit. See "Casablanca.")

"Casablanca" (A little vocal coaching and brown hair - Bridget! Better than that vague and not-authentic emotionality Ingrid threw in, as always.)

"The Wizard of Oz" (a flattening chest band, some banana curls and Voila! - a sexy Dorothy to mark the end of the 30s. They'd have kept the Jitterbug number in and there would have been a hotter vibe with the three missing-pieces male characters.

"Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" (a career-boosting landmark with a brilliant take on Jane. None of Bette Davis's slapstick antics. Sheer horror.

Her dad lived for 37 years after her death made me think about the monumental changes the country went through from the time she died (1937) and when he died (1974).

The rumors were her husband was gay and didn't fuck her on their wedding night so he committed suicide out of shame, which is suspicious since you know she wouldn't have made it to her wedding night a virgin.

R31 wow! I can only imagine if that actually happened?

Gee, if only I could read the article without a subscription. Perhaps R31, you could cut and paste it?

At the time of his murder, Jay Sebring was living in the same house where her husband had killed himself.

^R34.

"Bells of St. Mary's"

She never would have survived Technicolor.

The Paul Bern story never made sense.

I think his ex-common-law wife (They were together all the way back to 1911, she was a psych. case and she went to LA and saw Bern the night before he died.) killed him. So do a lot of other informed people. The stories of Bern being impotent, attempting sex with a prosthesis, or have a small penis were all horribly concocted by Mayer and MGM to cover Harlow from any court case. Bern was having an affair with a studio secretary during his courtship with Harlow. Thalberg was seen in Bern's house rummaging around before the police got to the house.

The common-law wife jumped off a ferry steamboat in the Sacramento River and drowned days after Bern's death. Well, she drowned, anyway.

Harlow liked older men - she was engaged to William Powell when she died.

I agree that her career would have been over by the start of WWII. Like Clara Bow in the 20s, Harlow was so of the moment that her moment was soon over. If she hadn't died, she'd have retired, had kids, and been happy to get the fuck out of the business.

But she really was doomed--the rheumatic fever she had in her teens damaged her kidneys, and star or not, she likely would have died before the age of 30. There was no dialysis or organ transplantation back then, and Harlow was a heavy drinker even before she got famous, putting further strain on her kidneys. She and her first husband, a wealthy playboy she married while still a teenager, were quite the party animals.

Harlow's big appeal was sex, sex, sex. She didn't wear underwear and, in the beginning, had a great body. In the only color sequence from Hell's Angels, she's quite obviously naked under her dress. She's not beautiful by our standards, but she had the same primal glow that Monroe had.

Doesn't Hell's Angels take place during World War I? Did audiences of the 1930s mock Harlow's horribly anachronistic hairdo (never mind that costume!) as 1960s audiences mocked Julie Christie's in Dr. Zhivago?

They were too busy looking at her ass.

Most interesting thing about that Hell's Angels clip is seeing Harlow with those unsightly black unplucked brows.

She was only about 18 when that footage was shot. The hair and makeup back then were really aging.

Harlow would have NAILED the role of Dr. Brockton in TROG.

She would have gotten the "Maisie" movie series instead of Ann Sothern.

Jean was NOT ugly. I mean her thin eyebrows and bleached hair is a look that was hot almost 100 years ago.

Jean was extremely glamorous.

Jean Harlow as Mrs. Miniver

She could've changed her image and play all the Greer Garson roles in the 40s.

[quote] Harlow was an ugly bitch . I dont care what the standards were in those days,she was never attractive. Never understood the love for her.

You are obviously dumb as a tree.

Before her death Harlow had a lot of movie projects on the horizon. She was at the top of her game when she died. Too bad she didn't play Crystal in "The Women." She would have been perfect.

If she had lived her career would have continued and she probably would have eventually married William Powell and had children. That was what she really wanted.

Here are the scenes in Saratoga that were shot with a voice and body double after Harlow’s death. The movie was about 90% done when she died.

To me, she is the perfect example of how our ideas about what constitutes "beauty" are very much a thing of the time we live in.

No, there are certain women who are always considered beautiful. Like Ava Gardner or Audrey Hepburn. Jean Harlow had sex appeal, but she wasn't gorgeous.

People also generally still consider Harlow's "successor" Marilyn Monroe to be beautiful.

I remember watching some documentary of her life and career made some years ago. She was a favorite with the movie crews. They said she was very down to earth and friendly. Drank and cursed like a sailor and was "one of the boys".

Actually r47 those eyebrows look more current today than the shaved brows she sported later on. The backless gown though, could’ve been worn in the late 60s, amazing.

She's amazing as THE RED-HEADED WOMAN (32), giving one of the most uninhibited performances by an actor in a major studio Pre-Code flick.

Once the Code was enforced starting in Juy 1934, she was a lot less interesting to watch (like Mae West).

What a perfect name...Jean Harlow.... off topic but watching the very old movies, so many of the actors seemed pretty stoned.

[quote} What a perfect name...Jean Harlow

It was her mother's name, her maiden name. Jean Harlow's real name was Harlean Carpenter. She used her mother's name as her stage name.

[quote]I mean her thin eyebrows and bleached hair is a look that was hot almost 100 years ago.

How dare you!

She looked special.

The shaved eyebrows looked silly but they were IN back then. Marlene Dietrich had the painted on eyebrows too, and they were as severe as Harlow's.

As we said in the Carole Lombard thread, isn't it amazing that because of film, we're still talking about an actress who died, in this case, 85 years ago?

Marilyn as Jean, 1958

Alice Faye was a Jean Harlow clone until Darryl Zanuck softened her image and recast her as Fox's wholesome musical superstar.

Mama Jean signed a lot of Jean's photos, r64.

I adore Jean Harlow and love her performances. She and Clark steam up the screen in Red Dust and Bombshell is a fantastic comedic performance.

R49, she would have nailed the role of TROG in Trog:

Marlene and Jean. Jean looked older than her years.

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but in the OP's picture, she looks fat-faced and rather ugly. The over-plucked eyebrows of the day did her no favors whatsoever, and leant focus on a huge and rather unsightly face. Were females back then lauded for being weird-looking?

I need to be convinced about her "beauty."

Yeah, I'll go hide in my den, now

And I'll even go one further. She looks like one of those bald, fat guys with bowling-ball sized heads who love being photographed in mirrored sunglasses and baseball caps that scarcely fit their fat heads before they die of Covid-19.

I don't suppose there are any filmed interviews with Harlow, like one might have seen in the 1930s in a newsreel? I'm curious how she would have come off as herself, as opposed to an MGM character.

It wasn't so much Harlow's face that made her a star. It was the whole package.

There were many, many dozens like her with a relatively ugly face, yet she made it. And even those with prettier faces didn't make it, while her nipples did.

Hell, even today butterfaces can pull hot dick. Straight men are hypnotized by blonde hair and big tits.

Even by today's standards, Harlow wouldn't be more than a butterface if she hadn't agreed to strip for Howard Hughes or fuck him.

Jean Harlow was presented in all of her publicity photos as an unearthly goddess. She didn't look real and in the bereft years of the Depression she was a fantasy figure for millions of Americans.

However, what I find odd is that Harlow onscreen, even dressed up in her white satin and platinum hair, mostly came across as just your ordinary hash house waitress all gussied up. No more unearthly than Joan Blondell.

That was probably her appeal: Ordinary hash house waitresses could fantasize that they were just a bottle of peroxide and an evening gown away from becoming a goddess.

The peroxide treatment ruined Harlow's hair and that of thousands of women who tried to copy her, of course.

Did the carpet match the drapes?

[quote] I know this isn't a popular opinion, but in the OP's picture, she looks fat-faced and rather ugly.

Oh my God, she did not look "fat faced" and "rather ugly." You're just weird. You probably consider Madonna the epitome of beauty.

I just find the great discrepancy between Jean Harlow's PR images and her onscreen presence very odd. Almost like two different actresses and MGM couldn't make up their mind who they were presenting. Never really thought about it much until this thread.

Maybe it's all the more perplexing because her career was so short and the public never really got to know the real person, no newsreels of her, only what they were told by the fan magazines. In this regard I suppose she was still of the tradition of the great silent stars whose real selves could be kept from the public's impression of them.

R84, according to David Bret's book on Harlow, yes, the carpet did match the drapes, and she loved to flash unsuspecting onlookers to show it off. However, I sometimes doubt the veracity of Bret's salacious details.

Apparently, to get the right shade of "Harlow gold" required a toxic mix of hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite bleach, ammonia, and Lux flakes. If Harlow's pubic area did indeed match her platinum locks, that would've been disastrous to her internal plumbing.

Thanks for the info. R87! Her poor pussy! 😧

The overbleaching ruined her hair for a time. It broke off, fell out. Something had to be done. She wore wigs until her scalp and hair could recover then the color was toned down.

Harlow, as evidenced from photos of her as a child and teenager, was indeed a natural blonde. But I never heard anywhere that she flashed her cunt to show people she really was. She was unselfconscious about her body, but she wasn't lewd.

There's a photo in "Hollywood Babylon" that is supposed to be Jean Harlow, reclining nude. It's not her. But there are nude photos of her, taken by Bower Hesser. They show an 18 year old Harlow in Griffin Park, Los Angeles in the spring of 1929. She's nude but for a diaphanous scarf and she looks healthy and lovely.

Silent star Mae Murray is another example of a woman who was considered a great beauty in her time, but modern eyes just can't see it.

That goes double for the Mack Sennett bathing beauties.

If these film actresses were the most beautiful girls in Hollywood back then, so beautiful as to get film parts, it really makes you wonder about the looks of the also-rans.

The also-rans might have been beautiful by our standards. Beauty ideals change over time.

Back in the Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty days the beauty standard tended to be petite and well fleshed. There were no tall, skinny bathing beauties. Today they would be probably considered short and plump. But they were hot stuff back then. At any rate, despite them not looking like what's considered the beauty norm today they were not unattractive at all. Carole Lombard and Gloria Swanson were two of Sennett's bathing beauties.

[quote]Griffin Park, Los Angeles

Griffith Park

She couldn't hold a candle to Florence Lawrence.

She always seemed like she was the girlfriend of gangsters to me. That's how she always kinda came off in still photos and her films.

She looked really good with darker hair in I think, "libaled lady."

That's a film I love.

"Beauty ideals change over time" always felt like bullshit to me. There are certain looks that are fashionable for an era, but true beauty lasts through the ages.

Harlow was no less pretty than Betty Grable who defined the ideal woman in the 1940s much as Harlow had a decade before. That kind of fame is really is all about the moment, capturing the zeitgeist, not about eternity.

I simply cannot wait until the Kardashian-Jenner/blowup doll beauty trend is over and the Golden Age Hollywood actress look makes a comeback.

Clara Bow was under contract to Paramount NOT MGM - although Jean Harlow made a picture with her at Paramount in 1929 called 'The Saturday Night Kid". Clara was indeed nice to Jean during the filming and probably did have conversations with her about "stardom."

Fox also used the Harlow film property as a wedge to keep Jayne Mansfield in line. They kept promising her that it was going to be made and that she would star in it......so Jayne made "Kiss Them For Me".......

The Harlow bio with Carroll Baker was originally supposed to be produced and directed by Carol Reed and was to be an "outside" picture not with Paramount. The script was to be based on Jean's real life - but when Joe Levine took it over - after the success of "The Carpetbagger" - they called in John Michael Hayes and made up the story as they went along. This was done to try to beat the knock off version by Bill Sargent starring Carol Lynley to the screen. They didn't.

The time has probably passed for a real, true biography of Jean Harlow on screen or off.....

"The CarpetbaggerS" of course......

Jean had a sweet disposition, and everyone who knew her seemed to adore her, except Joan Crawford.

I think certain types of beauty are universal. Some are more the trend of the moment.

When the Met fashion museum was looking for a model for its mannequins back in 1992, they chose Christy Turlington because they thought her face most encapsulated timeless, universal beauty.

The afternoon the news of Jean's death swept through MGM, the studio basically shut down because everyone was too distraught to work.

When TV came along, she would have had a career resurrection like Lucille Ball and starred in her own sitcom.

Jean might have lived a few years longer if her mother had been less controlling. A few months before her death, she needed her wisdom teeth out. Her mother thought Jean couldn't handle having them extracted over time, so she found a dentist who would do all four at once. Jean's heart stopped during the procedure, and she had to be revived. That couldn't have done her much good.

[quote] Oh my God, she did not look "fat faced" and "rather ugly." You're just weird. You probably consider Madonna the epitome of beauty.

r103 - "Poor Jean Harlow tappa-tappa-tappa, poor Jean Harlow tappa tappa tappa, Poor Jean Harlow...

She suffered terribly while she was dying. Reportedly her breath smelled like urine.

Loved her. Sorry, all the snarky gossip can't change that. Loved her.

[quote]The afternoon the news of Jean's death swept through MGM, the studio basically shut down because everyone was too distraught to work.

I remember well, I was a senior in HS and I was to distraught to go to school.

Allegedly, Marilyn Monroe tracked down the woman (think Ruby Romaine) who bleached all the hairs on the head and body of Harlow and would have her do the same thing for her hair and body.

William Powell sure got his share of that blonde Hollywood snatch. He had been married to Carole Lombard before hooking up with Harlow.

[quote]She suffered terribly while she was dying. Reportedly her breath smelled like urine.

A classic sign of kidney failure

Oh, dear me!

Too *

Think I read all the 'little folk', the worker bees at the studios turned out for the funeral. She was so beloved by the staff. if true that is the true mark of a great person.

It was long rumored that Harlow and Clark Gable had an affair, which spurred Crawford to distrust and dislike her. Gable and Harlow had great chemistry in their six films together that many believed they were really carrying on privately. But Gable had a brotherly affection for her and even called her "Sis." They started out at MGM together and were such novices in the acting department that both recognized each others trepidations and insecurities. They gave each other moral support and encouragement.

[quote] The time has probably passed for a real, true biography of Jean Harlow on screen or off.....

There are a couple of good books about Harlow: "Platinum Girl" by Eve Golden and "Bombshell; the life and death of Jean Harlow" by Stenn. And if you want a good laugh check out "Harlow; an intimate biography" by Irving Shulman. It's kind of fun to read but it's filled with lies and inaccuracies and I think it's where two persistent Harlow legends came from. Shulman claims that Paul Bern, enraged at his impotency (his dick and balls were the size of an "infant boy's') on his wedding night with Harlow, beat her over the back with a cane so severely that he damaged her kidneys. Years later, when the damage became pronounced and Harlow was bedridden and in agony, her lunatic mother refused her medical attention and attempted with cure her with Christian Science "readings." Neither one of those things happened but the legends persist to this day.

There has never been a good biopic or documentary of Harlow. There were two lousy Harlow movies and I saw a documentary show about her on TCM that was boring as hell. Even a tribute segment about her on TCM was subpar; it was narrated by that twit Melanie Griffith and she had nothing interesting to say. Poor Harlow, she deserves better.

BREAKING: Bradly Cooper to direct "The Baby", the biography of Jean Harlow, with screenplay also written by Cooper, who is in talks with Lady Gaga to star as the legendary platinum blonde bombshell herself. No word yet on whether Cooper will join the cast (although it is widely speculated that he will play Clark Gable). Lady Gaga is reported to have said that playing Harlow would be the "role of a lifetime" and she is allegedly already in character in preparation for the role. This includes, among other things, treating her hair with peroxide and bleach until it falls out, insisting that everyone refer to her as "Harlean" (her actual real first name), and she has also vowed to not seek medical help or doctor's advice (should the need arise) until she receives her Academy Award. Gaga's PR rep has stated that this is patently false, and that she will only take such steps until filming is completed. Gaga is also hard at work writing the signature song that will play over the end credits.

I think beyond physical beauty, Harlow had immense charisma and an energetic and attractive demeanor. She was relatable but also looked super glamorous thanks to the coiffing and the clothes. Also she was spunky and seemingly not a dark triad of personality disorders (looking at you Crawford).

There are some film stars who were so legendary and larger than life that nobody could do justice to them onscreen. Jean Harlow is one. So is Clark Gable. Lady GaGa and Bradley Cooper and Harlow and Gable? On my God. Sounds like it will be a disaster.

Viola Davis IS Harlow.

It’s not real, R119.

Lady Gaga is too old, I'd rather see Dakota Fanning.

Harlow also had a very expressive and unique voice in her line delivery, which I find more natural than other actors of that period.

[quote]Allegedly, Marilyn Monroe tracked down the woman (think Ruby Romaine) who bleached all the hairs on the head and body of Harlow and would have her do the same thing for her hair and body.

The woman's name was Pearl Porterfield. Simone Signoret told in her autobiography of how during the filming of Let's Make Love, Porterfield would come to the Beverly Hills Hotel and not only work on Marilyn's hair, but Simone's as well.

Also, Monroe never died her dark pubes blonde. That rumor was started by her NYC maid, Lena Pepitone in her "biography" of working for Marilyn. Monroe wore two pairs of panties during the filming of the grate scene from The Seven Year Itch because they were so dark and there is also an upskirt photograph of her visiting Mexico in 1962 that show them in their natural dark state.

Gable and Harlow together are perfection. And never boring.

Lourdes Leon IS Jean Harlow.

[quote] Jean Harlow: The career that wasn't

OP: you talk like a HuffPost headline.

R103, not only did MGM shut down upon Harlow's death but at RKO, the young actresses shooting STAGE DOOR, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Eve Arden, Lucille Ball and Ann Miller, among others, became so overcome with shock and grief, they also required the day off. It couldn't have helped that they were filming scenes about a young actress' premature death. I don't think most of Hollywood was aware of just how seriously ill Harlow was until she died.

I've said this before on other DL threads about Harlow and Crawford, but it always seemed odd to me that Joan was apparently so furiously jealous of Norma Shearer when Harlow seemed to be the actress who she'd really be competing with for roles. Did Joan really expect to play Marie Antoinette, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Juliet Capulet?

Are there any links to Joan talking about Jean Harlow?

Joan Crawford was cast as the lead in Reckless (1935), but David O. Selznick replaced her with Harlow at the very last minute, hoping her very public romance with male lead William Powell would help promote the film. After they completed production, MGM then decided it should be a musical and resumed filming! Harlow had to be talked into the role because the story was too similar to the circumstances of her marriage to Paul Bern and his suicide. The movie ended up being a total flop.

Paul Bern was an early Crawford mentor and supporter who helped Joanie transform from trashy flapper to respectable leading lady. When Bern turned his attentions to new girl on the block, Jean Harlow, and even became engaged to her, Miss Crawford thought he was too good for that tart.

When the married Joan Crawford began an affair with the equally married Clark Gable, Louis B. Mayer blew a gasket, pulled Joan from "Red Dust," and gave the role to Harlow. Crawford was, at first, afraid Harlow would move in on Gable, but then was relieved when she married Paul Bern.

According to David Strenn's book:

Crawford hated Harlow. "Joan was quite jealous,' reveals journalist Dorothy Manners, who had known Crawford since her arrival in Hollywood eight years earlier. "She'd been the sexpot of the MGM lot for years and then they brought in the Baby." Decades later Crawford would call Harlow "one of Metro's real biggies, but a more tragic person you can't imagine," but at the time she had no sympathy whatsoever. Crawford's then husband Douglas Fairbanks Jr. termed her attitude towards Harlow "a controlled detestation."

"The Baby and I became friends immediately," continues Dorothy Manners. "When Joan found out, she let me have it. "If you're going to see HER, you'll have to give up ME." Cowed by Crawford ("Joan was strong; we MINDED Joan") but loyal to Harlow. Manners saw her new pal in secret.

singing

Crawford's career and legacy outlasted Shearer and Harlow's so, in the end, she came out on top. All that time wasted on petty jealousies. But perhaps it was what pushed her to work so hard.

[quote] Crawford's career and legacy outlasted Shearer and Harlow's so, in the end, she came out on top.

But neither Harlow nor Shearer were revealed as child abusing monsters. I think Harlow and Shearer came out on top.

Shearer may not have been an abusive mother, r135, but she wasn't really a mother, period.

Shearer's well-brought up, well-adjusted and successful son and daughter might prove otherwise, 136.

^That's because with her wonky eye, Miss "Lotta Miles" was able to keep both of them in sight, even when they were in different rooms.

Glenn Close IS Jean Harlow.

[quote]Glenn Close IS Jean Harlow.

Oh please god, yes! Make that film. I’m making the popcorn now….

She really needed a rhinoplasty, followed by a kidney transplant.

However well-adjusted, I couldn't say, r137. But well brought up doesn't mean that Norma was a loving, hands-on mother.

But she didn’t beat the shit out of them R142.

Where did I say she did, r143?

Both of Norma's children were college-educated with advanced degrees and solid marriages and families of their own, as well as careers outside of show business. I'd say Norma did something right. Compared to the children of Joan, Bette and Barbara Stanwyck, anyway.

Joan Crawford. Somehow managed to adopt four children as a single mother. Abused the hell out of the first two, Christina and Christopher. According to the the second two she never abused them (Joan was older and had mellowed a bit by then) but they both were incredibly passive "Yes, Mommy, Yes Mommy" types she was easily able to control. Christina went on the publish her tell all book and went on to have reasonably productive life. Her brother Christopher He lived a troubled, turbulent life and died relatively early at age 62.

Bette Davis. Had two adopted children and one biological child. One of the adopted ones was Margot, who was retarded. I'm not sure how well she fared. Her adopted son Michael seemed to be well adjusted enough. Her biological daughter B. D. turned out to be a total nut job. Although Bette was very generous with her and allowed her to marry at 16 to a 29 year old show business something or other (she paid for the lavish wedding and engagement party and expensive wedding gown, designed by B. D.) and helped her and her husband financially for years her darling B.D. wrote a book about how awful her mother was. Later B. D. totally lost it and is now a religious fanatic with her own ministry. She believes that homosexuals are the "anti-Christ."

Barbara Stanwyck. She and her husband Frank Fay, for some reason adopted a baby boy. I guess they did it for publicity. Neither one of them had any interest in the child at all, except to pose with pictures of him sometimes. At the age of 19 they became estranged and had nothing to do with each other thereafter. When asked about him Stanwyck reportedly said "He's long gone."

When in HELL do actors have children or adopt them? Actors are not meant to be parents.

JEAN HARLOW: Well I never pulled any of that parental shit.

JOAN CRAWFORD: That's because you kicked the bucket before you had the chance!

JEAN HARLOW: Fuck off, cunt.

JOAN CRAWFORD: That's Cunty Dearest to you, bitch.

Loretta Young had a baby with Clark Gable. Sent her to a foster home to live and then a couple of years later, adopted her own child. Then never told her.

They had that conversation, r148.

A few years before Young died if I recall correctly.

R105, probably didn’t make a difference, because there were no antibiotics to help her if the teeth were impacted or infected. And if her kidneys were starting to fail, multiple rounds of anesthesia would have been harder on her body. (Although I’m not sure what kind of anesthesia or sedative she would have received in the 1930’s.). Either way, poor lady was doomed.

I’m truly impressed that she was able to work literally up until the day she died.

Young was date-raped by Clark Gable. A virginal Catholic girl, it took her a long time to process it. Kudos to her for managing to deal with her trauma and bring the little girl up as her own, even if she did tell everyone Judy was adopted. The only problem was that Judy looked a lot like Gable, especially the flyaway ears. She had to wear hats during her whole childhood.

Gable's genes must have been strong. His druggie grandson who died a few years ago looked a lot like him, too.

Judy was Clark's clone. She did well for herself and became a psychologist. She was also family.

Gable sounds like a total shit.

Thanks OP. I'm watching the Caroll Baker movie "Harlow" right now. It's a great film in that 60s, Edith Head dresses sorta way. It's funny because I'm a big fan of old movies but Caroll Baker is basically an unknown to me. She's beautiful though, and like Harlow had a phenomenal body.

Jean died of embarrassment from William's outfit. From the looks of it, she was on her way to hitting the wall, and aging into her mother.

R152 She was not date raped by Gable, my god. She was a "devout" Catholic who had a lifelong guilt complex about fucking a married man.

That'll be a quarter, r156.

Here's a dollar, Loretta. Now go fuck yourself!

The George Hurrell photos are what got her over. He knew how to photograph her properly. She was not a classic beauty, but she was photogenic and shapely. And she did have that “it” factor onscreen.

My god Bill Powell always looked like a 50 year old man. He's abt 45 in that pic linked above. And lived to 91! Married 3 times and fucked every starlet.im the 1930s. Not baaad for a not particularly dashing man.

William Powell was always smartly dressed and he exuded plenty of personality, wit, and charm. And in those Thin Man movies, Nick came across as totally devoted to Nora, which made many female audience members swoon. I know several female classic movie buffs who found him extremely dashing and attractive.

Clark Gables grandson looked just like him.

In the Depression, women swooned over debonair men in stylish tailored suits like Powell and Robert Montgomery and Franchot Tone and (perish the thought!) Leslie Howard. Toughs like Bogart and Cagney were mostly confined to villain roles, not heroes. And "hunks" Clark Gable and Robert Taylor rarely showed skin in their films. This was long before the advent of Henry Willson and beefcake.

My goodness, the nastiness directed at Jean Harlow in these posts! She was a big, big star, people who worked with her adored, and she was FUNNY. Have any of you people actually seen "Dinner at Eight" or "Red Dust"? Evidently not.

"A career that wasn't"? What is that nitwit OP even talking about????

Here’s a short clip of Harlow at a premiere.

[quote] Young was date-raped by Clark Gable. A virginal Catholic girl, it took her a long time to process it.

HAHAHA! You believe that pile of bullshit? First of all, Loretta Young was no "virginal Catholic girl." She liked the mens....a LOT. She was quoted as saying "I've always been very susceptible to men, and all of them were gorgeous." She and Gable had a hot affair during the making of "The Call of the Wild." The affair was so intense and they were so into each other that it threatened to delay the filming schedule. The director said that Gable and Young were so involved in their "monkey business" that it held up filming.

After Gable, Young and Young's daughter with Gable were ALL dead was when the date rape story came out. It was a ploy by Young's relatives to make her reputation as a good Catholic girl spotless. The story went something like this: Young saw something on tv about date rape and blurted out "That's what Clark did to me." That's it. That's all the proof there is. Somebody said Loretta Young said she was date raped. At any rate, the idea of Clark Gable "raping" anyone is ludicrous. He was irresistible to women. And their affair was no secret. When asked the director of "Call of the Wild" said is "All I know is that Loretta nd Clark were very friendly during the picture, and it was very cold up there. When the film was finished she disappeared for a while and later showed up with a daughter with the biggest ears I ever saw except on an elephant."

Loretta Young had a chapter in "Hollywood Babylon II" called "Attilla the Nun." Seems a lot of people were put off by her pious Catholic act. Kenneth Anger said about her:

""For one who has viewed the latter-day Loretta in her appearances at the Academy Award ceremonies, smiling wanly as she tosses off barbs at the "dirtiness" of current movies, or who has seen her primly flouncing about as a Mother Superior of glamour in her tv show , it is difficult to believe that this immaculately preserved, demurely posturing lady was one of Hollywood's "wild" girls."

By the way, saintly, virginal Loretta has an affair with Spencer Tracy, too.

Citing Hollywood Babylon as a source doesn't really add to the credibility of your claims. Everyone knows that book was a giant pile of horseshit.

Selena Gomez got a kidney transplant at age 25. She IS Jean Harlow.

R154, for more Carroll Baker, check out The Carpetbaggers where she plays Rina Marlowe, a character based partly on Harlow. Baker also did the trashy Sylvia around this time as well. She started off as a serious method actress in pictures like Baby Doll, Bridge to the Sun and Something Wild, all worth seeing. Then she tried the sex symbol root and after Harlow flopped, went to Italy and made trashy Giallo films like Paranoia and Sweet Body of Deborah. She's fun. I like her.

Don't forget Baby Doll...

Harlow wasn't interested in being a star initially. She was a hot young trophy wife and got spotted and pursued by the studio. Once her mother, a failed, frustrated actress learned there was studio interest, she pushed Jean into an acting career. When Jean's husband didn't like it, Jean's husband was soon out the door.

[quote] "Harlow was an ugly bitch"

Ugly? Eh. Physically unattractive? One thousand percent. I've known lots of trailer trash in my life, and the resemblance is overwhelming. And don't get me started on the bad makeup. Her eyebrows were shaved and drawn which was common for the time. But they weren't always drawn in the right place.

[quote]Her eyebrows were shaved and drawn

Just like my pubes!

She was no Jenny from the Block. And she didn’t have the beauty of a Julia Roberts.

[quote]She was no Jenny from the Block.

Three marriages before the age of 26? She was a bit of a JLo.

I always wondered if Jean Harlow was racist? She always kinda struck me as the type to be racist, especially during that time in America. Something about her just gives off that vibe to me.

R164 is one angry queen!

What a useless post, r176.

He's correct, r177.

R176 what the fuck are you blabbering on about

And she’s also angry and unhinged over ancient history, R169

[quote] Citing Hollywood Babylon as a source doesn't really add to the credibility of your claims. Everyone knows that book was a giant pile of horseshit.

It was Hollywood Babylon II, not Hollywood Babylon. At any rate, Kenneth Anger's books were fact mixed with fiction, as all gossip tomes are. Anyway, there are other sources that confirmed Gable and Young's affair. I think her daughter came out with a book and nowhere did it say her birth was the result of a rape. The "date rape" story was just an attempt to make it seem like Loretta Young never betrayed her Catholic faith by having premarital sex and a baby out of wedlock. There's no proof to it. Just hearsay that came out long after everyone involved in the story was dead.

R178 it's not a useless post, it's very legitimate. I've read things about Hollywood from that time and was disgusted by what I found. I remember reading that once there was a screening in the screening room at a studio with Howard Hughes and Joan Crawford. And when they found out that the cast of some all black film had just been in that same room viewing scenes from a film they we're working on, Crawford and Hughes both reportedly freaked out and wanted to entire placed sanitized.

I don't know how true that alleged incident is, but it kinda made me sad, as I'm a huge Crawford fan. But it would be expected from Howard Hughes since he was so crazy and germaphobic anyway. And I know Jean Harlow was one of his play things at one point.

[quote]the cast of some all-black film

Well, there weren't many of those made in the 1930s or 40s, so it should be easy to figure out which one.

Jean wasn't racist from what I have read. Maybe it's cliche, but she was extremely close to her maid, who was African-American. She was with Jean at the hospital when she died. I have read up on which Old Hollywood stars were racist and I don't think that Jean was.

JUst seeing that rather raw footage of Harlow at the Hell's Angels premiere makes it clear what enormous charisma and sex appeal she had. I can only imagine the excitement that the sight of her in those first movies like Hell's Angels and Public Enemy created. There had been nothing quite like her!

[quote] Physically unattractive? One thousand percent.

Yeah, the premier sex symbol of the era was "physically unattractive." What horseshit. She had a fantastic figure. And as evidence from photos taken before she became a movie star she was very pretty. The way she looked varied from photo to photo (she was not so photogenic that she looks fabulous in every picture) but she was without a doubt a very attractive, very sexy.

In "Platinum Girl" the author discusses Harlow's appearance::

"She was no breathtaking beauty, but did have a quirkily compelling look. She was small: 5'3, a little over a hundred pounds. Her most arresting features were her blue-gray eyes; large, round and deep set, they seemed made for the movie camera. She had good "camera bones" as well, with the essential strong, high cheekbones. Her forehead was perhaps too broad, and her chin receding, but that was offset by a lucky cleft. Her mouth was terrific; a fashionable cupid's bow, which broke into an infectious and genuinely beautiful smile. Her nose seemed to have been designed with an architect's T-square, being entirely composed of sharp 45-degree angles. Her flawless skin seemed to glow with health."

[quote]Her flawless skin seemed to glow with health."

Too bad about that infected mouth, dead kidneys, and urine breath.

R172

She was actually raised in a fairly affluent Kansas City family, IIRC.

R186

I agree - she is so fresh and pretty in that footage.

The name of the film with the all black cast was porgy and bess. And maybe I was mistaken, I don't think Crawford was with him at the time. Thus was nearly 20 years ago when I originally read this in a magazine, and it said Crawford was there. But this happened in I believe 1958, and Crawford was living in NYC then. At the time they made it sound like it was back in the 30s or early 40s during Crawfords heyday.

Supposedly Hughes freaked out when he saw James Earl Jones kissing Jane Alexander in The Great White Hope. He complained to his handlers about it, Calling Jones a gorilla, amongst other things. He witnessed the race riots in Tulsa and cheered when the white domestic terrorists injured or killed innocent black Americans. Hughes was a really despicable person and no amount of money or his Spruce Goose can ever change that, not in my mind.

Hughes and Crawford were not in a screening room together in 1958-9. There were some early black movies from the thirties that it could have been.: Halleluyah, Green Pastures among them.

There's a whole history of black cinema for black audiences that goes back to the beginning of film. Who knows who was watching what?

No, I'm talking about big studio productions, not small independant films, r194.

Cabin in the Sky? Stormy Weather??

[quote]Cabin in the Sky? Stormy Weather??

Love them both but they were from the 1940s from major/minor commercial studios. There was a decades long history of black cinema years before them.

It had to have been The Wiz.

She looks likely Michael J Pollard in a wig in the closeups of her in color.

[quote] When in HELL do actors have children or adopt them?

Some of the adopted children of actors in those days were the actual children of the actresses who’d been born out of wedlock.

That clearly wasn't true in Crawford's case. Those kids looked nothing like her.

We were twins, dammit!

[quote]Why in HELL do actors have children or adopt them? Actors are not meant to be parents.

Because they want their kids to be their faaaaaaaaaaans!!

Kids are supposed to be a source of narcissistic supply. When they begin to grow up and cut off Mommy or Daddy's supply, that's when the trouble starts.

[quote]There was a decades long history of black cinema years before them.

Not at the big studios and not in Los Angeles.

Madea.

r188 = freckle-faced Mrs. Steele

Crawford and Hughes never worked on a movie together, so that story is likely full of shit. Crawford was under contract with MGM and then Warners, while Hughes was an independent producer who then bought RKO. He was out of show biz entirely by the time Crawford left Warners and went independent in the 50s.

She had those beady, deep set eyes, a fivehead and an oddly shaped nose. But somehow it worked for her.

Harlow with Gable was a divine pairing. And Jean was never upstaged by him - they were equal pairing. I watch every movie all the time. Thank you TCM!!

Perfection!!

Never got the Harlow hype, especially that she was any sort off great alluring beauty.

Take away the fake blond hair and she wasn't all that attractive. Her nose was big and wide.

But the photograph is erotic perfection r212.

I'm amazed nobody's brought up Dinner at Eight.

I mean, referenced it.

Dinner at Eight is perfection pre code. Even just for the decor!! I have a deco vibe and love seeing it in real time.

R212 if you are only looking for a single pic as a gauge of beauty then NO. Harlow will never be your cup of tea. Nor was she ever a fashion model in that way. If you watch her films you may come to understand Harlow's allure and power as a screen presence.

Jean Harlow was a comedic genius. She was a great comedic actress. I believe w she was lucille balls comedy inspiration if I'm not mistaken?

Lucille Ball was her own kind of comedic actress. Harlow was much more natural.

According to a recent tweet by Mamie Van Doren, she heard that Jean actually had died from an abortion. I can see how this would be the true cause and why the studio would cover it up.

"DINNER AT EIGHT" is Perfection, along with" WIFE VS. SECRETARY" with Myrna Loy& Gable is really good!!

Jean Harlow was a very good actress in certain roles. Of course, she photographed like a dream!

"Yes, it's all about civlization or something. A nutty kind of a book."

Now there's a line that endured.

To R78, I have an original copy of that photo of Jean Harlow (the door is from "Dinner at Eight").

I have had great neighbors in La Jolla over the years who worked in the studios back in the good old days!!

Lots of good stuff!!

So, the death from kidney disease is not true? It makes sense though; she had scarlet fever as a child, and it affected her kidneys. Back then they had no real treatment for kidney disease, so it was always fatal.

After a while, Joan Crawford warmed up to Jean Harlow and they became friends.

This is Jean Harlow, surprisingly. Imagine the possibilities! She could’ve been a serious dramatic actress, perfect for World War II films. Afterwards, she could’ve been a superb character actress.

Much to my surprise (until I was an adult I only knew about her from those awful 60s bio films), I enjoy her in just about everything I see her in—and she’s an especially adept and appealing comedienne and NOT a dumb blonde. That said, had she lived into the 40s, she might likely have done Gladys George or Virginia Mayo type roles in middle age.

For whatever it’s worth Jean and Clark made a little-seen film called Hold Your Man which included a controversial subplot involving a black friend Jean’s character made. It culminates with Jean and Clark’s characters being married by a black preacher. This was daring for 1933. The film could not be shown in southern states without creating a separate version, editing out the black characters.

I’m a black guy who loves film, especially the pre-code era. I’m keenly aware of the casual and not so casual racism of the time. It is what it is. But neither Harlow nor especially Gable(see his defense of Hattie McDaniel) come off as racist. It took guts to appear in a film they knew would be censored in a third of the country be a possible risk to their careers.

I've said it before on these Harlow threads and I'll say it again. It's so weird to me that Joan Crawford never commented on Jean, either yea or nay. Far more than Shearer or Garbo, it would have been Jean Harlow who was Crawford's direct competition for roles (and probably a few lovers) at MGM. And Harlow's untimely death certainly would have given Crawford an opportunity to say something (hopefully complimentary).

But it's like she never existed for Joan. Has anyone ever seen or read Joan commenting on Jean Harlow and her career?

I wonder if Joan refrained from commentary because, apparently, despite her sex symbol and star status, Harlow was very well like at MGM *basing this on above comments). The studio shut down the day of her death because people were too distraught. Maybe she'd let something bitchy escape or she wouldn't be seen as sincere.

Perhaps Joan Crawford BC had a little more going for her than some are willing to give credit.

Forgive my denseness (or is it density)? Is BC supposed to mean Before Christ or something more important in the film industry?

She would have made a killing on OnlyFans.

Granny porn is SO now!

Does BC mean Before Christina? R232

I don't buy the abortion story. I think Powell, who adored her, would have been thrilled if she were pregnant. Her mom was also a Christian scientist which did not help matters when she started getting sick.

No great beaty but striking. It was her body. Maureen O'Hara said she had fantastic tits. She had a great body and no one rocked a bias cut gown like she did.

Gable was young and striking in Red Dust. Slim and pretty but also macho.

Gable was definitely at his hottest in those pre-Code earlyn30s films, many without his unappealing signature mustache.

God she was ugly. Was she really supposed to be a sex symbol?

R233 R235 Yes, BC means Before Christina. Most people don’t know much about Joan (or don’t care to) beyond the Mommy Dearest caricature. And they know even less about her films from the ‘30s and early ‘40s other than The Women, perhaps.

Whose decision was it to make Crawford go from pretty flapper type to that hard, severe look that turned her into a caricature Cruella looking bitch. Hard red slash of a mouth, severe brows and those awful bangs only Betty Page pulled off well.

Crawford transitioned from flapper girl to glamour queen when she became Mrs. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. It was while at Warner Bros, starring in all those film noirs and reaching middle age that she tranformed into a gorgon of severe looks and bad hair.

I would have given my eyeteeth for a nine-year career.

To R244, I believe many actors and actresses since Jean Harlow's death would have given their eyeteeth, all their teeth and their Souls to have that "9-year career."

You know DL, every now and then, I agree with you (and all ur multiple personalities) on a post.

Harlow was a star from 1930 in Hell's Angels to 1937 in Saratoga (when she died during production). Her stardom didn't even last 9 years, barely 8, and yet she made an indelible impression. Talk about an icon!

It's also fascinating to see how her image was gradually softened once she was signed by MGM. And she became more real, less a creature of fantasy, though I suppose that was the trend in Hollywood as the 1930s and the Depression wore on.

She was awesome in Dinner at Eight .

All that ammonia and peroxide to achieve that "platinum blonde" destroyed her hair. Her hair stylist said that one day it just started to come out in tufts. He gave her a shampoo wash and then slathered olive oil on her hair and scalp. She lost most of her hair, but the olive oil neutralized the damage, and her hair eventually grew back. She had to wear wigs for a couple of her films. Then he gave her a new color, "brownette", not too blonde and not too dark. It suited her.

I think by 1936 that really white platinum hair was considered pretty passe, anyway. It was only seen in films on hash house waitresses and floozies.

[quote]God she was ugly. Was she really supposed to be a sex symbol?

Well, when you think about it, just a little over ten years earlier, this was what was considered a "sexy vamp":

In her waning years, Harlow would make guest appearances as a stalking victim on "Barnaby Jones" and Gopher's great aunt on "Love Boat" who fell madly in love with a con artist played by fellow wash up Caesar Romero.

The Carroll Baker movie, Harlow was good if historically inaccurate. She did marry that studio arranged Gay guy who was in the closet. Peter LAwford was very convincing. And I really liked Red Buttons as her agent, and a lecherous Leslie Nielsen, and Angela Landsbury, Mike Connors, Raph Vallone. It was sad though. She dies.

She would have had a tv sitcom to rival I Love Lucy.

[quote]Crawford was under contract with MGM and then Warners, while Hughes was an independent producer who then bought RKO.

I must say RKO are OK 👌

R244 you laugh, but Armie Hammer will have his revenge on Hollywood once this 'woke' shitfest runs its course in ten-years- time.

He did nothing wrong and was slandered by 'woke' radical leftists simply because he epitomizes everything they despise -- white man, blond, masculine.

I can just picture a contrite Hollywood welcoming back with open arms in the 2030s.

Sure, Jan

r255:

She was pretty damn ugly.

She could have used a nose job. Close up she was incredible homely and overweight. The hair is why distracted people away from her piggish face.

She looked about 50 in her 20s.

Smoke and mirrors.

The Baby Jane eyebrows.

Fat.

If Jean Harlow was alive today, she would be clawing at the inside of her coffin.

I guess she was a hideous ugly beast, and audiences of the 1930s were just too stupid to notice.

Hollywood should do an updated bio film about her. There is really only ONE actress who could play her and even win an Oscar…….

VIOLA DAVIS

I’m a younger millennial (born in 1994) and I have seen a few of Jean Harlow’s movies. I even watched the documentary that Sharon Stone appeared in and narrated about her. That documentary made about Jean was a little odd in its presentation, but it is what it is.

Looks-wise, I don’t see the hype over Jean Harlow. There were better looking actresses during that time in Hollywood. Leila Hyams, the actress that played the wife whose marriage gets ruined by Harlow’s character in “Red Headed Woman,” was more attractive in my opinion. I never really thought Jean Harlow was that good-looking. Jean’s face was even clownish-looking in my opinion. I see better looking girls at my local grocery store or at the musical theatre intensives I’ve taken for crying out loud.

Jean Harlow’s death is sad though. She died of kidney failure, the same thing that killed my dad (he died of liver failure as well). I’m 29 now, three years older than Jean when she died. Hearing and reading about the deaths of famous people while they were still young can make one question their mortality. I know I do sometimes.

Jean Harlow made her feature film debut looking like this: (link). She wore diaphanous, bias cut gowns, no undergarments, and tits practically popping out of her dress. She had platinum blonde hair and sassy attitude. For many Americans whose only exposure to the outside world was through cinema, Jean was a sight to behold! She was not like the average girl next door and no one saw anything like her. That's why she was an instant star.

She looks like Jerri Blanks slightly prettier sister. 🫘

She was one of the original stunt queens. She became a star because she dared to dye her hair platinum blonde which was associated with being a whore.

Jean, by all accounts, was a very nice woman. However, when it came to actual talent and or beauty, it was all smoke a mirrors.

Most Hollywood stars were manufactured and Jean was no different.

She looked really crude in her films for Howard Hughes and the few she did at Warners. MGM cleaned her up and tamed the sex, She’s still at her hottest with Gable in China Seas and Red Dust.

I find her extremely attractive and can't take my eyes off her onscreen. She had "it" altho not classically beautiful by today's standards where plastic surgery makes everyone looks the same.

The other blonde bombshell of the 1930s, Mae West, wasn't all that either. And she was pushing 40 when she made her film debut. But she was one of the most popular stars.

Some here are confusing conventional beauty standards with talent or that innate charisma that makes someone a star. Harlow was brilliant at what she did. She had IT. So did Marie Dressler, her co-star in Dinner At Eight. Marie was hardly a “looker”, but she was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and an Oscar winner while in her 60s.

Jean always seemed like a good sport

R4 Clara Bow was a Paramount star, made her last film for Fox. She never worked at MGM, as far as I know.

Harlow was a really great, witty comedienne, perfect for the pre-code era. I do think she'd have retired or gone to character roles not much longer after 1937 if she hadn't died, maybe Crystal in The Women as a grand finale. Would have gone out at the same time as Shearer and Garbo.

I know Joan hated her, but did Norma or Garbo have any feelings (positive or negative) toward Jean? Thalberg had been close to Paul Bern for a while.

[quote] I know Joan hated her

Joan didn’t hate her. They were not in competition for the same roles - unlike Norma Shearer, with whom Joan had a bitter rivalry, and maintained a real feud (unlike the gossipy, but fake feud with Bette Davis).

I don't think Harlow would have retired. She was raised to be a workhorse. And she died at 26 so plenty of decent roles for her into the mid 1940s. I think her career would have followed that of Mae West and Ginger Rogers.

She had a cute as well as a sexy face, and a beautiful body. She was the sex queen of the movies in the 1930s. Even i you’re gay you ought to be able to see what made her incredibly attractive. Plus, she wasn’t a threat to woman because she was so likable.

Spencer Tracy’s diary had an entry: Jean Harlow died today. Grand girl.