Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Born Clara Gordon Bow
July 29, 1905(1905-07-29)
Brooklyn, New York City, New York Died September 27, 1965 (aged 60)
West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California Spouse(s) Rex Bell Clara Gordon Bow (July 29, 1905 â?? September 27, 1965) was an American actress and sex symbol, who rose to fame in the silent film era of the 1920s. Bow was renowned for her sexual magnetism and became known around the world as the It girl, where "It" was commonly understood to mean sex appeal. She was regarded as a quintessential flapper.
The It girl
In 1927, Bow reached the heights of her popularity with the film It; the film was based on a story written by Elinor Glyn, and upon the film's release and popularity, Clara Bow became known as the "It Girl". In Glynn's story, It, a character explains what "It" really is: "It...that strange magnetism which attracts both sexes...entirely unself-conscious...full of self-confidence...indifferent to the effect...she is producing and uninfluenced by others.") More commonly, "It" was taken to mean sex appeal. "It, hell," quipped Dorothy Parker, "She had those."[4]
This image was enhanced by various off-screen love affairs publicized by the tabloid press. However, some Hollywood insiders considered her socially undesirable, especially in light of rumored sexual escapades with many famous men of the time. Bela Lugosi, Gary Cooper, Gilbert Roland, John Wayne, director Victor Fleming, and John Gilbert were reputed to have been among her many lovers.
Bow's alleged alcoholism, drug abuse and mental illness, were also becoming problems for the studios. Budd Schulberg, the producer's son, wrote in his memoir Moving Pictures, "There was one subject on which the staid old Hollywood establishment would agree: Clara Bow, no matter how great her popularity, was a low life and a disgrace to the community."
However, Bow was praised for her vitality and enthusiasm â?? Adolph Zukor once said that "She danced even when her feet weren't moving"[citation needed] â?? though her roles rarely allowed her to show much range. In the early 1930s, Motion Picture magazine complained that the studio never gave her film plots any thought beyond "Hey, let's put Clara in a sailor suit!"[citation needed] At least one important film writer, Adela Rogers St. Johns, felt Bow had enormous promise that was never tapped by the studios.
Documentation indicates that as Bow developed a reputation as "Crisis-a-Day Clara".[citation needed] Paramount went out of its way to humiliate the increasingly emotionally frail actress by canceling her films, docking her pay, charging her for unreturned costumes, and insisting that she pay for her publicity photographs. Her contract also included a morality clause offering her a bonus of $500,000 for behaving like a lady and staying out of the newspapers.[citation needed]
In 1927, Bow starred in Wings, a war picture largely rewritten to accommodate her, as she was Paramount's biggest star at the time. The film went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Afterwards, Bow's career continued with limited success into the early sound film era. She worried (correctly) that her strong Brooklyn accent would destroy much of her mystique. Bow began experiencing microphone fright on the sets of her sound films. A visibly nervous Bow had to do a number of retakes in The Wild Party, her first talkie, because her eyes kept wandering up to the microphone overhead.[3]
In 1928, Bow wrote the foreword for a novelization of her film The Fleet's In. Between the years 1927 and 1930, Bow was also one Hollywood's top five box office attractions as well.[5]
Later life
The 1930 U.S. Census lists Bow's residence as 512 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills, California. Her home's value was listed as $25,000, higher than most others on her block at the time.
Bow and cowboy actor Rex Bell (actually George F. Beldon), later a Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, married in 1932 and had two sons, Tony Beldon (born 1934, changed name to Rex Anthony Bell, Jr.) and George Beldon, Jr. (born 1938). Bow retired from acting in 1933. Her last public exposure, albeit fleeting, was a guest appearance on the radio show Truth or Consequences in 1947; Clara provided the voice of "Mrs. Hush".
In 1944 while her husband was running for the U.S. House of Representatives Bow tried to commit suicide.[6] After being diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1949, Bow entered a treatment regimen that included shock treatments. Later, her husband sent her to one of the top mental institutions in the nation. Doctors found out that Bow had been raped by her father at a young age.
Bow spent her last years living in a modest house, living off an estate worth about $500,000 at the time of her death.[1] She died on September 27, 1965 of a heart attack and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
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Originally Posted by burgtwngrl
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