Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "
talkies
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film ''
It'' brought her global fame and the nickname "
The It Girl". Bow came to personify the
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the ...
and is described as its leading
sex symbol
A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive.Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to ...
.
Bow appeared in 46 silent films and 11 talkies, including hits such as ''
Mantrap'' (1926), ''It'' (1927), and ''
Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
'' (1927). She was named first box-office draw in 1928 and 1929 and second box-office draw in 1927 and 1930.
[''Exhibitors Herald'', December 31, 1927] Her presence in a motion picture was said to have ensured investors, by odds of almost two-to-one, a "safe return". At the apex of her stardom, she received more than 45,000
fan letters in a single month (January 1929).
Two years after marrying actor
Rex Bell
Rex Bell (born George Francis Beldam; October 16, 1903 – July 4, 1962) was an American actor and politician. Bell primarily appeared in Western films during his career. He also appeared in the 1930 movie '' True to the Navy'', starring Clar ...
in 1931, Bow retired from acting and became a rancher in
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
. Her final film, ''
Hoop-La
''Hoop-La'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Lloyd, and starring Clara Bow (in her final film role), Preston Foster, Richard Cromwell and Minna Gombell also in the cast. The film is based on the play ''The Barker'' by Ke ...
'', was released in 1933. In September 1965, Bow died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
at the age of 60.
Early life
Bow was born in
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Prospect Heights is a neighborhood in the northwest of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The traditional boundaries are Flatbush Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Eastern Parkway – beginning at Grand Army Plaza – to the ...
at 697 Bergen Street, in a "bleak, sparsely furnished room above
dilapidated Baptist Church".
[Morella and Epstein (1976) p. 9] Her birth year, according to the
US Censuses of 1910 and 1920, was 1905. In US census records, enumerated April 15, 1910, and January 7, 1920, Bow's age is stated 4 and 14 years, respectively. The 1930 census indicates 1906,
[Enumeration District 19–822, Bureau of the Census, Population Schedule, April 2, 1930] and on her gravestone of 1965, the inscription says 1907, but 1905 is the year accepted by a majority of sources.
Bow was her parents' third child, but her two older sisters, born in 1903 and 1904, had died in infancy. Her mother, Sarah Frances Bow (née Gordon, 1880–1923), was told by a doctor not to become pregnant again, for fear the next baby might die as well. Despite the warning, Sarah became pregnant with Clara in late 1904. In addition to the risky pregnancy, a heat wave besieged New York in July 1905, and temperatures peaked around . Years later, Clara wrote: "I don't suppose two people ever looked death in the face more clearly than my mother and I the morning I was born. We were both given up, but somehow we struggled back to life."
[Bow, Clara. St. Johns, Adela Rogers (ed.) "My life, by Clara Bow" '']Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...
'' (February, March and April 1928). (reprinted a
Clara Bow: My Life Story as told to Adela Rogers St. Johns
– Maxwell DeMille Productions)
Bow's parents were descended from English and Scots-Irish immigrants who had come to America the generation before. Bow said that her father, Robert Walter Bow (1874–1959), "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".
By the time Clara was four and a half, her father was out of work,
[Morella and Epstein (1976) p. 12] and between 1905 and 1923, the family lived at 14 different addresses, but seldom outside Prospect Heights, with Clara's father often absent.
[Morella and Epstein (1976) p. 17] "I do not think my mother ever loved my father", she said. "He knew it. And it made him very unhappy, for he worshipped her always."
When Bow's mother was 16, she fell from a second-story window and suffered a severe head injury. She was later diagnosed with "
psychosis
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...
due to
epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
". From her earliest years, Bow had learned how to care for her mother during the seizures, as well as how to deal with her psychotic and hostile episodes. She said her mother could be "mean to me—and she often was", but "she didn't mean to be and that it was because she couldn't help it".
Still, Bow felt deprived of her childhood; "As a kid I took care of my mother, she didn't take care of me".
[Morella and Epstein (1976), p. 24] Sarah worsened gradually, and when she realized her daughter was set for a movie career, Bow's mother told her she "would be much better off dead". One night in February 1922, Bow awoke to a butcher knife held against her throat by her mother. Clara was able to fend off the attack, and locked her mother in her room. In the morning, Bow's mother had no recollection of the episode, and later she was committed to a "sanatarium" by Robert Bow.
Clara spoke about the incident later:
![Bayridgehighschool1920](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Bayridgehighschool1920.jpg)
According to Bow's biographer,
David Stenn
David Stenn is an American television writer-producer, biographer, and film preservationist. His television credits range from ''Hill Street Blues'' to '' Boardwalk Empire''. He is known for his biographies of Hollywood stars Clara Bow and Jean ...
, Bow was raped by her father at age sixteen while her mother was institutionalized.
On January 5, 1923, Sarah died at the age of 43 from her epilepsy. 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.
Bow attended P.S. 111, P.S. 9, and P.S. 98. As she grew up, she felt shy among other girls, who teased her for her worn-out clothes and "carrot-top" hair. She said about her childhood, "I never had any clothes. ... And lots of time didn't have anything to eat. We just lived, that's about all. Girls shunned me because I was so poorly dressed."
[Quoted in Savage, Jon. ''Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture''. New York: Viking, 2007. , pp. 237–238.]
From first grade, Bow preferred the company of boys, stating, "I could lick any boy my size. My right arm was quite famous. My right arm was developed from pitching so much ... Once I hopped a ride on behind a big fire engine. I got a lot of credit from the gang for that."
A close friend, a younger boy who lived in her building burned to death, something which haunted her. She heard his screams and ran to his aid, rolling him up in carpet to stop the fire, he died in her arms.
In 1919, Bow enrolled in
Bay Ridge High School for Girls. "I wore sweaters and old skirts ... didn't want to be treated like a girl". Her mother had a long spell of good health, and changed Bow's appearance, cutting her hair more femininely. Bow said that "there was one boy who had always been my pal ... he kissed me ... I wasn't sore. I didn't get indignant. I was horrified and hurt ... I knew I could never go back to being a tomboy."
Bow's interest in sports and her physical abilities led her to plan for a career as an athletics instructor. She won five medals "at the
cinder tracks" and credited her cousin
Homer Baker
Homer Baker (June 8, 1893 – November 25, 1977) was an American, middle-distance track and field athlete. He became US national half-mile champion in 1913 and 1914. He toured Europe during 1914 and won the British 880-yard crown from the famed ...
—the national half-mile ( 800 m) champion (1913 and 1914) and 660-yard ( m) world-record holder—for being her trainer. The Bows and Bakers shared a house—still standing—at 33 Prospect Place in 1920.
Career
Early years
In the early 1920s roughly 50 million Americans—half the
population at that time—attended the movies every week. As Bow grew into womanhood, her stature as a "boy" in her old gang became "impossible". She did not have any girlfriends, and school was a "heartache" and her home was "miserable". On the silver screen, however, she found consolation; "For the first time in my life I knew there was beauty in the world. For the first time I saw distant lands, serene, lovely homes, romance, nobility, glamor". And further; "I always had a queer feeling about actors and actresses on the screen ... I knew I would have done it differently. I couldn't analyze it, but I could always feel it".
"I'd go home and be a one girl circus, taking the parts of everyone I'd seen, living them before the glass." At 16, Bow says she "knew" she wanted to be a motion pictures actress, even if she was a "square, awkward, funny-faced kid."
Against her mother's wishes but with her father's support, Bow competed in Brewster publications' magazine's annual nationwide acting contest, "Fame and Fortune", in fall 1921. In previous years, other contest winners had found work in the movies. In the contest's final screen test, Bow was up against an already scene-experienced woman who did "a beautiful piece of acting". A set member later stated that when Bow did the scene, she actually became her character and "lived it".
[
* Parsons, Louella]
"Real life story of Clara Bow" (16 parts)
'' The San Antonio Light'', via: newspaperarchive.com
Heritage Microfilm, Inc. (est. 1997) is a preservation microfilm and microfilm digitization business located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
History
The company began in 1996 when the microfilm division of Cedar Rapids-based Crest Information Technolo ...
*
*
In the January issues 1922 of ''Motion Picture Classics'', the contest jury,
Howard Chandler Christy
Howard Chandler Christy (January 10, 1872 – March 3, 1952) was an American artist and illustrator. Famous for the "Christy Girl" – a colorful and illustrious successor to the "Gibson Girl" – Christy is also widely known for his ico ...
,
Neysa McMein
Neysa Moran McMein (born Marjorie Frances McMein; January 24, 1888 – May 12, 1949) was an American illustrator and portrait painter who studied at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and Art Students League of New York. She began her ca ...
, and
Harrison Fisher
Harrison Fisher (July 27, 1875 or 1877 – January 19, 1934) was an American illustrator.
Career
Fisher was born in Brooklyn, New York City and began to draw at an early age. Both his father and his grandfather were artists.Harrison & Carrin ...
, concluded:
Bow won an evening gown and a silver trophy, and the publisher committed to help her "gain a role in films", but nothing happened. Bow's father told her to "haunt" Brewster's office (located in Brooklyn) until they came up with something. "To get rid of me, or maybe they really meant to (give me) all the time and were just busy", Bow was introduced to director
Christy Cabanne
William Christy Cabanne (April 16, 1888 – October 15, 1950) was an American film director, screenwriter, and silent film actor.
Biography
Born in 1888, Cabanne (pronounced CAB-a-nay) started his career on stage as an actor and director. He a ...
, who cast her in ''
Beyond the Rainbow
''Beyond the Rainbow'' is a 1922 American silent drama film starring Billie Dove, Harry T. Morey and Clara Bow in her film debut. A 16mm print of the film is in the collection of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Plot
As described in a fi ...
'', produced late 1921 in New York City and released February 19, 1922. Bow did five scenes and impressed Cabanne with her ability to produce tears on call, but was cut from the final print.
"I was sick to my stomach", she recalled and thought her mother was right about the movie business.
Bow, who had dropped out of school (senior year) after she was notified about winning the "Fame and Fortune Contest", possibly in October 1921, got an ordinary office job; however, movie ads and newspaper editorial comments from 1922 to 1923 suggest that Bow was not cut from ''Beyond the Rainbow''. .
Silent films
Encouraged by her father, Bow continued to visit studio agencies asking for parts. "But there was always something. I was too young, or too little, or too fat. Usually I was too fat."
Eventually, director
Elmer Clifton
Elmer Clifton (March 14, 1890 – October 15, 1949) was an American writer, director and actor from the early silent days. A collaborator of D.W. Griffith, he appeared in ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915) and ''Intolerance'' (1916) before giving ...
needed a tomboy for his movie ''
Down to the Sea in Ships'', saw Bow in ''Motion Picture Classic'' magazine, and sent for her. In an attempt to overcome her youthful looks, Bow put her hair up and arrived in a dress she "sneaked" from her mother. Clifton said she was too old, but broke into laughter as the stammering Bow made him believe she was the girl in the magazine. Clifton decided to take Bow with him and offered her $35 a week. Bow held out for $50 and Clifton agreed, but he could not say whether she would "fit the part".
Bow later learned that one of Brewsters' subeditors had urged Clifton to give her a chance.
''Down to the Sea in Ships'', shot on location in
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...
, and produced by independent "The Whaling Film Corporation", documented life, love, and work in the whale-hunter community. The production relied on a few less-known actors and local talents. It premiered at the Olympia Theater in New Bedford, on September 25, 1922, and went on general distribution on March 4, 1923. Bow was billed 10th in the film, but shone through:
* "Miss Bow will undoubtedly gain fame as a screen comedienne".
* "She scored a tremendous hit in ''Down to the Sea in Ships'' ...
ndhas reached the front rank of motion picture principal players".
* "With her beauty, her brains, her personality and her genuine acting ability it should not be many moons before she enjoys stardom in the fullest sense of the word. You must see 'Down to the Sea in Ships'".
* "In movie parlance, she 'stole' the picture ..."
![WAMPAS baby stars 1924](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/WAMPAS_baby_stars_1924.JPG)
By mid-December 1923, primarily due to her merits in ''Down to the Sea in Ships'', Bow was chosen the most successful of the 1924
WAMPAS Baby Stars
The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 (15 in 1932) young actresses each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. ...
. Three months before ''Down to the Sea in Ships'' was released, Bow danced on a table, uncredited in ''
Enemies of Women
''Enemies of Women'' is a 1923 American silent romantic drama film directed by Alan Crosland and starring Lionel Barrymore, Alma Rubens, Gladys Hulette, Pedro de Cordoba, and Paul Panzer. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst throu ...
'' (1923). In spring she got a part in ''
The Daring Years
''The Daring Years'' is 1923 American silent melodrama film directed by Kenneth Webb and produced by Daniel Carson Goodman. The film starred Mildred Harris, Clara Bow, Charles Emmett Mack, and Tyrone Power, Sr.
Plot
A university student named ...
(1923)'', where she befriended actress
Mary Carr
Mary Carr (née Kenevan; March 14, 1874 – June 24, 1973), was an American film actress and was married to the actor William Carr. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1915 and 1956. She was given some of filmdoms plum mother roles in ...
, who taught her how to use make-up.
In the summer, she got a "tomboy" part in ''Grit'', a story that dealt with juvenile crime and was written by
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
. Bow met her first boyfriend, cameraman
Arthur Jacobson
Arthur Jacobson (October 23, 1901 – October 6, 1993) was an American assistant director. While he was an assistant director for most of his films, he was the main director for the 1935 film ''Home on the Range (1935 film), Home on the Range''.
...
, and she got to know director
Frank Tuttle
Frank Wright Tuttle (August 6, 1892 – January 6, 1963) was a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film director and writer who directed films from 1922 (''The Cradle Buster'') to 1959 (''Island of Lost Women'').
Biography
Frank Tuttle wa ...
, with whom she worked in five later productions. Tuttle remembered:
''Grit'' was released on January 7, 1924. The ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' review said ". Clara Bow lingers in the eye, long after the picture has gone." While shooting ''Grit'' at Pyramid Studios, in
Astoria, New York, Bow was approached by Jack Bachman of independent
Hollywood studio Preferred Pictures. He wanted to contract her for a three-month trial, fare paid, and $50 a week. "It can't do any harm" he said.
"Why can't I stay in New York and make movies?" Bow asked her father, but he told her not to worry. On July 21, 1923, she befriended
Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons (born Louella Rose Oettinger; August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) was an American movie columnist and a screenwriter. She was retained by William Randolph Hearst because she had championed Hearst's mistress Marion Davies and su ...
, who interviewed her for ''The New York Morning Telegraph''. In 1931, when Bow came under
tabloid scrutiny, Parsons defended her and stuck to her first opinion on Bow:
The interview also revealed that Bow already was cast in ''Maytime'' and in great favor of Chinese cuisine.
Preferred Pictures
![CBpic Maytime recv 201005XX](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/CBpic_Maytime_recv_201005XX.png)
On July 22, 1923, Bow left New York, her father, and her boyfriend behind for Hollywood.
As chaperone for the journey and her subsequent southern California stay, the studio appointed writer/agent Maxine Alton, whom Bow later branded a liar. In late July, Bow entered studio chief
B. P. Schulberg
B. P. Schulberg (born Percival Schulberg, January 19, 1892 – February 25, 1957) was an American pioneer film producer and film studio executive.
Biography
Born Percival Schulberg in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he took the name Benjamin from the ...
's office wearing a simple high-school uniform in which she "had won several gold medals on the cinder track".
[''The Davenport Democrat and Leader'', September 9, 1923] She was tested and a press release from early August says Bow had become a member of Preferred Pictures' "permanent stock". Bow signed with Preferred Pictures, also working with other studios.
Alton and Bow rented an apartment at
The Hillview near
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
.
Preferred Pictures
Preferred Pictures was an American film production company of the silent era. Founded in 1920 by the producer B. P. Schulberg following his departure from Paramount Pictures, it was an independent, either distributing its own films or releasing ...
was run by Schulberg, who had started as a publicity manager at
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...
, but in the aftermath of the power struggle around the formation of
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
, ended up on the losing side and lost his job. He founded Preferred in 1919 as a result, at the age of 27.
''
Maytime'' was Bow's first Hollywood picture, an adaptation of the popular operetta ''
Maytime'', in which she essayed "Alice Tremaine". Before the film was finished, Schulberg announced that Bow was given the lead in the studio's biggest , ''Poisoned Paradise''.
But first she was lent to
First National Pictures
First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...
to co-star in the adaptation of
Gertrude Atherton
Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (October 30, 1857 – June 14, 1948) was an American author. Paterson, Isabel, "Gertrude Atherton: A Personality"
The Bookman'', New York, February 1924, (pgs. 632-636) Many of her novels are set in her home sta ...
's 1923 best seller ''
Black Oxen'', shot in October, and to co-star with
Colleen Moore in ''Painted People'', shot in November. Director
Frank Lloyd
Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a British-born American film director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president ...
was casting for the part of high-society flapper Janet Oglethorpe, and more than 50 women auditioned, most with previous screen experience.
Bow reminisced: "but he had not found exactly what he wanted and finally somebody suggested me to him ... When I came into his office a big smile came over his face and he looked just tickled to death."
Lloyd told the press, "Bow is the personification of the ideal aristocratic
flapper
Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptab ...
, mischievous, pretty, aggressive, quick-tempered and deeply sentimental." It was released on January 4, 1924.
![XBlackOxen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/XBlackOxen.jpg)
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' 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", while the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' commented that "Clara Bow, the prize vulgarian of the lot ... was amusing and spirited ... but didn't belong in the picture", and ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' said that "the horrid little flapper is adorably played".
Colleen Moore made her flapper debut in a successful adaptation of the daring novel ''
Flaming Youth'', released November 12, 1923, six weeks before ''Black Oxen''. Both films were produced by First National Pictures, and while ''Black Oxen'' was still being edited and ''Flaming Youth'' not yet released, Bow was requested to co-star with Moore as her kid sister in ''Painted People'' (''The Swamp Angel'').
[Morella and Epstein (1976), p. 59] Moore essayed the baseball-playing tomboy and Bow, according to Moore, said "I don't like my part, I wanna play yours." Moore, a well-established star earning $1200 a week—Bow got $200—took offense and blocked the director from shooting close-ups of Bow. Moore was married to the film's producer and Bow's protests were futile. "I'll get that bitch", she told her boyfriend Jacobson, who had arrived from New York. Bow had sinus problems and decided to have them attended to that very evening. With Bow's face now in bandages, the studio had no choice but to recast her part.
![CBpic Robert June 1931](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/CBpic_Robert_June_1931.png)
Bow's "horrid" flapper raced against Moore's "whimsical" during 1924.
[''Los Angeles Times'', May 18, 1924.] In May, Moore renewed her efforts in ''The Perfect Flapper'', produced by her husband; however, despite good reviews she suddenly withdrew. "No more flappers ... they have served their purpose ... people are tired of soda-pop love affairs", she told the ''Los Angeles Times'',
which had commented a month earlier, "Clara Bow is the one outstanding type. She has almost immediately been elected for all the recent flapper parts". 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."
[''Kansas City Star'', November 16, 1933.]
By New Year 1924 Bow had defied the possessive and brought her father to Hollywood. Bow remembered their reunion: "I didn't care a rap, for (her), nor B. P. Schulberg, nor my motion picture career, nor Clara Bow, I just threw myself into his arms and kissed and kissed him, and we both cried like a couple of fool kids. Oh, it was wonderful."
Bow felt "Mrs Smith" (the pseudonym she used) had misused her trust: "She wanted to keep a hold on me so she made me think I wasn't getting over and that nothing but her clever management kept me going."
Bow and her father moved in at 1714 North Kingsley Drive in Hollywood, together with Jacobson, who by then also worked for Preferred. When Schulberg learned of this arrangement, he fired Jacobson for potentially getting "his big star" into a scandal. When Bow found out, "She tore up her contract and threw it in his face and told him he couldn't run her private life." Jacobson concluded, "
lara
Lara may refer to:
Places
* Lara (state), a state in Venezuela
*Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia
* Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey
* Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia
* Lara de los In ...
was the sweetest girl in the world, but you didn't cross her and you didn't do her wrong." On September 7, 1924, ''The Los Angeles Times'', in a significant article "A dangerous little devil is Clara, impish, appealing, but oh, how she can act!", her father is titled "business manager" and Jacobson referred to as her brother.
![Clara Bow, Stars of the Photoplay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Clara_Bow%2C_Stars_of_the_Photoplay.jpg)
Bow appeared in eight releases in 1924, two were released the same day. In ''Poisoned Paradise'', released on February 29, 1924, Bow got her first lead; "the clever little newcomer whose work wins fresh recommendations with every new picture in which she appears". In a scene described as "original", Bow adds "devices" to "the modern flapper": she fights a villain using her fists, and significantly, does not "shrink back in fear". In ''Daughters of Pleasure'', also released on February 29, 1924, Bow and
Marie Prevost
Marie Prevost (born Marie Bickford Dunn; November 8, 1896 – January 21, 1937) was a Canadian-born film actress. During her 20-year career, she made 121 silent and sound films.
Prevost began her career during the silent film era. She was d ...
"flapped unhampered as flappers De luxe ... I wish somebody could star Clara Bow. I'm sure her 'infinite variety' would keep her from wearying us no matter how many scenes she was in." Loaned out to Universal, Bow top-starred, for the first time, in the
prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
,
bootleg
Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to:
* Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially
* Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence:
** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...
drama/comedy ''
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
'', released on August 20, 1924. The picture exposes the widespread
liquor
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...
traffic in the upper classes, and Bow portrays an innocent girl who develops into a wild "red-hot mama" ("a naughty, inebriated flapper"
).
Carl Sandburg
Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...
reviewed it on September 29 saying; "If not taken as information, it is cracking good entertainment,".
[ Sandburg, Carl, Bernstein, Arnie (ed.). ''The Movies Are: Carl Sandburg's Film Reviews and Essays, 1920–1928'', Lake Claremont Press, 2000] While Grace Kingsley of the ''Los Angeles Times'' said; "Don't miss ''Wine''. It's a thoroughly refreshing draught ... there are only about five actresses who give me a real thrill on the screen—and Clara is nearly five of them". Alma Whitaker of the ''Los Angeles Times'' observed on September 7, 1924:
![CBadv Wine crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/CBadv_Wine_crop.png)
Bow remembered: "All this time I was 'running wild', I guess, in the sense of trying to have a good time ... maybe this was a good thing, because I suppose a lot of that excitement, that joy of life, got onto the screen."
In 1925, Bow appeared in 14 productions: six for her contract owner, Preferred Pictures, and eight as an "out-loan". ''
Motion Picture Classic
''Motion Picture'' was an American monthly fan magazine about film, published from 1911 to 1977.Fuller, Kathryn H. “Motion Picture Story Magazine and the Gendered Construction of the Movie Fan.” ''At the Picture Show: Small-Town Audiences ...
'' magazine wrote in June that "Clara Bow ... shows alarming symptoms of becoming the sensation of the year", and featured her on the cover.
Preferred Pictures loaned Bow to producers "for sums ranging from $1500 to $2000 a week"
[''Toledo News-Bee'', September 11, 1926] while paying Bow a salary of $200 to $750 a week. The studio, like any other independent studio or theater at that time, was under attack from "The Big Three",
MPAA
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
, which had formed a
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
to
block out Independents and enforce the
monopolistic
A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a spec ...
studio system
A studio system is a method of filmmaking wherein the production and distribution of films is dominated by a small number of large movie studios. It is most often used in reference to Hollywood motion picture studios during the Golden Age of Hol ...
. On October 21, 1925, Schulberg filed Preferred Pictures for bankruptcy, with debts at $820,774 and assets $1,420. Three days later it was announced that Schulberg would join with
Adolph Zukor to become
associate producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...
of
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, "catapulted into this position because he had Clara Bow under personal contract".
Adolph Zukor, Paramount Picture CEO, wrote in his memoirs: "All the skill of directors and all the booming of press-agent drums will not make a star. Only the audiences can do it. We study audience reactions with great care."
[ Zukor, Adolph and Kramer, Dale ''The Public is Never Wrong'', New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1953] Adela Rogers St. Johns
Adela Nora Rogers St. Johns (May 20, 1894 – August 10, 1988) was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies but is best remembered for her groundbreaking exploits as "The World's Grea ...
had a different take; in 1950, she wrote, "If ever a star was made by public demand, it was Clara Bow."
[ St. Johns, Adela Rogers "The Hollywood story", '']The American Weekly
''The American Weekly'' was a Sunday newspaper supplement published by the Hearst Corporation from November 1, 1896, until 1966.
History
During the 1890s, publications were inserted into Joseph Pulitzer's ''New York World'' and William Randolp ...
'' (December 24, 1950) And
Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...
(from 1980): "(Bow) became a star without nobody's help".
[Louise Brooks in Branlow, Kevin; Gill, David. "Hollywood – Star treatment – Clara Bow", Thames Television, 1980, UK.]
''
The Plastic Age
''The Plastic Age'' (1924 in literature, 1924) is a novel by Percy Marks that tells the story of Hugh Carver, a student at a fictional men's college called Sanford. With contents that covered or implied hazing, smoking, drinking, partying, and " ...
'' was Bow's final effort for Preferred Pictures and her biggest hit up to that time. Bow starred as the good-bad college girl, Cynthia Day, against Donald Keith. It was shot on location at
Pomona College
Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...
in the summer of 1925, and released on December 15, but due to
block booking
Block booking is a system of selling multiple films to a theater as a unit. Block booking was the prevailing practice among Hollywood's major studios from the turn of the 1930s until it was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in '' Un ...
, it was not shown in New York until July 21, 1926. ''
Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...
'' was displeased: "The college atmosphere is implausible and Clara Bow is not our idea of a college girl." Theater owners, however, were happy, the manager of The Liberty Theater saying that "The picture is the biggest sensation we ever had in our theater ... It is 100 per cent at the
box-office
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is fr ...
." Some critics felt Bow had conquered new territory, "(Bow) presents a whimsical touch to her work that adds greater laurels to her fast ascending star of screen popularity." ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' 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 began to date her co-star
Gilbert Roland
Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice no ...
, who became her first fiancé. 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. Throughout the 1920s, Bow played with gender conventions and sexuality in her public image. Along with her tomboy and flapper roles, she starred in boxing films and posed for promotional photographs as a boxer. By appropriating traditionally androgynous or masculine traits, Bow presented herself as a confident, modern woman.
Paramount Pictures
"Rehearsals sap my pep", Bow explained in November 1929, and from the beginning of her career she relied on immediate direction: "Tell me what I have to do and I'll do it."
[Jacobson (1991), p. 16] Bow was keen on poetry and music, but according to Rogers St. Johns, her attention span did not allow her to appreciate novels.
[Clara Bow, the playgirl of Hollywood, Liberty, spring 1975, 1929 retro special] Bow's focal point was the scene, and her creativity made directors call in extra cameras to cover her spontaneous actions, rather than holding her down.
Years after Bow left Hollywood, director
Victor Fleming
Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best ...
compared Bow to a
Stradivarius
A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
: "Touch her, and she responded with genius."
[ Director ]William Wellman
William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on avi ...
was less poetic: "Movie stardom isn't acting ability—its personality and temperament ... I once directed Clara Bow (''Wings''). She was mad and crazy, but WHAT a personality!". And in 1981, Budd Schulberg
Budd Schulberg (born Seymour Wilson Schulberg, March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009) was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his novels '' What Makes Sammy Run?'' and ''The Harder They Fall;'' ...
described Bow as "an easy winner of the dumbbell award" who "couldn't act," and compared her to a puppy that his father B. P. Schulberg "trained to become Lassie."
Bow appeared in eight releases in 1926: five for Paramount, including the film version of the musical ''Kid Boots
''Kid Boots'' is a musical with a book by William Anthony McGuire and Otto Harbach, music by Harry Tierney, and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. The show was staged by Edward Royce.
Produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, the Broadway production, opened on ...
'' with Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...
, and three loan-outs that had been filmed in 1925. In late 1925, Bow returned to New York to co-star in the Ibsenesque drama ''Dancing Mothers
Lobby card
''Dancing Mothers'' is a 1926 American black and white silent drama film produced by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Herbert Brenon, and stars Alice Joyce, Conway Tearle, and making her debut appearance for a Paramount P ...
'', as the good/bad "flapperish" upper-class daughter Kittens. Alice Joyce
Alice Joyce Brown ( Joyce; October 1, 1890 – October 9, 1955) was an American actress who appeared in more than 200 films during the 1910s and 1920s. She is known for her roles in the 1923 film '' The Green Goddess'' and its 1930 remake of ...
starred as her dancing mother, with Conway Tearle
Conway Tearle (born Frederick Conway Levy, May 17, 1878 – October 1, 1938) was an American stage actor who went on to perform in silent and early sound films.
Early life
Tearle was born on May 17, 1878, in New York City, the son of the ...
as "bad-boy" Naughton. The picture was released on March 1, 1926. Local reviews were very positive; "Clara Bow, known as the screen's perfect flapper, does her stuff as the child, and does it well", and "her remarkable performance in Dancing Mothers ... ". Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...
remembered her in Brownlow's book; "She was absolutely sensational in the United States ... in ''Dancing Mothers'' ... she just swept the country ... I know I saw her ... and I thought ... wonderful."
On April 12, 1926, Bow signed her first contract with Paramount: "to retain your services as an actress for the period of six months from June 6, 1926 to December 6, 1926, at a salary of $750.00 per week". Bow negotiated her Paramount contract to not have a morals clause A morality clause (also known as a morals clause, bad boy clause or bad girl clause) is a provision within instruments of a contract which curtail, or restrain, or proscribe certain behavior of individuals or party(s) to the contract.
A moral clau ...
. In Victor Fleming
Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best ...
's comedy-triangle '' Mantrap'' Bow, as Alverna the manicurist, cures lonely hearts Joe Easter (Ernest Torrence
Ernest Torrence (born Ernest Torrance-Thomson, 26 June 1878 – 15 May 1933) was a Scottish film character actor who appeared in many Hollywood films, including '' Broken Chains'' (1922) with Colleen Moore, '' Mantrap'' (1926) with Clara Bow a ...
) of the great northern, as well as pill-popping New York divorce attorney runaway Ralph Prescott (Percy Marmont
Percy Marmont (25 November 1883 – 3 March 1977) was an English film actor.
Biography
Marmont appeared in more than 80 films between 1916 and 1968. A veteran film actor by 1923, he scored a big hit that year in ''If Winter Comes'', later rem ...
). Bow commented: "(Alverna] ... was bad in the book, but—darn it!—of course, they couldn't make her that way in the picture. So I played her as a flirt." The film was released on July 24, 1926, to rave reviews. ''Variety'' said that "Clara Bow just walks away with the picture from the moment she walks into camera range", while ''Photoplay'' told readers that "When she is on the screen nothing else matters. When she is off, the same is true." Carl Sandburg wrote that it was "The smartest and swiftest work as yet seen from Miss Clara Bow."[ and Sam Carver of the Newman Theater was quoted in '']The Reel Journal
''Boxoffice Pro'' is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by BoxOffice Media LP.
History
It started in 1920 as ''The Reel Journal'', taking the name ''Boxoffice'' in 1931 and still publishes today, with ...
'' as saying that "Clara Bow is taking the place of Gloria Swanson
Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...
...(and)...filling a long need for a popular taste movie actress."
On August 16, 1926, Bow's agreement with Paramount was renewed into a five-year deal: "Her salary will start at $1700 a week and advance yearly to $4000 a week for the last year."[ Bow added that she intended to leave the motion picture business at the expiration of the contract, i.e., in 1931.][ In 1927 Bow appeared in six Paramount releases: ''It'', '' Children of Divorce'', '']Rough House Rosie
''Rough House Rosie'' is a 1927 American silent romantic comedy film produced and released by Paramount Pictures and directed by Frank Strayer. The film is a starring vehicle for Clara Bow who was then Paramount's most popular actress. Reed How ...
'', ''Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
'', ''Hula
Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), mele). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of t ...
'' and '' Get Your Man''. In the Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
based story '' It'', the poor shop-girl Betty Lou Spence (Bow) conquers the heart of her employer Cyrus Waltham (Antonio Moreno
Antonio Garrido Monteagudo (September 26, 1887 – February 15, 1967), better known as Antonio Moreno or Tony Moreno, was a Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s.
Early life and silent fil ...
). The personal quality—" It"— provides the magic to make it happen. The film gave Bow her nickname, "The 'It' Girl." 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''." ''The Film Daily
''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...
'' wrote that "Clara Bow gets a real chance and carries it off with honors...(and)...she is really the whole show", and ''Variety'' said "You can't get away from this Clara Bow girl. She certainly has that certain 'It'...and she just runs away with the film." Carl Sandburg wrote that "'It' is smart, funny and real. It makes a full-sized star of Clara Bow."[ ]Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
From a conflicted and unhap ...
is often said to have referred to Bow when she wrote, "It, hell; she had Those."[Clara Bow Peep]
'' Snopes.com'' 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.
In 1927, Bow starred in ''Wings'', a war picture rewritten to accommodate her, as she was Paramount's biggest star, but was not happy about her part: " 'Wings'' is..a man's picture and I'm just the whipped cream on top of the pie." The film went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...
. In 1928, Bow appeared in four Paramount releases: ''Red Hair
Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...
'', ''Ladies of the Mob
''Ladies of the Mob'' (1928) is a 1928 American silent crime drama film directed by William A. Wellman, produced by Jesse L. Lasky and Adolph Zukor for Famous Players-Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on a story b ...
'', ''The Fleet's In
''The Fleet's In'' is a 1942 movie musical produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by Victor Schertzinger, and starring Dorothy Lamour and William Holden. Although sharing the title of the 1928 Paramount film starring Clara Bow and Jack Oakie, ...
'', and '' Three Week-Ends'', all of which are lost. Adela Rogers St. Johns
Adela Nora Rogers St. Johns (May 20, 1894 – August 10, 1988) was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies but is best remembered for her groundbreaking exploits as "The World's Grea ...
, a noted screenwriter who had done a number of pictures with Bow, wrote about her:
Bow's bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
lifestyle and "dreadful" manners were considered reminders of the Hollywood elite's uneasy position in high society. Bow fumed: "They yell at me to be dignified. But what are the dignified people like? The people who are held up as examples for me? They are snobs. Frightful snobs ... I'm a curiosity in Hollywood. I'm a big freak, because I'm myself!" MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
executive Paul Bern
Paul Bern (born Paul Levy; December 3, 1889September 5, 1932) was a German-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he became the assistant to Irving Thalberg. He helped launch the career of Jean Harlo ...
said Bow was "the greatest emotional actress on the screen", "sentimental, simple, childish and sweet," and considered her "hard-boiled attitude" a "defense mechanism".
Sound films
With "talkies
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
" '' The Wild Party'', '' Dangerous Curves'', and ''The Saturday Night Kid
''The Saturday Night Kid'' is a 1929 American pre-Code romantic comedy film about two sisters and the man they both want. It stars Clara Bow, Jean Arthur, James Hall, and in her first credited speaking role, Jean Harlow. The film was based on ...
'', all released in 1929, Bow kept her position as the top box-office draw and queen of Hollywood. Neither the quality of Bow's voice nor her Brooklyn accent
The sound system of New York City English is popularly known as a New York accent. The New York metropolitan accent is one of the most recognizable accents of the United States, largely due to its popular stereotypes and portrayal in radio, ...
was an issue to Bow, her fans, or Paramount.[ However, Bow, like ]Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
, Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...
, and most other silent film stars, did not embrace the novelty: "I hate talkies ... they're stiff and limiting. You lose a lot of your cuteness, because there's no chance for action, and action is the most important thing to me."[Goldbeck, Elisabeth. "The Real Clara Bow", ''Motion Picture Classic'', September 1930] A visibly nervous Bow had to do a number of retakes in ''The Wild Party'' because her eyes kept wandering up to the microphone overhead. "I can't buck progress ... I have to do the best I can," she said. In October 1929 Bow described her nerves as "all shot", saying that she had reached "the breaking point", and ''Photoplay'' cited reports of "rows of bottles of sedatives" by her bed. "Now they're having me sing. I sort of half-sing, half-talk, with hips-and-eye stuff. You know what I mean—like Maurice Chevalier. I used to sing at home and people would say, 'Pipe down! You're terrible!' But the studio thinks my voice is great."
With ''Paramount on Parade
''Paramount on Parade'' is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, O ...
'', ''True to the Navy
''True to the Navy'' is a 1930 romantic comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle for Paramount Pictures. The film stars Clara Bow as a counter girl at a San Diego drugstore with a predilection for sailors. Eventually she sets her sights on Bull's Eye ...
'', ''Love Among the Millionaires
''Love Among the Millionaires'' is a 1930 American comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and written by William M. Conselman, Grover Jones
Grover Jones (November 15, 1893 – September 24, 1940) was an American screenwriter - often teamed ...
'', and '' Her Wedding Night'', Bow was second at the box-office only to Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
in 1930. With ''No Limit
No Limit may refer to:
Music Record labels
*No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P
* No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P
Albums
* ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977
* ''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.
A damaging court trial charging her secretary Daisy DeVoe with financial mismanagement, by Paramount-friendly officials: Los Angeles District Attorney Buron Fitts, Assistant District Attorney David Clark, and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William C. Doran.
According to the 1930 census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, Bow lived at 512 Bedford Drive, together with her secretary and hairdresser, Daisy DeBoe (later DeVoe), in a house valued $25,000 with neighbors titled "Horse-keeper", "Physician", "Builder". Bow stated she was 23 years old, i.e., born 1906, contradicting the censuses of 1910 and 1920.
As she slipped closer to a major breakdown her manager, B.P. Schulberg, began referring to her as "Crisis-a-day-Clara". In April, Bow was taken to a sanatorium
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
and, at her request, Paramount released her from her final undertaking: '' City Streets'' (1931). At 25 her career was essentially over. B. P. Schulberg tried to replace Bow with his girlfriend Sylvia Sidney, but Paramount went into receivership, lost its position as the biggest studio (to MGM), and fired Schulberg. David Selznick
David O. Selznick (May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and '' Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture ...
explained:
Bow left Hollywood for Rex Bell
Rex Bell (born George Francis Beldam; October 16, 1903 – July 4, 1962) was an American actor and politician. Bell primarily appeared in Western films during his career. He also appeared in the 1930 movie '' True to the Navy'', starring Clar ...
's ranch in Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, her "desert paradise", in June and married him in then small-town Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
in December.[Morella and Epstein (1976), p. 259] In an interview on December 17, Bow detailed her way back to health: sleep, exercise, and food, and the day after it she returned to Hollywood "for the sole purpose of making enough money to be able to stay out of it." Soon every studio in Hollywood (except Paramount) and even overseas wanted her services. Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
stated that Bow "was a very great actress" and wanted her to play her sister in ''Secrets
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret.
Secrecy is often controvers ...
'' (1933), Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
offered her a three-picture deal, and MGM wanted her to star in ''Red-Headed Woman
''Red-Headed Woman'' is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Katharine Brush, and a screenplay by Anita Loos. It was directed by Jack Conway and stars Jean ...
'' (1932). Bow agreed to the script, but eventually rejected the offer since Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
required her to sign a long-term contract. On April 28, 1932, Bow signed a two-picture deal with Fox Film Corporation
The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...
, for '' Call Her Savage'' (1932) and ''Hoop-La
''Hoop-La'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Lloyd, and starring Clara Bow (in her final film role), Preston Foster, Richard Cromwell and Minna Gombell also in the cast. The film is based on the play ''The Barker'' by Ke ...
'' (1933). Both were successful; ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' favored the latter. The October 1934, ''Family Circle'' Film Guide rated the film as "pretty good entertainment", and of Miss Bow said: "This is the most acceptable bit of talkie acting Miss Bow has done." However, they noted, "Miss Bow is presented in her dancing duds as often as possible, and her dancing duds wouldn't weigh two pounds soaking wet." Bow commented on her revealing costume in ''Hoop-La'': "Rex accused me of enjoying showing myself off. Then I got a little sore. He knew darn well I was doing it because we could use a little money these days. Who can't?"[
Bow reflected on her career:
]
Retirement and later years
Bow and actor Rex Bell (later a lieutenant governor of Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
) had two sons, Tony Beldam (born 1934, changed name to Rex Anthony Bell, Jr., died 2011) and George Beldam, Jr. (born 1938). Bow retired from acting in 1933. In September 1937, she and Bell opened The 'It' Cafe in the Hollywood Plaza Hotel at 1637 N Vine Street near Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. It closed in 1943. Her last public performance, albeit fleeting, came in 1947 on the radio show ''Truth or Consequences
''Truth or Consequences'' is an American game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–1957) and later on television by Edwards (1950–1954), Jack Bailey (1954–1956), Bob Barker (1956–1975), Steve Dunne (1957–1958), ...
''. Bow was the mystery voice in the show's "Mrs. Hush" contest.
Health issues
Bow eventually began showing symptoms of psychiatric illness. She became socially withdrawn, and although she refused to socialize with her husband, she also refused to let him leave the house alone. In 1944, while Bell was running for the U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, Bow tried to commit suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. A note was found in which Bow stated she preferred death to a public life.
In 1949, she checked into The Institute of Living
The Institute of Living is a comprehensive psychiatric facility in Hartford, Connecticut, that offers care across the spectrum of psychiatric services, including:
* A 24/7 crisis evaluation telephone assessment and triage: Experienced psychiatri ...
to be treated for her chronic insomnia and diffuse abdominal pains. Shock treatment
''Shock Treatment'' is a 1981 American musical comedy film directed by Jim Sharman, and co-written by Sharman and Richard O'Brien. It is a follow-up to the 1975 film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''.
While not an outright sequel, the film do ...
was tried and numerous psychological tests performed. Bow's IQ was measured "bright normal", while others claimed she was unable to reason, had poor judgment and displayed inappropriate or even bizarre behavior. Her pains were considered delusion
A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or som ...
al and she was diagnosed with schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
; however, she experienced neither auditory nor visual hallucination
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...
s. Analysts tied the onset of the illness, as well as her insomnia, to the "butcher knife episode" back in 1922, but Bow rejected psychological explanations and left the institute. She did not return to her family. After leaving the institution, Bow lived alone in a bungalow, which she rarely left, until her death.
Death
Bow spent her last years in Culver City, under the constant care of a nurse, Estalla Smith, living off an estate worth about $500,000 at the time of her death. In 1965, at age 60, she died of a heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
, which her autopsy attributed to atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheroma, atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usu ...
. She was interred in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries is an American corporation that owns and operates a chain of cemeteries and mortuaries in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties in Southern California.
History
The company was founded by a group of ...
in Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
. Her pallbearers were Harry Richman
Harry Richman (born Henry Reichman Jr.; August 10, 1895 – November 3, 1972) was an American singer, actor, dancer, comedian, pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and nightclub performer, at his most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In his peak yea ...
, Richard Arlen
Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television.
Biography
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...
, Jack Oakie
Jack Oakie (born Lewis Delaney Offield; November 12, 1903 – January 23, 1978) was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on Theatre, stage, radio and television. He portrayed Napaloni in Charlie Chaplin, Chaplin's ''T ...
, Maxie Rosenbloom
Max Everitt Rosenbloom (November 6, 1906 – March 6, 1976) was an American professional boxer, actor, and television personality. Nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie", he was inducted into '' The Ring's'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972, the International Je ...
, Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. ...
, and Buddy Rogers.[Morella and Epstein (1976), p. 283]
Legacy
Film historian Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
said in 1999; "You think of Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
, Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...
, all these great names, great actresses, Clara Bow was more popular in terms of box-office dollars, in terms of consistently bringing audiences into the theaters, she was right on top." In 1999 the American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
excluded Bow from its finalized "100 Years...100 Stars" list, although she was on the list of nominees.
Film historian Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow (born Robert Kevin Brownlow; 2 June 1938) is a British film historian, television documentary-maker, filmmaker, author, and film editor. He is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era, having become inter ...
did not mention Bow in his 1968 book on silent films, ''The Parade's Gone By''. Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...
, who received an entire chapter in the book, wrote to Brownlow, "You brush off Clara Bow for some old nothing like Brooks. Clara made three pictures that will never be surpassed: ''Dancing Mothers'', ''Mantrap'', and ''It''." In a conversation with filmmaker Thomas Hamilton, Brownlow explained that he had planned to include a chapter on Bow but was unable to secure an interview with the reclusive star before her death, and since all chapters were based on first-hand accounts, it would have been inconsistent to include a chapter based on second-hand anecdotes. Brownlow made up for this omission by including an entire segment about Bow in his television documentary '' Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film'' (1980), for which he interviewed Brooks.
Awards and honors
* For her contributions to the film industry, Bow was awarded a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
in 1960. Her star is located at 1500 Vine Street
Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue and Melrose Avenue. The intersection with Hollywood Boulevard was once a symbol of Hollywood itself. The famed intersection fell into d ...
.
* In 1994, she was honored with an image on a United States postage stamp designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld
Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 – January 20, 2003) was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.
Personal life
Al Hirschfeld was born in 1903 in a two-story duplex at 1313 Carr ...
.
Filmography
In popular culture
* Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...
's cartoon character Betty Boop was modelled after Bow's appearance and after the voice of entertainer Helen Kane
Helen Kane (born Helen Clare Schroeder, August 4, 1904 – September 26, 1966) was an American singer and actress. Her signature song was " I Wanna Be Loved by You" (1928), featured in the 1928 stage musical ''Good Boy''. The song was written for ...
(the "boop-boop-a-doop-girl").
* Bow's mass of tangled red hair was one of her most famous features. When fans of the new star found out she put henna in her hair, sales of the dye tripled.
* An autographed picture of Bow is offered as a consolation prize of a beauty contest in the 1931 George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
musical ''Of Thee I Sing
''Of Thee I Sing'' is a musical with a score by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. The musical lampoons American politics; the story concerns John P. Wintergreen, who runs for President o ...
''.
* During her lifetime, Bow was the subject of wild rumors regarding her sex life; many of them were untrue. A tabloid called ''The Coast Reporter
Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...
'' published lurid allegations about her in 1931, accusing her of exhibitionism, incest
Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...
, lesbianism
A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fema ...
, bestiality, drug addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use of ...
, alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
, and having contracted a venereal disease
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, especi ...
. The publisher of the tabloid then tried to blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
Bow, offering to cease printing the stories for $25,000, which led to his arrest by federal agents and, later, an eight-year prison sentence.
* The lead character of Peppy Miller from the 2011 film ''The Artist'' was inspired principally by Clara Bow, and in playing the part, actress Bérénice Bejo
Bérénice Bejo (; born 7 July 1976) is a French-Argentine actress best known for playing Christiana in ''A Knight's Tale'' (2001) and Peppy Miller in '' The Artist'' (2011). Her work in the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award ...
invoked many of Bow's screen mannerisms.
* Bow inspired the name of the player character Laura Bow
''The Colonel's Bequest'' is a character-driven graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line featuring the character of Laura Bow. It was developed for MS-DOS in 1989. Ports for Amiga and Atari ST were released in 1990. It was the first of the short ...
in the video games ''The Colonel's Bequest
''The Colonel's Bequest'' is a character-driven graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line featuring the character of Laura Bow. It was developed for MS-DOS in 1989. Ports for Amiga and Atari ST were released in 1990. It was the first of the shor ...
'' and ''The Dagger of Amon Ra
''Roberta Williams' Laura Bow in The Dagger of Amon Ra'' (also known as ''Laura Bow II'') is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game is the second and final installment in ''The Laura Bow Mysteries'' line of adventure games, ...
''.
* On July 5, 2016, ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' announced that Silver Bullet Entertainment and MJW Media are producing a film based on David Stenn
David Stenn is an American television writer-producer, biographer, and film preservationist. His television credits range from ''Hill Street Blues'' to '' Boardwalk Empire''. He is known for his biographies of Hollywood stars Clara Bow and Jean ...
's biography, ''Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild''
* Bow is the subject of the 1986 song "Clara Bow", by the cult independent pop group the Cleaners from Venus
Martin Newell (born 4 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter, poet, columnist and author who leads the Cleaners from Venus, a guitar pop band with Jangle pop, jangly, upbeat arrangements. He is also regarded as a significant figure in the ...
.
* Bow is mentioned in the Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
song "Condition Of The Heart" from his 1985 album "Around The World In A Day
''Around the World in a Day'' is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the second release where his backing band The Revolution is billed. It was released on April 22, 1985, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. R ...
".
*"Clara Bow" is also the title of a song on alternative rock-band 50 Foot Wave's debut album '' 50 Foot Wave''.
*The song "Picture Show" in the Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musical ''Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The co ...
'' mentions "Clara Bow", the "It Girl", to reference a movie star.
Fictional portrayals
* Bow was played by Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American–Canadian actress and poker player. Known for her distinctive voice and comedic timing, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two MTV Movie Awards and three Sa ...
in the motion picture ''Return to Babylon
''Return to Babylon'' is a 2013 black-and-white silent film about the silent film era. It was directed by Alex Monty Canawati. It stars an ensemble cast of Jennifer Tilly, María Conchita Alonso, Ione Skye, Debi Mazar, Laura Harring, and Tippi ...
'' (2013).
Bibliography
*
*
* Gammel, Irene (2012)
"Lacing up the Gloves: Women, Boxing and Modernity"
''Cultural and Social History'' 9.3: 369–390.
*
*
*
*
*
*
Notes
References
External links
Clara Bow papers
Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
*
*
* – fansite
A fansite, fan site, fan blog or fan page is a website created and maintained by a fan or devotee about a celebrity, thing, or particular cultural phenomenon.
Fansites may offer specialized information on the subject (e.g., episode listings, bi ...
Photographs and bibliography
virtual-history.com
"Bela Lugosi's Clara Bow Nude Painting Sells For $30,000 At Auction"
(about their relationship)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bow, Clara
1905 births
1965 deaths
20th-century American actresses
Actresses from New York City
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
20th Century Studios contract players
Paramount Pictures contract players
American people of British descent
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
People from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
People with schizophrenia
Spouses of Nevada politicians
WAMPAS Baby Stars