Jean Harlow: biography, filmography, life story and photos

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

The style is known all over the world: platinum hair, thin eyebrows, bright lips and a snow-white dress cut on an oblique. Reminds me of Marilyn Monroe. However, Jean Harlow became the trendsetter of this style. The actress was the most beautiful superstar who flared up brightly, but faded very quickly. She lived only 26 years. During this time, the actress managed to get married three times, star in 41 films and turn the heads of men in America and Europe. Jean Harlow is Hollywood's first blonde sex symbol.

Childhood

Harlene Harlow Carpenter was born in Kansas City on March 3, 1911, the son of a dentist who rose from the bottom to the people. As a child, the girl lived with her parents in a large mansion of her grandparents. Her mother (Jin Po) was unhappy in this marriage. Therefore, all attention was concentrated on raising her daughter. The girl became very attached to her mother, adoredShe always listened to her in everything. A lovely child was called "baby" - "baby". She didn't even know her real name, Harleen, until she started going to school. Later, in the walls of the film studio, she will also be called "Baby".

At the age of five, Harleen, later Jean Harlow, had meningitis. The girl was in very poor he alth.

When Harleen was 11 years old, her parents divorced. The mother, who dreamed of acting in films all her life, came to Hollywood with her daughter. Here Harlin attends a local school. For 2 years, Jean's mother tried to become an actress. However, when the last money ran out, all her hopes collapsed. They were forced to return to Kansas City. Here the mother marries again.

In the summer of 1925, the girl was in a children's camp. There she caught scarlet fever. It is this childhood disease that will play a very tragic role in the future.

First marriage

Harlene grew up very early. A natural blonde with a beautiful feminine figure stood out noticeably among her peers. Everyone admired her. And Jean Harlow really liked it (height, weight of the young beauty, respectively, were: 156 cm, 45 kg). In addition, the girl was incredibly charming and sweet.

A friend introduced her to Charles Fremont McGrew, the 19-year-old heir to the largest fortune. He was fascinated by the young beauty. The rich heir decided to marry immediately. McGrew proposed to her. Harleen agreed.

However, it was useless to ask for the parents' blessing. So the young ones ran away andsecretly married in Chicago. Relatives were put before the fact. At this time, Harleen was only 16 years old.

Swift Divorce

Jean Harlow's life story is as amazing as she is. At the age of 17, the girl divorced. A loving mother contributed to this. She had a huge impact on Harleen. Therefore, it was not difficult for her to convince her daughter that a hasty marriage was unprecedented stupidity. After all, Charles's relatives will not accept her as a daughter-in-law, which means you should not count on financial assistance.

Besides, the mother pursued her own goals. She wanted to find such a groom for her daughter who would provide not only for his wife, but also take care of her parents. A month after the secret wedding, Harleen returned to her father's house.

And six months later, the parents and their daughter moved to California.

A mother's dreams

The family had a hard time in Los Angeles. However, the mother had a brilliant idea. If she failed to become an actress, then her daughter will certainly become a movie star. At that time, Los Angeles, like Hollywood, was the kingdom of cinema.

Jean Harlow met aspiring actress Rosalie Roy. It was thanks to such a meeting and a combination of circumstances that the girl got to the studio. Spectacular blonde, with a beautiful figure, could not help but attract attention. She was asked to come to audition. At the insistence of her mother, she starred in the film "Ties of Honor" as an extra. So she made her film debut in 1928.

Career start

The first steps in the cinema remainedpractically unnoticed. But Harleen did not hope that the whole world would immediately fall at her feet. She was charming, polite and ingenuous. Very soon, acting agents noticed her. A significant role in this was played by the amazing whim of the girl. Despite the voluminous bust, she stubbornly did not wear underwear. At the same time, she chose clothes that were as tight as possible. She was said to be more undressed than dressed.

Harleen's first major role was in Hell's Angels by producer and millionaire Howard Hughes. The exquisite beauty of the girl did not impress him himself. But the agents were able to convince the producer that the platinum blonde was capable of making a splash.

It only remained to come up with a "new" name. After all, real ones, according to Howard Hughes, sounded terrible. Thus was born the actress Jean Harlow.

The picture was a fabulous success. This film turned the girl from an ordinary debutante into a Hollywood movie star. America was simply delighted with the actress. Indeed, until this moment, the image of an inaccessible beauty was used in the tapes. Harleen has become the real opposite of the sad Garbo, the passionate Swenson, the wayward Bow. She embodied affection, tenderness, while harmoniously combining pressure and eroticism. For Americans, the actress immediately became her own - without pretensions to intelligence and elitism.

Surge

Success just hit the actress. She was in demand. She was invited to appear in a variety of films. And in each of them she was irresistible.

At this timeher appearance is corrected. Naturally blonde hair is carefully highlighted with peroxide. They are always curled with tongs and beautifully styled. For her, amazing snow-white dresses are created, which are cut along the oblique. The outfits perfectly fit the perfect body and emphasize the figure with light draperies.

Her appearance made a splash. As a result, the girl received her famous nickname, which would later be applied to other film stars - the platinum blonde. Her image will become a kind of ideal. They will strive for it.

Marilyn Monroe is one of the first movie stars to emulate the style of Jean Harlow. She admired the actress and even dreamed of playing the role of Harleen in the autobiographical film. But, despite the bright, delightful appearance, Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe were not happy in their personal lives. Harleen was helped in this by her beloved mother.

Private life

Dizzying career and popularity did not make Jin happy. Men loved the beautiful blonde, admired her, but as soon as a fan with serious intentions appeared near the girl, her lively mother immediately intervened in the relationship. She never tired of repeating that no one deserves Jean Harlow, because men only use her.

That's how the mother prevented an affair with William Powell, who fell in love with Jean tenderly and devotedly. The obedient daughter gave up her happiness.

However, the blond star still married a second time. Her chosen one was Paul Bern, 2 times older than her. The marriage was not successful. But despite theirproblems, the couple diligently portrayed happy spouses. This show didn't last long. Bern committed suicide. There was a lot of gossip about the reasons for this act. Jin was left a widow with Bern's many debts.

And the third marriage did not make her happy. Having married Harold Rossen, a famous operator, she faced another disappointment: her husband perceived her as a golden credit card, and not a beloved woman.

Recent years

During the filming of the film "Personal Property", the actress fell ill with the flu, but was forced to continue working on the picture. She suffered this illness on her feet. Such a factor was the impetus that set in motion the disease that had been dormant in her body for a long time, and brought closer the final denouement - the death of Jean Harlow.

Already on the set, the girl becomes weak. But she has no time to take care of her he alth. New shootings of the romantic comedy "Saratoga" came up. She throws herself into work. However, the disease makes itself felt. Her radiance faded from the screen. The skin has taken on a strange hue. The face is puffy.

During filming, Clark Gable noticed the heavy breathing of the actress. Her forehead was completely covered in sweat. The actor stopped filming. And despite Jean's protest, she was sent for a medical examination. However, the actress went home instead of the hospital.

When she got to the hospital, it was too late. The kidney infection had already spread throughout the body and poisoned the body of Jean Harlow. The cause of death of a beautiful actress is uremia,blood poisoning. Cerebral edema was connected to this diagnosis. It was as a result of it that the platinum blonde died. And she was only 26 years old.

Funeral movie star

Hollywood was simply shocked by this ridiculous and tragic death of a charming woman. Even critics who were skeptical of her immediately called her a great comedian.

Many friends gathered at the funeral, because everyone loved the actress. A large procession accompanied Jean Harlow in her coffin. Her death was met with great sadness, especially in the Hollywood community. The funeral of the actress reached a wide scale. Many celebrities came to say goodbye to Jean Harlow in a coffin. Large crowds of people gathered outside the church.

It was Powell, the man who sincerely loved Jean, who took care of the place for the serene peace of the actress. It cost him a fairly large amount - $ 25,000. Buried Jean Harlow in the Great Mausoleum. Her marble Tomb contains simple and clear words: "Our Baby".

Powell, heartbroken, kept his promises to Jean. For 20 years until his death, he weekly brought white flowers to the grave of the woman he loved.

For a long time after the death of Jean Harlow, her funeral haunted people. Various versions were invented, which caused the death of a beautiful actress. And only in the 90s were declassified medical reports. They proved a simple truth. Scarlet fever suffered in adolescence predetermined the fate of Jean. After all, inAt that time, doctors did not know how to deal with kidney failure. This is what caused the death of the amazing and beautiful film star Jean Harlow.