Jean Harlow (March 3, 1911 - June 7, 1937) was
an american actress. She was born Harlean Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of
Mont Clair Carpenter, a dentist, and his wife, Jean Harlow Carpenter. Mother Jean, as she
was called, divorced Harlean's father and moved to Hollywood with hopes of becoming an actress
herself. Shortly afterward she remarried and moved to Chicago, where Jean attended high
school. At the age of 16 Jean eloped with a wealthy young business man and the couple moved
to Los Angeles, California.
Jean wanted only to be a wife and mother, but to please Mother Jean she looked for work as an
extra in films. In the beginning Jean landed bit parts in silent films such as Why is a
Plumber? (1927), Moran of the Marines (1928), and The Love Parade (1929).
She has a more substantial role in Laurel and Hardy's short Double Whoopee (1929). By
1930, Jean and her husband had divorced, and she got her first major role when producer Howard
Hughes cast her in the World War I film Hell's Angels (1930).
In 1931 Harlow began to gain popularity when she appeared in The public Enemy,
Goldie, The Secret Six, with Clark Gable, and Platinum Blonde. In 1932
she had bigger roles in Red-Headed Woman and Red Dust, her second film with Clark
Gable. Harlow and Gable worked well together, and starred in a total of six films together.
It was during the making of Red Dust that Jean's second husband, MGM producer Paul Bern
committed suicide.
By 1933 Jean was becoming a superstar. She had a great comedic part in Dinner at Eight,
and later that year she starred in Bombshell. She was also married in 1933 for a
short time to cinematographer Harold Rosson. Jean then starred in two more films with Clark
Gable, China Seas (1935), and Wife vs Secretary (1936).
Following the end of her third marriage she met MGM star William Powell. They were engaged for
two years, but before they could marry Jean became ill. While filming Saratoga (1937)
with Clark Gable, she was hositalized with uremic poisoning and kidney failure and died
shortly afterward at the age of 26. She is buried in the mausoleum in Forest Lawn Glendal, in
Los Angeles, California.
Jean Harlow made over 20 films during a career that lasted only 10 years. She was labeled a
sex symbol and blonde bombshell, but she had a talent for comedy as well as drama that is still
recognized by record numbers of fans and film critics alike.
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