The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, Hollywood's First Platinum Blonde

Hollywood diva Jean Harlow became the first actress to be nicknamed a "platinum blonde." Men were ready to follow her to the ends of the earth, and women were madly jealous of her beauty and success. She was a star of the first magnitude, burning brightly, but not for long. Unfortunately, Jean Harlow's life tragically ended when she was not even thirty.

Harlene Harlow Carpenter, the future movie star, was born on March 3, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri. Her father, Mont Clair Carpenter, was a successful dentist who had achieved everything through his own labor, being the product of a working-class family. Her mother, Jean Poe, was born into a wealthy family of a real estate broker.

The family lived in prosperity, living in a spacious mansion provided by their maternal grandmother. But the relationship between the spouses left much to be desired, and Jin Po directed all her love and attention to her only daughter. Harleen suffered from meningitis at the age of five, which is why she grew up weak and sickly. Her parents doted on her and affectionately called her Baby.

In 1916, Harleen entered Miss Barstow's private school, one of the best in Kansas City. She studied well, although she did not stand out for her success. In 1922, her life changed dramatically: her parents divorced, and her mother forbade her daughter to communicate with her father. A year later, Jean Poe moved to Hollywood with Harleen, leaving her previous life behind.

Of course, moving to the capital of American cinema was not accidental for Jean Po. She dreamed of becoming a film actress and began attending castings. But luck did not smile on her, and she did not manage to get a single role. After two years, the money ran out, and Jean and her daughter returned to her native Kansas City.

Soon Jean Poe married Marino Bello, a Chicago hotel owner. The family moved again, and Harleen enrolled in a new school. There, the 15-year-old girl met 19-year-old Charles Fremont McGrew, an heir to a large fortune. They married in 1927, and two years later, when McGrew turned 21, he came into his inheritance. The young couple moved to Los Angeles, opening a new chapter in their lives.

In Los Angeles, Harleen began making new acquaintances, and her best friend became aspiring actress Rosalie Roy. One day, running late for a shoot, Rosalie asked Harleen to give her a ride to the studio gates. The striking blonde was noticed by passing managers and invited to come to the audition. Harleen did not plan to become an actress, but her friend encouraged her, saying that she would be scared and would not dare.

Before the audition, she had to register, and Harleen gave her mother's name and her maiden name, Jean Harlow. She passed the audition, but immediately forgot about it. When the studio started calling, the girl was not particularly enthusiastic and at first simply did not answer the phone. However, her mother insisted that Harlow agree to play a small role in the film Bonds of Honor. It was 1928, and the aspiring actress's fee was only $7. Her name did not even appear in the credits.

In the same 1928, 17-year-old Jean Harlow was offered to take part in a candid photo shoot in the park, and she did not refuse. Subsequently, photographers did their best to exploit her brilliant data and unprecedented emancipation. Already the following year, 1929, she starred in 14 films, although all her roles were episodic. Nevertheless, this marked the beginning of her acting career and the realization of her mother's dream. Although Jean had at least some success in the cinema, on the personal front, everything was getting worse and worse.

Jean divorced her husband, for whom she had lost feelings, and returned to Chicago to her mother and stepfather. There, fate smiled upon the young actress again - she met the legendary Howard Hughes, a famous aviator, director and future billionaire. It was he who was later played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film "The Aviator".

Howard Hughes was only 24 years old and dreamed of making a great film. At that time, the era of the "great silent" was coming to an end, and it was being replaced by sound films. Hughes decided to remake his film "Hell's Angels", but this time with sound. However, the leading actress from the original version, Greta Nissen, turned out to be unsuitable because of her strong Norwegian accent.

Hughes immediately saw Jean as the perfect leading lady and signed a five-year contract with her on October 24, 1929. Hell's Angels was an incredibly expensive film for its time, with a budget of a whopping $4 million. This war drama was impressive not only for its large-scale stunt scenes, but also for its technical innovations. For the first time in cinema history, some scenes used the Technicolor system, coloring them in green and red hues.

Hell's Angels premiered on May 27, 1930, and sold out despite a record-breaking $11 ticket price. The next morning, Jean Harlow woke up a superstar. In 1931, she starred in six films and had a cameo in Charlie Chaplin's City Lights. One of the films that year was called Platinum Blonde, and the nickname has since become inextricably linked with Jean.

Howard Hughes no longer cast Jean in his films, but loaned her out to other studios. All of her films were successful, but critics did not like the actress. They claimed that Jean lacked acting talent and captivated viewers solely with her sexuality. Hughes found a way to keep Harlow at the top of her fame by promoting her as a "platinum blonde" brand.

Hughes first organized a tour of the East Coast for Jean, where she invariably gathered full houses. Then he opened clubs in various cities of the USA under the brand name "Platinum Blonde". To enhance the effect, Hughes announced a reward of 10 thousand dollars to the person who would create a hair dye that would allow achieving the perfect platinum shade.

Uninhibited, aggressively sexual Jean Harlow was a true innovator. She didn’t just follow the beauty standards of her time, she created them. For the first time in the history of pop culture, the actress was called a sex symbol. Bleached hair, dazzling white dresses that emphasized her figure, and her inimitable plasticity made her a style icon. Each appearance of Harlow on the screen caused a furor.

The actress's outfits, created by the best Hollywood designers, such as Adrian Head, emphasized her natural beauty. The legendary silk dress, clinging to the actress's body, became her calling card. It did not hide, but, on the contrary, emphasized Jean's curves, creating the effect of mysterious seductiveness. Harlow literally radiated magnetism, attracting glances.

Here's what Jean Harlow said about her image:

But behind the screen glitz, personal dramas were hidden. Jean's mother managed to instill in her daughter that men are not trustworthy. This conviction led to failures in the actress's personal life. Her first marriage, at 16, lasted only a month.

Jean met her second husband in 1932 on the set. He was MGM producer Paul Bern. He was genuinely interested in advancing her career and made an important step for her. On the day Jean turned 21, March 3, 1932, Paul informed her that she was no longer dependent on Hughes. MGM bought the rights to the actress for $30,000, and Harlow signed a contract with the new studio.

The star's second marriage lasted only a few months. On September 5, 1932, Paul Bern shot himself. A strange note addressed to his young wife was found near his body:

The autopsy of Bern's body explained some things. It turned out that the 42-year-old man had a pathology that caused him to suffer from impotence. Therefore, the cause of suicide was recognized as depression caused by male impotence. At the same time, the investigation found out that despite this, Bern had a mistress, who could not be found. Presumably, she also committed suicide, shortly after her lover.

The mysterious suicide of Paul Bern became one of the first major Hollywood scandals, which only added to the popularity of Jean Harlow. The actress began to attract attention not only with her roles, but also with her personal life, which increasingly became the subject of gossip. After the death of her husband, she began an affair with boxer Max Baer, who was married to actress Dorothy Dunbar. The deceived wife threatened to sue, and the management of the MGM studio forced Harlow to end her relationship with the athlete.

The star was persuaded to marry for the third time. On September 13, 1933, she became the wife of cameraman Harold Rosson. This marriage, essentially fictitious, lasted only seven months. Harlow's only true love was actor William Powell. They spent two years together, but fate decreed otherwise.

Despite the upheavals and scandals in her personal life, Jean Harlow continued to be a star of the first magnitude, and her films were always successful. The films "Susie" and "Slandered" (1936) were even nominated for an Oscar.

Life's troubles and the intense filming schedule undermined Jean's health, which had been weak since childhood. In early 1937, she suffered from influenza, which led to complications in her kidneys. In the summer of 1937, on the set of the film "Saratoga", the actress became ill. Her mother, a fanatically religious woman, refused to seek medical attention, relying on prayer.

When Jean was hospitalized, doctors diagnosed uremia, an intoxication caused by kidney failure. On June 7, 1937, Jean died in the hospital after suffering for several days from cerebral edema. She was only 26 years old. And rumors began to spread across America that Harlow had been killed by the ammonia in her hair dye.

After Harlow's death, William Powell brought flowers to her grave every week, fulfilling a promise he made during her life. Her image has inspired generations: from Marilyn Monroe, who considered Harlow her idol, to modern designers who admire her style.

Jean Harlow was an icon of her time, a woman who knew how to combine boldness and grace, passion and restraint. Her life is a story of ups and downs, dizzying success and a tragic end. What lessons do you think can be learned from her fate? Can such a bright but short life inspire or rather serve as a warning? Share your opinion in the comments!