Birth Time Entry. In 1931, one of Clara Bows best friends turned on her. When the magnificent Clara Bow passed in 1965 from a heart attack at the young age of 60, she was a has-been by choice. In front of the judge and jury, DeVoe related a series of stories about Bows fast and loose ways, many of them exaggerated. "[148] In 1999 the American Film Institute excluded Bow from its finalized "100 Years100 Stars" list,[149] although she was on the list of nominees. And a bigger scandal was on the horizon. Though Bow lost her fair share of cat fights in Hollywood, she did have one secret weapon. It was her own naked portrait. Clara bow Stock Photos and Images. American actress Clara Bow. Clara Gordon Bow (July 29, 1905 - September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. Bow was billed 10th in the film, but shone through: 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. Except she was due for more humiliation. Oh, but itll get creepier, Bow starred in the first movie to ever win Best Picture at the Oscars. Bow, Clara. Appropriately chastised, Brownlow included a whole segment on Bow in his next documentary, sparking renewed interest in the lovely, effervescent, and indescribable Clara Bow. [8][9][10] Her final film, Hoop-La, was released in 1933. Bow lived her life to the limit, and became a tabloid staple during the heady years of her fame. Little Clara came into the world in a bleak, sparsely furnished room above [a] dilapidated Baptist Church, and these very humble beginnings were about to turn into an absolute nightmare. Usually I was too fat. Need I remind you that she was 16 years old at the time? . 6.1. Need I say that Bela was hooked? Bow and actor Rex Bell (later a lieutenant governor of Nevada) had two sons, Tony Beldam (born 1934, changed name to Rex Anthony Bell, Jr., died 2011) and George Beldam, Jr. (born 1938). Bow confessed that her mothers mental issues often made her mean to her, but as the years passed, Sarahs hostile episodes got worse and worse. ", "Roberta Williams: The Storyteller Who Started It All", "Biopic in the Works on Original 'It Girl' Clara Bow", "Picture Show by Frank Wildhorn Lyrics", "Babylon: The Myths and True Stories That Inspired the Classic Hollywood Epic", Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "Bela Lugosi's Clara Bow Nude Painting Sells For $30,000 At Auction", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clara_Bow&oldid=1142228405, Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Articles with dead external links from May 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles lacking page references from February 2023, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2021, All Wikipedia articles needing clarification, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2021, Articles with failed verification from February 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2019, TCMDb name template using numeric ID from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Clara Bow lingers in the eye, long after the picture has gone. 2.5 Baths. Now thats how an Old Hollywood starlet does mean girl. That said, Bow tried to get her revenge. "No more flappers they have served their purpose people are tired of soda-pop love affairs", she told the Los Angeles Times,[66] which had commented a month earlier, "Clara Bow is the one outstanding type. She had no problem carousing late into the night and then rolling into the film set in the early hours of the morning, taking whatever lover she pleased along the way. Bow dealt with her trauma in a tragic waythat is, she didnt deal with it at all. Even from the start, this girl didn't have it easy; she was neglected from day one. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life. The five different screen tests she had, showed this very plainly, her emotional range of expression provoking a fine enthusiasm from every contest judge who saw the tests. [121][failed verification] However, Bow, like Charlie Chaplin, Louise Brooks, and most other silent film stars, did not embrace the novelty: "I hate talkies they're stiff and limiting. Her mental health had continued to suffer in her retirement and she attempted suicide when her husband Rex Bell decided to re-enter public life as a politician in the 1940s. wonderful. My right arm was quite famous.. I'm a curiosity in Hollywood. But she paid a price for being brazen. [139] Her last public performance, albeit fleeting, came in 1947 on the radio show Truth or Consequences. Louise Brooks, who received an entire chapter in the book, wrote to Brownlow, "You brush off Clara Bow for some old nothing like Brooks. Clara increased her list of male lovers that included actors John Gilbert, Norman Kerry and Warren Burke. Either way, no one was surprised when it ended, but they were downright astonished by just how quickly things went south. She has a genuine spark of divine fire. Amazingly, Tui and Robert actually went through with it, but not without a handful of drama. Bow was a working class girl who fought her way to the top. Please let us know if a fact weve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect its inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Learn how and when to remove this template message, Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film, "Success Did Not Bring Clara Bow Happiness", "Clara Bow Housewife Of Rancho Clarito", Clara Bow: My Life Story as told to Adela Rogers St. Johns, "Alluring 'It' Girl Clara Bow: Tormented Hollywood Outsider", "33 Prospect Place, Passport application, No. That would be Wings in 1927. She simply didnt have the attention span for long-form literature. Clara was the daughter of Robert Walter Bow (1875 - 1959) By his 1st Wife Sarah F. Gordon (1879 - 1923) Robert Walter Bow (1875 - 1959) Married 2nd Wife Idella Elizabeth Mowrey Idella Elizabeth Mowrey (c 1904 - ) Was the daughter of Ella May Cure/Curea (1886 - 1970) and husband John Mowrey (dates unknown) Ella May Cure/Curea (1886 - 1970) [79], I worked in two and even three pictures at once. Clara Bow Birth Name: Clara Gordon Bow Occupation: Movie Actress Place Of Birth: Brooklyn Date Of Birth: July 29, 1905 Date Of Death: September 27, 1965 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: White Nationality: American Clara Bow was born on the 29th of July, 1905. You're terrible!' David Stenn captures her legendary rise to stardom and fall from grace, her success marred by studio exploitation and sexual scandals. She was interred in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Tui did complain about Creepy Roberts insatiable appetite in bed, but she put up with it. Clara Bow, (born July 29, 1905, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.died September 27, 1965, Los Angeles, California), American motion-picture actress called the "It" Girl after she played in It (1927), the popular silent-film version of Elinor Glyn 's novel of that name. 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. I was too young, or too little, or too fat. Clara was fascinated with the Trojan players, particularly captain and All-American quarterback Morley Drury. Hollywood saw Bow in much the same way she was the scruffy, lower-class kid whose behaviour jarred with the smart set and who had to work twice as hard as the others for her success. In addition to the risky pregnancy, a heat wave besieged New York in July 1905, and temperatures peaked around 100F (38C). "The Real Clara Bow", NY agent George Frank to Filmjournalen 26/1931. The Legacy Of Clara Bow, America's First Sex Symbol. David Selznick explained: [when] Bow was at her height in pictures we could make a story with her in it and gross a million and a half, where another actress would gross half a million in the same picture and with the same cast.Selznick[131], Bow left Hollywood for Rex Bell's ranch in Nevada, her "desert paradise", in June[132] and married him in then small-town Las Vegas in December. When Schulberg learned of this arrangement, he fired Jacobson for potentially getting "his big star" into a scandal. So I played her as a flirt. Clara's mother Sarah was not keen to marry but felt the pressure from her family. [53] Alton and Bow rented an apartment at The Hillview near Hollywood Boulevard. Bow came to personify the . What a fitting final curtain call for a performer who got her start in a national competition. As well see, it only got weirder from there. [91] Throughout the 1920s, Bow played with gender conventions and sexuality in her public image. Sarah was told by a doctor not to become pregnant again, because this time she might die as well. For all that she hated talkies, she made a cameo as the mystery voice in the 1947 radio show Truth or Consequences in their Mrs. Throughout her entire careerand particularly during her tragic endBow was incredibly emotionally fragile. Father: Robert Bow Mother: Sarah Bow Marital Status: Divorced Ex Spouse: Rex Bell (1931 - 1962) No. His last appearance was in The Misfits (1961). With her face bandaged up for the foreseeable future, Bow not only lost her close-ups in Painted Peopleshe lost the part entirely. Kevin Brownlows essential oral history of silent Hollywood, The Parades Gone By, doesnt even mention Bow, because none of his other interviewees gave her a namecheck (a fault rectified in his TV series Hollywood, in which Brooks ably discusses her career and her mistreatment at the hands of the studio system). Rex Bell (born George Francis Beldam; October 16, 1903 - July 4, 1962) was an American actor and politician. In the morning, Bow's mother had no recollection of the episode, and later she was committed to a "sanatarium" by Robert Bow. In February 1922, Clara Bow awoke to a horrifying sight: Her mother holding a butchers knife to her throat. Both were successful; Variety favored the latter. View The Obituary For Clara Bow George of Bowling Green, Virginia. Bow held out for $50 and Clifton agreed, but he could not say whether she would "fit the part". Instead, she suffered a deep disappointment. Yet the new talkie format still took a huge toll on the actress, In truth, Bow never liked talkies, calling them stiff and limiting and complaining that you lose your cuteness. She also never got comfortable with them. The starlet was suffering from deep and violent mental issues. Clara Bows biography could have been a fairy story but instead it is a cautionary tale. Usually I was too fat, she remembered. She made several talkies, in fact, starting with The Wild Party, a big success that was directed by her friend and champion Dorothy Arzner. However, the lovely Clara Bow certainly wasn't his last high-profile lover. With Bow's face now in bandages, the studio had no choice but to recast her part. She was renowned throughout the studio lots for her ability to cry on cue. Clara was different in more ways than one, but nothing was as unique as her rise to stardom. Clara Gordon Bow (/bo/; July 29, 1905 September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. As fellow actor Lina Basquette said: She wasnt well liked amongst other women in the film colony. Her birthplace is Brooklyn. Clara Bow, better known by the Family name Clara Gordon Bow, was a popular Actress, Model, Producer,. Old Hollywood Stars. When she watched them, she said, For the first time in my life I knew there was beauty in the world., Bow looked pert and cute, but dont be fooled: She could be as arrogant as any other starlet. She was born on July 29, 1905 to Robert and Sarah Bow in Prospect Heights, New York. She retired from acting in 1933, but two decades later her reputation received an extra blow with Singin in the Rain, which featured Lina Lamont, the talentless flapper with a Noo Yoik twang who cant hack it in the sound era. [16] "I was sick to my stomach", she recalled and thought her mother was right about the movie business. Clara Bow was an American film actress who shot to stardom in 1926, then burned out only a few years later. High-class Hollywood society considered her and her brassy ways dreadful because she refused to bow down to them or their old rules. My right arm was developed from pitching so much Once I hopped a ride on behind a big fire engine. Know her, Estimated Net Worth, Age, Biography Wikipedia Wiki Clara Bow was a Brooklyn girl through and through. One of her more understanding directors, Victor Fleming, compared her to a Stradivarius violin, saying Touch her, and she responded with genius. Take that. Clara Bow attended P.S. She settled down with her hunky Cowboy co-star Rex Bell, moving into his ranch outside of Hollywood and marrying him in December, 1931. I wish somebody could star Clara Bow. And they say love isnt real. ". In a purely-postage world, thats a lot of licked stamps. When the hapless victim is scared into speechlessness, she gurgles with naughty delight and tries another. [16], Bow attended P.S. [citation needed], Bow was her parents' third child, but her two older sisters, born in 1903 and 1904, had died in infancy. Bows father Robert was one unsavory dude. In 1931, as "Clara had become more than she was worth," (Stenn, 232) the actress and Paramount came to a mutual settlement to terminate her . Bow asked her father, but he told her not to worry. In the Cinderella based story It, the poor shop-girl Betty Lou Spence (Bow) conquers the heart of her employer Cyrus Waltham (Antonio Moreno). As a part of her beauty routine, she also put henna in her hair to give it extra depth and brightness. I was too young, or too little, or too fat. We want our readers to trust us. "[118] MGM executive Paul Bern said Bow was "the greatest emotional actress on the screen", "sentimental, simple, childish and sweet," and considered her "hard-boiled attitude" a "defense mechanism". When audiences first watched her in a talkie, they might have been shocked at what they heard: You see, Bow still had an intense Brooklyn accent. By the time the reclusive Clara Bow passed, almost no one remembered her. Miss Bow and Michael Cudahy, a witness, appear above." c.1926 Robert S. Savage, son of Duluth, Minnesota steel millionaire, was a football hero at Yale; he was known as a man who never lost his head at a crucial moment. For all that they were making stacks of money off of her, Bows studio executives and directors were incredibly demeaning of their star. Naturally, Bow wonbut then came the hard part. Perhaps most poignantly, Bow barely if ever talked about this incident; her biographer, David Stenn, unearthed evidence about the attack. Although doctors never definitively answered her issues, they believed she had schizophrenia and forced her into shock treatments. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. All the time the flapper is laughing and dancing, theres a feeling of tragedy underneath, she said once. The interview also revealed that Bow already was cast in Maytime and in great favor of Chinese cuisine. As she confessed, I was too young, or too little, or too fat. During her lifetime, Bow was the subject of wild rumors regarding her sex life, most of them were untrue. Rare oil portrait of silent screen legend Clara Bow, posing nude in 1929 for Hungarian artist Geza Kende. When Bow made her short-lived comeback in the 1933 drama Hoop-La, she really let it all hang out. [35] In the summer, she got a "tomboy" part in Grit, a story that dealt with juvenile crime and was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. RM EC80AK - Red Hair, 1928, with Clara Bow. Votes: 379. Bow appeared in eight releases in 1924, two were released the same day. Instead, she lived by herself in a small bungalow until her devastating end. Three children were born to his union - Diane, Tom, Randy - and they farmed, ranched, and milked cows on the family farm until moving to Rapid City, SD, in October 1960. "[61] Moore, a well-established star earning $1200 a weekBow got $200took offense and blocked the director from shooting close-ups of Bow. "[94] Bow was keen on poetry and music, but according to Rogers St. Johns, her attention span did not allow her to appreciate novels. Dolores Costello. let me know below. We just lived, that's about all. Ft. 6407 Buck Jones Ave #102, Las Vegas, NV 89122. But having "It" didn't . June 12, 1999 12 AM PT. It grew worse and worse. Nearby homes similar to 6465 Clara Bow Ave #101 have recently sold between $310K to $310K at an average of $210 per square foot. She has almost immediately been elected for all the recent flapper parts". Bow was born in a tenement in Brooklyn, New York, the . She knew what it meant to be a jazz baby and it wasnt always a party. The style was so popular that when women put on their lipstick that way, they often said they were putting their Clara Bow on. Her lovers included her current leading men, John Gilbert, Charles Farrell, Frederic March, Gilbert Roland, Eddie Cantor, and even Bela Lugosi, who kept a nude portrait of Bow after their affair ended. Clara's life is both inspiring and sada glimpse into a Hollywood sodden with sexism long before the enlightenment of the #MeToo movement. Clara Bow was a great actress. For a time, Bow tried to return to a normal life. She became socially withdrawn and, although she refused to socialize with her husband, she also refused to let him leave the house alone. As her director Frank Tuttle recalled, She could cry on demand, opening the floodgate of tears almost as soon as I asked her to weep. This, however, came with a dark side. 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