In fact, before his day in the sun was over, Cooper gained himself an infamous reputation of becoming one of the industry's most ruthless womanizers. Letter from Louise Brooks to Kevin Brownlow, October 26, 1968. Bow was born in a tenement in Brooklyn, New York, the . Now Clara Bow is 114 years 6 months 28 days old. I was too young, or too little, or too fat. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from Life to Compact Cars and Trucks to A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius. Well get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics youre interested in. [91] Throughout the 1920s, Bow played with gender conventions and sexuality in her public image. In US census records, enumerated April 15, 1910, and January 7, 1920, Bow's age is stated 4 and 14 years, respectively. The unfamiliar soundstages and the more rigid, less natural performance style required by talkies, added to her burden. In the 1920s, studio systems ruled the roost, and actresses often rose or fell on the power of studio publicity sprees. The film proved to be a tremendous box office success that lent Clara Bow the nickname the "It" Girl. Usually I was too fat. Need I remind you that she was 16 years old at the time? "[135] Soon every studio in Hollywood (except Paramount) and even overseas wanted her services. [122] 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. AFI left her off their iconic 100 Years100 Stars list, and movie historian Kevin Brownlow completely omitted her from his silent film book The Parades Gone By. The diagnosis was disturbing. The tabloids started running infamously vicious stories about her, with outlandish claims of beastiality and other unsavory acts. 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. Eventually, Bows scraping and begging paid offsort of. But having "It" didn't . ". Her nerves were all shot, and Photoplay even reported sightings of bottles of sedatives by her bed in one long row. The director William Wellman described her as mad and crazy, but WHAT a personality!. I wanna play yours. Moores response was swift and brutal. A tabloid called, The lead character of Peppy Miller from the 2011 film, Bow inspired the name of the player character, Bow is the subject of the 1986 song "Clara Bow", by the cult independent pop group, "Clara Bow" is also the title of a song on alternative rock-band, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 06:03. For more on Clara Bow, I recommend the biography Runnin Wild, by David Stenn. [130] In April, Bow was taken to a sanatorium and, at her request, Paramount released her from her final undertaking: City Streets (1931). Votes: 379. Clara Bow was the screen's first sex symbol--cinema's "It" girl who exuded sex appeal, enticement and excitement. When she was trying to make it in movies, the petite and cute Bow said casting directors always turned her downfor one disturbing reason. But the worst was yet to come. 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. He eventually took up a full-time position on her film sets, where he roamed around drunkenly and tried to pick up actresses by telling them he was Clara Bows father. When she was just 16 years old, she entered the annual Fame and Fortune Brewster magazine contest, which pitted hopefuls against each other in a series of screen tests and promised film work in the winners future. Still, on second thought it might not be safe: Clara uses a dangerous pair of eyes. Born Clara Gordon BOW American actress Born on July 29, 1905 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA , United States Died on September 27, 1965 in Culver City, California, USA Born on July 29 33 Deceased on September 27 32 Family tree Report an error Bow Elijah 1792 - 1860 ? Need I say that Bela was hooked? This had devastating consequences. Profession: Actress Debut: Beyond the Rainbow. Clara Bow Education. Bow truly loved movies, but her adoration came from an incredibly dark place. If you ever felt even a little bad for Claras father, you should know one thing. What she desires to do she does. Her charm and energy made her the ultimate flapper but despite her success, Bow would forever be snubbed by the industrys in-crowd. 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[117] Bow fumed: "They yell at me to be dignified. 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. By 1944, the truth was unavoidable. So I played her as a flirt. [8][9][10] Her final film, Hoop-La, was released in 1933. They had 3 children. And it was into this dark existence that one of the world's favourite stars was born. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? If Clara Bow looks eerily familiar, maybe thats because shes one of the inspirations behind the iconic cartoon character Betty Boop. In actuality, Bow was very sharp, its just that her acting was more hands-on than cerebral. Thats right, followers like Edie Sedgwick and Sienna Miller have Clara Bow to thank. 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 increased her list of male lovers that included actors John Gilbert, Norman Kerry and Warren Burke. In "Hollywood, the Pioneers", (the Brownlow/Gill mini-series on silent movies), she mentioned Clara Bow as being one of the two "most utterly talented actors' she knew. $18.95 It is one of the ironies of movie stardom that the price it exacts is invariably demanded of those least able to. RM BJTTP8 - James Hall (1900-1940) and Clara Bow (1905-1965), American actors, 20th century. I'm sure her 'infinite variety' would keep her from wearying us no matter how many scenes she was in. In spite of this Clara was conceived in fall of 1904. A jaw-dropping Turner Classic Movies documentary, "Discovering the 'It' Girl" (debuting Monday at 8 p.m. EDT, 5 p.m. PDT), reveals that Bow was a generous and plucky gal, on-screen and off. Yet that wasnt the only tragedy. In 1927, she had the female lead role in "Wings," the first Oscar winning "Best Picture." With the advent of talkies, and despite her thick Brooklyn accent, Clara starred in several hit movies. The brassy Bow wasnt afraid to get into scuffles, either. She simply didnt have the attention span for long-form literature. She has a big heart, a remarkable brain, and the most utter contempt for the world in general. As she confessed, I was too young, or too little, or too fat. She landed a role in 1921s Beyond the Rainbow. Though she was her mothers third daughter, Sarah had lost her two eldest children when they were babies, and doctors begged her not to get pregnant again or have another child for fear that this infant would perish too. Bow was attracted to Lugosi when he was still doing the stage version of Dracula, and sauntered down to a performance one night wearing only her mink coat and bathing suit. She was named first box-office draw in 1928 and 1929 and second box-office draw in 1927 and 1930. Her love life was far more thrilling and varied than the films she made, and theres a reason why she negotiated not to have a morals clause in her Paramount contract. Who are we, after all, to say she is wrong? [53] Alton and Bow rented an apartment at The Hillview near Hollywood Boulevard. And that wasnt all. Except she was due for more humiliation. What a dame. Hollywood Legends. She became socially withdrawn and, although she refused to socialize with her husband, she also refused to let him leave the house alone. Down to the Sea in Ships, shot on location in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and produced by independent "The Whaling Film Corporation", documented life, love, and work in the whale-hunter community. Bow retired from acting in 1933. 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. Now thats how an Old Hollywood starlet does mean girl. That said, Bow tried to get her revenge. Not done yet, she began reaming him out for daring to control her private life, and finished by strutting her world-class stems out the door. Clara Bow was a Brooklyn girl through and through. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. To Bows eternal shame, the director cut down her scenes in the final edit of Beyond the Rainbow. Clara Bow was a Brooklyn girl through and through. [23], According to Bow's biographer, David Stenn, Bow was raped by her father at age sixteen while her mother was institutionalized. Her pains were considered delusional and she was diagnosed with schizophrenia;[144] however, she experienced neither auditory nor visual hallucinations. 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. Clara Bow Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Clara Gordon Bow (/bo/; July 29, 1905 - September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom in silent film during the 1920s. Adela Rogers St. Johns knew a great deal of actors during her long life. She hasn't any secrets from the world, she trusts everyone she is almost too good to be true (I) only wish some reformer who believes the screen contaminates all who associate with it could meet this child. She said she was horrified and hurt by the gesture. One of her playmates, a young boy named Johnny who lived in the same building as her family, caught fire in an accident. [16], Preferred Pictures loaned Bow to producers "for sums ranging from $1500 to $2000 a week"[80] while paying Bow a salary of $200 to $750 a week. Her mother, Sarah Frances Bow (ne Gordon, 1880-1923), was told by a doctor not to become pregnant again, for fear the next baby might die as well. The next morning, the older woman couldnt even remember the incident. Photoplay was displeased: "The college atmosphere is implausible and Clara Bow is not our idea of a college girl. A young child taking care of a parent is never a good thing, but then the situation took a truly bitter turn. And it made him very unhappy, for he worshipped her always. Moore was married to the film's producer and Bow's protests were futile. Find out where Clara Bow was born, their birthday and details about their professions, education, religion, family and other life details and facts. We just lived, that's about all. In 1931, when Bow came under tabloid scrutiny, Parsons defended her and stuck to her first opinion on Bow:[35]. Director: Elmer Clifton | Stars: Marguerite Courtot, Raymond McKee, William Walcott, Clara Bow. [95], Bow's bohemian lifestyle and "dreadful" manners were considered reminders of the Hollywood elite's uneasy position in high society. He was the youngest daughter of Robert and Sarah Box. Instead, she lived by herself in a small bungalow until her devastating end. This? Even when she has the opportunity to woo the audience by displaying her charms in a comedy such a Mantrap (How she vamps with her lamps, praised Variety), her inveterate flirting condemns her to an unhappy ending. "[113] Dorothy Parker is often said to have referred to Bow when she wrote, "It, hell; she had Those. 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. When Clara was born, New York was in the middle of a ravaging heat wave, with temperatures rising over a punishing 100 degrees. Claras Bows final public performance was not on the silver screen, but on the radio. Vogue described it as "a sort of circle of hell". "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. I'm a curiosity in Hollywood. Ft. 6407 Buck Jones Ave #102, Las Vegas, NV 89122. Clara Bow Sorrells of Slocomb passed away Sunday, November 12, 2017 at Flowers Hospital after a short illness. [17] She was later diagnosed with "psychosis due to epilepsy". She catapulted to fame after winning Motion Picture magazine's 1921 "Fame and Fortune" contest. 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. In order to cry on cue, Bow put herself through intense mental anguish. Clara Bow was born on 1905-07-29. She was renowned throughout the studio lots for her ability to cry on cue. Bow was her parents' third child, but her two older sisters, born in 1903 and 1904, had died in infancy. She signed a two-picture contract with Fox Film Corporation and admitted she had come back to Hollywood for the sole purpose of making enough money to be able to stay out of it. But the damage was already done. Clara Bow could be a devoted lover, only she sometimes showed her devotion in strange ways. Clara Bow enjoyed a swift rise in Hollywood but then, aged just 25, suffered an equally rapid fall Credit: Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images As the silent era made its jerking transition. Motion Picture Classic magazine wrote in June that "Clara Bow shows alarming symptoms of becoming the sensation of the year", and featured her on the cover. But that wasnt even the worst part. Her name is on the cast list among the other stars, usually tagged "Brewster magazine beauty contest winner" and sometimes even with a picture. Bow was an amazing looking woman - a Kewpie doll face, round, with huge, expressive eyes, a brilliant smile, and thick, luxurious hair. [48] On July 21, 1923, she befriended Louella Parsons, who interviewed her for The New York Morning Telegraph. As well see, it only got weirder from there. Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. Flickr 2. (Last Update in 2020) she born on 29 Jul 1905 in Brooklyn, New York, the United States, Her home city is Brooklyn, New York and Nationality American . [147] Her pallbearers were Harry Richman, Richard Arlen, Jack Oakie, Maxie Rosenbloom, Jack Dempsey, and Buddy Rogers. People called her birdbrain, while another executive named her as the easy winner of the dumbbell award and claimed she couldnt act. However, nothing could be further from the truth. She was born into abject poverty. [143], In 1949, she checked into The Institute of Living to be treated for her chronic insomnia and diffuse abdominal pains. Though it was DeVoe who was on trial, somehow Bow ended up with all the backlashespecially when Daisy revealed all of Claras worst secrets. Bows friends wondered what Tui was possibly getting out of the marriage. [29] The Bows and Bakers shared a housestill standingat 33 Prospect Place in 1920. But the studio thinks my voice is great."[122]. She is as refreshingly unaffected as if she had never faced a means to pretend. Painting - Print On Paper. Appropriately chastised, Brownlow included a whole segment on Bow in his next documentary, sparking renewed interest in the lovely, effervescent, and indescribable Clara Bow. It was shot on location at Pomona College in the summer of 1925, and released on December 15, but due to block booking, it was not shown in New York until July 21, 1926. Know her, Estimated Net Worth, Age, Biography Wikipedia Wiki After all, Bow was known for her huge eyes and her incredibly expressive face. In January 1929, Clara Bow received more than 45,000 letters in a single month. The contest earned Bow a trophy and a small film role, but no contract. Clara Bow was unwanted and unloved by her parents. Im a big freak, because Im myself!. Even at the height of her success, she was alone in Hollywood. Her name is on the cast list among the other stars, usually tagged "Brewster magazine beauty contest winner" and sometimes even with a picture[citation needed]. Perhaps most poignantly, Bow barely if ever talked about this incident; her biographer, David Stenn, unearthed evidence about the attack. She suffered seizures and psychosis from the ensuing head injury, and Bow grew up learning how to control her mother during these fits. She settled down with her hunky Cowboy co-star Rex Bell, moving into his ranch outside of Hollywood and marrying him in December, 1931. The Variety review said ". Birth Time Entry. Perhaps because of those misfortunes and the outsider status they brought, she can now be claimed as one of the sharpest commentators on show business, and the studio system. 1,468 Sq. Not so with Bow, who functioned on a personal contract with Schulberg. He wanted to contract her for a three-month trial, fare paid, and $50 a week. Nearby Recently Sold Homes. "[68], By New Year 1924 Bow had defied the possessive Maxine Alton[citation needed] and brought her father to Hollywood. You lose a lot of your cuteness, because there's no chance for action, and action is the most important thing to me. Of course she was, have you seen the girl? Clara made three pictures that will never be surpassed: Dancing Mothers, Mantrap, and It. As it turned out, the director actually wanted a young tomboy type for the part, and Bows disguise worked a little too well. Never that emotionally stable, the stressors of talkies pushed her over the limit. It was her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film "It" that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Sadly, while the movie contract took Bow out of Brooklyn, where she had spent her abusive and impoverished childhood, her new home had dangers of its own. Reportedly, all she had to do was listen to the lullaby Rock-a-Bye Baby to turn the faucet on. 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. In 1927, Bow gained eternal fame when she starred in the flapper flick It. At the time, It Girl was a brand-new term, and Bow was the first to become permanently associated with it when she played the brash title character. [24][25][26] On January 5, 1923, Sarah died at the age of 43 from her epilepsy. 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. RM EC7YYR - Clara Bow, the IT Girl, epitome of razz-ma-tazz, everybody's dreamboat from 1925 to 1930. On July 29, 1905, Sarah gave birth to a third daughter, who was miraculously born alive. Bow agreed to the script, but eventually rejected the offer since Irving Thalberg required her to sign a long-term contract. Sarah Bow was the mother of famed, Old Hollywood "It Girl" Clara Bow and the wife of Robert Bow. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. We lay in each other's arms and cried and tried to keep warm. 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 . Im a big freak, because Im myself! said Clara Bow. In the Cinderella based story It, the poor shop-girl Betty Lou Spence (Bow) conquers the heart of her employer Cyrus Waltham (Antonio Moreno). In 1925, Clara started a scandalous sensation. When Bow was 16 and alone, Robert attacked her in the bedroom. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. But while Bows issues came naturally, Sarahs were born of cruel twist of fate. My right arm was quite famous. 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. Hollywood's first sex symbol, the 'It' girl, Clara Bow was born in the slums of Brooklyn in a family plagued with alcoholism and insanity. I have to do the best I can," she said. Even more scandalously, the OG vampire hung it over his bed for the rest of his life, including through his next two marriages. "He knew it. Clara had 10 siblings: William Robert Bow, Verna Julia Kauhn (born Bow) and 8 other siblings. 9, and P.S. For a time, Bow tried to return to a normal life. John Gilbert was the other. After the release of Down the Sea in Ships, Bow became an absolute sensationbut that fame came with a high price. Clara Bow Career. Alice Joyce starred as her dancing mother, with Conway Tearle as "bad-boy" Naughton. Thatll scar you for lifeand it did. Bows response? 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." With Paramount on Parade, True to the Navy, Love Among the Millionaires, and Her Wedding Night, Bow was second at the box-office only to Joan Crawford in 1930. 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. [1] Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties[2] and is described as its leading sex symbol. "[94] Bow was keen on poetry and music, but according to Rogers St. Johns, her attention span did not allow her to appreciate novels. And the reason Weeks cited for the split? Sarah didnt listenand the conditions of Claras birth couldnt have been worse. In his book "Seductive Cinema" (1994: Knopf . "I can't do it." Her maid called Bow's fianc, the cowboy film star Rex Bell, who came over, and realizing the seriousness of the situation, drove Bow to a hospital where doctors determined the actress was suffering from "shattered nerves . View The Obituary For Clara Bow George of Bowling Green, Virginia. Uploaded. The New York Times 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",[57] while the Los Angeles Times commented that "Clara Bow, the prize vulgarian of the lot was amusing and spirited but didn't belong in the picture",[58] and Variety said that "the horrid little flapper is adorably played".