Jean Harlow

Jean Harlow, captured here in publicity for DINNER AT EIGHT (1933). She was born Harlean Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 3, 1911. In 1927, at the age of 16, she ran away from home to marry a young businessman named Charles McGrew, who was 23. The couple pulled up stakes and moved to Los Angeles, not long after they were married, and it was there Harlow found work as an extra in films, landing a bit part in “Moran of the Marines” (1928). Her big break came in 1930, when she landed a role in Howard Hughes' World War I epic “Hell's Angels” (1930), which turned out to be a smash hit. Her appearance the following year in "Platinum Blonde" (1931) cemented her role as America's new sex symbol. In 1932 Hughes sold her contract to MGM for $60,000, and it was there where her career shot to unprecedented heights, starring in a string of hits, including "Red-Headed Woman" (1932), "Red Dust" (1932), "Dinner at Eight" (1933), "Reckless" (1935) and "Suzy" (1936). Often nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde", Harlow was popular for her "Laughing Vamp" movie persona. Her popularity rivaled and soon surpassed that of MGM colleagues Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. It was her films with Clark Gable that created her lasting legacy in the film world. Unfortunately, during the filming of “Saratoga” (1937), she was hospitalized with uremic poisoning. On June 7, 1937, she sadly passed away from the ailment, aged only 26. The studio was able to complete the film by using body doubles, and it was released a little over a month after Harlow's death. Record numbers of fans poured into America's movie theatres to see the film. Other sex symbols / blonde bombshells have followed, but Jean Harlow forever remains the original platinum blonde.

(www.hollywoodpinups.com)