March 3, 2011. Copyright 2011, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Remembering Jean Harlow 100 years on
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, March 3, Graphic News:  She was the original platinum blonde, who made movie gold. Fans of old Hollywood will recall Jean Harlow's bombshell looks and warm personality as they celebrate the centenary of her birth on March 3.

Sadly, Harlow -- she was the idol of Hollywood's other blonde screen goddess, Marilyn Monroe -- died at just 26. Her tragic early death has tended to overshadow the achievements of an actress who, like Monroe, combined sizzling sex appeal with a childlike vulnerability.

Born Harlean Carpenter in Kansas City in 1911, Jean Harlow was the daughter of the ultimate showbiz mother (also Jean) who left her dentist husband to pursue her own acting ambitions and -- when that didn't work -- to foist her daughter on the studios. In Hollywood lore, "Mama Jean", as she was later known, is as notorious for her domineering ways as her daughter is famous for her platinum hair.

Growing up with her mother and stepfather Marino Bello in Chicago, Harlow suffered meningitis and scarlet fever as a child. Her dream of domestic bliss probably led to her first marriage at 16 but that union foundered as her work as an extra began to get her noticed. At just 5ft 2ins with ivory skin and white hair (she claimed never to have dyed it), Harlow was a diminutive but luminous screen sexpot.

Her breakthrough came in 1930 in Howard Hughes' Hells Angels, and other Hughes movies included Public Enemy and Platinum Blonde before Harlow moved to MGM after meeting movie mogul Paul Bern. His apparent suicide within months of marriage to Harlow led to lasting speculation he had killed himself because he was impotent.

Harlow's third marriage also failed but on-screen partnerships with legends including James Cagney and Spencer Tracey made her one of the best-loved stars in Hollywood's hall of fame. She is probably best remembered for her wise-cracking rapport with Clark Gable and sharp comedic timing in films such as Red Dust and Saratoga. 

It was during the making of Saratoga that her fragile health began to deteriorate and she never recovered. Harlow, known to her loved ones as "Baby", died on June 7, 1937 of renal failure. Like Monroe, speculation still surrounds her death, with reports that Christian Scientist Mama Jean denied her life-saving medical treatment.

Whatever the truth, Harlow was a gifted actress who notched up several classics in her 10-year career. They include Bombshell, the story of a hardworking film star who struggles to find happiness away from a greedy, domineering family that lives off her success.
/ENDS