Jean Harlow, born under the name Harlean Carpenter in 1911, was not the only woman in the family who had dreams of being an actress. Her own mother was bitten by the acting bug and she divorced her husband, Jean’s father, to move to Hollywood. Young Jean accompanied her mother. However, instead of staying in Hollywood to pursue acting, Jean’s mother instead ended up marrying a new man and moving to Chicago. For some time Harlow was in Chicago with her mother, though this would not last long.
At sixteen, she left her mother to marry Charles McGrew, who was in his twenties and worked as a businessman. The couple moved back to the Hollywood area, and Harlow sought work in the movie industry. Before long she was receiving small parts. More and more roles came her way, and while her marriage to McGrew did not last, her acting career was set to skyrocket.
She can thank Howard Hughes for her launch to stardom. Hughes was impressed by the petite and good-looking Harlow and decided to cast her in the film Hell’s Angels. This movie would turn out as a great success, and Harlow even had one line in it that went into motion picture infamy: “Would you be shocked if I changed into something more comfortable?” Without a doubt, her looks and attitude helped her become a screen icon.
Her contract went to MGM and she appeared in 1931's flick Platinum Blonde and 1932's Red Dust. Her connections with MGM weren’t only on a professional level, as she also married a producer from the company named Paul Bern. Her marriage with him would end even worse than that with Charles McGrew. After only two months of being married, Bern committed suicide.
Despite the tragedy, Harlow continued on with her work. Because news of Bern’s death came while filming Red Dust, there was concern Harlow would be unable to finish the production. Tallulah Bankhead was offered as a replacement. But Harlow got through the production and was able to sit back and watch this movie turn out to be a big hit. Her star continued to rise and women everywhere tried to copy her looks to be more like their idol.
In 1933 she tried marriage again. This time it was to Harold Rosson, a cinematographer and it would last less than a year. It wasn’t until 1935 that she legally had her name changed to Jean Harlow, the moniker by which she was known so well. She met and fell in love with William Powell, who played Nick Charles in the Thin Man films. Some say that Powell was the love of her life and speculate that the two would have been married had she lived longer.
Sadly, her health declined. In 1937 Harlow was busy filming Saratoga, only to suffer from uremic poisoning and kidney failure, stemming back from a case of scarlet fever she had suffered years ago. She had been a sickly child and this was catching up with her.
Though she went to the hospital for treatment, it was too late. She passed away at the young age of twenty-six. Despite her short time in this world and her even shorter time as a star, we remember Jean Harlow as both a symbol and an actress, an icon and an idol. She is one of our most well-known performers. Her mother never did make it as a famous actress, but Harlow hit it big and remains in our thoughts.