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Harlean Harlow Carpenter (March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s who was known by the stage name of Jean Harlow. She was also known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde". Harlow's enormous popularity and "laughing vamp" image were in distinct contrast to her personal life, which was marred by disappointment, tragedy, and ultimately her sudden death at age 26.
Her mother, Jean, is referred to as Mother Jean. Mother Jean had high hopes and dreams of being an actress. She moved from Kansas City, Missouri to Hollywood with her daughter, Harlean (the one we know as Jean Harlow) to obtain a film career for herself. Mother Jean's dream of stardom did not come true; she was too old at age 34 to begin a film career in an era when major roles were usually assigned to teenage girls. Facing dwindling finances, the pair returned to Kansas City within two years after Skip Harlow (Mother Jean's husband; Harlean's father) issued an ultimatum: either they returned or he would disinherit his wife.
In school, freshmen were paired with a "big sister" from the senior class, and Harlean's big sister introduced her to Charles "Chuck" McGrew, heir to a large fortune, in the fall of 1926. Sixteen-year-old Harlean and twenty-year-old McGrew eloped on September 21, 1927. McGrew turned 21 two months after the marriage and received part of his large inheritance. The couple moved to Los Angeles in 1928, settling into a home in Beverly Hills where Harlean thrived as a wealthy socialite.
In Los Angeles, Harlean befriended Rosalie Roy, a young aspiring actress. Lacking a car, Roy asked Harlean to drive her to Fox Studios for an appointment. It was there that Harlean was noticed by Fox executives while sitting in the car waiting for her friend. Harlean was approached by the executives, but stated that she was not interested. She was given dictated letters of introduction to Central Casting. Recounting this story a few days later, Rosalie Roy made a wager with Harlean that she did not have the nerve to go back and audition for roles. Unwilling to lose a wager and pressed by her enthusiastic mother, Harlean drove to Central Casting and signed in under her mother's maiden name, Jean Harlow.
After several calls from Central Casting, who had called for "Miss Harlow", and a number of rejected job offers, Harlean was pressured by her mother, now relocated to Los Angeles, into accepting work. Harlow then appeared in her first film, Honor Bound, as an unbilled extra for $7 a day. This led to bit parts in silent films. In December 1928, she signed a five-year contract with Hal Roach Studios for $100 per week. She had more substantial roles in Laurel and Hardy's short Double Whoopee, and appeared in two other films alongside the double act. In March 1929, however, she parted with Roach, who tore up her contract after Harlow told him, "It's breaking up my marriage; what can I do?" In June 1929, Harlow separated from her husband.
After her separation, Harlow worked as extra in several movies, including The Love Parade (1929), followed by small roles in This Thing Called Love and The Saturday Night Kid (1929), a Clara Bow movie. While filming Weak But Willing (1929) she was spotted by James Hall, an actor re-shooting a Howard Hughes film called Hell's Angels from silent into sound. Harlow made a test and got the part. Hughes signed Harlow to a five-year, $100 per week contract on October 24, 1929. Hell's Angels premiered in Hollywood on May 27, 1930 at Grauman's Chinese Theater.
In Red Dust (1932), her second film with Clark Gable, Harlow became a superstar at MGM. She was given superior movie roles to show off not only her beauty but also what turned out to be a genuine comedic talent. In 1932, she had the starring role in Red-Headed Woman, for which she received $1,250 a week These films showed her to be much more at ease in front of the camera and highlighted her skill as a comedienne. Harlow and Gable worked well together and co-starred in a total of six films. She was also paired multiple times with Spencer Tracy.
Her second marriage ended in the shooting death of her husband. Following the end of her third marriage in 1934, Harlow met William Powell, another MGM star, and quickly fell in love. Reportedly, the couple were engaged for two years, but differences kept them from formalizing their relationship (she wanted children; he did not).
On the set of a film she was shooting with Powell she complained of not feeling well and was taken home ill. She got progressively worse until she fell into a coma and was hospitalized. 26-year-old Jean Harlow died on Monday June 7, 1937 at 11:37 am. In the doctor's press releases, the reason of death was given as cerebral edema, which is a side effect of renal or kidney failure. It is believed this may have been brought on by her struggle with scarlet fever as a young woman.
She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California in the Great Mausoleum in a private room which William Powell bought for $25,000. She was buried in the gown she wore in Libeled Lady, and in her hands she held a white gardenia and a note in which Powell had written: ”Goodnight, my dearest darling.” There is a simple inscription on Harlow's grave, "Our Baby".
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