JEAN HARLOW BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Jean Harlow was born on March 3rd, 1911 with the birth name Harlean Harlow Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri.  Her father, Mont Clair Carpenter was a dentist and her mother Jean Poe Carpenter came from a wealthy family.

As a child, Harlow attended school at Miss Barstow's Finishing School for Girls.  Her mother was her best friend, but also very controlling, however they remained very close.  Jean was very unhappy in her marriage to Harlow's father and so she finally decided it was time to file for divorce.  The divorce was finalized on September 29, 1922 and she gained full custody of Harlow.       

In 1923 Harlow and her mother moved to Los Angeles so Harlow's mother Jean could to try and pursue a career in acting.  Harlow went to school at the Hollywood School for Girls and while she was meeting some of Hollywood's future stars her mother at the age of thirty four was trying to work as an actress.  When she was told she was too old to pursue this type of career she was highly disappointed.  Financially struggling, Harlow and her mother returned to Kansas City.

They then moved again to Lake Forest, Illinois where Harlow attended Ferry Hall School.  It was here her mother started dating, Marino Bello and they soon married.  As a child, Harlow was constantly sick.  At the young age of five she contracted meningitis and at fifteen she became ill with scarlet fever. 

After her mom married she left home at just sixteen to marry a twenty three year old man. Charles McGrew.  Together, the couple relocated to Beverly Hills, California.  Harlow had always dreamed of being a wife and a mother and  really had no interest in pursuing a career as an actress, even though she knew that is what would make her mother proud. 

While living in Los Angeles, Harlow became friends with Rosalie Roy another aspiring actress.  Harlow would drive Roy to Fox Studios for her appointments and that was when executives from Fox noticed Harlow in her car waiting for Roy to finish.  She was asked to come in for a screen test, but refused.

However, when losing a wager with Roy, Harlow agreed to sign in at Central Casting, a management company.  She was called numerous times to take extra jobs, but kept turning them down.  When Harlow's mother Jean, relocated to Los Angeles, Harlow felt the pressure from her mother to pursue a career as an actress.

Harlow first worked as an extra in the film, "Honor Bound" (1928) starring Frank Mayo, Edward Coxen and Dagmar Godowsky.  Harlow was able to audition and receive her first small non extra role in, "Why is a Plumber?" (1927) followed by "Moran of the Marines" (1928) starring Richard Dix, Ruth Elder and Roscoe Karns.  Following this film, Hal Roach Studios signed her to a five year contract.  In 1929, two years after her first role in Hollywood, she ended up divorcing her husband.  It was at this time too that she left her contract with Hal Roach Studios.   

When movie producer and director, Howard Hughes took an interest in Harlow, he cast her in, "Hell's Angels" (1930) co-starring Ben Lyon and James Hall and it was this role that made her become known as America's new sex symbol.  She was also known as the "Platinum Blonde" and the "Blonde Bombshell" due to her striking hair color.

She moved on to even more film roles such as the Frank Capra directed, "Platinum Blonde" (1931) starring with Loretta Young and "Beau Hunks" (1931) starring Laurel and Hardy.  James Cagney starred with Jean in the 1931 "The Public Enemy" gangster film which was selected in 1998 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." 

Harlow also worked on numerous films with Clark Gable some of which were, "Red Dust" (1932) and also starring Mary Astor and Gene Raymond and "Wife vs. Secretary" (1936) starring alongside Myrna Loy, James Stewart and May Robson.  She also met husband number two while filming, "Red Dust", producer Paul Bern.

On her twenty first birthday, Jean Harlow was told that MGM had bought out her contract from Hughes for $30,000.  She was becoming a major star working under contract with MGM.

Her film career was at an all time high with another well known role on, "Dinner at Eight" (1933) starring with Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Billie Burke, John Barrymore, Jean Hersholt and Edmund Lowe, known as one of her best comedy roles.  Harlow also did a parody film that was actually based and centered around her real ife experiences of having a controlling mother in her role on, "Bombshell" (1933) with an allstar cast consisting of Lee Tracy, Pat O'Brien, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone, Una Merkel, Louise Beavers and C. Aubrey Smith.  Her husband, Bern committed suicide soon after their marriage and therefore in 1933, Harlow proceeded to marry for a third time to, Harold Rosson, a dinematographer.  This union only lasted eight months and again she was divorced.  It was during the mid 30's, Harlow actually also chose to legally change her name to Jean Harlow. 

Harlow soon met a man that she fell deeply in love with, Carole Lombard's ex husband, William Powell.  The couple dated for two years, but never married.  In 1937, Harlow's childhood illnesses that she had suffered were begining to take a toll on her.  While filming, "Saratoga" (1937) starring Walter Pidgeon, Lionel Barrymore, Una Merkel, Clark Gable (in their sixth and final film together), Frank Morgan, George Zucco, Frankie Darro, Margaret Hamilton and Hattie McDaniel. Harlow became very ill with uremic poisoning and kidney failure.  She was scheduled to undergo dialysis and a kidney transplant when she sadly passed away on, June 7th, 1937 at the young age of twenty six.  

Jean Harlow was buried in the mausoleum, in Forest Lawn Glendale, in Los Angeles.  Even though Harlow's acting career was only ten years, it is said that had she lived longer she would have maintained her Hollywood success.  However, she did earn a name for herself and established herself as one of the most captivating actresses of all times in Hollywood making a total of thirty six films during her highly successful career.  

Jean Harlow was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the Moving Picture Industry.
 
 
Filmography
 
1937  Personal Property
1937  Saratoga
1937  The Candid Camera Story 
1936  Riffraff
1936  Wife vs. Secretary
1936  Suzy
1936  Libeled Lady
1935  Reckless
1935  China Seas
1934  The Girl from Missouri
1933  Hold Your Man
1933  Dinner at Eight
1933  Bombshell
1933  Hollywood on Parade
1932  Three Wise Girls
1932  The Beast of the City
1932  Red-Headed Woman
1932  Red Dust
1932  Screen Snapshots
1931  City Lights
1931  The Secret Six
1931  The Public Enemy
1931  Iron Man
1931  Goldie
1931  Platinum Blonde
1931  Beau Hunks 
1930  Hell's Angels
1929  New York Nights
1929  This Thing Called Love
1929  Fugitives 
1929  Why Be Good? 
1929  Close Harmony 
1929  The Saturday Night Kid
1929  The Love Parade
1929  Weak But Willing
1929  Liberty
1929  Why Is a Plumber? 
1929  The Unkissed Man
1929  Double Whoopee
1929  Thundering Toupees 
1929  Bacon Grabbers
1929  Weak But Willing  
1928  Honor Bound 
1928  Chasing Husbands
1928  Moran of the Marines