The Death of Jean Harlow

Jean Harlow
1911 - 1937

"I've always hated my hair...I had to live up to that platinum personality."

By Darrell Rooney

Jean Harlow was the Premiere Hollywood Sex Symbol of the 1930's. She was the Marilyn Monroe of her day; as big as Madonna is today. Known as THE PLATINUM BLONDE or THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL, Harlow was famous for her unusually white shade of hair, her sexy braless body and her generally provocative manner.

She was born in Kansas City on March 3, 1911. Harlean Carpenter was her real name; an odd amalgam of her mother's first and last names, the real Jean Harlow. Her father was a dentist and a her mother was a strong willed woman who had dreams of Hollywood stardom. In 1924 she divorced her husband, packed up her daughter and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream. But Mother Jean was too old to begin a movie career and her attempts failed miserably. Rather than go home in shame she enrolled Harlean in Ferry Hall, a girls finishing School in Chicago, then met and married Marino Bello; a man of questionable financial means.

Young Harlean was blossoming into a startlingly attractive teenager. All of her friends at Ferry Hall told her she had 'natural allure' and consequently her confidence soared. She rushed into adulthood when she was just 16 by eloping with her first boyfriend, Charles McGrew 2. Harlean could easily pass for 18 or 19 because of her looks. While neither sides of the families opposed the union, they were disappointed that Harlean had not been more patient. Mother Jean, who was herself a very cultured woman, was pleased that Harlean had married into wealth.

Harlean and Chuck sailed through the Panama Canal on their honeymoon and settled in Beverly Hills on Linden Drive. Their life was a series of parties and amusements and Harlean grew restless with their lifestyle. The truth was that Chuck had a drinking problem and they were drifting apart. Harlean convinced her mother and stepfather to move to Los Angles and they did so to be near Harlean when the inevitable happened.

To relieve her boredom, Harlean took up a friend's bet that she didn't have the nerve to give her name at Central Casting. She gave her mothers name instead (as a nod to her mothers aspirations) and because of her looks, was called up immediately. She was intrigued with this new exciting world and wanted to learn as much as possible. Chuck on the other hand, saw Harlean slipping away and disapproved but it was too late. Divorce followed soon afterwards.

In 1930 the newly christened 'Jean Harlow' became internationally famous when Howard Hughes cast her as the female lead in his multi-million dollar war epic Hell's Angels Dubbed THE PLATINUM BLONDE by Hughes Publicity man Link Quarberg, she spent a year in cinematic purgatory, doing studio loan outs in thankless bad girl roles with Hughes pocketing 90% of her salary.

With the help of friend and MGM Studio executive Paul Bern, Harlow's contract was bought from Hughes in 1932 and Harlow joined MGM. This was the biggest, classiest studio in Hollywood and boasted that they had 'more stars than there are in heaven'.

Jean's career flourished at MGM where her talent for light sex-comedy was nurtured. Her first big hit was RED HEADED WOMAN, a scandalous comedy where the heroine does not pay for her flagrantly immoral sexual behavior in the final act. Censors and Women's groups all across the country were outraged but Harlow was now a major movie star. This was quickly followed by RED DUST where she was teamed with Clark Gable; together they were pure box office gold. They would be frequent co-stars for the rest of Harlow's brief life. Further Harlow hits were DINNER AT EIGHT, BOMBSHELL, CHINA SEAS and LIBELED LADY.

Paul Bern had proved himself to be Harlow's personal svengali and on July 2nd, 1932 they were married in her rented mansion at 1353 Club View Drive in Beverly Hills. The reception was held the next day at Paul Bern's Bavarian styled home on Easton Drive.

Everything looked like it was smooth sailing for Harlow; her meteoric ascension into the Hollywood Elite now seemed complete. But on Labor Day weekend Bern's naked, lifeless body was discovered on the dressing room floor of the Easton Drive home; a bullet in his brain (warning dead person). Harlow had spent the night with her Mother at the Club View Drive home.

Whether Paul Bern's death was murder or suicide has been the subject of endless debate. The coroner's inquest ruled it a suicide. But the truth is that the MGM top brass; Louis B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg, Sam Marx and Howard Strickling had arrived at the scene first and did not call the police in for at least 2 hours. The fact that Bern was naked in death fed endless lurid rumors as to the nature of the couple's most private relationship behind bedroom doors. It was the last thing a sex symbol needed.

It looked as if Harlow's career was over. With a real life tragedy in her hands surely she was as bad as the screen characters she portrayed. But when it was discovered 3 days later that Paul Bern had a common law wife named Dorothy Millette, sympathy turned towards Jean. And when Dorothy turned up a suicide, Harlow was seen as the innocent victim in an odd triangular love affair with deeply tragic consequences.

So Harlow survived the scandal and returned to MGM an even bigger star than before. For the next 5 years she made one hit after another for the studio, married and divorced again and fell in love with fellow actor William Powell. She set her sights on marriage though she publicly insisted they were just pals. But Powell had weathered a difficult marriage and divorce with another blonde beauty, Carole Lombard, and he was gun shy about marrying another actress.

1937 was a banner year for Harlow career-wise. She'd attended President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Birthday Ball in Washington. And her latest hit LIBELED LADY garnered a Best Picture nomination; with Harlow getting the best notices of her career as well. Personally she was miserable with her failing relationship with Powell. She suffered from impacted wisdom teeth and was in generally poor health all spring.

On May 29th Jean collapsed on the set of her current film SARATOGA starring opposite Clark Gable for the 6th time. Always a trouper, she had worked herself into a state of exhaustion. Harlow complained that she couldn't even lift her hand to remove her makeup as she prepared to go home. She returned home to 512 North Palm Drive in Beverly Hills and a doctor Fishbaugh was called in. Contrary to myth, even though Mother Jean had Christian Scientist leanings, she did not deny her daughter medical attention.

The diagnosis was initially considered a common flu but when Jean's health deteriorated suddenly it was reported as a gall bladder ailment. She was too weak to be moved to a hospital. For 5 days Mother Jean would let no one see Harlow, except for William Powell who thought she looked wan but not much more.

On Friday June 4th Mother Jean greeted the Press saying that Jean had passed the crisis in her illness, "I feel like the whole world has been lifted from my shoulders. This baby of mine is quite improved. Her doctor says she is out of danger."

But Jean didn't have a gall bladder ailment. She was actually suffering from a kidney disease which had gone unchecked for a decade. At a time when kidney dialysis did not exist, Harlow was simply doomed; ironic for a woman of only 26 who had always looked the picture of health.

After this brief lull, the kidney disease returned in full force, the poisons backed up into her system causing Jean to swell up like a balloon. She was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital near downtown Los Angeles but on Monday morning June 7th, 1937 Harlow slipped into a coma for the last time and passed away at 11:37am.

Harlow's death came as a shock to all of Hollywood. Since it had just been reported that she had passed any crisis, people were caught completely off guard. How could a 26 year old woman die so suddenly?

On Wednesday June 9th, Harlow's funeral was held at the Wee Kirk of the Heather Church in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. The MGM love-team of Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy sang Jean's favorite song "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life" though Miss MacDonald faltered and Nelson had to finish the song alone. The service was mobbed by hundreds of fans who stripped the flower wreaths bare as mementoes. The funeral was a media circus. Carole Lombard, who attended the service with future husband Clark Gable said to him, "Paw don't ever let them do this to me." Sadly, Gable would have to keep that promise much sooner than anyone could have anticipated. Within 5 years Lombard would be dead in an airplane accident.

Jean was later interred in a $25,000 dollar crypt in the Great Mausoleum; buried next to MGM boy wonder and executive genius Irving Thalberg. In 1958 Mother Jean died and was buried beside her daughter.

Jean Harlow left a niche in Hollywood as 'the sexy blonde comedienne'; a niche that many were compared to but no one ever filled until Marilyn Monroe burst onto the Hollywood scene in 1950. "Its Jean Harlow all over again" proclaimed the Press. Ironically, Harlow had been Monroe's favorite as a child and she tried to pattern herself after her idol. The greatest irony was an early death thereby cementing a belief in the Hollywood psyche that all blonde sex symbols are doomed to an early grave.

Thank you Darrell, and thank you to Lisa Burks.