Clara Bow

Updated February 2003

"The more I see of men, the more I like dogs."

Clara Bow – what a slut. I don’t know if its true and no doubt some panty sniffer will write me and say I’m full of it, but Clara supposedly once took on the entire USC football (one being a young John Wayne aka Marion Morrison (big fairy)) team in her house, and gave them VD. In fairness to her, Clara had a shitty childhood – ridiculously abusive parents, i.e. her mom tried to kill her several times, and was eventually institutionalized. Sometimes things like that come back. You can read all about her here.

She was a big hit in silent pictures, but when the talkies happened, people heard what she really sounded like (thick, uneducated, Brooklyn accent), and well, that pretty much finished her career. In the 50’s, long after her career had ended, Clara used to watch her old films in the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax. Big murder story there, do a search. It’s interesting.


She was married to cowboy actor and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, Rex Bell, who preceded her in death, in July of 1962. She made her first public appearance in 15 years, to attend his funeral.  Clara moved back to California after that, and lived out her last days in a modest Culver City home.  Here's a closer view.

Apparently she had been ill for many years, and was being treated in a rest home for insomnia. In 1965 she was watching an old big dick Gary Cooper (one of her MANY ex's) film on television late in the night of September 27, 1965, when her heart stopped beating.

Clara is buried with her husband, in the Freedom Mausoleum of Forest Lawn, Glendale.  For her funeral, she supposedly left instructions for her to be made up as she appeared in her favorite film, Call Her Savage.

Clara left pretty much everything to her two sons. Her possessions at the time of her death included 6 cans of motion picture film, loads of jewelry, and a few gold coins.

Trivia: One of her many conquests once said that Clara had kissed him so passionately, that his lips bled for days.

I need to thank my late buddy Denis Svoboda for the help with this story. Rest in peace, my friend.

UPDATE February 2003, from Findadeath friend Jeff Ford:

Hello,
 
Contrary to what you imply, Clara Bow never did gang
bang the USC football team (an old tabloid story that
will never die, despite being dis proven again and
again), nor did she give anybody VD, despite the fact
that she did sleep with every other man she came
across. Nor did her career fail due to talking
pictures; in retrospect, she has one of the best track
records for silent stars who made the transition (11
pictures in the course of 4 years), and when she
finally quit in 1933 it was due to her own
dissatisfaction, not her box-office drawing power,
since her last two pictures were among her most
financially successful.  And when she died, she left
her sons in addition to the items you mentioned,
trust funds in excess of several million dollars.
Sorry to be one of those panty sniffers saying you're
full of it, but I had to!
 
Nice site, and thanks for listening.
 
Jeff Ford

Thanks for a different point of view, Jeff.