Police were called to a Beverly Hills home to find the body of Paul Bern, a prominent MGM producer who had been married to actress Jean Harlow for only a few months. Initial suspicion fell on Harlow herself, with authorities investigating whether the young star had killed her husband. Those accusations were eventually dropped, and the case was ruled a suicide, but the tragedy marked a turning point in one of Hollywood’s most unusual paths to stardom. Harlow’s journey to superstardom was unlike that of most actresses of her era.
She did not need the money. Before she ever became famous, she was already wealthy. Born Harlean Harlow Carpenter on March 3, 1911, she was the daughter of a Kansas City dentist. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised largely by her mother, Jean Poe Harlow, who was herself still a teenager when she married.
By her mid-teens, Harlow had caught the attention of Charles Fremont McGrew III, the heir to a substantial family fortune. The couple married in 1927, when Harlow was just 16. McGrew was about to inherit his share of the family wealth, and the newlyweds moved to Beverly Hills, where they lived the life of wealthy socialites. Harlow would never need to work, but her life took an unexpected turn when a friend dared her to audition for a movie role.
Not wanting to use her real name, she signed up using her mother’s maiden name, Harlow. She began appearing as an extra and soon received offers for more substantial parts. Her mother, who had remarried and moved to Los Angeles, encouraged her daughter’s budding career. Her husband did not.
The marriage quickly fell apart, and Harlow continued working in films. In 1929, she landed her first speaking role in The Saturday Night Kid. That same year, she came to the attention of millionaire filmmaker Howard Hughes. Hughes was in the middle of production on Hell’s Angels and had a problem: his leading lady had a thick Norwegian accent that would not work for a talkie.
He gave Harlow a screen test and hired her as a replacement. The film’s premiere was a major event, and Hughes received widespread praise for the aerial sequences. Harlow’s acting, however, was widely criticized. One critic noted that whenever she was on screen, the picture became mediocre.
Another critic offered a different view, writing that it didn’t matter whether she could act, because nobody ever starved possessing what she had. Hughes began lending Harlow out to other studios in 1931. She appeared in The Secret Six, The Iron Man, and The Public Enemy, all of which performed well commercially. It was on The Secret Six that she first worked with Clark Gable, a relatively unknown actor at the time.
The two would go on to become close friends and frequent co-stars. Harlow’s personal life at this time drew attention as well. She dated Abner Zwillman, a real figure in organized crime whose interests included bootlegging. Zwillman courted her with expensive gifts, including a jeweled bracelet and a red Cadillac.
He also helped her career by providing a large loan to the head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn, which secured Harlow a two-picture contract. The relationship soured after authorities recorded Zwillman making derogatory comments about her. Around this time, Harlow’s platinum blonde hair became one of Hollywood’s defining images. She denied bleaching it, though she did.
The nickname “Platinum Blonde” stuck, and she received her first starring role and top billing in Three Wise Girls. Even then, critics were not kind. A Variety review noted that while she could act like a good girl on screen, her physical presentation made it difficult for audiences to accept her in that kind of role. Harlow was ready to lean into the persona the public wanted.
When she was on loan to MGM, she met producer Paul Bern. Bern wanted her for an MGM production called The Beast of the City. After that film wrapped, he arranged for her to go on an East Coast promotional tour. It was so successful that what was planned as a 10-week tour was extended to 16 weeks.
Bern had developed romantic feelings for Harlow, and he believed in her acting ability in a way that many others did not. Bern wanted to move Harlow to MGM permanently, but studio head Louis B. Mayer resisted. Mayer considered Harlow too rough around the edges compared to MGM’s elegant leading ladies.
Bern eventually convinced Irving Thalberg, Mayer’s second-in-command, to sign her, and Harlow joined MGM on her 21st birthday. MGM’s first move was to change her look. Despite her famous platinum hair, the studio put her in a wig and cast her in Red-Headed Woman. The film was a major success, with some suggesting it was the first time Harlow actually acted.
Censors objected to several scenes, and 17 cuts were made, but audiences still complained about the film’s morals. MGM continued pairing Harlow with Clark Gable. Their next film together was Red Dust, and a few months before production began, Harlow married Paul Bern. While she was on set, she received the news that Bern had been found dead in their home.
Police initially suspected her of involvement, but they eventually ruled the death a suicide. She took just 10 days off from production before returning to the set, where cast and crew showed respect for her loss by having her costumes feature higher necklines. One of the people she found comfort in was professional boxer Max Baer, who was married at the time. Baer’s wife, actress Dorothy Dunbar, later named Harlow as the cause of their divorce.
Harlow became pregnant with Baer’s child and decided to end the pregnancy. MGM had seen enough. The studio decided to clean up Harlow’s image, whether she liked it or not. Their solution was to find her a husband.
They chose Harold Rosson, the cinematographer from Red Dust. The two were friends, but the marriage was almost certainly not a love match. They were wed on September 17, 1933. Harlow was paired with Gable again in Hold Your Man, which brought MGM a 400 percent profit.
She was now one of the studio’s most valuable figures, and MGM wanted to know if she could carry a film without a major male co-star. After appearing in the ensemble film Dinner at 8, she took on the lead in Bombshell, a satirical take on the life of actress Clara Bow. Harlow received strong reviews. Her next project, originally titled Born to Be Kissed, was renamed The Girl from Missouri when the Hays Code, the industry’s new censorship rules, took effect.
Despite the restrictions, Harlow remained a box office draw, and even the Depression did not keep audiences away. Her marriage of convenience did not last. She became involved with actor William Powell, and MGM again interfered. When the studio saw how much attention the relationship was generating, they removed Joan Crawford from the 1935 film Reckless and gave the role to Harlow, placing her opposite Powell.
But Harlow did not want the part. The plot closely mirrored the tragedy she had lived through when her husband took his own life. Powell convinced her to take the role anyway, to avoid conflict with MGM. Harlow and Powell performed well together on screen, but their private relationship stalled.
They announced an engagement, which seemed to drag on indefinitely. At some point, Harlow became pregnant, and Powell refused to marry her. The studio again arranged for a termination. In March 1937, Harlow was due to begin work on Saratoga with Clark Gable, but she developed sepsis after having her wisdom teeth removed.
When she returned to set, she told the studio she felt unwell. Her complaints were dismissed, and filming continued. When her condition worsened, she asked Powell for help. He took her home and called a doctor, who at first believed she had an inflamed gallbladder.
A third opinion revealed the real problem: kidney failure. Harlow was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where she fell into a coma and died the following day. She was 26 years old. MGM first attempted to replace her in Saratoga, but public outcry forced them to reconsider.
Realizing how eager audiences were to see her final performance, the studio finished the film using three different doubles and released it just months after her death. It became Harlow’s most successful film and the highest-grossing picture of the year.