Clara Bow

Clara Gordon Bow
1905 - 1965
American born Brooklyn, New York

Nickname The "It" Girl . Height 5' 3½" (1.61 m) . Clara Gordon Bow, destined to become THE flapper of the 1920's, was born and raised in poverty in Brooklyn, New York, on July 29, 1905. Her family was also beset with violence. Her mother tried to slit Clara's throat when she attempted to enter the film industry. She won a photo beauty contest which launched her movie career that would eventually number 58 films, from 1922 to 1933. It was the movie It (1927), which was to define her career. The film starred Clara as a shop girl who was asked out by the store's owner. As you watch the silent film you can see the excitement as she prepared for her date with the boss, her girlfriend trying hard to assist her. She was trying to use a pair of scissors to modify her dress in order to look more "sexy". This movie did a lot to change society's mores as there was only a few years between World War I and Clara Bow, but this movie went a long way in how society looked at itself. Clara was flaming youth in rebellion. In the film she was presenting a worldly wisdom that somehow sex meant having a good time. But you shouldn't be misled by the film, because she was still close to Lillian Gish in that when her boss tries to kiss her goodnight, she slaps him. Yes, she, too, was a good girl and a first cousin of Trueheart Susie. At the height of her popularity she received over 45,000 fan letters a month. She, too, was probably the most overworked and underpaid star in the industry. With the coming of sound, which did lend itself to her thick Brooklyn accent, her popularity waned. Clara was also involved in several court battles ranging from unpaid taxes to being in divorce court for "stealing" women's husbands. After the court trials, she made a couple of attempts to get back in the public eye. One was Call Her Savage (1932) in 1932. It was somewhat of a failure at the box office and her last was in 1933 in a film called Hoop-La (1933). She, then, married cowboy star, Rex Bell and retired from the film world at the age of 26. She was a doting mother of her two sons and would do anything to please them. Haunted by a weight problem, and a mental imbalance, she never entered show business again. Clara was confined to a sanitarium from time to time and was not allowed access to her loving sons she adored very much. She died of a heart attack in West Los Angeles, on September 26, 1965. She was 60 years old. Today she is finding a renaissance among movie buffs, who are recently discovering the virtues of silent film. The actress who wanted so much to be like the wonderful young lady in It (1927) has the legacy of her films to confirm what a wonderful lady she really was. She, too, was America's first sex symbol. Spouse Rex Bell (3 December 1931 - 4 July 1962) (his death).

Hoop-La (1933) , Call Her Savage (1932) , Kick In (1931) , No Limit (1931) , Her Wedding Night (1930) , Love Among the Millionaires (1930) , True to the Navy (1930) , The Saturday Night Kid (1929) , Dangerous Curves (1929) , The Wild Party (1929) , Three Weekends (1928) , The Fleet's In (1928) , Ladies of the Mob (1928) , Red Hair (1928) , Get Your Man (1927) , Hula (1927) , Wings (1927) , Rough House Rosie (1927) , Children of Divorce (1927) , It (1927) , Kid Boots (1926) , Mantrap (1926) , The Runaway (1926) , Fascinating Youth (1926) , Dancing Mothers (1926) , Two Can Play (1926) , Shadow of the Law (1926) , Dance Madness (1926) ,My Lady of Whims (1925) , The Ancient Mariner (1925) , The Plastic Age (1925) , The Best Bad Man (1925) , Free to Love (1925) , The Primrose Path (1925) , The Keeper of the Bees (1925) ,Kiss Me Again (1925) , Parisian Love (1925) , My Lady's Lips (1925) , The Scarlet West (1925) , The Lawful Cheater (1925) , Eve's Lover (1925) , The Adventurous Sex (1925) , Capital Punishment (1925) , Black Lightning (1924) , This Woman (1924) , Helen's Babies (1924) , Empty Hearts (1924) , Wine (1924) , Daughters of Pleasure (1924) , Poisoned Paradise (1924) , Grit (1924) , Black Oxen (1923) , Naytime (1923) , The Daring Years (1923) , Enemies of Women (1923) , Down to the Sea in Ships (1922) , Beyond the Rainbow (1922)