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Clara Bow (1905–1965) -

Clara Bow was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 29, 1905.

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Early life and film debut -

Bow had a tough and poverty-stricken upbringing. As a teenager, she had to deal with an abusive father and a mentally ill mother. Her one escape was the silver screen. Deciding on an acting career, she began visiting studio agencies looking for parts. She made her screen debut in a small role in the silent drama film 'Beyond the Rainbow' (1922).

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'Down to the Sea in Ships' (1922) -

Bow's second picture was 'Down to the Sea in Ships,' in which she played a tomboy character. Her burgeoning talent was beginning to get the youngster, still only 14, noticed.

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Hollywood beckons -

It was while shooting 'Grit' in 1923 that the actress was approached by a Hollywood agent. In July of that year, Bow left New York for Los Angeles.

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First Hollywood picture -

'Maytime,' released in 1923, was Bow's first Hollywood picture. Once considered to be a lost film, an incomplete print of the film was found in 2009 in the New Zealand Film Archive and underwent restoration.

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Developing her image -

In 'Black Oxen,' Bow began to cultivate her precocious flapper image. The flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, and listened to jazz. Bow was yet to style her hair accordingly, but was already being described by one Los Angeles Times film critic as "[radiating] sex appeal tempered with an impish sense of humor."

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WAMPAS Baby Stars -

Twelve months later, Clara Bow was chosen as the most successful of the 1924 WAMPAS Baby Stars, a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers.

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'The Plastic Age' (1925) -

'The Plastic Age' became a major hit in late 1925, and was Bow's breakout film. Her star status was sealed.

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'It' (1927) -

In 1927, Clara Bow starred in 'It.' A huge box-office success, the movie turned her into one of the most popular actresses of the era and popularized the concept of the "It Girl."

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Celebrity icon -

By now a sex symbol of the Roaring Twenties, Bow was seen by many women of the era as an icon for sexual freedom.

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'Wings' (1927) -

Among other movies Clara Bow made in 1927 was the romantic action-war picture 'Wings.' The film is notable for winning the first Academy Award for Best Picture.

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Bow's first "talkie" -

'The Wild Party,' released in 1929, is known as Bow's first "talkie." Despite Bow's heavy Brooklyn accent coming under scrutiny, the film did well at the box office and, with its success, her career reached its high point. Bow is pictured with her cousin William Bow in a spoof publicity image as he sings the film's theme song.

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A life under scrutiny -

In the all-star revue 'Paramount on Parade' (1930), Bow appeared alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood, stars such as Gary Cooper, Fay Wray, and Nancy Carroll. But her private life was also providing Hollywood with some salacious gossip.

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Subject of gossip -

Clara Bow's bohemian lifestyle was often the subject of wagging tongues. She had open liaisons with various male stars and directors (including the aforementioned Gary Cooper and Victor Fleming) and she regularly appeared in a bad light in the gossip magazines.

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Private life in the spotlight -

In 1928, according to the New York Post, several journalists began spinning lies about the actress, using images from movies like 'The Wild Party' to perpetuate rumors that she was excessively drinking despite the ban on alcohol at the time.

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Exposed! -

That same year, 1928, notorious celebrity reporter Adela Rogers St. Johns ran an interview with Bow in Photoplay that she wrote as a colorful first-person account of Bow's life. But the worst was yet to come.

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Scandal -

In 1931 during a trial involving Bow's former secretary, Daisy De Voe, the actress' name was dragged into the mire in one of the biggest scandals Hollywood had yet seen.

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Court appearance -

In a shameless attempt to throw the spotlight off her own crimes, De Voe, who had been indicted on 37 counts of grand theft for stealing money, jewelry, and personal papers from Bow, instructed her lawyer to enter Bow's personal letters and telegrams into evidence.

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Personal items made public -

These personal items also included canceled checks for Bow's nights out, payments for whiskey (illegal under Prohibition), and love letters, reports Entertainment Weekly.

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Shamed and embarrassed -

Daisy De Voe was found guilty on only one of the over 30 counts of grand theft. Nevertheless, she was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. The beleaguered Bow, meanwhile, was mortified by having her private life made food for public consumption.

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Effect on health -

The pressures of fame, public scandals, and overwork took their toll on Bow's fragile emotional health. Furthermore, censorship boards began barring her films because of the "notoriety" she achieved via the sensationalized reports of the trial.

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Breakdown -

Shortly after the trial, Bow essentially retired from acting by checking herself into the Glendale Sanatorium.

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Marriage to Rex Bell -

In 1931, she achieved a modicum of peace and stability after marrying actor Rex Bell. They'd met the previous year on the set of 'True to the Navy.' The couple had two sons together, Tony Beldam and George Beldam Jr. Rex Bell later ventured into politics, and was the 21st lieutenant governor of Nevada from 1955 until his death in 1962.

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'No Limit' (1931) -

Bow's health recovered enough to appear in four more films, the first of which was 1931's 'No Limit.'

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Final film -

Clara Bow's final film was 1933's 'Hoop-Lah.' It proved a box-office disappointment.

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The It Cafe -

After retiring, Bow made few public appearances. One notable exception was in 1937, when she and her husband opened The It Cafe in the Hollywood Plaza Hotel. It closed in 1943.

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Later years -

Bow's later years were plagued with health issues. She endured mental illness, chronic insomnia, schizophrenia, and became socially withdrawn, even attempting suicide in 1944.

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Death -

On September 27, 1965, Clara Bow died of a heart attack. She's interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. 

Sources: (New York Post) (Entertainment Weekly) (Los Angeles Times)

See also: The most iconic movie stars of the silent film era

© NL Beeld