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 | Greta Garbo (9/18/1905 - 4/15/1990)
An unforgettable face...
perfect bone structure...
hypnotic eyes...
an impenetrable gaze...
husky voice...
a face capable of registering everything and yet... nothing.
Greta Garbo was the ultimate Hollywood star, envied by millions of fans & |
co-workers. She was a woman who set her own standards and became a legend in her own time...
Timeline
September 18, 1905 - Greta Garbo is born Greta Lovisa Gustafson in Stockholm, Sweden. Her parents were Karl and Anna Gustafson.
1912-1919 - Greta attends Katarina Grammar school until she leaves in 1919 due to the illness of her father.
June 1, 1920 - Karl Gustafson dies at the age of 48 of nephritis. Two weeks later, Greta is confirmed in the Swedish State Church.
June - July 1920 - Greta's first job as a lather girl begins at a local barbershop on Horn Street in Soder. On July 26, with the help of her sister Alva, she gets a job in the millinery department at PUB, a large department store.
Fall 1920 - Greta is selected to model hats for PUB's spring catalog and appear in a promotional film for the department store called "How Not To Dress" (or "Mr. and Mrs. Stockholm Go Shopping").
Summer 1921 - Greta appears in another promotional film ("Our Daily Bread"), this time promoting bakery products for the Consumer's Cooperative of Stockholm.
July 1922 - Greta meets comedy producer/director Erik Petschler and he offers her a part in his upcoming film "Luffar-Petter" (or "Peter The Tramp"). She leaves her job at PUB to concentrate on a career in acting.
September 1922 - Greta is accepted as a student in the Royal Dramatic Theater Academy.
December 26, 1922 - "Luffar-Petter" premieres in Stockholm but the film, nor Greta, is given much attention.
Spring 1923 - Greta and another classmate, Mona Martenson, are selected by the school to audition for noted Swedish film director Mauritz Stiller. Both girls get parts in his upcoming film, "The Saga of Gosta Berling".
November 9, 1923 - Greta's name is legally changed to "Greta Garbo".
March 1924 - The four hour "The Saga of Gosta Berling" premieres in Stockholm with much fanfare and noted attention to Mauritz Stiller's new discovery, Greta Garbo.
November 1924 - On a visit to Stockholm to see a screening of The Saga of Gosta Berling, Louis B. Mayer meets Stiller and Garbo. A contract is signed that requires Stiller and Garbo to come to Hollywood no later than May of 1925. Neither Garbo or Stiller are too excited about the prospect.
March 1925 - After Mauritz Stiller's next project (to be shot in Turkey) falls through and his film company goes bankrupt, the German filmmaker G. W. Pabst agrees to buy Greta Garbo's services for his next film The Joyless Street.
May 18, 1925 - The Joyless Street premieres in Berlin and Paris. It is an instant success.
July 6, 1925 - Stiller and Garbo arrive in New York.
September 10, 1925 - After spending the summer in New York waiting for MGM to send them west, they finally cross the U.S. by train to arrive in Hollywood.
November 1925 - Garbo begins work on her first American film, The Torrent.
February 21, 1926 - The Torrent is released and is a smashing success. MGM realizes that although Garbo may look ordinary in real life, she transforms herself when on screen.
March 1926 - Mauritz Stiller is assigned as director for Garbo's next film The Temptress but he is dismissed in April because of his lack of experience in Hollywood filmmaking. He is replaced by Fred Niblo.
April 21, 1926 - Greta's sister Alva dies of lymphatic cancer.
August 1926 - Filming is completed on The Temptress but Garbo is unhappy to hear that her next project is playing yet another vamp. She reports to work on August 17 for Flesh And The Devil.
September 1926 - Gilbert and Garbo begin a romantic relationship and she spends most of her time at his Tower Road house.
October 1926 - Following the completion of Flesh And The Devil, Garbo goes on strike to protest the poor scripts being offered to her and her $750 a week salary.
January 9, 1927 - Flesh And The Devil opens to record breaking business.
March 30, 1927 - After months of failed negotiations, MGM unveils a new contract for Garbo. It is a five year contract, two films per year, with her pay starting at $2,000 per week and escalating to $7,000 by the fifth year.
May 1927 - Garbo begins filming Love, an adaptation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Her co-star - John Gilbert.
September 28, 1927 - Production begins on The Divine Woman.
October 1927 - Mauritz Stiller, along with fellow Swede Lars Hanson leave Hollywood to return to Sweden.
Summer 1928 - Garbo is romantically linked to actresses Lilyan Tashman and Fifi D'Orsay.
August 1928 - Garbo's sixth film, The Mysterious Lady, opens with a synchronized soundtrack. Sound is taking Hollywood by storm.
November 8, 1928 - Mauritz Stiller dies in Sweden after several months of ill health. Garbo receives the news on the set of Wild Orchids where she almost collapses.
December 1928 - For the first time since her arrival in Hollywood, Garbo returns to Sweden for Christmas.
January 19, 1929 - Garbo's latest film, A Woman Of Affairs, is released to wide acclaim. It is her first film in which she portrays a modern woman and audiences love it!
April 1929 - John Gilbert proposes for the third and last time to Greta. She again refuses. In May, Gilbert marries actress Ina Claire. There is no comment from Garbo.
July 27, 1929 - The Single Standard is released. Despite audiences clamoring for sound pictures, Garbo's latest silent picture does killer business.
September 1929 - Garbo completes her final silent film, The Kiss.
October 1929 - It is announced that Anna Christie will be the first sound film for Garbo.
October 1929 - Garbo begins work on Anna Christie, her first sound film. After the first rehearsal and sound test, Garbo passes with flying colors. The October 23, 1929 issue of Variety announces, "GARBO TALKS OK".
March 1930 - Anna Christie opens and breaks box office records. She begins work on her second sound film, Romance.
July 1930 - Garbo begins work on a German version of Anna Christie. Her good friend Salka Viertel plays Marty.
October 1930 - The Academy Award nominations are announced and Garbo is nominated for both Anna Christie and Romance. The winner, however, will be Norma Shearer for The Divorcee.
February 1931 - Garbo's third talkie, Inspiration, opens to mediocre reviews but still does good business at the box office.
March 1931 - Clarence Sinclair Bull creates his famous photo montage of Garbo and the Sphinx. It is seen around the world and enhances her mystique even more.
May 1931 - Garbo starts work on her next film Susan Lenox which casts her opposite hot new actor Clark Gable.
June 1931 - Garbo meets the infamous Mercedes de Acosta at Salka Viertel's house.
July 1931 - Garbo and de Acosta go on a six week vacation together to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In her autobiography, De Acosta claims that they had an intimate relationship. Years later, a photo of Garbo hiking topless on that trip will surface.
September 30, 1931 - Filming begins on Mata Hari.
December 31, 1931 - Mata Hari is released and becomes one of Garbo's most successful films.
January 1932 - Filming begins on the all star Grand Hotel.
April 12, 1932 - Grand Hotel premieres and is a smashing success. It will go on to win the Oscar for Best Film. Greta Garbo is now billed simply as "Garbo". She utters the famous line "I want to be alone" in the film.
June 1932 - Garbo's next film As You Desire Me is released. She signs a new contract to make two films at $250,000 per film.
July 1932 - Garbo returns to Sweden on an extended eight month vacation.
March 1933 - Garbo returns to Hollywood and begins work on Queen Christina. Bad chemistry between her and her leading man, Laurence Olivier, propel the studio to find a replacement. Much to Louis B. Mayer's objections but with Garbo's pull, John Gilbert is signed.
October 1933 - Filming on Queen Christina ends. Garbo and her director Rouben Mamoulian are romantically linked. They take a trip to Arizona together in January.
December 26, 1933 - Queen Christina, one of the most beautiful films Garbo ever made, is released. It does better business overseas than in the United States.
July 1934 - After months of delays and censorship problems, Garbo begins work on The Painted Veil.
Summer 1934 - During the filming, Garbo reportedly has a brief affair with her co-star George Brent.
October 1934 - Garbo signs a new contract with MGM to do one film at $275,000.
December 7, 1934 - The Painted Veil opens to poor reviews. The most exciting element of the film seems to be Garbo's wardrobe.
May 1935 - Garbo completes her latest film, Anna Karenina, signs a new contract for two films at $500,000 each and makes another trip to Sweden.
August 30, 1935 - Anna Karenina is released. Garbo will win the New York Films Critics Award for her performance but does not receive an Academy Award nomination.
January 9, 1936 - John Gilbert dies at the age of 40 of a heart attack. Garbo is told the news in Sweden. She makes no public comments about his death.
May 1936 - Garbo returns to the U.S. from a seven month visit to Sweden. Production soon begins on her latest film, Camille.
January 22, 1937 -After a lengthy production with numerous retakes, Camille is released. Despite being ill during most of the shoot, Garbo's beauty is breathtaking in the film. She wins another New York Film Critics Award and is nominated for the Academy Award. She loses this time to Luise Rainer.
March 1937 - Filming begins on Conquest, the most expensive film of Garbo's career.
October 1937 - Garbo and composer Leopold Stokowski are romantically linked in the press.
November 4, 1937 - Conquest is released but fails to recoup its expenses.
December 1937 - Garbo leaves for Sweden again.
February 1938 - Garbo and Stokowski vacation together in Italy. After being besieged by the press, they hold a press conference in which Garbo denies marriage rumors and asked that they be left alone. They spend the next five months touring Europe.
May 3, 1938 - An infamous advertisement in the Hollywood Reporter labels several big name stars, like Garbo and Marlene Dietrich "box office poison" claiming that their tremendous salaries do not reflect their ticket sales.
June 1939 - Garbo meets nutritionist Gayelord Hauser, who will become a major influence in her life. She begins work on Ninotchka.
October 1939 - As a result of World War II, MGM arranges to have Garbo's family sent to the United States.
November 9, 1939 - Ninotchka is released and is a triumphant success. Garbo will garner her final Academy Award nomination for the film. She will lose to Vivien Leigh for Gone With The Wind.
July 1940 - Garbo meets another man who will play a major role in her life - George Schlee, the husband of fashion designer Valentina.
November 1940 - Garbo signs a new contract with MGM calling for one film for $150,000.
June 1941 - Garbo begins work on her final film, Two Faced Woman. From day one, the production is plagued with censorship problems.
December 31, 1941 - Two Faced Woman is released. It receives the worst reviews of Garbo's career, is condemned by the Catholic Church (who later reduce their judgments after some changes are made) and does poorly at the box office.
November 1942 - Garbo buys her first painting, a Renoir.
December 1942 - Garbo signs a new contract with MGM, under the same terms as the previous one, but it is canceled a month later because a project cannot be agreed upon.
July 1943 - Garbo has a brief affair with actor Gilbert Roland. Her relationship with George Schlee also intensifies.
Fall 1943 - There is talk of Garbo playing Joan of Arc in an English production, but plans fall through.
October 18, 1944 - Garbo's mother, Anna Lovisa Gustafson, dies in Scarsdale, New York.
March 1946 - Garbo begins a long friendship with photographer Cecil Beaton.
July 1946 - Garbo returns to Sweden accompanied by George Schlee.
August 1947 - A planned film about the life of George Sand falls through, and Garbo embarks on a European trip, again with George Schlee.
August 1948 - Garbo signs a new movie deal with a new production company headed by Walter Wanger.
May 1949 - Garbo returns to the studio to make a screen test for La Duchess de Langeais.
September 1949 - The financial arrangements for La Duchess de Langeais unravel and the project is put on hold.
February 9, 1951 - Garbo signs citizenship papers to become a U.S. citizen.
1952 - Garbo nixes a last serious effort at films when she turns down My Cousin Rachel.
October 1953 - Garbo purchases a seven room apartment in New York that she will live in the rest of her life.
March 30, 1954 - Garbo receives an honorary Academy Award for her "unforgettable screen performances". She does not attend the ceremonies.
1955-1960 - Garbo travels extensively with a select group of friends, including George Schlee, Aristotle Onassis and Cecil Beaton.
March 1960 - Mercedes de Acosta publishes her autobiography Here Lies The Heart. In it, she depicts her relationship with Garbo and includes a topless picture of Garbo on their Sierra Nevada trip. Garbo never speaks to her again. De Acosta dies in 1968.
1962 - Garbo meets Ingmar Bergman and President John F. Kennedy.
October 1964 -George Schlee dies of a heart attack in Paris. Garbo is with him but avoids the press and the police. She is criticized in the press and by Schlee's widow Valentina for her actions.
January 27, 1967 - Garbo's brother, Sven Gustafson, dies of a heart attack.
November 1971 -Garbo again terminates a friendship when Cecil Beaton publishes his memoirs in which he writes about their affair together. Garbo does however, visit Beaton years later when he is dying.
1972 - Garbo travels less but makes daily walks throughout New York City. She mainly shops at flea markets. She is recognized but few dare approach her.
October 30, 1978 - Garbo's beloved friend and confidante Salka Viertel dies in Klosters, Switzerland.
1980 - A Swedish stamp honors Garbo and she is also bestowed the Commander of the Royal Order of the North Star, First Class for Swedish recognition to her country.
1984 - Garbo has surgery for a rare type of breast cancer.
December 26, 1984 - Garbo's great friend Gayelord Hauser dies.
August 1988 - Garbo has a mild heart attack while visiting journalist friend Sven Broman.
January 5, 1989 - Garbo is hospitalized in New York for kidney failure.
September 14, 1989 - Garbo's greatest enemy, Valentina Schlee dies. Amazingly, the two women lived in the same apartment building for over 30 years but never spoke to one another after the death of George Schlee.
April 15, 1990 - Greta Garbo dies at 11:30 am on Easter Sunday with her family at her bedside. She was 84.
June 16, 1999 - Garbo's ashes are finally laid to rest near Stockholm, Sweden.
 | Filmography
Two-Faced Woman (1941) .... Karin Borg Blake
Ninotchka (1939) .... Nina Ivanovna 'Ninotchka' Yakushova
Conquest (1937) .... Countess Marie Walewska
... aka Marie Walewska (UK)
Camille (1936) .... Marguerite Gautier
Anna Karenina (1935) .... Anna Karenina
The Painted Veil (1934) .... Katrin Koerber Fane
Queen Christina (1933) .... Queen Christina |
As You Desire Me (1932) .... Zara
Grand Hotel (1932) .... Grusinskaya
Mata Hari (1931) .... Mata Hari
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) .... Susan Lenox
... aka Rising to Fame
... aka The Rise of Helga (UK)
Anna Christie (1931) .... Anna Christie
Inspiration (1931) .... Yvonne Valbret
Romance (1930) .... Madame Rita Cavallini
Anna Christie (1930) .... Anna Christie
The Kiss (1929) .... Irene Guarry
The Single Standard (1929) .... Arden Stuart Hewlett
Wild Orchids (1929) .... Lillie Sterling
A Woman of Affairs (1928) .... Diana Merrick Furness
The Mysterious Lady (1928) .... Tania Fedorova
The Divine Woman (1928) .... Marianne
Love (1927/I) .... Anna Karenina
... aka Anna Karenina (UK)
Flesh and the Devil (1926) .... Felicitas
The Temptress (1926) .... Elena
Torrent (1926) .... Leonora Moreno, aka La Brunna
... aka Ibáñez' Torrent (USA)
Freudlose Gasse, Die (1925) (uncredited) .... Greta Rumfort
... aka Joyless Street (UK)
... aka The Joyless Street (USA)
... aka The Street of Sorrow (USA)
... aka Viennese Love (Canada: English title)
Gösta Berlings saga (1924) .... Elizabeth Dohna
... aka The Atonement of Gosta Berling
... aka The Legend of Gosta Berling
... aka The Saga of Gosta Berling
... aka The Story of Gosta Berling
Luffarpetter (1922) .... Greta
... aka Peter the Tramp
Lyckoriddare, En (1921) .... Maid
... aka A Happy Knight (literal English title)
Konsum Stockholm Promo (1921)
... aka How Not to Dress (Sweden)
Herr och fru Stockholm (1920)
... aka Herrskapet Stockholm ute pa inköp (Sweden)
... aka Mr. and Mrs. Stockholm (Sweden: literal English title)
... aka Mr. and Mrs. Stockholm Out Shopping
Filmography as: Herself, Archive Footage
Herself
Herrliche Zeiten (1950) .... Herself
... aka Wonderful Times (USA)
Garabatos Greta Garbo (1944) .... Herself
A Man's Man (1929) .... Herself
Archive Footage
Garbo (2005) .... Herself
"The World's Most Photographed" (2005) (mini) .... Herself
Irving Thalberg: Prince of Hollywood (2005) (TV)
Complicated Women (2003) (TV) (uncredited) .... Herself
Satin and Silk (2003) (V) .... Herself
Greta Garbo: A Lone Star (2001) (TV) (uncredited) .... Herself
72nd Annual Academy Awards Pre-Show (2000) (TV) (uncredited) .... Herself
Greta Garbo: The Mysterious Lady (1998) (TV) .... Herself
The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful (1996) (TV) .... Herself
The Casting Couch (1995) (V)
That's Entertainment! III (1994) (uncredited) .... Herself
Dos reinas (1993) .... Herself
The 63rd Annual Academy Awards (1991) (TV) .... Herself
Espectador que o Cinema Esqueceu, O (1991)
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown (1986) (TV) .... Herself
Garbo Talks (1984) (uncredited) .... Herself
Sixty Years of Seduction (1981) (TV)
"Hollywood" (1980) (mini)
That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972) (TV)
Marlowe (1969) (uncredited) .... Herself - in scene from 'Grand Hotel'
The Love Goddesses (1965) .... Herself
The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)
30 Years of Fun (1963)
Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963) .... Herself
Screen Snapshots: Ramblin' Round Hollywood (1955) .... Herself
Strictly Dishonorable (1951) (uncredited) .... Actress in Silent Movie
March of Time: The Movies Move On (1939) .... Herself
Greta Garbo Quotes
"Life would be so wonderful if we only knew what to do with it."
"Anyone who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening."
"I never said, 'I want to be alone.' I only said, 'I want to be left alone." There is all the difference in the world."
"Being a movie star, and this applies to all of them, means being looked at from every possible direction. You are never left at peace, you're just fair game."
"There is no one who would have me—I can't cook."
"I wish I were supernaturally strong so I could put right everything that is wrong."
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=greta+garbo
Contributed By : Kat (Razor Heretic) |
|
 | ◊Frances Farmer- (9/19/1913-8/1/1970)◊
Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913, Seattle, Washington – August 1, 1970, Indianapolis, Indiana) was an American film actress. Frances Farmer was a successful screen and stage actress in Hollywood and Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s. Jessica Lange later portrayed her story in the movie, Frances. Upset over a string of failed relationships, Farmer was involuntarily committed in 1943. For seven years, she was subjected to 90 insulin shocks and electroshocks, and was sold by psychiatric workers to drunken sailors who repeatedly raped her. She told of being |
"raped by orderlies, gnawed on by rats, poisoned by tainted food, chained in padded cells, strapped in strait jackets and half drowned in ice baths." Her last "treatment" was a lobotomy by Walter Freeman. Farmer never regained her abilities and died, destitute.
 | ◊Quick Timeline◊
1913 - September 19, born to Ernest and Lillian Farmer in Seattle, WA. Siblings include Edith, Wesley and half-sister Rita.
1931 - Wins creative writing contest with her controversial essay, God Dies while a junior at West Seattle High School. National wire services report the story as - "Seattle girl denies God and wins prize."
Enters University of Washington, joins drama department and meets instructor Sophie Rosenstein. Achieves rave reviews while acting in Helen of Troy and Alien Corn. Changes major from journalism to drama. |
1935 - Sails for Russia after winning Voice of Action newspaper subscription contest. Wire services (again) pick up story and denounce Communism.
Frances stays in New York after trip and is discovered by a talent scout. Signs contract with Paramount.
1936 - Marries actor Leif Erickson, makes first film Too Many Parents. Later Frances is cast opposite Bing Crosby in Rhythm on the Range and Edward Arnold in Come and Get It and gets described as the "screen's outstanding find of 1936."
1937 - Plays the lead in the Group Theatre production of Golden Boy written by Clifford Odets.
1942 - Arrested for drunk driving without a license and failure to obey dim-out zone restrictions. Sentenced to 180 days, receives probation
1943 - Arrested for violating probation and assault. Sanity hearing finds Frances mentally ill and recommends her to be placed in a sanitarium. Mother is appointed legal guardian. Committed to Western Washington State Hospital at Steilacoom, then released.
1945 - Mother recommits Frances to state asylum.
1950 - Frances released after undergoing shock treatment, hydrotherapy baths and supposedly receiving a trans-orbital lobotomy. Back to Seattle to take care of parents.
1954 - Frances marries Alfred Lobley
1957 - Frances re-discovered working as a hotel clerk in San Francisco. See picture here. Image courtesy of George Snow
Appears in The Chalk Garden at Bucks County Playhouse and makes television appearances including the Ed Sullivan Show.
1958 - Appears on This Is Your Life hosted by Ralph Edwards and makes her final film, The Party Crashers. Marries Lee Mikesell. Appears in the television drama Tongues of Angels with James MacArthur. Image courtesy of Janice Carpenter collection
Hosts afternoon television show, Frances Farmer Presents in Indianapolis until 1964.
1968 - Begins work on autobiography with the assistance of Lois Kibbee.
1970 - August 1, dies at age 56 from cancer of the esophagus.
 | ◊Biography◊
Early life, career and marriage
Farmer was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. In 1931, at age 17, she entered and won $100 in a writing contest sponsored by Scholastic Magazine with her controversial essay God Dies. In 1935, as a student at the University of Washington, she won a subscription contest for the leftist newspaper The Voice of Action. First prize was a trip to the Soviet Union, which she took despite her mother's strong objections. These two incidents led to accusations that Farmer was both an atheist and a Communist. Farmer studied drama at the University of Washington. During the |
1930s its drama department productions were considered citywide cultural events and attended accordingly. While there she starred in diverse plays including Helen of Troy, Everyman and Uncle Vanya. In 1935 she starred in the school's production of Alien Corn, speaking foreign languages, playing the piano and receiving rave reviews in what was the longest running play in the department's history at the time.
◊1936◊
Returning from the Soviet Union in the summer of 1935 Farmer stopped in New York City, hoping to launch a legitimate theater career. Instead, she was referred to Paramount talent scout Oscar Serlin who arranged for a screen test. Paramount offered her a 7-year contract. Farmer signed it in New York on her 22nd birthday (September 19, 1935) and moved to Hollywood. She had top billing in two well-received 1936 "B" films and that same year was cast opposite Bing Crosby in Rhythm On The Range. Also in 1936 she was loaned to Samuel Goldwyn to appear in Come and Get It, based on the novel by Edna Ferber. Her portrayals of both the mother and daughter were praised by the public and critics, some of whom wrote of her potential to become a major star. She also married her first husband, actor Leif Erickson, in 1936.
◊A rebellious star◊
Farmer was not entirely satisfied with her career, however. She felt stifled by Paramount's tendency to cast her in films which depended on her looks more than her talent and her naturally outspoken demeanor made her seem uncooperative and contemptuous. In an age when the studios dictated every facet of a star's life, Farmer rebelled against the studio's control and although she allowed herself to be put through cosmetic "makeovers" and photographed in bathing suits for publicity purposes, she resisted every attempt they made to glamourize her private life, refusing to attend Hollywood parties or to date other stars for the gossip columns. At the time, she was sympathetically described as being indifferent about the clothing she wore and was said to drive an older-model "green roadster," which according to a columnist, once broke down on Melrose Avenue, blocking traffic as Farmer pushed the stricken car to the side, much to the consternation of the studio's publicity department.
Hoping to enhance her reputation as a serious actress, she left Hollywood in 1937 to do summer stock on the East Coast. She had already attracted the attention of Harold Clurman and Clifford Odets and appeared in the Group Theatre production of Odets' play Golden Boy in a performance which at first received highly mixed reviews (Time magazine commented that she had been miscast). However by 1938 when the production had embarked on a national tour, regional critics from Washington D.C. to Chicago had given her rave reviews.
Farmer also had an affair with Odets but he was married to actress Luise Rainer and didn't offer Farmer a commitment. Farmer felt betrayed when Odets suddenly ended the relationship, believing he had used her drawing power to further the success of his play. She returned to Hollywood, somewhat chastened, willing to continue her movie career but still on her terms. She arranged with Paramount to stay in Los Angeles for three months out of every year to make motion pictures, freeing up the remainder of her time for theater activities. However, her two subsequent appearances on Broadway had short runs and she found herself back in Los Angeles, often loaned out by Paramount to other studios for starring roles, while at her home studio she was consigned to costarring appearances, which she often found unchallenging.
By 1939 her temperamental work habits and drinking had resulted in fewer calls from Paramount. In 1940, after abruptly quitting a Broadway production of a play by Hemingway, she starred in two major films but a year later she was again relegated to co-starring roles. Her performance in Son of Fury (Fox, 1941) was critically praised but in 1942 Paramount cancelled Farmer's contract, reportedly because of her alcoholism and increasingly erratic behaviour. [1] Meanwhile her marriage with Leif Erickson had disintegrated.
◊The spiral◊
On October 19, 1942 she was stopped by the police in Santa Monica for driving with her headlights on bright in the wartime dimout zone which affected most of the west coast. Some reports say she was unable to produce a driver's license and was verbally abusive. The police suspected her of being drunk and she was jailed overnight. Farmer was fined $500.00 and given a 180 day suspended sentence. She immediately paid $250.00 and was put on probation. By January 1943 she had failed to pay the rest of the fine and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest. At almost the same time, an assault charge was filed against her by a studio hairdresser who alleged Farmer had dislocated her jaw on the set of a low budget movie. The police traced her to the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood and, getting no answer, entered her room with a pass key. They reportedly found her in bed (some stories include an episode involving the bathroom) and made her dress quickly. By all accounts she did not surrender peacefully.
At her hearing the next morning she behaved erratically, making claims about her civil rights and demanding an attorney, then threw an inkwell at the judge, who immediately sentenced her to 180 days in jail. Farmer responded by knocking down a policeman and bruising another along with a matron. She ran to a phone booth where she tried to call her attorney but was subdued by the police who physically carried her away as she shouted, “Have you ever had a broken heart?” (a famous picture of this incident survives).
Newspaper reports gave sensationalized accounts of her arrest, including claims she had used profanities when speaking to police officers. Through the efforts of her sister-in-law, a deputy sheriff in Los Angeles county at the time, Farmer was transferred to the psychiatric ward of L.A. General Hospital and diagnosed with "manic depressive psychosis."
Within days, having been sent to the San Fernando Valley and a sanitarium for screen actors in La Crescenta, Farmer was diagnosed as "paranoid schizophrenic" and received insulin shock therapy, a brutal and dangerous treatment which was later discredited, but accepted as standard psychiatric procedure at the time. The painful side effects included intense nausea. Her family later claimed the treatment was given without their consent (as documented in her sister's self-published book Look Back in Love and court records). The sanitarium was a minimum security facility and after about nine months, Farmer walked away one afternoon. She appeared at her half-sister Rita's house over 20 miles away and the pair called their mother Lillian in Seattle to complain about the insulin treatment. Lillian Farmer traveled to California and began a lengthy legal battle to have guardianship of Frances transferred from the state of California to her. Although several psychiatrists testified that Frances needed further treatment, Lillian prevailed and the two of them left Los Angeles by train on September 13, 1943.
Western State Hospital
Farmer moved back in with her parents in West Seattle but she and her mother fought bitterly. Within six months Frances had physically attacked Lillian, who had her daughter committed as "legally insane" to Western State Hospital at Fort Steilacoom, Washington, where she was sometimes placed in a strait jacket and received electro-convulsive shock treatment (ECT). Three months later, during the summer of 1944, she was pronounced "completely cured" and released. While traveling with her father to visit at an aunt's ranch in Reno, Nevada, she ran away and spent time with a family who had picked her up hitchhiking, but was eventually arrested for vagrancy in Antioch, California. This received wide publicity and offers of help flooded in from Hollywood, San Francisco and New York, which she ignored. After a long stay with her aunt in Nevada she went back to her parents but at her mother's request was returned to Western State in May 1945. The facility was woefully understaffed and has been described as "crumbling," "antiquated" and "dismal."
◊Sensationalized accounts◊
In the years following Farmer's death her treatment at Western State was the subject of serious discussion and wild speculation. A sensationalized chapter relating to her breakdown was included in Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger. Farmer's ghostwritten, posthumously published autobiography Will There Really Be A Morning described a brutal incarceration and claimed she had been raped, beaten, doused in freezing baths and forced by a warden to eat her own feces. However, Farmer's friend and ghostwriter Jean Ratcliffe admitted she had written the book specifically to create a saleable and filmable property, conceding she had deliberately exaggerated Farmer's torment and that most of the finished work was not contributed by Farmer.
Most researchers later concluded that, although conditions at Western State were indeed dismal during her periods of institutional care there, Frances Farmer was not a victim of criminal abuse such as rape or ritual humiliation. These sensational and inaccurate claims seem to have been motivated by a desire to sell book and film properties after her death.
◊The false lobotomy claims◊
◊William Arnold◊
In the fictional biography Shadowland (1978), published eight years after her death, William Arnold was the first to claim Farmer had been subjected to a transorbital lobotomy performed by Dr. Walter Freeman. This assertion was repeated in Lobotomy, Resort to the Knife 1982 by David Shutts, who cited Frank Freeman (Walter Freeman's eldest son) as saying his father performed a lobotomy on Farmer. As evidence he offered a dramatic photograph of a lobotomy procedure. This was later shown to be from a series of images accompanying a July, 1949 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article about Walter Freeman. The same patient's face is completely visible in other photos and she is clearly not Farmer (a link below to Shedding Light on Shadowland includes the photos).
Walter Freeman's younger son disputed the lobotomy story but it was widely accepted as fact for several years. Wholly fictional scenes of Farmer being subjected to the procedure were used to shocking effect in the 1982 film Frances. In a court case brought by author William Arnold against Brooksfilms, the film's producers (one of whom was comedian Mel Brooks), Arnold admitted he had never intended to create a true biography of Farmer and that much of his story was "fictionalized" (as he put it), including the lobotomy episode. [2] Years later, on a DVD commentary track of the film Frances, director Graeme Clifford stated, "We didn't want to nickel and dime people to death with facts."
◊Medical archives◊
Western State Hospital's medical archives record all of the lobotomies performed during her time there. Since lobotomies were considered a ground-breaking (and money saving) medical procedure at the time, the hospital did not attempt to conceal their work and kept extensive records. Although hundreds of patients underwent the procedure, no evidence has ever been presented to support the claim Farmer was among them. Farmer's own medical records show she was never operated on for any reason while she was institutionalized. Former staff members, including all the lobotomy ward nurses who were on duty during Frances' years at Western State (and who were still alive years later) confirmed during 1983 interviews with Seattle newspapers that Farmer did not receive a lobotomy. Nurse Beverly Tibbetts stated, “I worked on all the patients who had lobotomies, and Frances Farmer never came to that ward.” Freeman's own private patient records contain no references to Farmer. Dr. Charles Jones, Psychiatric Resident at Western State during Frances' stays there (and personally trained by Freeman to perform transorbitals) also stated that Farmer was never given a lobotomy. In The Lobotomist, a later biography of Walter Freeman, author Jack El-Hai reported that Freeman's son Frank ultimately hedged his earlier statements and was no longer willing to assert unequivocally that his father operated on Farmer. Her sister Edith Farmer Elliot said her parents were asked for permission to perform a lobotomy on Frances, but her father was “horrified” by the notion and threatened legal action “if they tried any of their guinea pig operations on her.”
◊Second career and death◊
On March 23, 1950, at her parents' request, she was "paroled" back into her mother's care. Farmer's mostly ghostwritten autobiography bitterly stated that her parents needed her to take care of them in their old age. She took a job sorting laundry at the Olympia hotel in Seattle. At the time Farmer is said to have believed her mother could have her institutionalized again. In 1953, ten years after her arrest at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood, a judge legally restored Frances Farmer's competency and full civil rights at her request. In 1954, after a brief second marriage to utility worker Alfred H. Lobley, Farmer moved to Eureka, California where she worked | anonymously for almost three years in a photo studio as a secretary/bookkeeper.
◊Comeback attempt◊
In 1957 she met Leland C. Mikesell, an independent broadcast promoter from Indianapolis who helped her move to San Francisco and get work as a receptionist in a hotel, where he then arranged for a reporter to recognize her and write an article. This led to renewed interest. She told Modern Screen magazine, “I blame nobody for my fall... I think I have won the fight to control myself.” She made two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and also appeared on the TV show This Is Your Life, during which she was asked about her alcohol abuse and mental illness. Farmer said she had never believed she was mentally ill and remarked, |
"if a person is treated like a patient, they are apt to act like one." Reviewers described her responses as highly intelligent, noted her brusque but forthcoming reactions to some of the more personal questions and suggested that she sometimes seemed to be on the verge of losing her patience.
After a 15 year hiatus, in August 1957 Farmer returned to the stage in New Hope, Pennsylvania for a summer stock production of The Chalk Garden. The wry irony of her role has been noted: The play's protagonist works to rebuild her life after being away for 15 years.
Through the spring of 1958 Farmer appeared in several television dramas and made her last film, The Party Crashers, produced by Paramount for the teen market in an apparent attempt to capitalize on her name. During this period she divorced Lobley and married Mikesell, but her third marriage was also brief. By the summer of 1958, offers for television and theater appearances had fallen off. Her comeback ended with a six day performance of The Chalk Garden in Indianapolis, where she accepted an offer to host afternoon movies on a local TV station.
◊Indianapolis◊
She made a success of Frances Farmer Presents, was in demand as a public speaker and was actress-in-residence at Purdue University during the early 1960s, appearing in some campus productions. However, by 1964 her behaviour had turned erratic again (some commentators have implicated her alcoholism), she became unreliable and temperamental, was fired, re-hired and fired again. A rival television station reportedly offered her a job but Farmer is said to have broken off contact after one telephone call. Her last acting role was in The Visit at Loeb Playhouse on the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, which ran October 22-30, 1965. During this engagement she was arrested for drunk driving.
She subsequently attempted two small businesses with her friend Jean Ratcliffe but both failed. She was arrested again for drunk driving and her license was suspended for a year. Farmer also reportedly gave dramatic readings during this period until illness made it too difficult for her to speak. A lifelong heavy smoker, she began work on her autobiography in 1968 but it was uncompleted when Farmer died from esophageal cancer in 1970 at the age of 56.
Six female friends and acquaintances were pallbearers at her funeral. Frances Farmer is interred at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Fishers, Indiana.
◊Quotes◊
“It was pretty sad, because [after the publication of God Dies] for the first time I found how stupid people could be. It sort of made me feel alone in the world. The more people pointed at me in scorn the more stubborn I got and when they began calling me the Bad Girl of West Seattle High, I tried to live up to it.”
"It's a nuthouse [Hollywood]. The other day a man phoned and wanted me to endorse a certain brand of cigarettes. I had nothing against them and in fact will smoke them or anything else that comes along, but I didn't know why he was bothering me. I thought maybe if I was nice they'd give me a carton as a thank offering, so I rather tentatively broached the matter of remuneration. What was the endorsement worth, I asked, and he said three thousand dollars. What are you going to do in an atmosphere like that?"
◊Trivia◊
She allowed the Paramount make-up department to shave off her eyebrows as a part of the routine "makeover" given to any newly contracted actress. Only a year later (1937), studio photographs show they'd grown back and she wasn't trimming them pencil-thin, contrary to the standard practice for Hollywood actresses at the time.
The January 25, 1943 issue of Newsweek magazine stated that Farmer's famous remark, "Have you ever had a broken heart?" made while she was being carried away from the courtroom by police officers didn't refer to her former husband Leif Erickson but to "a failed relationship with a Hollywood director." Based on Edith Farmer Elliot's book Look Back in Love along with Farmer's personal correspondence, some researchers have concluded that this director was Harold Clurman, to whom Farmer had loaned money.
Farmer was one of only a very few featured guests of the popular This is Your Life series to have been alerted beforehand about the impending show.
◊Biographical films◊
Jessica Lange played Farmer in the 1982 feature film Frances and was Oscar-nominated for her role. However, this film contains a discredited, fictional scene which depicts Farmer undergoing a transorbital lobotomy. Lange maintained her compassion and empathy for Farmer's plight and in interviews remained an ardent supporter.
Susan Blakely portrayed Farmer with Lee Grant as Farmer's mother Lillian in a television production which used the title of the autobiography.
◊Book References◊
http://www.geocities.com/~themistyone/books.htm
 |
◊Filmography◊
Party Crashers, The (1958)
Son of Fury (1942)
Among the Living (1941)
Badlands of Dakota (1941)
World Premiere (1941)
Flowing Gold (1940)
South of Pago Pago (1940)
Ride A Crooked Mile (1938) aka Escape From Yesterday |
Toast of New York, The (1937)
Ebb Tide (1937)
Exclusive (1937)
Come and Get It (1936) aka Roaring Timber
Rhythm on the Range (1936)
Border Flight (1936)
Too Many Parents (1936)
◊Tribute◊
The famous band Nirvana wrote a triubte song to her.
Later Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Courtney Love of Hole named their daughter Frances Bean, after Frances Farmer.
◊Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle by Nirvana◊
Album: In Utero
It's so relieving to know that you're leaving as soon as you get paid
It's so relaxing to hear you're asking wherever you get your way
I's so soothing to know that you'll sue me,
this is starting to sound the same
I miss the comfort in being sad
In her false withness, we hope you're still with us,
to see if they float or drown
Our favorite paitent, A display of patience,
disease-covered Puget Sound
She'll come back as fire, to burn all the liars,
and leave a blanket of ash on the ground
I miss the comfort in being sad.
http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/
Contributed By : Kat (Razor Heretic) |
|
 | ◊Jean Harlow - 3/3/11-6/7/37 ◊
Birth Name: Harlean Carpenter
Nickname: Baby Jean
Also known as: Hollywood's Original Blonde Bombshell
Born: March 3, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri
Died: June 7, 1937 in Los Angeles, California
Burial location: In the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. (Actor William Powell bought three crypts in the Mausoleum: one for Jean, one for her mother, and one for himself. However, Powell was not buried there and |
the third crypt remains empty.)
Height: 5' 2"
Weight: 109 lbs.
Shoe size: 4
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Green
Occupation: Actress
Nationality: American
Religion: She was raised as a Christian Scientist, but did not go to church as an adult.
Hobbies: reading, golf, tennis, horseback riding.
Pets: (during the 1930s) Oscar, a Pomeranian; Good Cat and Bad Cat; Erbert ,a goldfish given to her by a fan; Tiger, a Norwegian husky; His Royal Highness, a Persian cat; and six ducks.
 | ◊About Jean◊
Famous tagline: "Would you be shocked if I changed into something more comfortable?" from Hell's Angels.
Did you know?
In May 1937, Jean Harlow became the very first film actress to grace the cover of Life magazine.
Jean was ranked No. 22 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 |
Before the days of Madonna and Marilyn Monroe, the "Original Blonde Bombshell" made her mark on Hollywood and the world, leaving behind a new image of the Hollywood sex goddess. Harlean Carpenter, later known as Jean Harlow, was born on March 3, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri. Although she would sadly only live to age 26, Jean achieved a great deal of success during her lifetime. In an acting career that lasted 10 short years, Jean made 36 movies. Some of her other achievements included being voted No. 22 on the American Film Institute's list of the "Greatest American Screen Legends" (female), and becoming the first movie actress to appear on the cover of Life magazine.
Jean displayed talent in both her sensual and comedic performances, but she initially captivated fans with her trendsetting platinum blonde hair. As she gained fame, peroxide sales in the United States skyrocketed. Botched attempts to look like Jean forced thousands of women to cut their hair. Hollywood producers of the past had consistently cast dark-haired women to play the parts of vixens, but Jean emerged as the first star to incorporate the platinum blonde look into her acting.
Jean was born the daughter of a successful dentist and his wife. Jean's mother, known as Mother Jean, had dreams of becoming an actress, which led her to divorce her husband and move to Hollywood with her young daughter. Jean's mother never allowed her to see her father, however Jean would sneak visits with him throughout her life. Mother Jean soon remarried a man named Marino Bello and the family moved to Chicago, where Jean attended high school.
Poor health afflicted Jean throughout her childhood. At age five, she contracted meningitis and suffered from scarlet fever at age 15. Jean left home at age 16 to marry 23-year-old Charles McGrew. Shortly after the wedding the couple left Chicago and moved to Beverly Hills. Jean's true aspiration in life was to be a wife and mother, however she sought work as an extra in films to please Mother Jean. Although at first Jean was not interested in making films, she received her first role in Why is a Plumber? in 1927. She and McGrew divorced after two years, but her big career break was about to occur.
In 1930, movie producer and entrepreneur Howard Hughes became interested in Jean and cast her in Hell's Angels. In Hell's Angels, she spoke the now famous line, "Would you be shocked if I changed into something more comfortable?" Jean's appearance in Hell's Angels solidified her role as America's new sex symbol. This victory was followed by another hit, Platinum Blonde, and several films with Clark Gable. In total, she and Gable would star in six movies together including Red Dust, The Secret Six and Wife vs. Secretary. During the filming of Red Dust, Jean's second husband of only two months, producer Paul Bern, committed suicide.
In 1933's Dinner at Eight, Jean was at her comedic best. Later that year she starred in Bombshell, a Hollywood parody based loosely on her real-life experiences with her controlling mother and greedy stepfather. Also in 1933, Jean married cinematographer Harold Rosson in a union that would only last eight months. To accompany her escalating career, in 1935 she legally changed her name to Jean Harlow, her mother's maiden name.
Following the end of her marriage, Jean found the love of her life in actor William Powell. They were together for two years, however before they could wed, Jean's health declined. While filming Saratoga in 1937, Jean was hospitalized with uremic poisoning and kidney failure, a result of the scarlet fever she had suffered during childhood. In the days before dialysis and kidney transplants, nothing could be done and Jean died on June 7, 1937. The film had to be finished using long angle shots and a double, Mary Dees. Clark Gable was reported to have said that he felt as if he was "in the arms of a ghost." After a large Hollywood funeral organized by Louis B. Mayer of MGM, Jean was buried in the mausoleum in Forest Lawn Glendale, in Los Angeles.
Jean was labeled a "screen siren" for her sensational dialogue and revealing costumes, but audiences, directors and producers alike appreciated her flair for comedy and drama. Had she lived longer, it is likely that she would have stayed on a successful path in Hollywood for years to come. In an acting career that lasted only 10 years, Jean Harlow forever established herself as one of the most captivating actresses of all time.
 | ◊Movie timeline◊
Honor Bound (1928)
Moran of the Marines (1928)
Chasing Husbands (1928) (short subject)
Liberty (1929) (short subject)
Fugitives (1929)
Why Be Good? (1929)
Why Is a Plumber? (1929) (short subject)
Close Harmony (1929) |
The Unkissed Man (1929) (short subject)
Double Whoopee (1929) (short subject)
Thundering Toupees (1929) (short subject)
Bacon Grabbers (1929) (short subject)
The Saturday Night Kid (1929)
The Love Parade (1929)
This Thing Called Love (1929)
Weak But Willing (1929) (short subject)
New York Nights (1929)
Hell's Angels (1930)
City Lights (1931)
The Secret Six (1931)
The Public Enemy (1931)
Iron Man (1931)
Goldie (1931)
Platinum Blonde (1931)
Beau Hunks (1931) (short subject) (appears in photo)
Talking Screen Snapshots (1932) (short subject)
Hollywood on Parade (1932) (short subject)
Three Wise Girls (1932)
The Beast of the City (1932)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Hold Your Man (1933)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Bombshell (1933)
The Girl from Missouri (1934)
Reckless (1935)
China Seas (1935)
Riffraff (1936)
Wife vs. Secretary (1936)
Suzy (1936)
Libeled Lady (1936)
The Candid Camera Story (Very Candid) of the Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Pictures 1937 Convention (1937) (short subject)
Personal Property (1937)
Saratoga (1937)
 | Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter, March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American film actress and top sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Platinum Blonde" for her famous hair, Harlow starred in several films mainly designed to showcase her magnetic sex appeal and strong screen presence before transitioning to more developed roles and achieving massive fame under contract to MGM. Known as "The Baby" to family and close friends, Harlow's enormous popularity and "laughing vamp" image were in distinct contrast to her personal life, which was marred by disappointment, tragedy, and ultimately her sudden death from kidney failure at the age of 26. Harlow was born Harlean Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Mont Clair Carpenter, a |
dentist, and his wife, Jean Poe Carpenter (neé Harlow). Young Harlean's father came from a working-class background while her mother was the daughter of a wealthy real estate broker, Skip Harlow and his wife Ella Harlow (neé Williams). The marriage was arranged by Skip Harlow; Jean Carpenter, a very intelligent, strong-willed woman, resented it and would become very unhappy in the marriage.
Unlike many Hollywood stars, little Harlean's childhood was not marked by poverty and unhappiness; in fact she lived with her parents in a very large house in Kansas City that was her grandfather's second home. The only grandchild in the family, Harlean was nicknamed "The Baby", a moniker that would stick with her through her whole life. Without any siblings, Harlean became extremely close to her mother, and Jean Carpenter, unhappy in her marriage, turned all her focus onto her daughter. She was extremely protective and coddling to young Harlean, instilling in her a sense that Harlean owed everything she had to her mother, which in turned inspired a deep devotion from daughter to mother, another aspect which would carry through to adulthood. So coddled was young Harlean that when she began to attend school at Miss Barstow's School, a private school in Kansas City with other children at the age of five, she did not learn till then that her name was actually Harlean and not "Baby".
With her daughter at school, Mother Jean become increasingly frustrated and filed for divorce (no small matter at the time) which was finalized, uncontested, September 29, 1922 and was granted, among other things, sole custody of her daughter. Harlean would only see her father again once more in her lifetime.
v
In 1923, with hopes of becoming an actress, Mother Jean and Harlean moved to Hollywood, where Harlean briefly attended the Hollywood School For Girls. However with no good prospects forthcoming in acting for Mother Jean and dwindling finances, they returned to Kansas City within two years. In the summer of 1925, Harlean's grandfather sent her to a summer camp called Camp Cha-Ton-Ka in Michigamme, Michigan. It was during this summer that Harlean would catch scarlet fever. From there Harlean attended the Ferry Hall School in Lake Forest, Illinois. Freshman were paired with a "big sister" from the senior class, and fifteen-year-old Harlean was paired up with a girl who would introduce her to nineteen-year-old Charles "Chuck" McGrew, heir to a large fortune in the fall of 1926. Harlean and McGrew fell in love and were married at the end of 1927, to the annoyance of Mother Jean (who had earlier that year married Marino Bello) - marriage would free Harlean from her control.
Shortly after the marriage, Chuck McGrew turned twenty-one and received part of his large inheritance and the couple moved to Los Angeles, where Harlean thrived as a wealthy socialite and more importantly away from her mother. In Los Angeles, Harlean befriended Rosalie Roy, a young aspiring actress. Lacking a car, Roy asked Harlean to drive her to Fox Studios for an appointment she had. It was there, sitting in the car waiting for her friend, Harlean was noticed by Fox executives
In the spring of 1928 back in Los Angeles and married to Charles McGrew, III, Harlean was introduced to Fox studio executive when she drove a friend to her appointment there. Although she expressed disinterest in acting, the executive insisted on writing her letters of introduction to Fox and The Central Casting Bureau.
Weeks later, on a dare from friends, she returned to Fox's casting office and signed in under her mother's maiden name, Jean Harlow.
Weeks later, at her mother's insistence and after turning down other job opportunities, Jean appeared in her first film, Honor Bound as an unbilled extra, for $7 dollars a day.
This led for to other roles, and Harlow landed bit parts in silent films such as Why is a Plumber? (1927), Moran of the Marines (1928) and The Love Parade (1929).
She had a more substantial role in Laurel and Hardy's short Double Whoopee (1929). She got her first major role when producer Howard Hughes cast her in the World War I film Hell's Angels (1930).
Notable for its two-strip Technicolor sequences (including some footage of Harlow in color, the only existing color footage of her), this film launched Harlow as the premier sex symbol of the 1930s and started a craze for platinum blonde hair that continues to this day.
What was notable about this was in Hollywood, only the "good girls" were blonde and the "bad girls" were brunette - Harlow's vamps turned that stereotype on its head and woman across the nation rushed to bleach their hair in wake of Harlow's rapidly rising popularity.
Loaned out by Hughes' Caddo Company to other studios, in 1931, Harlow began to gain more attention when she appeared in The Public Enemy, Goldie, The Secret Six with Clark Gable, and Platinum Blonde with Loretta Young.
Though the films were moderate hits, Harlow's acting ability was damned by critics as awful and was mocked, with some saying she ruined any scene she was in.
With Harlow's star on the ascent, she gained the attention of studio brass at MGM who bought out her contract from Howard Hughes. MGM was where Harlow would become "Harlow", not only with the image but be given superior movie roles to show off not only her beauty but her natural talent for comedy. In 1932 she had the starring roles in Red-Headed Woman, for which she received a salary of $1,250/week, and Red Dust, her second film with Clark Gable.These films showed her to be much more at ease in front of the camera and highlighted her skill as a comedienne. Harlow and Gable worked well together and co-starred in a total of six films.
It was during the making of Red Dust that Harlow's second husband, MGM producer Paul Bern (neé Paul Levy) committed suicide at Harlow's home, creating a scandal that reverberates to this day. Initially, the Hollywood community whispered Harlow had killed Bern herself, though this was just rumor and would quickly be disproven. Harlow would survive this, one of the first great Hollywood scandals, and would come through unscathed and more popular with audiences than ever.
Years later it was suggested by screenwriter Ben Hecht that Bern was murdered by an unbalanced former lover, Dorothy Millette, who actually committed suicide the next day. (Years later, the Bern-Harlow house became the home of Jay Sebring and, for a time, Sharon Tate. They and others were murdered there by Charles Manson's followers in August of 1969.
By 1933, Harlow was becoming a superstar. She had a great comedic part in Dinner at Eight, and later that year she starred in Bombshell.
Because of Harlow's indiscreet affair with boxer Max Baer (Heavy Weight Champion of the World and key figure in the recent film 'Cinderella Man'), Mrs. Baer threatened divorce proceedings, naming Harlow as a co-defendant for "alienation of affection," then the common term for adultery.
MGM diffused the situation by arranging a quick fixed marriage between Harlow and cinematographer Harold Rosson. Still feeling the aftershocks of the mysterious Bern death, the studio didn't want another Harlow scandal on its hands. Rosson and Harlow were prior friends, and the gentle cameraman went along with the plan. They divorced quietly seven months later.
After the hits that were 'Hold Your Man' and 'Red Dust', MGM realized the goldmine of the Harlow-Gable vehicle, putting them in two more films: China Seas (1935) and Wife vs. Secretary (1936). Other co-stars included Spencer Tracy, Robert Taylor and William Powell. She was allegedly involved romantically with Gable, Powell and Taylor.
By the mid-1930s Harlow was becoming one of the biggest stars in America and the foremost female star at MGM; Harlow was still a young woman with her star continuously on the ascendant while by this point the popularity of other female stars at MGM such as Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer were waning. Her movies continued to make huge profits at the box office even during the middle of the Depression; some credit Harlow's films with keeping MGM in the black while other studios fell into bankruptcy.
Following the end of her third marriage, Harlow met MGM star William Powell and quickly fell in love. They reportedly were engaged for two years, but differences kept them from marrying swiftly (she wanted children; he did not). Harlow also said that studio head Louis B. Mayer would never allow them to wed.
Harlow fell ill with influenza during the early part of 1937; although she recovered, the attack weakened her body against the onslaught of a more serious illness that was just beginning to take hold: kidney failure. In retrospective analysis, Harlow's kidneys may have been slowly failing during the ten years since she contracted scarlet fever while in her early teens. In the days before kidney dialysis and transplants, this condition was fatal.
While filming Saratoga (1937) with Clark Gable, Harlow collapsed on set and was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with uremic poisoning). She died just days later, at the age of 26.
Harlow is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale, California. William Powell paid for her tomb, which bears the simple inscription "Our Baby". Her funeral took place in the Wee Kirk O' The Heather Chapel at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
She was buried in the negligee that she had worn just weeks before, while filming a scene from the movie Saratoga. It's been reported that a single white gardenia with an unsigned note attached that read "Good night, my dearest darling" were placed in her hands. It is assumed that both were from William Powell, who also paid for her final resting place—the $25,000, 9x10-foot private room lined with multicolored imported marble located in the "Sanctuary of Benediction".
Many myths have swirled around Harlow's death and it was not until the early 1990s that her long-sealed medical records were uncovered. Legend had it that Harlow's mother, a follower of Christian Science, prevented doctors from attending to her dying daughter, but this myth has been extinguished; records prove Harlow received constant medical attention. Other long-standing myths, such as the suggestion that Harlow's kidneys were damaged in a beating from husband Paul Bern or that bleach from her hair seeped into her brain and killed her, are equally untrue.
Harlow was linked to American mobster Bugsy Siegel and was the godmother of his daughter Millicent. She also dated mobster Abner Zwillman at one time. He bought her a Cadillac and a jeweled bracelet, as well as getting her a two-picture deal with Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures due to a loan he made to Cohn.
Was the idol of Marilyn Monroe, who said she had a scrapbook with pictures and writing about Harlow as a child. Monroe's life mirrored Harlow's in many ways: Both were hugely famous, blonde sex symbols; both had several failed marriages and both suddenly died young under strange circumstances.
Is one of the many classic stars name-checked in Madonna's 1990 hit "Vogue", as well as the songs "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes and "I've Never Been to Me" by Charlene.
Jean's beautiful green eyes were deep-set and she had to be lit just so for film and photo sessions in order to bring them out in contrast to the angle of her nose and the cleft in her chin. Her trademark extremely-arched eyebrows were drawn in after her own comparatively straight eyebrows were shaved off.
Although a natural ash blonde, Harlow achieved her trademark platinum tresses through weekly bleaching sessions using a mixture of peroxide, ammonia, Clorox and Lux Flakes—an extremely painful and harsh process.
Harlow died as her last film, Saratoga, was 90% completed. Word got out that MGM intended either to reshoot the film with a new actress or scrap it altogether. Hearing this news, thousands of fans wrote letters to MGM asking them not to scrap Harlow's last film, but to release it to theaters. The last 10% of the film was completed using a soundalike and a body double, Mary Dees, mostly accomplished with wide-angle shots. The film broke box-office records and became the biggest picture of Harlow's career. Clark Gable remarked that during filming scenes after Harlow's death, he felt as if he "were in the arms of a ghost."
Two competing films, both titled Harlow, were released in 1965. Carroll Baker played Jean in the more successful film, although Baker was almost a decade older than the age Harlow was when she died. More age-appropriate, but less successful at the box office, was Carol Lynley in her "quickie" film version. In the 1950's, there was talk that Marilyn Monroe might make a film on Harlow's life for 20th Century-Fox and Columbia Pictures considered making a Harlow biopic with either Cleo Moore or Kim Novak but neither project got off the ground.
Gwen Stefani made her acting debut playing Jean Harlow in the 2004 Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator. Like Baker, Stefani was 34 when she played Jean Harlow—who was 19 years old at the time she was discovered by Hughes.
Marilyn Monroe was offered a part to star as Harlow in a biopic of her life. Monroe initally turned it down, saying "I hope they don't do that to me when I'm gone". With later renewed interest, Monroe was scheduled to meet with prospective producers of a Harlow film the week she died.
 |
◊What they thought of her◊
"Harlow was not frightened of the camera; she reacted to it, and in some strange way, I was the third party - THEY were the conspirators."
-- George Hurrell (MGM chief photographer)
"In the first sitting I fell in love with Jean Harlow. She had the most beautiful and seductive body I ever photographed."
-- Charles Sinclair Bull (portrait photographer) |
"A square shooter if there ever was one."
-- Spencer Tracy
"Always, she is so straightforward and human and pleasant to observe that she is of inordinate value to a film that certainly does require her gifts."
-- Richard Watts, Jr. from the New York Herald Tribune
"She didn't want to be famous. She wanted to be happy."
-- Clark Gable
Contributed By : Kat (Razor Heretic) |
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