Finding the truth difficult to accept, some fans speculated that Jean really died of a botched abortion, or of intestinal damage from being beaten, or from the very bleach that gave her hair its platinum blonde shade. However, alternative theories circulated about Jean's untimely death, just as they would in 1962, when a 36-year-old Marilyn Monroe unexpectedly died. (The first successful kidney dialysis was not until 1945, and the first successful kidney transplant in 1954.) Jean Harlow died two days after the diagnosis, on June 7, 1937, at the age of 26. Sadly, at the time, there wasn't much that could be done. Finally, another doctor correctly diagnosed her kidney disease, which was linked to her scarlet fever as a child and had likely been a long time coming. Stomach pain and vomiting believed to be the flu kept Jean home in bed and was later misdiagnosed and treated as a swollen gallbladder.Ĭlark was reportedly very concerned after he came to visit and found a terribly bloated, rotten-smelling Jean.
DEAD BLONDE ACTRESS MOVIE
Two months later, while working on another movie with Clark Gable called Saratoga, her mouth was still infected from the surgery. Then, during an operation to remove all four of her wisdom teeth, Jean's heart momentarily stopped beating. Even her signature platinum locks began to fall out in clumps as the weekly bleachings finally took their toll. Not even ten years into her career, Jean was looking less and less like her blonde bombshell self. However happy she may have been personally with William, Jean continued to drink heavily, which as Longworth notes, "may have obscured other health problems," including headaches mistaken for hangovers and a puffy face and swollen belly that Jean likely believed to be alcohol-related weight gain (her mother's solution was apparently to put her on a strict diet). Jean Harlow and William Powell, 1935 Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Imagesīut by 1935, Jean seemed to have finally found love with actor William Powell, her costar in Reckless and Libeled Lady. Despite rumors that he was murdered at the hands of a former lover (it turned out Paul was still common-law married to another woman) and an alleged MGM cover-up, Paul's death was ultimately ruled a suicide. Only two months after their wedding, Paul was found dead from a gun shot wound to the head in their home Jean had been staying with her mother at the time. In 1932 Jean married MGM executive Paul Bern. Jean's personal life was less stable than her work life. Yet, she was given mainly "dumb blonde" parts and was considered by some to be the same in real life (perhaps one of the most obvious parallels to Marilyn Monroe). In the span of only a few years, the actress established herself as a smoldering sex symbol while simultaneously displaying a serious skill for quick comedic dialogue. While another beautiful blonde actress, Thelma Todd, had already paved the way for the bubbly curvaceous blonde persona, Jean took it in a new direction. (Similarly, Norma Jean would borrow her mother's maiden name of Monroe.) Meanwhile Harlean's lifelong nickname among friends and family was "The Baby."Ĭlark Gable and Jean Harlow in Red Dust Bettmann/Getty Images Harlean's mother's name was actually Jean Harlow, but after her daughter took on the screen name, she began going by "Mother Jean". Just as Marilyn Monroe used to be Norma Jean, Jean Harlow was born Harlean Carpenter on March 3, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri. Now, 80 years after her death, a look back at Jean Harlow's tragic story-and the eerily parallel lives of the two Hollywood legends. Sadly, Marilyn did follow in her favorite actress's footsteps, and not just in terms of fame: The two starlets' untimely and controversial deaths were as similar as their successes in life. In fact, Marilyn Monroe grew up watching the 1930s star, even modeling herself in the icon's image. But long before Norma Jean Baker became a 1950s screen siren, another actress defined the concept of the Hollywood platinum blonde: Jean Harlow. When you think of the ultimate blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe might come to mind.
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