EARLY DAYS PRODUCTIONS
Harlow was born Harlean Harlow Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Mont Clair Carpenter, a dentist, and his wife, Jean Poe Carpenter (née Harlow). Harlean's childhood was not marked by poverty and unhappiness. Harlean 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 for the rest of her life.
1911 - 1937
Stats:
Birth Name: Harlean Harlow Carpenter
Height: 5' 1 1/2"
Eye Color: green
Hair Color: ashe blond (natural) platinum blonde (bleached)
Nickname: Baby
Quote: "I was not a born actress. No one knows it better than I. If I had any latent talent, I have had to work hard, listen carefully, do things over and over and then over again in order to bring it out."
Birth Name: Harlean Harlow Carpenter
Height: 5' 1 1/2"
Eye Color: green
Hair Color: ashe blond (natural) platinum blonde (bleached)
Nickname: Baby
Quote: "I was not a born actress. No one knows it better than I. If I had any latent talent, I have had to work hard, listen carefully, do things over and over and then over again in order to bring it out."
In the fall of 1926 fifteen-year-old Harlean met nineteen-year-old Charles "Chuck" McGrew, heir to a large fortune. Harlean and McGrew fell in love and were married at the end of 1927, much to the annoyance of mother Jean. 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.After several calls and turned-down job offers from Central Casting, Harlean was pressured by her mother (now relocated to Los Angeles) into accepting work. Pressed by her enthused mother, Harlean drove to Central Casting and signed in under her mother's name: Jean Harlow. Among her early roles was the Laurel and Hardy short Double Whoopee (1929).
For more information about Jean Harlow please visit: Wikipedia
Jean Harlow's Selected Filmography
1938 Saratoga
1937 Personal Property
1936 Libeled Lady
1936 Suzy
1936 Wife vs. Secretary
1936 Riffraff
1935 China Seas
1935 Reckless
1934 The Girl from Missouri
1933 Bombshell
1933 Dinner at Eight
1933 Hold Your Man
1932 Red Dust
1932 Red-Headed Woman
1932 Scarface
1932 The Beast of the City
1932 Three Wise Girls
1931 Platinum Blonde
1931 Goldie
1931 Iron Man
1931 The Public Enemy
1931 The Secret Six
1931 City Lights
1930 Hell's Angels
1929 New York Nights
1929 Weak But Willing (short)
1929 This Thing Called Love
1929 The Love Parade
1929 The Saturday Night Kid
1929 Bacon Grabbers (short)
1929 Thundering Toupees (short)
1929 Double Whoopee (short)
1929 The Unkissed Man (short)
1929 Close Harmony (uncredited)
1929 Why Is a Plumber? (short)
1929 Why Be Good?
1929 Fugitives
1929 Liberty (short)
1928 Chasing Husbands (short)
1928 Bathing Beauty
1928 Moran of the Marines
1937 Personal Property
1936 Libeled Lady
1936 Suzy
1936 Wife vs. Secretary
1936 Riffraff
1935 China Seas
1935 Reckless
1934 The Girl from Missouri
1933 Bombshell
1933 Dinner at Eight
1933 Hold Your Man
1932 Red Dust
1932 Red-Headed Woman
1932 Scarface
1932 The Beast of the City
1932 Three Wise Girls
1931 Platinum Blonde
1931 Goldie
1931 Iron Man
1931 The Public Enemy
1931 The Secret Six
1931 City Lights
1930 Hell's Angels
1929 New York Nights
1929 Weak But Willing (short)
1929 This Thing Called Love
1929 The Love Parade
1929 The Saturday Night Kid
1929 Bacon Grabbers (short)
1929 Thundering Toupees (short)
1929 Double Whoopee (short)
1929 The Unkissed Man (short)
1929 Close Harmony (uncredited)
1929 Why Is a Plumber? (short)
1929 Why Be Good?
1929 Fugitives
1929 Liberty (short)
1928 Chasing Husbands (short)
1928 Bathing Beauty
1928 Moran of the Marines
Early Days Productions: Jean Harlow 03/11/2012
Full Movie: Hell's Angels (1930)
Two brothers attending Oxford enlist with the RAF when World War I breaks out. - Edited from IMDB
Under pressure from Harlean's career ascent, she and Chuck McGrew separated in June 1929, and Harlean moved in with her mother. During filming of Weak But Willing in 1929, she was spotted by James Hall, an actor in a then-shooting Howard Hughes film called Hell's Angels. Hughes, re-shooting the film from silent into sound, needed a new actress as the original actress Greta Nissen's Norse accent proved undesirable for a talkie. Harlean met briefly with Hughes and was hired on the spot. Hell's Angels premiered in Hollywood on May 27, 1930 at Grauman's Chinese Theater.
Despite critical disparagement and poor roles, Harlow's popularity and following was large and growing. On March 3, 1932, Harlow's twenty-first birthday, MGM announced that they had bought Harlow's contract from Hughes for $30,000. MGM was where Harlow would become a superstar. She was given superior movie roles to show off not only her beauty, but what turned out to be a genuine talent for comedy.
In the spring of 1937, Harlow began filming Saratoga with Clark Gable. It would be her final film. Off screen, Harlow perspired heavily and she began coming late to shooting. On May 29, 1937, Harlow collapsed on set and was rushed to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with uremic poisoning. She was cared for at home for the next eight days and was given constant medical attention, despite her mother's Christian Science beliefs. Nonetheless, her condition worsened. On June 6, 1937, she was rushed to the hospital. Jean Harlow died the following morning at 11:37 a.m. She was 26 years of age.
