Before Pam Anderson, before even Marilyn Monroe, a woman by the name of Clara Bow epitomized sex for the world. She was young, beautiful, brash, and seductive. Women were both inspired and reviled by her. Men wanted her. She was the perfect flapper, the image that comes to mind at the very mention of the word. Her vampish looks and bravado took the world by storm, yet today few know her name.
Born Clara Gordon Bow in the slums of Brooklyn in July 29, 1905; she had a heartbreaking childhood. Her father, thought to have been mentally impaired, was viciously abusive and is thoguht to have raped her when she was 15. Her mentally ill and epileptic mother was an occasional prostitute who never even bothered with a birth certificate, hoping that baby Clara would die in childbirth or shortly thereafter. When various "uncles" and firemen came to visit, she was made to hide in a cupboard. She dropped out of school at 7. Her only outlet was the newest rage: moving pictures. Scraping togethor her pennies, she'd watch in awe as silver sirens wove beautiful fantasies for her to escape into. At home she'd imitate her idols in the mirror. She had talent and she knew it.
In 1921, when she was just 16, Clara begged 50 cents from her wastrel father to have a tin-type made of herself. Although unhappy with the cheap daguerreotype, she sent it in to Motion Picture Magazine's Photo Contest, the grand prize being a role in a movie. The next year she was declared the winner:
"She is very young, only 16. But she is full of confidence, determination and ambition. She is endowed with a mentality far beyond her years. She has a genuine spark of the divine fire. The five different screen tests she had, showed this very plainly, her emotional range of expression provoking a fine enthusiasm from every contest judge who saw the tests. She screens perfectly. Her personal appearance is almost enough to carry her to success without the aid of the brains she indubitably possesses."
Her bit part in the movie was unfortunately cut. Unfazed, Clara began to make rounds to photography and movie studios. As she delved deeper into the world of acting, her mother's mental condition took a turn for the worse. Determined that acting was for prostitutes (and what was she?), she tried to stop Clara the only way she knew how: to kill her. Clara awoke one night to find her mother above her holding a cleaver to her throat. She managed to lock herself in a closet until her grandmother came over. Clara suffered from insomnia for the rest of her life. During filming in 1923, she received news that her mother had passed away. Regardless of the abuse, Clara would always regret the disapproval or her mother and feel somehow responsible for ther passing.
After 3 more movies, she was unbilled for 2 of them, Clara met up with playwright-agent Maxine Alton, who in turn convinced J. G. Bachman of B. P. Schulberg in Preferred Pictures, to sign Clara for a three-month film contract at $50 a week. Train fare to be included. Alton remembers Clara's brutal audition before Schulberg:
"Without make-up, still in a sweater and skirt, she ran the gamut of emotions. Schulberg told her to laugh. She did. Suddenly he said, 'Stop laughing, cry!' Immediately, in the snap of a finger, a flood of tears drenched her cheeks. She was an emotional machine. Schulberg turned to me, threw up his hands, and said 'You win!' "
Cast in bit roles, she was loaned out to other studios more often than she acted for Schulberg. This widespread exposure allowed her to begin making a name for herself. As her finances steadied, she brought her father to Hollywood and funded numerous failed business ventures. He took to hanging about the sets, trying to pick up starlets. Although her father was reviled, Clara herself was loved by all. Members of the crew were constantly falling in love with the generous, humble, and sweet-tempered Bow.
Finally, in 1925, Bow was cast in The Plastic Age and was immediately vaulted towards stardom. She began dating her co-star Gilbert Roland. The next year she made Mantrap and began dating the director, Victor Fleming, while still seeing Roland. At this time, Fleming was 17 years her senior. Victor Fleming said of Clara:
"A temperament that responded like a great violin, touch her and she answered with genius. Her acting could have been developed to a power, a reality that would have led screen drama to new heights."
In 1927, Bow was cast in the film It after already having been dubbed the It Girl by the great femine exotica writer Elinor Glyn. So what was "It"? Simply, it was sex. Sex-appeal, sexuality, sexiness, all of the above; and Clara had it! ("It, hell," said Dorothy Parker, "She had those.")
Stay tuned for Clara Bow part II