Info-Dump to me plz

info dump incoming 

tw for lotta stuff (r/pe, ab/se, mental health talk in general) 

clara bow, the first ever 'it girl' to exist on our earth, was born in the slums of brooklyn in 1905 on july 29th. her parents had separated and her father was absent in most of her life, her mother being mentally unwell and not caring for clara bow as she should have. she lived with infestation of rats and roaches when she was younger, never reaching past 8th grade education. she has two other siblings that had passed before her in a miscarriage, so clara bow was considered a rainbow baby. 

clara found a beauty contest in the papers, the reward being a small role in a movie. she got her pictures taken and sent them off, and surprisingly she had won the contest! it was a shocker back in the 1920s due to the fact that she was not only underaged but didn't meet the beauty standards of that time. she was considered too overweight and etc due to her poor background, but even so, she rose above everyone else in that contest. 

she would go on to continue film making, her mother disapproving and her father all of the sudden deciding he wants to be back in her life. her mother at one point held a knife to her throat whilst clara was asleep, telling her that all actresses go to hell and that she is sinful. her mother had passed away during the filming of down to the sea in ships, her mother sarah bow passed away due to epilepsy - but she passed in an asylum after she lost consciousness because of epilepsy. clara bow showed remorse for going into film acting, 'dancing half naked whilst her mother was dying'. though, she continued her career. she unfortunately was like the first marilyn monroe where she only got roles where it required her to be "scandalous" in those times terms. though, clara was a very sex positive woman, her response to marilyn monroes death was:

"being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered." 

clara bow made a breakthrough with her film "it", a film featuring her as the it girl. "it" is described as someone who has some specific charm about them that can't exactly be placed, an old 1920s song singing "shes not that special, but boy, what is it?" after her breakthrough, many people followed clara as what she called them : "her fan-friends"

clara adored her fans as much as they adored her, there was an instance where clara received a letter regarding a fans corndog stand and how he works to support his family. clara took it upon herself to visit and help him sell corndogs with her presence! she was often giving like this.

its hinted throughout her life that her father had molested her, but considering a lot of rumors happened throughout claras life, that should be taken with a grain of salt. many rumors started about clara bow's sex life. unfortunately, these rumors started by her jealous accountant who was asked to be fired by rex bell (more on him later). her name was daisy. a rumor started that she was so sex crazy, she had intimate relations with her own dog and an entire college football team. of course, none of these claims were true and she came out victorious when she decided to sue for different reasons: daisy had also stole thousands of dollars (which is worth SO much more in modern time) from clara bow and personal belongings like insurance papers and love letters. needless to say, daisy was put straight into prison. 

but unfortunately, lots of bitter and drama hungry people pounced on this fake information was was confirmed fake anyway. this as well as silent film turning into "talkies" as they called it caused clara to slowly decline mentally.

clara bow, as stated before, is from brooklyn. her studio (paramount) asked of her to make her accent not noticeable for film making. she eventually left film making, desiring a private life away from public eye. 

clara bow got married to rex bell who was also a retired film maker. they had two children. they lived on a ranch away from hollywood! but to make a long story short, they ended up living separately whilst still married due to rex bells want to be in a government position, and clara was not happy hearing she might have to be in the public eye again. so much so, she attempted on her own life. her son rex bell jr found her before death and she was rushed to the hospital and eventually the mental hospital.

once she got out, she had a contract to make two last films. but during her very last, hoopla, she beat the microphone yelling that it was the microphones fault for everything. she wished that film never had audio, otherwise her transition into talkies would not be as difficult. of course, she was put back in the hospital and diagnosed with schizophrenia. but unlike her mother and grandmother, she made it out alive and lived peacefully the last few years of her life for the most part. 

she died september 27th, 1965 due to heart disease. her husband died july 4th 1964. 


funfacts: 

1. ) marilyn monroe dressed up as clara bow for life magazine. (see img below)



2. ) clara bow won first oscar film movie for wings (1927) 


3. ) you can see clara looking up to the microphone while singing for "true to the navy", again, she was afraid of the microphone and blamed the microphone for most of her problems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzo5FWAbyRw&ab_channel=RIPSnowWhite

4. ) clara bow opened the it cafe which is now closed.


5. ) clara bow was outcasted in hollywood, her quoted saying about it; 
"i'm a curiosity in hollywood. i'm a big freak, because i'm myself!" 

6. ) clara bow visited england 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kCpl1SiQHQ&ab_channel=BritishMovietone

7. ) clara bow had red hair as shown in this only colored film of her that is existing: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM_pfYTx71Q&ab_channel=Drew

8. ) clara bow had a relationship with gary cooper at some point in her life

9. ) clara bow was the inspo for all flappers

10. ) clara bow's last photo taken




and now, some clara bow photos to finish this post off :3




for more photos, look at my pinterest :3
https://www.pinterest.com/wrldkey/clara/