Remembering Harlean Carpenter, Eighty Two Years On

These are some of my absolute favorite professional portraits of Harlean. Portraits made by photographer Harvey White in Spring 1933, around the time Jean was filming HOLD YOUR MAN (1933). ⁣⁣

⁣⁣I wish I could voice all of my thoughts and every little bit of admiration I have for this wonderful woman. On this dismal day, I want recognize what an inspiration and positive influence on my life and others that Harlean has been. Her lively spirit continues to emanate a light that cannot be extinguished; it it still seen and adored by us. Over a century after her birth, her kindred soul and personality remains timeless and in vogue. Her true image has persevered over decades of lies and salacious whispers; and that is truly what she deserves. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣Eighty two years after her passing, we remember Harlean Carpenter as the woman she was. Generous, thoughtful, demure, impossibly unpretentious. We remember her as the woman who was so keen on giving away her silk stockings as gifts that her maid, Blanche, had to hide them. We remember her as the rough-and-tumble tomboy she was out of doors, and her childlike lack of inhibition when it came to her physical appearance. ⁣⁣

We remember her as the warm, loving person who took in myriads of animals over her short life; loving cats, ducks, and donkeys equally. We remember her as the first famous name to greet downtrodden Hollywood newcomers: ⁣⁣

“I was frightfully snubbed, I won’t mention names, but I was coldly treated by some of the stars. The one person who was really nice to me and from whom I least expected it— I don’t know why, now that I know her — was Jean Harlow. She came clear across the room to meet me and said something very gracious about admiring my work and wanting to know more of me. […]” — Merle Oberon⁣⁣

We remember a woman who despite her qualms about her screen image, loved her fans and recognized her relationship with them. ⁣⁣

“As long as I am the “platinum blonde”, as long as I appear in décolleté gowns and sexy love scenes, as long as I am Jean Harlow, I am going to be discussed. It is the price that my kind of screen character pays for her fame, her MGM contract. I have always tried to be truthful and frank with the public about Jean Harlow. It is the least I can do.” — Harlean, quoted in the December 1933 edition of Modern Screen magazine.

There is so much more I want to say about Harlean. Her existence continues to inspire me on a daily basis and I can never thank her enough for that. I can never express how deeply grateful I am to have discovered and loved her. She’s so much like me, down to the little things; like an affinity for comfort and picking off nail polish when stressed. ⁣

Harlean, I love you. You’re eternal and you live on in our hearts forever. We lost you far too soon; we can only speculate the heights your career would have risen to. Thank you for being a beacon of light in my life and many others.

⁣”Jean [Harlow] had it – a humanness that makes your passing leave a void no one can ever quite fill. If I had that, the other fellow could have the Oscars.” – Carole Lombard

𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳⁣

𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝟹, 𝟷𝟿𝟷𝟷 — 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝟽, 𝟷𝟿𝟹𝟽