The Birth of Harlean Carpenter

One quiet evening on March 3, 1911, an affluent neighborhood in central Kansas City, Missouri, was about to produce a child that would go on to make indelible marks on the world; the catch being nobody yet knew it.

Perhaps Jean Carpenter had the keenest sense of what was to come; leading up to this special date were months of filling her life with “thoughts of perfection and beauty”, her own brand of prenatal preparation for a “special child”. Naturally, she assumed delving into art forms such as poetry and music would help shape her unborn baby. Maybe she was right; or maybe pride gave way to narcissism, and she felt she must take credit for her child’s impending legacy in any way she could.

Harlean Carpenter made her official entrance that night at 7:40 pm, weighing in at a healthy nine pounds. Her birthplace was the second home of her grandfather, Skip Harlow, which was located at 3344 Olive Street. The Carpenters had moved into the home after their honeymoon in late 1908; Mont Clair, Jean’s father, kept a dental practice in the building.

There was one problem: grandfather Skip Harlow, who had demanded a child from the mismatched and unhappy newlyweds, expected a boy to carry on the family name. The child was to be called Harlow Carpenter, representing both families; such a masculine name obviously didn’t suit the beautiful baby girl Jean was ecstatic over. As a last minute change, she suggested the child be named after herself; Jean Harlow Carpenter.

Hearing this, Skip Harlow reacted in his usual brash way and declared there was no room for two Jean Carpenters in one immediate family. He came up with the name “Shirley Jean” for his granddaughter, which was not received well. A compromise was reached between father and daughter in the name “Harlean”; a unique portmanteau of both maternal names.

To further underline the baby was in fact, a Harlow, the name on Harlean’s announcement is given as Harlean Harlow Carpenter. On legal paper, however, the child had no middle name.

Though not much is written about the immediate time period following Harlean’s birth, we can readily assume she was being doted on by an overbearing mother. Being born into an already loveless relationship, the child probably didn’t witness much affection, if all, between her parents. No other children would be born to the Carpenter union and they would divorce a decade later. Baby Harlean and her parents would reside at 3344 Olive Street for only a few years before Mont Carpenter moved the family into their very own home, located at 4409 Gillham Street.

Unfortunately, the home on Olive Street no longer stands, but there is a great period image of what the property looked like midcentury:

At some point after this image, the house was torn down, and the lot it stood on remains empty as of last year, 2019. Here’s the location on Google Maps:

Luckily, Jean’s childhood home on Gillham Road is extant and beautiful — but privately owned. I won’t be posting a picture out of respect for its residents, who probably don’t want to be blasted on social media or anywhere else.

Now, let’s take a look at Harlean in pictures over the first six months of her life. We’re lucky to have quite a wealth of her baby pictures: and we have an overzealous mother to thank, no doubt. Many of these were published for the first time after Jean’s death in 1937, when numerous publications interviewed her hysterically grieving mother and were provided a handful of her “favorite baby photos”.

There is not much more to add other than how thankful I am for Jean’s existence. On her 109th trip around the sun, I like to remember her as the woman she was in life, especially off screen. Sure, I fell in love with Jean Harlow for the saucy performances she conquered; but I stuck around for the person she really was. Someone who stuck up for the underdog—who wasn’t afraid to be seen in sneakers on the MGM lot, despite protests from L.B. Mayer. Someone who was utterly devoid of ugly vanity–a trait her lasting screen legacy continues to defy. Through and through, today we celebrate a truly multi-faceted individual. Happy Birthday, Harlean!

Sources:

Stenn, David. Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow. Doubleday, 1993.