Jean Harlow photographed strolling outside the recently constructed Star Suites on the MGM lot during the production of Suzy, spring 1936. (Thread)
I’ve posted these “candid” portraits before, but revisiting one of my favorite books gave me a new appreciation for them—realized this lovely picture of soon-to-be fellow platinum gal Lana Turner was taken in the exact same spot three years later in 1939.
Picture taken from “MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot” by Steven Bingen, Stephen Sylvester and Michael Troyan, a wonderful resource for anyone with even a passing interest in film history (as well as anyone looking to fill in their mental map of Harlow’s workplace).
Lana would take over Harlow’s dressing room in suite “A” some time after the former’s passing—couldn’t ask for a more fitting successor. Here is a 1937 dressing room directory, where poignantly enough, the ghost of Harlow’s name remains though the letters have been removed.
Hollywood mermaid Esther Williams talks about the Star Suites (quote also taken from “Backlot”):
“The MGM dressing rooms would have impressed anyone. I was awed by the names on the door. ‘Lana Turner’ was on A, ‘Greer Garson’ was on B, ‘Judy Garland’ on C, Joan Crawford on ‘D’, and Katharine Hepburn on E.”
P.S.S.: The Star Suites, erected in ‘35, are not the same upstairs dressing rooms that appear in Harlow’s Bombshell (1933); those are the old General Dressing Rooms which were further west on the lot.
Harlow did a pre-Star Suites dressing room photoshoot there in July 1933 with Clarence Bull for Bombshell publicity. They still exist today in the form of Sony writer’s offices.
Harlow Heaven 