94 years ago in Harlow History, October 19, 1932: Solemn and sad-eyed (but still beautiful) Jean Harlow makes a modest appearance in probate court following her husband Paul Bern’s death the previous month. Here, she was named executrix of his estate. At least the last photograph was taken by Frank Bentley (photo and accompanying credit … Continue reading Harlow, Executrix
Author: Sophia D'Aurelio Adair
Writer, researcher, and film historian focusing especially on the silent/pre-Code eras
Harlow at Warner Bros (October 6, 1933)
93 years ago today in Harlow History, October 6, 1933: Jean Harlow (and Irving Thalberg) represent MGM at a Warner Bros luncheon for members of the U.S. Naval Affairs committees in the House and Senate. The point of events like this was to portray Hollywood as gracious and accommodating instead of a land of sin … Continue reading Harlow at Warner Bros (October 6, 1933)
Harlow at the Ambassador, circa ‘33
Jean Harlow admires the flowers in a rare shot taken underneath a “windowsill” in the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, circa 1933 (a venue she was spied at often that year). (Peers Buddy Rogers, Claire Windsor, Sally Clark, and Don Alvarado are shown in the same spot in 1933, as published in Screen Book mag…next … Continue reading Harlow at the Ambassador, circa ‘33
A Century Ago: Harlow at Ferry Hall (Part 2)
100 years ago today in Harlow History, October 1, 1926: As part of a series of back-and-forth communications providing information on future student Harlean Carpenter (AKA Jean Harlow), the headmistress of girl’s boarding school Ferry Hall, Eloise Ruthven Tremain, asks the fifteen-year-old’s doctor whether there was any truth behind her claim that she was forbidden … Continue reading A Century Ago: Harlow at Ferry Hall (Part 2)
A Century Ago: Harlow at Ferry Hall (Part 1)
100 years ago today in Harlow History, September 8, 1926: Jean Harlow, at this point still fifteen-year-old Harlean Carpenter from Kansas City, gets a letter of reference from the manager of Kline’s Department Store in the same city advocating for her mother’s financial standing before admittance to swanky Ferry Hall, a girl’s boarding school in … Continue reading A Century Ago: Harlow at Ferry Hall (Part 1)
The Constant Question of Paul Bern
94 years ago today in Harlow History, September 5, 1932: The body of Jean Harlow’s second husband, MGM producer Paul Bern, is found inside their shared Easton Drive home. Butler John Carmichael made the grim discovery in the dressing room of the master bedroom; the situation would then be irreversibly tampered with by the Studio, … Continue reading The Constant Question of Paul Bern
Catch of the Day: The Libeled Lady Marlin
90 years ago today in Harlow History, September 4, 1936: a “Mother” Jean-signed letter is typed and postmarked to Virginia pen pal Nellie, one of a handful of women Harlow and Co. readily and repeatedly corresponded with, which bolstered her image as a grateful and accessible woman. Though in this case, Harlow seemed to have … Continue reading Catch of the Day: The Libeled Lady Marlin
The Prizefighter and the Platinum Blonde
93 years ago today in Harlow History, September 3, 1933: Jean Harlow squeezes the shapely bicep of boxer Primo Carnera behind the scenes of The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933), which she was originally slated to star in with Clark Gable. Ironically, Harlow’s attentions were on another prizefighter: she was already at the center of … Continue reading The Prizefighter and the Platinum Blonde
Inside Jean Harlow’s “Platinum Palace”
A peek at what was better known as “The Whitest House in the World,” a 1.3 acre achromatic wonderland built for Hollywood’s crowning “Platinum Blonde” in the early 1930s. You can buy it for $16.8M There are few sacred spaces left in Los Angeles in 2026, especially celebrity residences from the city’s now long-evaporated Golden … Continue reading Inside Jean Harlow’s “Platinum Palace”
Harlow History at the Cocoanut Grove, June 1933
93 years ago today in Harlow History, June 3, 1933: Jean Harlow attends the West Coast opening of Abe Lyman’s orchestra at the Cocoanut Grove with new beau, cinematographer Harold Rosson, who was pointed out as Harlow’s date to the event by the LA Times on the 4th. “Hal Rosson’s apparently ‘making time’ with Jean … Continue reading Harlow History at the Cocoanut Grove, June 1933
