Clara Bow

CLARA BOW

CLARA GORDON BOW.

Hollywood motion picture actress.

Born July 29, 1905 in Brooklyn.

Her father, Robert Bowe, who in his youth was a common gigalo, married the daughter of a florist, Sarah Gordon. The florist went bankrupt and died. The family had to move to a poor neighborhood, the "Brooklyn dump."

Clara's childhood was not a happy one. Her mother beat her, put her out in the cold as punishment, and starved her. Clara's father disappeared for months, then, briefly appearing, he fought with his wife on the fist. Clara went to school, but it was torture for her - her mother dressed her in rags, she never knew her lessons, because she had nowhere and no time to study.

At 15, with her father's support, she entered a young talent contest and won among 500 contestants. As a reward she was promised a minor role in the movies. Her mother learned of her daughter's victory, rolled up a scandal, during which she died of a sudden stroke. After the death of Sarah Robert encouraged Clara in every way "to go to the cinema. Gradually she began to remove, and finally ended up in Hollywood.

Meeting in 1923 with the head of the film company Preferred Pictures, Schulberg has defined the stellar future of the actress. Their joint work began with a melodrama about the separated lovers called "May Days" (1923).

Over the next five years, Clara starred in twenty-five scenes. She began to bring the studio a bounty, growing from film to film in geometric progression. But the same studio turned her into a powerless slave. For the first three years she was given only one day off. In her entire career, poor Clara never left California. Her capacity for work was staggering - in just 12 years of her acting career, Clara starred in 56 pictures, never giving up any role.

In the mid-1920s, Bow's fame surpassed that of Mary Pickford and even Greta Garbo. Only her best films were held at the box office for more than a year at a full house. Before Bowe cinemas spun new films for no more than a month.

Along with an active acting career Clara's personal life was quite turbulent. Among her lovers were film partners Gilbert Ronald, Gary Cooper. In two weeks of absence of Cooper managed to get engaged to the director Victor Fleming.

In 1929, Hollywood bid farewell to the "great silent. Clara did not like the result of her "voice test. Although Clara's voice was deemed "trainable," she announced that she was leaving the cinematography. Bowe does appear in several sound films - A Raucous Party (1929), Faithful to the Navy (1930), Love Among Millionaires (1930), and The Hype (1933). Strong Brooklyn accent, with a head of its origin, as well as the habit of expressing himself on the screen through flamboyant pantomime played a rather cruel joke with Clara. The films were a complete failure.

In 1929, as her career began to decline, Bow met the actor, western hero Rex Bell. After a two-year romance, the couple married on December 3, 1931, in Las Vegas and went to a ranch in Nevada. Bow and Bell had a son, Tony, in 1934, and a second son, George, in 1938.

Gradually Clara became more and more depressed and began to exhibit mental problems. After a suicide attempt, she had to turn to psychiatrists.

In 1949, Bow was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which was hereditary. Clara's mother and grandmother suffered from schizophrenia, as did her mother's two sisters. Treatment - including c using shock therapy - did not bring results, and soon the actress was placed in a psychiatric hospital. Bow left the hospital in July 1950, but in the family has not returned - lived in a separate apartment with a companion. She saw her sons occasionally. The only time she went out in public was at the funeral of her husband Rex Bell on July 4, 1962.

The actress died of a heart attack on September 27, 1965 in Los Angeles.

PRIZES AND AWARDS

1924 - She was among the hopeful young actresses and received the WAMPAS Baby Stars Award, which has been awarded in various years to Joan Blondel, Bessie Love, Vera Reynolds, Ginger Rogers, etc.