Jean Harlow (shown with her mother, Jean Bello, in 1932) was born Harlean Harlow Carpenter on March 3, 1911, in Kansas City, Mo. She eloped at age 16 with 20-year-old Charles “Chuck” McGrew, a wealthy socialite and heir, and in 1928, the couple moved to Los Angeles, where she was noticed by movie studio executives. When pressured by her overbearing mother, who dreamed of acting herself, Harlean began taking bit parts in silent films such as “Moran of the Marines” and “Chasing Husbands.” She took the stage name Jean Harlow, her mother’s maiden name, and lived out her mother’s dream in front of the movie cameras. She blamed the demands of her early career for her troubled marriage, which ended in divorce in 1929, and moved in with her mother and new stepfather, Marino Bello, after the divorce. (R R Stuart Collection / Los Angeles Times file photo)
Although her career was cut tragically short, Harlow is credited with keeping MGM afloat when rival studios struggled. Her films were box office successes, even during the Depression. Fans poured into theaters to see her final film, “Saratoga,” which broke box office records for MGM. The studio shut down on the day of her funeral, and Powell bought her a private room in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif. The inscription on her grave reads: “Our Baby.” (George Hurrell / Los Angeles Times file photo)
