Trivia

In May 1937, she was the very first motion picture actress to grace the cover of "Life" magazine.

On the day Hollywood canine superstar Rin Tin Tin died at age 16, Harlow, who lived across the street from his master, Lee Duncan, went over to cradle the dog's head in her lap as the famous canine died.

Following the end of her third marriage she met actor William Powell. They were engaged for two years (due to minor differences and Jean's belief that MGM would not approve), but she became sick and died before they could marry.

Went on a salary strike from MGM in 1934, during which she wrote a novel, "Today is Tonight". The book was not published until 1965.

She and Hedy Lamarr were the primary inspirations for "Batman" creator Bob Kane's Catwoman character.

Everyone on the MGM lot called her "The Baby" with the exception of Clark Gable. A very close friend, he always called her "Sis".

Was the idol of Marilyn Monroe, who backed out of a biographical picture on her life. After reading the script, Monroe reportedly told her agent, "I hope they don't do that to me after I'm gone." Both Harlow and Monroe co-starred in their last films with Clark Gable, Harlow in Saratoga (1937) and Monroe in The Misfits (1961).

Her autograph is considered to be very rare as her mother signed all her fan mail.

Attended the 1936 Oscars with her then-lover William Powell, her close friend and co-star Clark Gable and his new lover Carole Lombard, who was Powell's ex-wife. Harlow was so sick during the evening that Lombard had to help her to the powder room to recover and reapply her make-up.

She used to put ice on her nipples right before shooting a scene in order to appear sexier.

Owned a massive 152-carat star sapphire round cabochon ring, the biggest one worn by any Hollywood film star. It was given to her by her then boyfriend William Powell. Star sapphire rings were very popular in the art deco era, and very sought after by glamorous Hollywood stars, who were in a friendly competition of sorts for who wore the biggest. Harlow wore hers most prominently in Personal Property (1937).

Of her final performance in Saratoga (1937), critic Graham Greene wrote, "Her technique was the gangster's technique - she toted a breast like a man totes a gun.".

Harlow is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Cemetery in a private crypt purchased by William Powell for $25,000. The crypt and sanctuary room contained marble from France, Italy and Spain, and was a tribute to the woman he then loved and planned to marry.

Had two famous superstitions: She always wore a lucky ankle chain on her left leg, which is visible in some films if you look closely, and had a lucky mirror in her dressing room. She would not leave the room without first looking in it.

The premiere of her first feature film, Hell's Angels (1930), on May 27, 1930, drew an estimated crowd of 50,000 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. The film also has an expensive eight-minute two-color Technicolor sequence--the only color footage of her that exists.

When she died in 1937, her estate was valued at over $1 million and left entirely to her mother.

At the time of her death she was suffering from kidney failure that was causing her limbs to swell up with water, making her considerably heavier. Co-star Clark Gable noticed this when they filmed a scene for her last film, Saratoga (1937), that required him to lift her into the upper berth in a Pullman car. He complained that she weighed more and was therefore harder for him to lift than she had been in their previous films together.

One of the last photos taken of her showed her carrying a copy of "Gone with the Wind". She was determined to read it, but as her illness progressed she couldn't get past more than the first few pages. When she was admitted to the hospital, she reminded one of her nurses to pack it. The nurse, realizing how serious Harlow's illness was, remarked, "She'll never finish it." Harlow died later that week.

She spent the night of April 6, 1933--the day when Prohibition was set to expire at midnight--at the Los Angeles Brewing Co. with fellow movie star Walter Huston. A maker of "near-beer" and denatured alcohol (the alcohol was subtracted from the full-strength beer the company continued to brew during Prohibition, but could not legally market), the company was ready to immediately supply the Los Angeles area's demand for beer. Skipping the denaturing process, they had made a huge consignment of the genuine stuff to be marketed as Eastside Beer in bottles and kegs. The brewery's trucks were loaded and ready to roll out of the brewery the minute when could be legally shipped and sold. Two Treasury Department agents and many guards were there that night to ensure things went smoothly, safely and legally. At 12:01 a.m. on April 7, when the sale and consumption of intoxicating beverages was once again legal in the United States, Huston gave a short speech and Harlow broke a bottle of beer over the first truck lined up and ready to deliver its now-legal load of liquid refreshment, thus christening the reborn brewery. The trucks rolled out, many staffed with armed guards riding shotgun lest the thirsty multitude get too frisky along the delivery routes. When the night was over, the brewery had done over $250,000 in business (approximately $5,000,000 in 2020 dollars) and had collected a stack of cash 18 inches high. Harlow has stayed the night, partying with brewery employees.

When entombed at Glendale's Forest Lawn Cemetery in 1937, she was dressed in the same gown she wore in Libeled Lady (1936).

Never wore any underwear and always slept in the nude.

She had to stick to a strict diet to keep thin, eating mostly vegetables and salads.

Her final film, Saratoga (1937), became the highest-grossing film of 1937 and set all-time house records, due almost entirely to her untimely death.

She was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6910 Hollywood Blvd. on February 8, 1960.

When she died with about one week's worth of shooting left to go on Saratoga (1937), her stand-in, Mary Dees, replaced her in the remaining footage, although she was seen only with facing away from the camera.

In the Hollywood satire Bombshell (1933), she is known as "the If girl"--a spoof loosely based on 1920s sex symbol and "It girl" Clara Bow.

On the day after her death, studio executives requested a moment of silence in Harlow's honor. Hollywood legend claims that to a one, every MGM employee was so stunned with grief that not a single word was spoken all day in the studio's usually chat-filled commissary.

Refused the lead in King Kong (1933), as well as the lead in the Tod Browning classic Freaks (1932).

Was the godmother of Millicent Siegel, daughter of the notorious mobster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel.

Dated notorious New Jersey mobster Abner Zwillman (aka 'Longy"), who secured a two-picture deal for her with Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures by loaning Cohn $500,000 in cash. He also purchased her a jeweled charm bracelet and a red Cadillac.

For many years it was a widely-held belief that she died because her mother, a Christian Scientist, refused to let doctors operate on her after she became sick. Christian Scientists prefer prayer to drugs and surgery. This story was even reprinted in David Shipman's famous book, "The Great Film Stars", but it has been repeatedly shown to be completely untrue.

Was photographed nude at age 17 by Hollywood photographer Edwin Bower Hesser in Los Angeles' Griffith Park in 1928.

Her funeral was not the average funeral. Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, took charge and made it a Hollywood event. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy sang his favorite song, "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life", in the church chapel, followed by a huge banquet with an orchestra.

Her birth name was Harlean Carpenter--the first name an amalgam of her mother's maiden name, Jean Harlow, which she later took as her stage name. At the height of her career it came out that this wasn't her real name, and the insatiable public wanted to know what her real name was. The studio released her "real" name as Harlean Carpentier. Harlow had added the extra "i" herself before her career began to make it sound more exotic.

Is portrayed by Gwen Stefani in The Aviator (2004), by Carroll Baker in Harlow (1965), by Susan Buckner in The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977), by Lindsay Bloom in Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell (1977) and by Carol Lynley in Harlow (1965)

She was a devoted Democrat and in the year of her death visited President Franklin D. Roosevelt on his birthday at a dinner party being thrown at the White House. A small clip of the event, with her at the microphone, can be found on YouTube with her only words being, "Good evening.".

On the situation comedy Night Court (1984), a black-and-white portrait of her on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire was seen displayed in the office of Judge Harry T. Stone (played by Harry Anderson), which was seen through the series' entire run.

Despite the millions her films made for MGM (and her popularity among studio employees) Louis B. Mayer repeatedly disparaged Harlow as a "tramp" and, when she died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1937, Mayer planned a lavish and extravagant funeral at Forest Lawn's Wee Kirk o' the Heather, directly contradicting Harlow's oft-expressed wishes for a "simple, unpretentious send-off.".

Originially, MGM planned to have her star as the female lead in the "Maisie" film franchise, but she was replaced by Ann Sothern two years following her sudden death.

Once lived in Chateau Marmont, the famous Hollywood hotel.

She was voted the 49th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Had appeared with Clark Gable in six films: The Secret 6 (1931), Red Dust (1932), Hold Your Man (1933), China Seas (1935), Wife vs. Secretary (1936), and Saratoga (1937).

MGM originally purchased the rights to the Horace McCoy novel "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" and studio executives planned to cast her and Clark Gable in the lead roles. However, due to her sudden death, the project was put on hold for many years. When it was finally made in the late 1960s, it starred Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin.

She has appeared in five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: City Lights (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), Scarface (1932), Red Dust (1932) and Dinner at Eight (1933).

Following her untimely death, she was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Benediction.

Early in her career, Lee Remick was scheduled to portray her in a film. In 1965 two competing films entitled "Harlow" were released, one starring Carol Lynley and the other with Carroll Baker.

Was considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), which went to Vivien Leigh.

Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's 1990 song "Vogue".

In June 1999, she was ranked #22 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Legends" list.

Her husband Paul Bern was found shot in 1932 having left a note.