Clara Bow was an American actress who became the definitive screen icon of the Roaring Twenties. Born into poverty in Brooklyn, she rose to stardom in the silent era and embodied the free-spirited flapper, most famously in 'It', the 1927 hit that crowned her the original 'It Girl'. That same year she starred in 'Wings', the aviation epic that won the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Though her career faded with the arrival of sound, she remains one of Hollywood's earliest and most magnetic superstars.
Clara Bow
60 years (Jul 29, 1905 – Sep 27, 1965)Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
56 Movies
Clara Bow was an American actress who became the definitive screen icon of the Roaring Twenties. Born into poverty in Brooklyn, she rose to stardom in the silent era and embodied the free-spirited flapper, most famously in 'It', the 1927 hit that crowned her the original 'It Girl'. That same year she starred in 'Wings', the aviation epic that won the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Though her career faded with the arrival of sound, she remains one of Hollywood's earliest and most magnetic superstars.
1905-07-29 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Clara Gordon Bow (July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom in silent films during the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" after 1927. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol.
Bow appeared in 46 silent films and 11 talkies, including hits such as Mantrap (1926), It (1927), and Wings (1927). She was named first box-office draw in 1928 and 1929 and second box-office draw in 1927 and 1930. Her presence in a motion picture was said to have ensured investors, by odds of almost two-to-one, a "safe return". At the apex of her stardom, she received more than 45,000 fan letters in a single month (January 1929).
Two years after marrying actor Rex Bell in 1931, Bow retired from acting and became a rancher in Nevada. Her final film, Hoop-La, was released in 1933. In September 1965, Bow died of a heart attack at the age of 60.