Jean Harlow was the number one sex symbol in America during the Depression era. She was to the 1930's what Marilyn Monroe was to the 1950's. Like Monroe, she was a blonde-haired beauty who had acurious knack for making sex funny and playful on-screen. And like Monroe she also died young, at the early age of just 26, of uremic poisoning brought on by kidney disease.
2. How did you become interested in her?
I first became aware of Jean Harlow in the early 1970's when 'Nostalgia' came into vogue. I'm visually oriented and was spellbound by the art deco stylings of the 1930's; those sleek, simplified shapes were everywhere in film, art, fashion, automobiles, furniture and decor, color palettes and even reflected in the faces and forms of its glamorous movie stars.
Harlow's half-moon, penciled-in eyebrows and shockingly white 'platinum blonde' hair made her astartling vision of art deco design. I was entranced.
She was an incredibly sexy, funny performer and when she smiled that million dollar smile she lit up the room. Harlow glittered from head to foot like she was electroplated. She just shimmered on screen. But there's more to her than that; there is a tender humanity to Harlow that lurks just below the veneer of her high-gloss makeup. There is a warmth and humour about her that leaps off the screen and is unmistakeable. I felt that I recognized something in her.
Uncropped publicity shot from Darrell's collection. At the far right you can see that Jean is propped up on a very unglamorous stand constructed of 2X4's. Darrell explains, "There was no sitting down ( for fear of creases) or even going to the bathroom as Jean was generally sewn into these skin tight gowns."
3. Could you discuss your Jean Harlow collection?
My collection started out innocently enough with inexpensive reprint photos of Harlow. But as time went on I became friends with other collectors and saw what amazing photos they had. Well, I just had to catch up with them and started collecting original vintage photos, autographed photos, letters, scrapbooks and any magazine articles I could find.
I decided to start my own "Encyclopedia Harlow" and have amassed about 50 binders of magazine and newspaper articles on Harlow that span from the early 1920's to today. Yes, Harlow is still in the news even today after all these years.
In 2005, I went to an auction at the Movieland Wax Museum and considered bidding on the Harlow wax mannequin. As it turned out I was photographed and interviewed by the local press. It ended up in the papers and is now part of my collection. I have now become part of my own archive. I think that's funny. I have become somewhat of an expert on all things related to Harlow; so much so that I have helped writers with their books where she is part of the subject matter, or have lent photos to be published in their books.
The one thing I don't really collect are personal items. Not so much because I don't want to, but I have collector friends who have so much and I am just not a good detective-which is what it takes to dig up this stuff after 70 years.
4. What's your most prized piece?
Hmmm, I have a letter she wrote when she was 15 years old. No, not that... I have a watercolor caricature of her (above, right) done by an MGM sound man in 1932 that she signed to him personally... no, close but not quite...
I guess its the autographed ledger to the Premiere of MGM's GRAND HOTEL at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in April of 1932. Its a large book about 16x20 and is signed by everyone who attended
DARRELL
ROONEY Darrell Rooney has worn many hats during his twenty seven years in animation. But he hasn't worn Jean Harlow's! (Or has he?) Darrell discusses his collection of Harlow memorabilia.
Original watercolor caricature by an MGM sound man. Autographed to the artist, 1932.
Harlow in "Red Headed Woman" (1932).
the Premiere that night; from Gable to Crawford to L.B. Mayer, there are hundreds of signatures of famous attendees. And Harlow had just been signed by MGM and begun her meteoric rise to majorstardom. She attended the Premiere with MGM Executive Paul Bern, who would marry Harlow three months later and then commit suicide just two months after that. This is probably the only document the two of them ever signed besides their marriage license. So this ledger is a true piece of Old Hollywood history. Its something special and there is only one in the entire world.
5. Is there a Jean Harlow "holy grail" that you seek?
A Jean Harlow 'holy grail'? David Stenn who wrote the definitive Harlow biography in 1993 called BOMBSHELL: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow and is a friend of mine is constantly looking for two long lost Harlow items; a large blue sapphire ring that disapperared when she died (some say it was cashed in to pay for her crypt) and a large painting that her mother had commissioned of Harlow ascending to Heaven. It was called "Farewell to Earth" and disappeared after Harlow's mother's death in the late 50's. I expect that finding the painting would be the ultimate. But I'd want to own it too.
ABOVE: Jean and her 1932 Packard in front of her last home in Beverly Hills.
BELOW: Same car, same house 2007. Darrell stands in for Jean. Neither house nor car is part of his collection. Yet.
+1. What would Jean Harlow say?
I'm sure she'd pull a William Shatner and say 'get a life!'. Aha, but I plan to make this interest pay some day... with a book or screenplay. I try to make my obsessions work for me.
Shatner in the classic Saturday Night Live sketch.
+2. Where does it end?
It never ends. It wanes sometimes. But there is always something new that pops up, something never seen before, and I'm right back in it again. Harlow is a collection of mysteries; her second husband's mysterious suicide, her own untimely death, and her own personal war within herself over her public persona.
In the last two years I have come to know the owners of her 1932 Packard Phaeton, the owners of her last residence in Beverly Hills, and even considered buying her Westwood home when it came up for sale in 2005. I never dreamed any of that would happen. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Newscast from August, 1977
Where Were You.....? Thirty years ago this month Elvis Presley died. Do you remember where you were when you heard the news?
Tim Hauser
writer At home. My friend Jerry called and asked if I knew Elvis had died. He had heard it on the Top 40 radio station he was always tuned to. His parents were of that generation and fans, so it was quite impactful to him. At that age (high school) I knew Elvis more through his constantly rerun movies and found him more a PT Barnum-like curiosity than anything, given his appearance and demeanor on television specials at the time, as sort of a tubby mumbly Jethro in a Captain Marvel suit. I remember thinking that it didn't seem remarkable he died so young or of an overdose. I grew to fascination with his fabulosity, talent, beauty, musical legacy and the drama of his ups and downs later on, eventually taking the pilgrimage to Graceland (to drool over world's coolest tiki room). My mom blamed Elvis and his pelvis for the sexual and social revolution: "He started the whole thing," she would lament.
Ed Wexler
director I was working for Ralph Bakshi at the time. Someone said "Hey Ralph, did ya hear? Elvis Presley died." I remember him waiting a beat and then saying: "Good. More room for me!" followed by his crazy laugh.
Leslie Hough
producer I was a sullen teenager on a pretty rotten vacation in Greece with my parents who were about to split up. Dan Jeup
story artist I was sitting on my front porch on a hot, muggy day. There were fish flys everywhere. I lived near lake St. Clair, Michigan, and when it got humid, fish flys would invade our suburb like The Day of the Locusts. If you rode your bike, you couldn't help but crunch a bunch of them with your tires or even swallow one or two by accident. They were disgusting.
Anyway, I was reading The Detroit News, wearing only a bathing suit. There it was, "Elvis Presley Dies" in big, black type. At the time, I hadn't been exposed much to his music so I didn't understand the impact he had on everyone and ignorantly thought he was overated. What's with the dorky jump suit and mutten chops, I thought. I did however, think it was sad he died so young.
Theresa Cullen
story artist
I was in 8th grade, living in a really white trash trailer with no hot water, heating or cooling in Goodridge, Minnesota. I was playing gin rummy with my sister Cathy and we were listening to our crappy transistor radio that barely managed to pick up one of the stations from Montreal. We were both so surprised. It was our first big celebrity death.
Chuck Gamage
animator
I was at Sheridan in the animation program but I was working for the summer (Nelvana?). Greg Hill drew me as a fat Elvis in his famous one piece jump suit. There was a resurgence of Elvis' films shown at a local rep theater, The Bloor Cinema, and nothing was better than technocolor Elvis on the big screen!!
Daniel Hopper FLIP featured artist, June I was four years old, so I was probably waking up from a nap. Steve Moore
king of FLIP I was 14, living in New Jersey. Dad and I were clearing away the fallen barn of our neighbor, Pigtail Mary. The barn was stuffed with old junk. A friend rode up on his bike and said "Elvis Presley died." I told my dad, but he thought I said "Earl Kessler", a guy in town who had cancer. Over dinner he told my mom that Earl Kessler died, and she said "Oh yeah? Elvis Presley died today too." To which my Dad said, "Huh, how about that." Rumor spread around town about poor Earl's death, though he lived on another fifteen years.
A side note: Pigtail Mary let me keep the money from the barn's scrap metal, about $300's worth, which went toward my purchase of a super 8 camera with a single frame advance setting which I used for filming an animated short that got me into the Cal Arts. Viva Pigtail Mary!
John Schnall
animator Elvis is dead? No, you've got to be kidding. You can't fool me, man, I saw Bubba Hotep.
Kirk Wise
director
A little ditty you might appreciate......
Elvis is Everywhere byMojo Nixon & Skid Roper
