Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 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.
Acted in 69
2010s
- 2012
Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess
Movie
- 2010
Sigrid Holmquist
Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
Movie
2000s
- 2002
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
(archive footage)
1990s
- 1995
The Casting Couch
Movie
1980s
- 1988
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
(archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1986
- 1981
The Muppets Go to the Movies
Mary Preston (archive footage) (uncredited)
1950s
- 1953
Yesterday and Today
(archive footage)
1940s
- 1949
Screen Snapshots 1860: Howdy, Podner
Clara Bow
1930s
- 1933
Hoopla
Lou
The Film Parade
(archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1932
Call Her Savage
Nasa Springer
- 1931
The House That Shadows Built
(archive footage)
Kick In
Molly Hewes
No Limit
Helen 'Bunny' O'Day
- 1930
Her Wedding Night
Norma Martin
Love Among the Millionaires
Pepper Whipple
True to the Navy
Ruby Nolan
1920s
- 1929
Dangerous Curves
Pat Delaney
The Wild Party
Stella Ames
- 1928
Three Week Ends
Gladys O'Brien
The Fleet's In
Trixie Deane
Ladies of the Mob
Yvonne
Red Hair
Bubbles McCoy
- 1927
Get Your Man
Nancy Worthington
Hula
Hula Calhoun
Rough House Rosie
Rosie O'Reilly
Children of Divorce
Kitty Flanders
It
Betty Lou Spence
- 1926
Mantrap
Alverna
The Runaway
Cynthia Meade
Fascinating Youth
Clara Bow
Dancing Mothers
Kittens Westcourt
Two Can Play
Dorothy Hammis
Shadow of the Law
Mary Brophy
- 1925
The Ancient Mariner
Doris
My Lady of Whims
Prudence Severn
The Best Bad Man
Peggy Swain
Free to Love
Marie Anthony
The Primrose Path
Marilyn Merrill
The Keeper of the Bees
Lolly Cameron
Parisian Love
Marie
Kiss Me Again
Grizette
The Scarlet West
Miriam
The Lawful Cheater
Molly Burns
Eve's Lover
Rena D'Arcy
My Lady's Lips
Vola Lombard
The Adventurous Sex
The Girl
Capital Punishment
Delia Tate
- 1924
Black Lightning
Martha Larned
This Woman
Aline Sturdevant
Helen's Babies
Alice Mayton
Empty Hearts
Rosalie
Wine
Angela Warriner
Daughters of Pleasure
Lila Millas
Poisoned Paradise
Margot LeBlanc
Grit
Orchid McGonigle
- 1923
Black Oxen
Janet Ogelthorpe
Maytime
Alice Tremaine
The Daring Years
Mary
The Pill Pounder
Movie
Enemies of Women
Dancing Girl (uncredited), Girl Dancing on Table
- 1922
Down to the Sea in Ships
'Dot' Morgan
Beyond the Rainbow
Virginia Gardener
Appearances8
2020s
- 2025
Hodgepodge
Self (archive footage, as Mary Preston)
2010s
- 2011
Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films
Herself (archive footage)
2000s
- 2007
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Self (archive footage)
1990s
- 1999
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
- 1995
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Self (archive footage)
Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons
Self (archive footage)
1980s
- 1980
Hollywood
Self (archive footage, uncredited) · 1 episode
1930s
- 1930
Paramount on Parade
Herself