Clara Bow

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Born

1905-07-29

Place of Birth

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Clara Bow

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.

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Acting History

2025
Hodgepodge as Self (archive footage, as Mary Preston)
2012
Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess
2011
Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films as Herself (archive footage)
2010
Sigrid Holmquist as Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
2010
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
2007
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema as Self (archive footage)
2002
Edith Head: The Paramount Years as (archive footage)
1999
Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl as Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
1995
Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons as Self (archive footage)
1994
100 Years at the Movies
1988
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
1953
Yesterday and Today as (archive footage)
1949
Screen Snapshots 1860: Howdy, Podner as Clara Bow
1933
Hoopla as Lou
1933
The Film Parade as (archive footage) (uncredited)
1932
Call Her Savage as Nasa Springer
1931
The House That Shadows Built as (archive footage)
1931
Kick In as Molly Hewes
1931
No Limit as Helen 'Bunny' O'Day
1930
Her Wedding Night as Norma Martin
1930
Love Among the Millionaires as Pepper Whipple
1930
True to the Navy as Ruby Nolan
1930
Paramount on Parade as Herself
1929
The Saturday Night Kid as Mayme Barry
1929
Dangerous Curves as Pat Delaney
1929
The Wild Party as Stella Ames
1928
Three Week Ends as Gladys O'Brien
1928
The Fleet's In as Trixie Deane
1928
Ladies of the Mob as Yvonne
1928
Red Hair as Bubbles McCoy
1927
Get Your Man as Nancy Worthington
1927
Hula as Hula Calhoun
1927
Wings as Mary Preston
1927
Rough House Rosie as Rosie O'Reilly
1927
Children of Divorce as Kitty Flanders
1927
It as Betty Lou Spence
1926
Kid Boots as Clara McCoy
1926
Mantrap as Alverna
1926
The Runaway as Cynthia Meade
1926
Fascinating Youth as Clara Bow
1926
Dancing Mothers as Kittens Westcourt
1926
Two Can Play as Dorothy Hammis
1926
Shadow of the Law as Mary Brophy
1925
The Ancient Mariner as Doris
1925
The Plastic Age as Cynthia Day
1925
My Lady of Whims as Prudence Severn
1925
The Best Bad Man as Peggy Swain
1925
Free to Love as Marie Anthony
1925
The Primrose Path as Marilyn Merrill
1925
The Keeper of the Bees as Lolly Cameron
1925
Kiss Me Again as Grizette
1925
Parisian Love as Marie
1925
The Scarlet West as Miriam
1925
The Lawful Cheater as Molly Burns
1925
Eve's Lover as Rena D'Arcy
1925
My Lady's Lips as Lola Lombard
1925
The Adventurous Sex as The Girl
1925
Capital Punishment as Delia Tate
1924
Black Lightning as Martha Larned
1924
This Woman as Aline Sturdevant
1924
Helen's Babies as Alice Mayton
1924
Empty Hearts as Rosalie
1924
Wine as Angela Warriner
1924
Daughters of Pleasure as Lila Millas
1924
Poisoned Paradise as Margot LeBlanc
1924
Grit as Orchid McGonigle
1923
Black Oxen as Janet Ogelthorpe
1923
Maytime as Alice Tremaine
1923
The Daring Years as Mary
1923
The Pill Pounder
1923
Enemies of Women as Dancing Girl (uncredited)
1923
Enemies of Women as Girl Dancing on Table
1922
Down to the Sea in Ships as 'Dot' Morgan
1922
Beyond the Rainbow as Virginia Gardener