Clara Bow

Known For

Acting

Born

Jul 29, 1905

Died

Sep 27, 1965

Place of Birth

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Credits

77 titles

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.

Known For

Filmography

2025

Hodgepodge

Self (archive footage, as Mary Preston)

Movie
2012

Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess

Movie
2011

Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films

Herself (archive footage)

Movie
2010

Sigrid Holmquist

Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)

Movie
2010

Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture

Movie
2007

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

Self (archive footage)

Movie
2002

Edith Head: The Paramount Years

(archive footage)

Movie
1999

Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl

Self / Various Roles (archive footage)

Movie
1995

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

Self (archive footage)

Movie
1995

Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons

Self (archive footage)

Movie
1995

The Casting Couch

Movie
1988

Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies

(archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie
1986

Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend

archive footage

Movie
1981

The Muppets Go to the Movies

Mary Preston (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie
1980

Hollywood

Self (archive footage, uncredited)

Tv
1953

Yesterday and Today

(archive footage)

Movie
1949

Screen Snapshots 1860: Howdy, Podner

Clara Bow

Movie
1933

Hoopla

Lou

Movie
1933

The Film Parade

(archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie
1932

Call Her Savage

Nasa Springer

Movie
1931

The House That Shadows Built

(archive footage)

Movie
1931

Kick In

Molly Hewes

Movie
1931

No Limit

Helen 'Bunny' O'Day

Movie
1930

Her Wedding Night

Norma Martin

Movie
1930

Love Among the Millionaires

Pepper Whipple

Movie
1930

True to the Navy

Ruby Nolan

Movie
1930

Paramount on Parade

Herself

Movie
1929

The Saturday Night Kid

Mayme Barry

Movie
1929

Dangerous Curves

Pat Delaney

Movie
1929

The Wild Party

Stella Ames

Movie
1928

Three Week Ends

Gladys O'Brien

Movie
1928

The Fleet's In

Trixie Deane

Movie
1928

Ladies of the Mob

Yvonne

Movie
1928

Red Hair

Bubbles McCoy

Movie
1927

Get Your Man

Nancy Worthington

Movie
1927

Hula

Hula Calhoun

Movie
1927

Wings

Mary Preston

Movie
1927

Rough House Rosie

Rosie O'Reilly

Movie
1927

Children of Divorce

Kitty Flanders

Movie
1927

It

Betty Lou Spence

Movie
1926

Kid Boots

Clara McCoy

Movie
1926

Mantrap

Alverna

Movie
1926

The Runaway

Cynthia Meade

Movie
1926

Fascinating Youth

Clara Bow

Movie
1926

Dancing Mothers

Kittens Westcourt

Movie
1926

Two Can Play

Dorothy Hammis

Movie
1926

Shadow of the Law

Mary Brophy

Movie
1925

The Ancient Mariner

Doris

Movie
1925

The Plastic Age

Cynthia Day

Movie
1925

My Lady of Whims

Prudence Severn

Movie