Film Biographies & Interviews, Entertainment Biography, Women's Biography, Women's Biography
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Overview
Silent screen sensation Clara Bow (1905-1965), the greatest box-office draw of her day, was the embodiment of the Roaring Twenties, Hollywood's first sex symbol, and a natural talent with an independent spirit. Raised in the slums of Brooklyn by a family plagued with alcoholism and insanity, Clara catapulted to fame after winning Motion Picture magazine's 1921 "Fame and Fortune" contest. Despite her overwhelming popularity - she once received 45,000 fan letters in a single month - the onscreen vitality and allure that beguiled millions would be her undoing off-camera. David Stenn captures the 'It' girl's legendary rise to stardom and fall from grace, her success marred by studio exploitation and sexual scandals.Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Before there was Marilyn Monroe, there was Clara Bow, the original "It" girl. The story of Bow's transformation from a Brooklyn kid with a family history that included insanity and alcoholism into the silver screen's first sex symbol is truly the stuff that movies are made of.Publishers Weekly -
Clara Bow, star of numerous silent films and early talkies, personified sex as fun, earning the sobriquet ``The It Girl.'' Notoriety ended her career before she was 30. ``In this sensitive biography, readers will find a vibrant woman to empathize with, as well as an engrossing history of early picture-making,'' praised PW. (July)C. Winecoff
Tracing the meteoric rise and nasty fall of the screen sexpot who presaged Harlow and Monroe, TV writer Stenn never loses sight of the scared working-class girl who spent a lifetime trying to escape her past.—Entertainment Weekly
The New York Times
Stenn has found out as much to know about Clara Bow as it is given to mortals to know; he takes an intelligent approach, neither too solemn nor too flip, and the story he has to tell is almost always engrossing.Los Angeles Times
Illuminating and unforgettable.Book Details
Published
August 1, 1988
Publisher
Doubleday
Pages
352
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780385241250