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
Hollywood
1980
Wings
1927
Mantrap
1926
0Hodgepodge
2025
Kid Boots
1926
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
1986
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
2002
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
1999
The House That Shadows Built
1931
The Muppets Go to the Movies
1981
Call Her Savage
1932
Filmography
Hollywood
as Self (archive footage, uncredited) · 1980
Wings
as Mary Preston · 1927
Mantrap
as Alverna · 1926
Hodgepodge
as Self (archive footage, as Mary Preston) · 2025
Kid Boots
as Clara McCoy · 1926
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
as Self (archive footage) · 1995
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
as archive footage · 1986
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
as (archive footage) · 2002
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
as Self / Various Roles (archive footage) · 1999
The House That Shadows Built
as (archive footage) · 1931
The Muppets Go to the Movies
as Mary Preston (archive footage) (uncredited) · 1981
Call Her Savage
as Nasa Springer · 1932
Hoopla
as Lou · 1933
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
as (archive footage) (uncredited) · 1988
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
· 2010
Wine
as Angela Warriner · 1924
Ladies of the Mob
as Yvonne · 1928
My Lady's Lips
as Vola Lombard · 1925
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
as Self (archive footage) · 2007
The Saturday Night Kid
as Mayme Barry · 1929
Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons
as Self (archive footage) · 1995
The Casting Couch
· 1995
It
as Betty Lou Spence · 1927
True to the Navy
as Ruby Nolan · 1930
The Fleet's In
as Trixie Deane · 1928
Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess
· 2012
The Best Bad Man
as Peggy Swain · 1925
Hula
as Hula Calhoun · 1927
Love Among the Millionaires
as Pepper Whipple · 1930
Capital Punishment
as Delia Tate · 1925
This Woman
as Aline Sturdevant · 1924
My Lady of Whims
as Prudence Severn · 1925
Shadow of the Law
as Mary Brophy · 1926
The Wild Party
as Stella Ames · 1929
Down to the Sea in Ships
as 'Dot' Morgan · 1922
Her Wedding Night
as Norma Martin · 1930
Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films
as Herself (archive footage) · 2011
Paramount on Parade
as Herself · 1930
Rough House Rosie
as Rosie O'Reilly · 1927
Screen Snapshots 1860: Howdy, Podner
as Clara Bow · 1949
The Plastic Age
as Cynthia Day · 1925
Sigrid Holmquist
as Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage) · 2010
Three Week Ends
as Gladys O'Brien · 1928
Eve's Lover
as Rena D'Arcy · 1925
The Scarlet West
as Miriam · 1925
Dangerous Curves
as Pat Delaney · 1929
Enemies of Women
as Dancing Girl (uncredited) · 1923
Enemies of Women
as Girl Dancing on Table · 1923
The Keeper of the Bees
as Lolly Cameron · 1925
Children of Divorce
as Kitty Flanders · 1927
Helen's Babies
as Alice Mayton · 1924
Free to Love
as Marie Anthony · 1925
Yesterday and Today
as (archive footage) · 1953
Beyond the Rainbow
as Virginia Gardener · 1922
Get Your Man
as Nancy Worthington · 1927
Black Oxen
as Janet Ogelthorpe · 1923
Empty Hearts
as Rosalie · 1924
No Limit
as Helen 'Bunny' O'Day · 1931
Poisoned Paradise
as Margot LeBlanc · 1924
The Pill Pounder
· 1923
The Runaway
as Cynthia Meade · 1926
The Film Parade
as (archive footage) (uncredited) · 1933
Grit
as Orchid McGonigle · 1924
The Adventurous Sex
as The Girl · 1925
Maytime
as Alice Tremaine · 1923
Fascinating Youth
as Clara Bow · 1926
The Primrose Path
as Marilyn Merrill · 1925
Red Hair
as Bubbles McCoy · 1928
Daughters of Pleasure
as Lila Millas · 1924
Two Can Play
as Dorothy Hammis · 1926
Kiss Me Again
as Grizette · 1925
Dancing Mothers
as Kittens Westcourt · 1926
Kick In
as Molly Hewes · 1931
The Lawful Cheater
as Molly Burns · 1925
Parisian Love
as Marie · 1925
The Ancient Mariner
as Doris · 1925
Black Lightning
as Martha Larned · 1924
The Daring Years
as Mary · 1923