Jean Harlow

"She really wanted to be Jean Harlow. That was her goal. She always said she would probably die young, like Harlow; that the men in her life were disasters, like Harlow's; that her relationship with her mother was complicated, like Harlow's. It was as if she based her life on Harlow's -- the instant flash, then over." ~ Amy Greene

To Marilyn, Jean Harlow was more than a hero: Harlow's life was in many ways a blueprint for her own.
Born on March 3, 1911 in Kansas City, Jean Harlow was known simply as "The Baby" when growing up with her maternal grandparents. Her real name was Harlean Carpenter. Like so many of Hollywood's most memorable sex symbols, Harlow often played the parts of dangerous, sexually charged woman with flaws that mirrored her own nature and history.
Harlow's break into the movies came in 1928, when she began to pick up roles as an extra. Then in 1930 came her big break, Howard Hughes put her in 'Hell's Angels', in which she stole the show with her sly and assured sexuality. Frank Capra made history with his lingering shots of her body in 'Platinum Blonde' in 1931. And so on went her amazing career. Her last film was in 1937, opposite Clark Gable, in 'Saratoga'. She died on June 7, 1937, aged just 26, from complications of uremic poisoning.
Grace Goddard would often tell Norma Jeane that when she grew up she would become a great screen siren, so its little surprise that Harlow became the little girl's idol too. Grace's admiration for Harlow went as far as dying her hair the same platinum blonde, and for a period she dressed exclusively in white, and bought only while clothes for Norma Jeane too. Grace is reported as telling Norma Jeane, "you're perfect except for this little bump" - referring to the tip of her nose - "But one day you'll be perfect - like Jean Harlow."
The parallels in the lives of Monroe and Harlow are overwhelming: both were brought up by strict Christian Scientists (in Norma Jeane's case, her beloved foster parent Ana Lower); both were married 3 times; both left school at 16 to marry their first husbands (Harlow eloped with a millionaire) ; both spent their lives seeing out their father; and both died tragic and some say under suspicious circumstances. The both acted opposite Clark Gable in the last film they ever completed. Intrigingly, Gable once said of Harlow, "She didn't want to be famous, she wanted to be happy, a quote that could be equally applied to Marilyn.
They were both great lovers of animals and willing to provide a haven for strays. Both of them tested the morals of their days by posing nude, flaunting their bodies, and eschewing underwear; both of them acted under their mothers' maiden names. Each lived on North Palm Drive at one point in their lives. Just months before both actresses died, they went to a presidential Birthday celebration for which they were reprimanded by their respective studios.
After she had become a star, Marilyn became ruefully aware of the striking similarities in their lives. In 1957 she told Milton Greene: "I kept thinking of her, rolling over the facts of her life in my mind. It was kind of spooky, and sometimes I thought, am I making this happen? But I don't think so. We just seemed to have the same spirit or something, I don't know. I kept wondering if I would die young like her, too."
Although Marilyn never managed to fulfill her long-held dream of playing Harlow on the screen, she did pose as her hero for photographer Richard Avedon in 1958, as part of the screen goddesses series.
Even in death Marilyn emulated her heroine. The flowers delivered every few days to her grave in Los Angeles by Joe DiMaggio were the fulfillment of a promise he had made to Marilyn that he would be as devoted to Marilyn as William Powell had been to Harlow. Powell regularly sent flowers to his love's resting place in Forrest Lawn.