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.
Filmography
Cast Credits

Hodgepodge
Character: Self (archive footage, as Mary Preston)
MOVIE • 2025

Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess
Character:
MOVIE • 2012

Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films
Character: Herself (archive footage)
MOVIE • 2011

Sigrid Holmquist
Character: Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
MOVIE • 2010

Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
Character:
MOVIE • 2010

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Character: Self (archive footage)
MOVIE • 2007

Edith Head: The Paramount Years
Character: (archive footage)
MOVIE • 2002

Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl
Character: Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
MOVIE • 1999

Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons
Character: Self (archive footage)
MOVIE • 1995

100 Years at the Movies
Character:
MOVIE • 1994

Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
Character:
MOVIE • 1988

Yesterday and Today
Character: (archive footage)
MOVIE • 1953
Screen Snapshots 1860: Howdy, Podner
Character: Clara Bow
MOVIE • 1949

Hoopla
Character: Lou
MOVIE • 1933

The Film Parade
Character: (archive footage) (uncredited)
MOVIE • 1933

Call Her Savage
Character: Nasa Springer
MOVIE • 1932

The House That Shadows Built
Character: (archive footage)
MOVIE • 1931

Kick In
Character: Molly Hewes
MOVIE • 1931

No Limit
Character: Helen 'Bunny' O'Day
MOVIE • 1931

Her Wedding Night
Character: Norma Martin
MOVIE • 1930