Jean Harlow: The Platinum Blonde

Jean soon received a call to report to the set. She began a busy career as a dress extra. Though she had yet to speak a line, her beauty and unusually light hair had already begun to attract attention.

While her career as an extra took off, Jean's marriage floundered. Charles didn't want his wife to work and he was frustrated by the way Mother Jean controlled her. They divorced in June 1929.

Jean moved in with a delighted Mother Jean and Bello. No one in this new family had a source of income. Now Jean had to work for a living.

Fortunately, Jean was getting increasingly larger parts. She showed her comic side in a silent bit with Laurel and Hardy in Double Whoopee. She also had an early speaking role in one of Clara Bow's last movies The Saturday Night Kid.

Jean attracted producer Howard Hughes attention. He hired her for the female lead in Hell's Angels. James Whale directed and he made it clear that he hated working with such an inexperienced actress. He would yell that her performance was inadequate, but refused to give her advice on how to improve, even when she begged for help.

The audience didn't seem to care about Jean's acting. The Hell's Angels opening was the biggest Hollywood had ever seen. Jean immediately became a star.

Jean signed a contract with Hughes, but he didn't plan another production for her. Instead, he sent her on personal appearance tours and loaned her out to other studios.

Though the appearances were difficult for Jean, the roles she had to play upset her even more. She was typecast as a tawdry woman in such movies as Goldie, Iron Man, and Public Enemy. She also had a lot to learn about acting.

In 1931, the title of one of Jean's movies would become a permanent identifier. Though the name of the movie was originally Gallagher, her fame was a force to be reckoned with. The movie was renamed Platinum Blonde to attract audiences to the new star.

Though Jean told fan magazines that she only rinsed her hair in blueing to make it "platinum", the process was actually much more complex. Every Sunday, she would go to the salon to have her roots bleached with peroxide, ammonia, Clorox, and Lux flakes. The chemicals were extremely hard on Jean's hair and scalp.

Jean wanted someone who was interested in more than her hair. She

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