Clara Bow Part II

A hectic schedule did nothing to slow down Clara's love life. As she began to lose interest in Gilbert Roland and Victor Fleming, she started new affairs with Gary Cooper and vaudeville star Harry Richman. Clara could never date one man at a time.

Undoubtedly, Clara's many lovers had a lot to do with one of the most enduring rumors about her life. In 1927, Clara befriended the USC football team. She would often throw post-game parties. According to the 1975 book Hollywood Babylon, these parties were drunken affairs where Clara would "take on" the entire team. According to attendees, there was food, dancing, and touch football games on the lawn, but nothing more.

Still, Hollywood society scorned Clara. She wasn't any more scandalous than the rest of the town, but while her peers hid their racy escapades, she discussed hers openly. Since she wasn't asked to parties, she often spent sleepless nights playing cards with her household staff.

The public didn't worry about what Clara did offscreen; they loved her. She received more than 30,000 fan letters a month. She adored her fans and she always felt guilty that she couldn't read all of her mail.

Clara's energy and freedom of movement were the traits that most charmed her fans. Suddenly, both of these qualities were severely restricted when movies began to talk. Though she had a mellow, pleasant voice, Clara was terrified of the microphones.

Both audiences and critics liked Clara's voice, though its vulnerable quality had the opposite effect of her carefree silent personality. She still couldn't help looking up at the microphones as she spoke her lines. On one set, she became so frustrated that she grabbed a microphone and pounded it until her fists bled.

Despite her personal trauma with talking pictures, Clara was still a big star. She even sang a song in an all-star studio showcase. The number was so popular that her next film, True to the Navy was named after the song. On the set, she met cowboy movie star Rex Bell. Soon, Rex was the only man in her life.

In the midst of her new affair, Clara suffered three debilitating scandals. First, the wife of a former lover sued her for alienation of affections. Then, in a California-Nevada border casino, she was told that the fifteen cent chips she had been given were actually worth one hundred dollars; when she stopped payment on the check she wrote for the casino, men working for the casino threatened her life. Finally, she took her assistant to court when she found evidence that appeared to prove she had been embezzling funds from her.

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