Could the song Clara Bow be the next “The Last Great American Dynasty”?
Taylor Swift announced her new album: The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) last month at the Grammys. The name of the album got us in chokehold. Swifties were already trying to decipher this unusual album name. Poets? Tortured?? And then the song titles were realized a few days after.
And now, we can’t stop talking about them. It didn’t take Swifties too long to find out that Clara Bow could be inspired by someone in history.
But who is Clara Bow and why will she inspire a song from Taylor Swift’s new album?
Clara Bow Early Life
Clara Bow was born in 1905 in Brooklyn to a poor family. She entered the limelight when she participated in a magazine beauty contest at age 16. This earned her a small role in Beyond the Rainbow, but her scenes were cut out.
Clara Bow Career
Her career, however, took off in 1926. Her first role was in the silent film titled “Mantrap”, then “It” in 1927, and Wings in the same year. She became so popular at that time that a singer, wrote the song “She’s Got It” about her. Obviously in reference to her silent movie “It”. The movie solidified her status as a symbol for beauty and sex appeal.
She successfully transitioned to sound films with movies like “The Wild Party” (1929), but the transition was challenging, and her career began to decline. Although she struggled, she remained prominent in the media.
Clara Bow retired from acting in 1933, at the age of 28. She lived a quiet life with her family in Nevada, away from the Hollywood spotlight.
Despite her relatively short career, Bow left an indelible mark on film history as one of the first truly modern screen actresses. Her contributions to cinema and her impact on popular culture continue to be celebrated to this day.
Private Life
Clara Bow’s personal life was always under scrutiny. She had several highly publicized relationships, with popular actors including Gilbert Roland and Victor Fleming. She had a lot of broken engagements and publications took advantage of that to write bad headlines about her.
She was labelled “empty-hearted”, and an “idiot”. Some also wrote publications on “why she couldn’t keep her men”, and “why no man took her to the altar”.
She also became a victim of blackmail, and extortion when her assistant and best friend accused her of kinkiness and incest, promiscuity and exhibitionism, drug addiction and alcoholism, lesbianism and bestiality.
She was, however, exonerated from those claims, however, she had already received a lot of bad publicity for them.
In 1931, she married actor Rex Bell, with whom she had two sons. Bow struggled with mental health issues throughout her life, and pressure from media and public scrutiny made it worse.
She stayed away from her public life to take care of her mental health. She kept a low profile and was rarely seen in public until the demise of her husband in 1962.
Her appearance at the funeral was one of the few public appearances she made after leaving the limelight. Clara Bow died in 1962 at the age of 60 in Los Angeles. The cause of her death was believed to be a heart attack.
Is There Any Link Between the Life of Clara Bow and Taylor Swift?
One of the notable similarities between the two stars is the public scrutiny and the way the press treats them.
Taylor Swift’s love life has been criticized a lot and there have been situations where she had to go into hiding due to press attacks.
There could be more and we will definitely find out when the album comes out on April 19th.
How is this in any way similar to The Last Great American Dynasty?
Clara Bow could be Taylor’s second song where she talks about a person in history and the similarities she bears with these people. Taylor gives us a history lesson on socialite Rebekah Harkness.
A fascinating story about the woman who used to own her Rhode Island mansion.
