0:00

Somebody which is no the best way for you

0:03

as a rate based on you with asking that

0:05

one based on the driver who treats the highway

0:07

like a race track and the shoulder like a

0:09

passing lane. why pay rate based on anyone else?

0:11

get one based on you with Dr was for

0:13

mostly not available in Alaska, California started to terms

0:15

of conditions. Rates are determined by several factors which

0:17

vary by state. In some states, participation in driveways

0:20

allows us to to use your driving data for

0:22

purposes of rating. Well in some states are rate

0:24

could increase with I was driving generally safer drivers

0:26

will save with driveways Also earned cash. An insurance

0:28

company in Philly sort of pick Illinois. Welcome.

0:37

The Heart Starts pounding. A

0:39

podcast of horrors, hauntings and

0:41

mysteries. I'm your host Kalan

0:43

More! This is our second

0:46

installment of our Dark Hollywood

0:48

History Series where we go

0:50

back and discover the ghosts,

0:52

curses, scandals, and murderers that

0:54

shaped the golden age of

0:56

Hollywood. Last. Week's

0:59

theme was ghost stories. I talked about

1:01

the most famous seance to ever happen

1:03

in Hollywood and the premonition Sharon Tate

1:06

saw before her horrible murder at the

1:08

hands of the Manson Family. If you

1:10

haven't listened to that episode yet, make

1:13

sure you check it out. Though.

1:15

For this series, you can listen

1:17

to any episode in any order.

1:21

For. Today's episode. I.

1:23

Had to go way back into

1:25

the archives here at the house

1:27

because it's going to be a

1:29

little more dark history focused. I'm.

1:32

Gonna tell you the story

1:34

of Clara Bow Hollywood's first

1:36

ever it girl. Though.

1:39

Her name hasn't managed to

1:41

become as synonymous with Old

1:43

Hollywood as say Mary Pickford,

1:45

Mae West, or Marilyn Monroe

1:47

in her day. she was

1:49

more famous than all of

1:51

them, but Clara was a

1:53

firecracker. She burned hot and

1:55

bright and was gone and

1:57

an instant when she lost

1:59

everything and. The midst of a

2:01

scandal. It's interesting than

2:03

that. Clear his name has resurfaced

2:05

today. This. Week. Taylor. Swift

2:08

is releasing her eleventh album

2:10

which closes with a titled

2:12

Clara Bow. I don't know

2:14

what the contents of the song will be

2:16

just yet, but. There's. No denying

2:18

that the to starlets lives have parallel

2:21

to each other in a few ways.

2:24

And. For that reason. The. Story of

2:26

a woman born a hundred and

2:28

nineteen years ago. Feels. As

2:31

relevant as ever. The. Problems

2:33

she faced: The scandal, the

2:35

hardship, the mental health struggles,

2:37

Are. All things we can still

2:39

really to today. Lots

2:42

of rumors have been spread about

2:44

Clara. But. Today I'm

2:46

going to take you on a journey

2:48

through the story of the real woman.

2:50

Who was Clara Bow? Pussy.

2:53

A villain? A floozy, A home

2:55

wrecker. Like the tabloids all said,

2:58

Well. I'll let you decide. By

3:01

the way, if you're a first

3:03

time listener, welcome to our darkly

3:05

curious community, I'm so glad you're

3:07

here. We're an eclectic bunch and

3:09

I could not be happier about

3:11

it. I'm here with new episodes

3:14

every week as well as bonus episodes

3:16

and ad free listening for Petri on

3:18

an Apple subscribers so make sure you

3:20

check those out. Will get into

3:22

it after a quick break. And

3:24

as always. Listener. Discretion is

3:27

advised. This

3:30

episode is brought to you by better hope.

3:34

I. Don't know about you but my social

3:36

battery has been so out of work these

3:38

last for years. As then, a

3:40

lotta time alone. When I worked so

3:42

I'll wanna be really social and see

3:44

people and then when I do my

3:46

social battery drains and I just wanna

3:49

be alone. I honestly can't tell if

3:51

I'm an introvert or an extrovert. me.

3:53

Some of you feel similarly. It's

3:56

kind of his never ending cycle. Did.

3:58

You can identify with that at all.

4:00

Therapy can give you the self awareness

4:02

to build a social life that. Doesn't

4:04

drain your battery. Of Use

4:06

therapy. At times in my life

4:08

and I've honestly sound it really

4:10

helpful for building balance and if

4:12

your thinking about starting therapy. Consider

4:15

giving better hope a try. It's.

4:17

All online see can fit it into

4:19

your schedule from the comfort of your

4:21

own home. To spell out a brief

4:23

questionnaire to get matched to the licensed

4:26

therapist and switch therapists at any time

4:28

for. New additional charge to. Find.

4:30

Your social sweet spot

4:33

with better help. Visit

4:35

betterhope.com/state Curious today to

4:37

get ten percent off

4:39

your first month? That's

4:41

Betterhope. help.com/state

4:44

curious.

4:48

Or story starts on March

4:50

Nineteenth, Nineteen Thirty one, at

4:52

the height of Clara's stardom.

4:55

At this point and her career

4:57

at just twenty six years old,

4:59

she was the most famous woman

5:02

in Hollywood. Though Clara wasn't the

5:04

first flapper, he popularized the image

5:06

and brought a new era of

5:08

what women. Could be to the big

5:10

screen. Men wanted her and

5:13

women wanted to be her for

5:15

and teams short auburn hair and

5:17

pencils and eyebrows were copied by

5:19

women. Across the country, She.

5:21

Had starred in the first ever movie

5:24

to win an Academy Award. She was

5:26

getting a record setting forty five thousand

5:28

letters of fan mail a month. And

5:31

she could hardly go a single day without.

5:33

Newspapers were putting on some piece of her

5:35

life. Clara. Bow has

5:38

face and fortune that few close

5:40

friends. One headline read. Another

5:43

simply red. Clara. Bow.

5:45

What? As if her

5:48

story defied. Words. She

5:50

was used to these kinds of headlines,

5:52

ones that speculated who she was dating

5:54

and guests when the tide's of Hollywood

5:56

would turn against her. They. were

5:59

annoying but they never affected her

6:01

star power. Those papers needed

6:03

Clara more than she needed them.

6:05

And if they needed to spin some tale

6:08

about her to sell papers, so

6:10

be it. But this day,

6:13

March 19th, 1931, all of that would change. This

6:18

day would be the day that

6:21

the headlines would deal their fatal blow.

6:27

Clara stood in her Beverly Hills home looking

6:29

down at a pamphlet in her hands. She

6:32

had been getting ready for rehearsals for her

6:34

next film when her housekeeper ran to her.

6:36

Miss Clara, you have to see this. She

6:39

handed Clara a little booklet that read, Clara's

6:42

Secret Love Life, as

6:44

told by Daisy. On

6:48

the cover was a drawing of

6:50

a redheaded woman who was supposed

6:52

to represent Clara, kissing a brown

6:54

haired mustachioed man. Her

6:56

palms started sweating. She

6:58

knew exactly what this was, as

7:02

told by Daisy. Daisy

7:04

was her former secretary and that rat

7:06

must have sold lies about Clara to

7:09

the news. This is why she didn't

7:11

trust anyone. That headline that once read,

7:13

"'Clara Has Face and Fortune But Few

7:16

Close Friends'?" Yeah, that

7:18

was for a reason. Her hands

7:20

shook as she opened the first page where

7:22

she read the table of contents. Chapter

7:25

one, A Girlhood of Shame.

7:27

Chapter three, Clara Lures

7:29

Innocent Youth. Chapter five,

7:31

Clara in Role of Homewrecker.

7:34

The pamphlet accused her of

7:36

everything, homosexuality, which was not

7:38

looked on kindly back then.

7:41

Three sums, a sexual appetite so

7:43

ravenous that when no person could

7:46

satisfy her, she turned to animals.

7:49

It claimed she had taken a lover in

7:51

Mexico who had killed his wife and then

7:53

himself when his wife found out about the

7:55

affair. The rumors preyed

7:57

upon modest America's biggest fear.

8:00

years about Hollywood, and this

8:02

personalized burn book was being

8:04

mailed across the country to

8:06

thousands of households as some

8:09

sort of smear campaign. Clara

8:11

didn't know it yet, but it

8:14

had even been mailed to the

8:16

superior court judges and local parent-teacher

8:18

association offices. This

8:21

was a targeted attempt to

8:23

take Clara down. Just

8:25

then, her phone started ringing off

8:28

the hook. Everyone

8:31

was calling. Her studio, her

8:33

family, the press, but

8:36

Clara couldn't bring herself to talk to anyone.

8:38

Instead, she ran to

8:40

her bathroom and threw up. This

8:43

was the beginning of the end. By

8:46

this time next year, the most famous

8:49

actress would be locked inside of an

8:51

insane asylum with no

8:53

film career. But to

8:56

tell the story of how Clara's former

8:58

secretary launched an attack that took the

9:00

star down, I think we

9:02

should start at the beginning. Because

9:04

the Clara they all read about in the

9:06

papers was not the same

9:09

as the real woman. Clara

9:14

Bow was born on July 29, 1905, in the slums

9:18

of Brooklyn, New York, with a full

9:21

head of auburn hair that would become

9:23

a staple in her signature look. The

9:26

few moments that Clara was silent

9:28

upon first entering the world might

9:30

have been the only moment of

9:32

peace Clara would ever know. Once

9:34

born, she didn't make a sound. The

9:38

doctors and her mother stared at

9:40

her incredulously as she just looked

9:42

around the hospital room with curious

9:44

eyes. It wasn't until her

9:46

grandmother ripped her from the doctor's arms and shook

9:48

her for a few minutes that she let out

9:50

a loud wail. After

9:54

this, her mother was so paranoid the

9:56

baby would die, she didn't even get

9:58

Clara A birth certificate of it. Curse. And

10:01

so the woman whose name would eventually

10:03

be known and every. Household across

10:06

America. Started. Her life.

10:08

nameless, From an early

10:10

age though, her big personality. Shines

10:13

through. She was a tomboy in

10:15

a world that rewarded when and for

10:17

their domestic pursuits. Player didn't wanna

10:19

play with dolls and learned how to be

10:21

a mother. She wanted to wrestle with the

10:23

boys and even bragged in her adulthood that

10:26

she was stronger than any of the boys

10:28

on her block. As

10:30

Clara.older though. She

10:33

developed the curve aces body her career

10:35

would be built on. And wrestling

10:37

with the boys. Came to a

10:39

screeching halt. The. Boys

10:41

no longer wanted to hang out with

10:43

her she wasn't one of them anymore

10:46

and the girls also her as poorly

10:48

dressed, loud mouthed and authored. She.

10:51

Was universally bullied for having

10:53

a stutter. There. Wasn't

10:55

space or Clara and her peer groups

10:57

anymore? And. There's certainly wasn't

10:59

space for her at home. Clara.

11:02

Family lives had disintegrated before

11:04

it even started. Her. Father

11:07

struggled with alcohol and couldn't hold

11:09

a job, and her mother sarah

11:11

well, she was struggling with some

11:14

pretty severe mental health issues on

11:16

top of her epilepsy. Back.

11:19

Then in the early nineteen hundreds,

11:21

it was believed that epilepsy was

11:23

caused by sunstroke. And. Masturbation.

11:26

So. Basically if you hot it. Doctors.

11:29

Thought it was your fault. So.

11:32

No one thought to look into

11:34

Sarah's past or family history to

11:36

try and understand her mental anguish.

11:39

Sarah. Had suffered a devastating fall

11:41

out of a second story window

11:43

when she was just sixteen. She.

11:45

Was never the same. After that. And

11:48

maybe that was the roots of Sarah's

11:50

problems. Or. Perhaps it was

11:52

a genetic curse. She couldn't escape

11:55

from. When. Sarah was

11:57

growing up. for father had of

11:59

mother committed to an asylum for

12:01

the terminally insane and she died

12:04

the next year. We

12:06

don't know exactly what her mother, Clara's

12:09

grandmother, suffered from, but we

12:11

know that Sarah never forgave her father for

12:14

what he did. Sarah

12:16

was prone to fits and delusions

12:18

and often took out her frustration

12:20

on Clara. When

12:23

Clara's grandfather died, Sarah Cooley

12:25

looked at her daughter, who was crying

12:27

from watching her grandfather die of a

12:29

heart attack while she pushed him on

12:31

a swing and told her bluntly,

12:34

I wish it had

12:36

been you. By the

12:38

time she was 13 in 1918, Clara needed an escape. Shunned

12:43

by her peers, unloved by her family,

12:45

and forced to leave school to get

12:48

a job to make up for her

12:50

father's slack, she searched

12:52

for somewhere to go. And

12:57

that's when she found it. The

13:00

Movies Every cent she

13:02

made from her job that didn't go to

13:04

her mother, she spent at the movies. There

13:07

she watched as her favorite starlets

13:09

escaped their circumstances for better days.

13:12

At the movies, Lillian Gish could

13:15

be saved from her alcoholic, raging

13:17

father in broken blossoms, and

13:20

Mary Pickford could win the

13:22

affection of her emotionless, wealthy

13:24

aunt. Seeing Clara would

13:26

rush home afterwards and sit in her

13:28

mirror, practicing making the faces she had

13:30

just seen on the screen. Happy,

13:33

surprised, in love, emotions

13:36

that she only saw in

13:38

movies. Three

13:43

years later, in 1921, Clara was reading

13:45

a magazine when an ad jumped out

13:47

at her. Win a role

13:49

in a film. All

13:51

She had to do was submit two

13:54

photos of herself and she could be

13:56

in a real movie, a picture called

13:58

Beyond The Rainbow. The only

14:00

problem was. She didn't have any

14:02

photos of herself. She. Begged her

14:04

father to bring her to Coney Island. So

14:07

she could have two pictures taken in a

14:09

cheap studio. The. Pictures

14:11

came out horrible. They.

14:13

Were grainy and clara he did. The

14:16

way her face. Looked. But

14:18

still. It. Was all she could afford.

14:20

She. To the streetcar downtown to

14:22

submit the photos. all without telling

14:25

her mother who thought that women

14:27

who started movies were loose and

14:29

heated Clara's obsession. Within.

14:31

A few days she got asked to come

14:34

in person and cyst and fruit of producers.

14:36

Even in grainy, low

14:38

quality photos, Clara. Sparkled.

14:42

At the test she was so natural

14:44

and her beauty and red hair stuff

14:46

out amongst a sea of girls who

14:48

all looked similar. But. What really?

14:50

One the producers over. Was.

14:53

Clara could cry on cue,

14:55

a talent that not many

14:57

actors had perfected, but team

14:59

so easily to Clara. Later.

15:01

In life. When asked for, she did it.

15:04

She'd reply. All I had

15:06

to do was think of homes. And with

15:08

that. She booked her first

15:10

ever roles. Sarah

15:14

did not take the news While.

15:17

When. She learned her daughter had been

15:19

sneaking around behind her back to audition.

15:21

She told her to her face. I'd

15:24

rather see you dead. Then.

15:27

One night. Clara. Awoke to

15:29

a strange feeling that she was

15:32

being launched. She. Rubbed the

15:34

sleep from her eyes and sauce. Figure

15:36

standing above her. In one

15:39

of their hands was a nice. It

15:41

was her mother. I'm gonna kill

15:44

you Clara. It'll be better. She.

15:46

Said. And with that,

15:48

she slowly started bringing the nice to

15:50

Claris. The. Girl

15:52

laid still hoping it was all a

15:54

dream, but knowing and her heart? it

15:57

wasn't. Just as the knife

15:59

was about to read. Her neck. Her

16:01

mother sainted. The.

16:05

Next morning, Sarah had no recollection

16:07

of what had happened Put Clara

16:10

knew something had to change. It

16:12

wasn't until Sarah chased her daughter around the house

16:14

with a butcher's knife. A few. More

16:16

times that Clara's father

16:18

finally agreed. Less. Than

16:21

a week after Beyond the

16:23

Rainbows release on February Twenty

16:25

Fourth, Nineteen, Twenty Two. Sarah.

16:27

Was taken to an asylum for. The

16:30

criminally insane a her husband. She.

16:32

Suffered the same fate as her

16:34

mother. Clara. Saw

16:36

a pattern starting to form with the

16:39

women in her family and she was

16:41

desperate to get away. No.

16:43

Longer needing to worry, About her mother and

16:45

with her first picture under her belt.

16:48

She. Was finally ready to set her sights

16:50

on something bigger. Clara

16:52

Bow takes on Hollywood. After

16:54

the break. Hey.

16:59

Hey there! Did you know Kroger always gives

17:02

you savings and rewards on top of our

17:04

lower than low prices? And when you download

17:06

the Kroger app, you'll enjoy over $500 in

17:09

savings every week with digital coupons. And don't

17:11

forget fuel points to help you save up

17:13

to $1 per gallon at the

17:15

pump. Want to save even more? With

17:17

a boost membership, you'll get double fuel points

17:20

and free delivery. So shop and save big

17:22

at Kroger today! Kroger. Kroger, fresh

17:24

for everyone. Savings may vary by

17:26

state. Restrictions apply. See site for details.

17:29

Something which is no the best way for you is

17:32

a rate based. On local with also one

17:34

based on the driver's seat. The highway like

17:36

a race track on the so the like

17:38

a passing room. While

17:40

theory based on anyone else on based

17:43

on. His dad was. Not

17:46

in a loss in California has determined that is and Switzer

17:48

determined by several factors which vary by state and some states

17:50

but is it isn't Drop was a little cities are targeted

17:52

for purposes of rating well in of sense. Or putting for

17:54

he said I was driving Generally safer diversity but

17:56

I was also earned as interns them in Philly

17:58

from that. Illinois is right. It

18:01

is Ryan here and I have a question

18:03

for you. What do you do when you

18:05

win? Like are you a fist pumper? A

18:08

hand clapper? A high fiver? I kind of

18:10

like the high five but if you want

18:12

to hone in on those winning moves check

18:15

out Chumba Casino. At chumbacasino.com choose from hundreds

18:17

of social casino style games for your chance

18:19

to redeem serious cash prizes. There are new

18:21

game releases weekly plus free daily bonuses so

18:24

don't wait start having the most fun

18:26

ever at chumbacasino.com Hey

18:30

guys, it is Ryan. I'm not sure if you

18:32

know this about me, but I'm a bit of

18:35

a fun fanatic when I can. I like to

18:37

work, but I like fun too. It's a thing,

18:39

and now the truth is out there. I can

18:41

tell you about my favorite place to have fun.

18:44

Chumba Casino. They have hundreds of social casino-style games

18:46

to choose from, with new games released each week.

18:48

You can play for free anytime, anywhere, and each

18:50

day brings a new chance to collect daily bonuses.

18:53

So join me in the fun. Sign

18:55

up now at chumbacasino.com. No

18:57

purchase necessary. VTW Group. Voidware prohibited by law. See terms and conditions.

19:02

It didn't take long for Clara to find work

19:04

in Hollywood. In 1922, she was signed to a contract

19:09

at Preferred Pictures by executive

19:11

BP Schulberg where she made a whopping

19:14

$750 a

19:16

week. That's almost $14,000 today. And in her first 18 months

19:18

of her contract, she was

19:23

in 16 movies. It

19:25

was undeniable that she had something

19:27

special. She brought a grounded

19:29

realness to silent pictures that many of

19:32

them liked. Without dialogue,

19:34

actresses relied heavily on big

19:36

expressions and overacting to convey

19:38

their message. But Clara

19:40

could get what she wanted across with

19:43

just a few movements of her pencil-thin

19:45

eyebrows. Really, though, it

19:48

was her sexuality that set her apart. Her

19:51

curvaceous body, short hair, knack

19:53

for onscreen flirting and tomboy

19:55

style represented a new era

19:58

of womanhood. flapper.

20:00

The 1920s

20:02

brought about new freedoms for women,

20:04

the right to vote being a

20:06

major one. And flappers represented a

20:08

rejection of what women once were

20:10

and an embrace of what they

20:13

could be. Flappers were unmarried,

20:15

but still enjoyed sex. They made

20:17

their own money and loved to

20:19

go out on the town. They

20:21

smoked, weren't overtly feminine. They didn't

20:23

sit pretty on the sidelines. They

20:25

were in the game, and they

20:28

played by their own rules. By

20:31

1925, she had been in over

20:33

30 films. And while most of

20:35

them were arguably not very good,

20:38

Clara still caught the attention of

20:41

other producers who saw her star

20:43

potential, which led to

20:45

her breakout hit. The

20:47

1927 film called It. Adapted

20:50

from a book by Eleanor Linn, It

20:53

told the story of a working class

20:56

girl who develops a crush on a

20:58

wealthy department store manager. The

21:00

concept of It, which the movie

21:02

revolves around, is the

21:05

intangible quality that makes someone

21:07

irresistible. And Clara

21:09

had It. Clara was

21:11

It. Christina Ball

21:13

in a 2001 article described

21:16

what Clara had as, This

21:47

also ushered in a new era

21:49

of her personal life as well.

21:52

Clara had money now. She had made it

21:54

out of the slums of Brooklyn, and she

21:56

wanted to enjoy her life. She

21:58

bought herself a red Roadster sports car

22:01

and would often be seen around town with

22:03

seven chihuahuas in the back seat. Clara

22:06

embodied so many of the flapper tropes

22:08

she portrayed on screen. She

22:11

was still the tomboy she was

22:13

at 13 years old, just now

22:15

with adult interests like gambling, smoking,

22:17

and going to football games. She

22:21

also was in no rush to get married,

22:23

but still enjoyed a slew

22:25

of male suitors. At

22:27

one point, she was in a torrid relationship

22:30

with her co-star Gary Cooper, the

22:32

same Gary Cooper that Irene was in

22:34

love with in last week's episode. The

22:38

only problem with Clara dating Cooper

22:40

was she was already engaged to

22:42

actor Gilbert Rowland, and

22:45

on top of that, she already had

22:47

a boyfriend on the side, Wizard of

22:49

Oz director Victor Flaming. This

22:52

kind of behavior, at least back then,

22:54

was enough to get an actress fired.

22:57

Their contracts had something called a

22:59

morals clause, where actresses promised to

23:02

be on their best behavior to

23:04

not embarrass the studios. Maybe

23:07

it's because Clara was a modern woman

23:09

with no interest in doing things how

23:11

they've been done before, but she

23:13

successfully negotiated the morals clause

23:16

out of her contract. She

23:18

was, in fact, legally

23:20

allowed to be on her worst

23:22

behavior. So,

23:26

as you can imagine, it's

23:29

around this time that rumors about

23:31

Clara's life start swirling. The

23:34

tabloids all called her promiscuous when word

23:36

of her affairs got out. It

23:39

was said that Clara was a nymphomaniac

23:41

who had, quote, tackled the

23:43

entire USC football team. The

23:46

rumors were terrible and cruel,

23:48

but some of them were true. Like

23:52

how a woman sued Clara for $150,000, or $2.7 million

23:54

today, after she learned her her

24:00

husband had an affair with the actress. There

24:03

was also the time that a

24:05

night out gambling went sour when

24:07

Clara owed the casino, run by

24:09

mobsters, more money than she could

24:11

pay. The movie

24:13

studio came to her rescue both times,

24:15

but they were really wishing they had

24:18

fit the morality clause into her contract.

24:21

Clara had been cast as a sex

24:23

symbol, as a woman who could seduce

24:25

any man with that it quality, with

24:28

so many other women coveted. And

24:30

now parts of her life were starting to mimic

24:32

that. So fans,

24:34

desperate for morsels of their

24:36

favorite stars life, ate

24:38

the tabloid stories up. But

24:41

the real story of Clara at this time

24:44

is also one of loneliness and

24:46

pain. By the

24:48

mid 1920s, her father had moved out

24:50

to Los Angeles to meddle with his

24:52

daughter's financial affairs. He was desperate

24:54

to mooch off her now that she was

24:56

making money. Clara also

24:58

had a hard time fitting in. Remember

25:01

the headline, "'Clara Bow' has space

25:03

and fortune, but few close friends."

25:06

Well, there was more truth to that

25:08

than many would believe. Other

25:11

stars saw Clara as a loose cannon

25:13

and didn't want to associate with her.

25:16

Plus, she marched to the beat of her own

25:18

drum. She'd wear gold expensive slippers

25:20

to a football game and then turn around

25:23

and show up to a fancy dinner in

25:25

a belted swimsuit. She swore,

25:27

she talked openly about sex. Her

25:30

peers thought she was low class and

25:32

vulgar. You could take the girl out

25:34

of Brooklyn, but not Brooklyn out of

25:36

the girl. It was

25:38

so unfair though. The men got to

25:40

sleep around, gamble and party, and no

25:43

one batted an eye. Gary

25:45

Cooper wasn't smeared at all for their

25:47

affair. His career and image were doing

25:49

better than ever actually. And it was

25:51

because they dated and Clara wanted to

25:54

help him that he even had a

25:56

career at all. But the papers

25:58

weren't reporting on that. They

26:00

didn't care. They didn't care that

26:02

they had made her into a sex symbol,

26:04

and now that she was finally acting like

26:06

one, they were tearing her down. They

26:09

just wanted to sell more papers. So

26:12

maybe that's why. At this

26:14

point in her career, she

26:16

was so vulnerable. She

26:19

was constantly in trouble with the movie

26:21

studio due to her partying, her finances

26:23

were a mess due to her gambling,

26:26

and her friends were few and

26:29

far between. Because

26:31

it's around this time that

26:34

Clara lets a woman into her life who

26:37

would eventually lead to her downfall.

26:45

Daisy DeVoe was a hairdresser from Kentucky who

26:47

met Clara around 1926 when she was filming

26:51

her movie Wings. The

26:54

two girls hit it off immediately. Daisy

26:56

also had left home for a better life and

26:59

had been supporting herself since she was just 16

27:01

years old. They were kindred spirits

27:04

in that way. Daisy

27:06

invented a secret formula to make

27:08

Clara's hair even more vibrant red.

27:11

Editors note it was just bleach. And

27:14

after that, Clara demanded Daisy be

27:16

on every film she worked on

27:18

moving forward. And while

27:20

she did the star's hair, Daisy would

27:22

hear about everything going on in

27:24

her life. Her issues

27:26

with her mooching father, her gambling debts,

27:28

and other money troubles. Daisy

27:31

had been good with money. It was her

27:33

savviness that supported her since she was 16.

27:36

So she offered to help Clara get her affairs

27:38

in order. She would be her

27:41

secretary. After learning about

27:43

this new partnership, BP Schulberg, the

27:45

man at Preferred Pictures who had

27:47

signed Clara, pulled Daisy aside. He

27:50

wanted to know if she would do him a

27:52

solid and keep tabs on the actress.

27:55

You know, who she was seeing, where

27:57

she was going. him,

28:00

just so he could make sure she

28:02

wasn't going to embarrass the studio even

28:04

more than she already had. But

28:07

Daisy could see right through him, and

28:09

she wasn't going to betray her friend. Without

28:12

even giving it a second thought, she replied,

28:15

no dice, I

28:17

don't work for the studio anymore. She

28:19

was not here to tattle on her friend.

28:22

She was here to help. Once

28:26

Daisy started working for Clara, she

28:29

whipped the starlets finances into shape.

28:31

Money was Clara's biggest private struggle.

28:34

She allowed everyone to take from

28:36

her, and whatever little she had

28:38

left, she went gambling with. So

28:41

Daisy opened an account that all

28:43

of the actress' paychecks would be

28:45

deposited into. Daisy would pay

28:47

herself from that account, as well as

28:49

all of Clara's other bills. She

28:52

also had no problem being the bad cop

28:54

when someone asked the actress for money. If

28:56

Clara's dad needed some cash, if a

28:59

friend swore they'd pay Clara right back,

29:02

they had to go through Daisy. And

29:04

Daisy said no. A

29:06

lot. Two years

29:08

after the account was set up, in 1930, Clara had

29:10

a quarter million dollars in

29:14

savings. Today, that's 4.6 million dollars.

29:19

Things were good, and they were only

29:21

getting better. But what goes up,

29:24

must come down. And

29:27

just when Daisy thought that things were

29:29

changing for Clara, just when

29:31

the actress had gotten back on her

29:33

feet, is when Clara brought

29:36

home her new boyfriend. Dr.

29:39

Rex Bell. In

29:44

the midst of trying to clean up

29:46

her image, Clara and the studios thought

29:48

it was time she'd get a serious

29:50

boyfriend, and Rex Bell seemed like the

29:52

perfect man. Rex, born

29:54

George Beldum, was an

29:56

actor. But more importantly, he

29:58

had a... weaky clean

30:00

reputation. He was seen as

30:03

a good, all-American man's

30:05

man. Rex spoke publicly about

30:07

not wanting to be an actor forever.

30:09

He wanted to own a ranch one

30:11

day and run for office in local

30:13

government. When he met

30:15

Clara, she was engaged to Harry

30:17

Richmond and involved with another man,

30:19

Big Boy Williams. Rex took

30:22

third priority, but he stuck it out.

30:24

And with some heavy suggesting from the

30:27

studio, eventually they were

30:29

a public couple. But

30:31

behind the scenes, Rex was

30:33

controlling and he immediately started

30:35

looking into Clara's finances. He

30:38

demanded Daisy show him the books she had

30:40

been keeping on Clara and came

30:42

to the conclusion that Daisy

30:45

had been stealing from the money she

30:47

had been putting away, though

30:49

there was little evidence that that had

30:51

been happening. So with Rex in

30:53

her ear, Clara fired Daisy,

30:56

the woman who got the overspending

30:58

actress out of the red. Daisy

31:01

did not take the news well. She

31:03

was devastated. She had poured so much

31:05

into this job and saw Clara as

31:07

more than a boss. She was like

31:09

a sister to her. Daisy

31:12

had been at her side through the

31:14

scandals, through the studios working her to

31:16

the bone. She had advocated for her,

31:19

told freeloaders and snooping studio execs to

31:21

take a hike and what?

31:23

Some stupid boyfriend comes around and ruins all

31:25

of it? Daisy asked

31:28

for at least some severance while

31:30

she found another job. But

31:32

Clara, used to people

31:34

taking advantage of her financially, interpreted

31:37

the request as blackmail. Her

31:40

internal alarm system started going

31:42

off. So Rex

31:44

notified the police. And

31:46

on November 6, 1930, Daisy was arrested.

31:48

January 13, 1931, thousands of people

31:50

and reporters

31:59

flocked. to the LA County

32:01

Courthouse to watch the trial of

32:03

Daisy DeVoe. Perhaps

32:07

she'd testify something scandalous she had

32:09

learned about her actress boss that

32:11

the papers could publish, and

32:13

no one wanted to miss out on that. Soon,

32:16

a car pulls up and

32:18

Daisy emerges from the backseat. Immediately

32:22

flanked by two officers who escort

32:24

her up the stairs, pushing through

32:26

microphones, flashing bulbs, and posters calling

32:29

her all sorts of names. Inside,

32:33

she sits on a cold wooden bench in

32:35

a courtroom. On the other side is

32:38

her former boss, dressed to the

32:40

nines and staring down at the floor.

32:43

Next to her is the man who got

32:45

everyone into this mess in the first place,

32:48

smiling glibly like some sort

32:50

of congressman. For the

32:52

next few hours, the DA, a

32:54

man named David Clark, makes

32:57

an argument to the jury that

32:59

Daisy is a conniving villain in

33:01

Clara's life, hellbent on mooching off

33:03

the star's finances. The

33:05

official amount she's charged with is

33:07

just one missing $825 check. Daisy

33:13

swore it was used to pay Clara's

33:15

income taxes. Clara had even signed it.

33:17

She saw what it was being used

33:20

for. But when Daisy looks out at

33:22

the crowd from the witness stand, she

33:24

sees a sea of studio exec faces,

33:27

including that of BP

33:29

Schulberg, the man she told

33:31

to kick rocks when he asked her to

33:34

spy on his cash cow. It's

33:37

not a friendly crowd. Finally,

33:39

it was time for the jurors

33:42

to deliberate. For the next

33:44

three days, Daisy bit her

33:46

nails down to the quick, waiting for

33:48

the verdict. And then,

33:50

it came. Not

33:53

guilty. But

33:55

things would take a sharp turn. Daisy

33:58

was still sentenced to a murder. to jail. The

34:01

judge was friends with those powerful studio

34:03

execs Daisy stood up to, and

34:06

she was given an 18-month

34:08

jail sentence. This was

34:10

her final straw. After

34:13

this betrayal, this media

34:15

circus, her reputation was ruined.

34:17

No one was ever going to hire her, and

34:20

that's when she was contacted

34:22

by Frederick Gurnau, the

34:25

Perez Hilton of his day. He

34:28

sat down with her while she was in jail to

34:30

get a full account of her time

34:32

with Clara, spare no details. And

34:35

then, he went off and

34:37

crafted the pamphlet tell-all of

34:39

Clara's scandals, full of

34:42

tales of an unquenchable

34:44

sexual desire, exhibitionism, drug

34:47

addiction, STDs, of

34:49

the curse of insanity that followed the

34:52

women in her family. Which

34:55

brings us to where we started the story.

34:58

Clara holding this pamphlet in her

35:00

hands, knowing that this was

35:03

the nail in her coffin. The

35:06

trial had already dug up a

35:08

lot of dirty secrets about her,

35:10

of her lavish lifestyle, her partying

35:12

habits, her gambling debts. The

35:14

media had not been kind to her,

35:17

and the studios felt that audiences were

35:19

turning against the star. Clara

35:22

lost the movie she was in rehearsal for.

35:24

She became fretful and too scared to

35:27

go outside. The whole event

35:29

caused her to have a mental breakdown

35:31

so bad that Rex, unsure

35:34

of what else to do, committed

35:36

Clara to a sanatorium, just

35:39

as her father had committed

35:41

her mother, and just as

35:43

her grandfather had committed her

35:46

grandmother, the family curse she had

35:48

been running from had finally caught

35:50

up with her. Why

35:52

Clara's story is important today and

35:54

her parallels to one of today's

35:57

biggest stars after the break.

36:06

Some people just know the best rate for you

36:08

is a rate based on you with Allstate. Not

36:10

one based on the driver who treats the highway

36:12

like a racetrack and the shoulder like

36:14

a passing lane. Why pay

36:17

a rate based on anyone else? Get one

36:19

based on you with DriveWise from Allstate. Not

36:22

available in Alaska or California, subject to terms and conditions. Rates

36:24

are determined by several factors which vary by state. In some

36:26

states, participation in DriveWise allows Allstate to use her driving data

36:28

for purposes of rating. In some states, her rate could increase

36:31

with high-risk driving generally. Safer drivers will stay with DriveWise. Allstate

36:33

Bar Hello

36:36

it is. Ryan and I was on a flight

36:38

the other day playing one of my favorite social

36:40

spins like games on Jump A casino.com I looked

36:42

over the person sitting next to me, a note

36:44

there were doing. They're also playing Trump Casino. Coincidence?

36:47

I think not. Everybody's loving having fun with it.

36:49

Jumper Casinos on the hundreds A casino Style games?

36:51

do you can. Play. For free any

36:53

time anywhere. Even And thirty thousand

36:55

feet. So sign up now a chump. A

36:58

casino.com The claim your free welcome bonus. At

37:00

Jumbo casino.com and Lip the Chamberland.

37:02

no purchase necessary to my last

37:04

years ago. If I lost in terms With Luckyland

37:06

Slots, you can get lucky just

37:09

about anywhere. This is

37:11

your captain speaking. We've got clear runway and the

37:13

weather's fine, but we're just going to circle up

37:15

here a while and get lucky. No,

37:17

no, nothing like that. It's just these cash

37:19

prizes add up quick, so I suggest you

37:21

sit back, keep your tray table upright, and

37:23

start getting lucky. Play

37:26

for free at luckylandslots.com. Are

37:28

you feeling lucky? No purchase

37:30

necessary. Void where prohibited by law. 18 plus

37:33

terms and conditions apply. See website

37:35

for details. in

37:47

the middle of one. The pop

37:49

star was no stranger to scandal. She

37:51

had made headlines ever since she was

37:53

a teen, but this time was different.

37:56

The night before, Kim Kardashian had released a

37:59

video of her husband at the time,

38:01

Kanye West, on the phone with Taylor. Recently

38:04

he had released a song in which

38:06

he mentioned Taylor, and Taylor claimed that

38:08

she had not given Kanye her blessing

38:10

to include her in the song. That's

38:13

when Kim Kardashian posted the infamous

38:15

video of Kanye on the phone

38:17

with Taylor from months before, where

38:20

he was explaining to Taylor how he'd use

38:22

her name in the song. Though

38:25

not in full detail, there were

38:27

lines in the song that he withheld from her,

38:29

calling her that bitch and claiming he

38:31

was the one that made her famous.

38:35

And though this all sounds relatively

38:37

minor, the following media frenzy was

38:39

unlike anything Taylor Swift had dealt

38:41

with before. After having the

38:43

biggest year of her career up until that

38:45

point, it was all crashing down. tabloids

38:49

called her a perpetual victim, a

38:51

liar, and dragged up other damning

38:53

things from her past. Before

38:56

the dust settled, Taylor, like

38:58

Clara, retreated from the

39:00

spotlight and went to go live in

39:03

isolation. She was just

39:05

26 at the time, the same

39:07

age Clara was during her scandal.

39:10

But this is where the two

39:13

women's stories stop intersecting. Both

39:15

of them would experience entirely different

39:18

trajectories. Taylor Swift

39:20

obviously still has a career today.

39:23

She emerged from her year-long isolation

39:25

with a new album and eight

39:27

years after her scandal is

39:29

the biggest superstar on the planet. For

39:33

Clara, however, that was the

39:35

end of the road. She'd go

39:37

on to make two more movies in

39:40

her career, both flops, before

39:42

being officially diagnosed with schizophrenia

39:44

and choosing to live most

39:46

of her life in total

39:48

isolation in LA, away

39:50

from even her kids and husband.

39:54

She passed away in 1965 at the age of 60

39:56

from a heart attack. Daisy

40:00

would also never work in Hollywood again.

40:03

After jail, she married and worked

40:05

in the aircraft industry. She

40:08

died in 1996 at the age of 92. Perhaps

40:12

Taylor sees some of herself

40:14

in Clara's story. It

40:16

makes sense, the story of a girl

40:19

whose world was rocked by scandal, who

40:21

was subjected to harsh criticism for just

40:23

living her life to the fullest, who

40:26

was crushed under the

40:28

pressure. But

40:30

I want to talk about the story that

40:32

I think is at the core of

40:34

all of this. It's the story of

40:37

two friends. Before

40:42

Daisy's sentencing, Clara tearily wrote a

40:44

letter to the DA begging for

40:46

the judge to go easy on

40:48

Daisy, even though Rex warned Clara

40:51

she better not interfere. The

40:53

letter read, The DA never

40:55

relayed that letter to the judge. Everyone wanted so

40:57

much from Clara. The studios wanted

41:16

her time, her father wanted her money,

41:18

her mother wanted her

41:20

dead, the press wanted every morsel

41:22

of her personal life and

41:24

her husband wanted control. Ironically,

41:27

the only person

41:29

who never wanted anything from Clara

41:32

was Daisy. She was

41:35

the only person in Clara's life who

41:37

was just there to help. I

41:44

can't help but think about what would have happened

41:46

if Rex had never gotten in Clara's star.

41:49

Would her star have continued to rise with Daisy

41:52

by her side the whole way? Would she

41:54

be a household name today, like

41:56

Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe,

41:59

or even Taylor Swift? Or

42:02

was she always destined to burn out

42:04

because of her impending mental health issues?

42:07

We'll never know. Clara will

42:09

never get the chance to show us. But

42:13

it's great that her name has been

42:15

reintroduced into the cultural zeitgeist, if only

42:17

for a moment. Listen to

42:20

the Clara Bow song when it comes out,

42:22

and I'm gonna link a playlist I made

42:24

and listened to while I wrote this episode

42:26

to get myself into her mindset. And

42:28

once again, thank you to everyone

42:30

who listened. This episode was really special

42:33

to do. I love when

42:35

I can get to know a person and try to

42:37

understand them. And thank you, thank you, thank you if

42:39

you're a first time listener. I hope

42:41

you find other episodes in my

42:43

catalog to enjoy, and check out

42:46

the other episodes I'm doing on

42:48

the dark history of Hollywood. My

42:50

episode next week is all about

42:52

curses, and the one afterwards is

42:54

a Hollywood murder mystery. This month

42:56

I also have a bonus episode

42:58

I'm super excited about on the

43:00

dark history and hauntings of the

43:03

Waverly Hills Sanatorium. So make sure

43:05

to subscribe on Patreon or Apple

43:07

Podcast to get access to that. This

43:14

has been Heart Starts Pounding, written

43:16

and produced by me, Kaelin Moore.

43:19

Additional producing by Matt Brown. Sound

43:21

design and mix by Peachtree Sound.

43:23

Special thanks to Travis Dunlap, Grayson

43:26

Jernigan, the team at WME, and

43:28

Ben Jaffee. Thank you to all

43:30

of our new patrons. You will be thanked in

43:32

the monthly newsletter, have a heart

43:34

pounding story, or a case request. You

43:36

can find a form to submit those

43:39

on our website, heartstartspounding.com.

43:42

Until next time, stay

43:44

curious. Oooooooh.

43:54

Some people just know the best rate for you is

43:56

a rate based on you with all speed. Not

43:59

one based on the drive. who treats the highway like

44:01

a race track and the shoulder like

44:03

a passing lane? Why

44:05

pay a rate based on anyone else? Get

44:07

one based on you, this drive-wise from Austin.