Clara Bow

Clara Bow was an American silent-film actress whose screen persona helped define the flapper image of the 1920s. Her popularity made her known as the “It girl.”

It: A 1927 romantic comedy starring Clara Bow as a shopgirl whose charm attracts her employer. The film helped make Bow the era’s “It girl.”
Brooklyn: A borough of New York City, historically an independent city before its 1898 consolidation with New York. Bow grew up in Brooklyn in a poor household marked by family hardship.
Rex Bell: An American actor and politician who served as lieutenant governor of Nevada. Bell married Bow in 1931, and they later raised two sons in Nevada.
Flapper: A young woman associated with the fashions, attitudes, and social freedoms of the 1920s. Bow’s roles made her one of the screen’s defining embodiments of the flapper.
Wings: A 1927 silent war film about two friends who become pilots during World War I. Bow played Mary Preston in this major production, which won the first Academy Award for Outstanding Picture.
Fame and Fortune contest: A motion-picture talent contest organized by Brewster Publications in the early 1920s. Bow entered the contest, and its exposure helped lead to her first film work.
Victor Fleming: An American film director known for The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind. Fleming directed Bow in Mantrap and helped shape one of her notable screen performances.
It girl: A woman whose charisma and style attract widespread public attention. Bow’s association with the quality called “It” gave this celebrity archetype lasting currency.
Mantrap: A 1926 romantic comedy in which a city lawyer encounters life in a Canadian wilderness town. Bow’s performance as Alverna made the film a prominent showcase for her comic persona.
B. P. Schulberg: An American film producer and studio executive who helped build Paramount Pictures. Schulberg supported Bow’s career and brought her into Paramount’s orbit.

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