Errol Flynn party ends in brawl 1942

Errol Flynn has Fracas at 32nd Birthday Party

On June 20, 1942 actor Errol Flynn turned 32 years old. He

Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
The Charge of the Light Brigade

threw a big party at his Beverly Hills home, 7740 Mulholland Drive to celebrate his birthday. Flynn was born June 20, 1909 in Hobart, Australia.

Hollywood celebrities were on his guest list. I'll bet he got some swell presents but this birthday party didn't end well.

Guests included Charles Chaplin**, Dinah Shore, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Warner, Mickey Rooney and other film notables such as Tyrone Power and his wife, the French actress, Annabella. 

Merle Oberon and her husband, film producer Alexander Korda and Cary Grant were there.

Not sure if Woolworth heiress, Barbara Hutton, Cary Grant's fiancee was there and if so for how long. She'd lent Flynn the use of her butler, Eric Gosta Hadler who would serve as bartender for the evening. Not long before, the papers had suggested Grant would marry Phyllis Brooks.

A fight broke out at 4:00 in the morning in Flynn's kitchen between Hadler and Errol Flynn's stand-in and secretary (his former butler), James Fleming. Supposedly most of the guests had left once the fight happened. This was just the type of so-called Hollywood scandal that the papers liked to sensationalize.

Others who were working in Flynn's house assisting in serving the guests told police that that Hadler was sober. Hutton said that Hadler was an ideal servant and too proud to drink on the job. Witnesses had different stories. ....


Errol Flynn was a panelist on the quiz show, What's My Line. Sammy Davis Jr. was the mystery guest. One woman's secret profession that Flynn and the rest of the panel (Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen and Arlene Francis) must guess is that she makes handcuffs.

Flynn told the detective lieutenants who arrived at his home, "the fight had occurred at 4am Sunday following a celebration of [his] 32nd birthday by 75 guests from the film colony. That Hadler appeared to have been drinking. Two guests of the party Orry Kelly and Freddie McAvoy [sic]*, Flynn's house guest, gave officers a similar account.

"Fleming admitted hitting Hadler but only after the latter swung at him first.
'Hadler,' Fleming said, 'had sampled amply several drinks he mixed for the party into which he had been putting six ounces of Flynn's whisky.' ....

"Until yesterday in a semi-conscious condition, Hadler from his hospital bed denied to officers that he had been drunk at the time of the bout and was a little hazy about just what had happened. 'It all happened so suddenly I can't remember what happened.' He said.

"He even admitted that he might have provoked the encounter, recalling faintly that he called Fleming a German. 'I'm not a bit surprised about provoking it,' Hadler murmured, 'Somehow I don't have any use for the man.' But Hadler insisted he did not attack Fleming.'
-- Los Angeles Times, June 26, 1942

Errol Flynn Vintage Photo In Shower
Classic Printed From Original Negative
Early to bed early to rise

Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin on shoulders Tshirt He's a He-Man
Check out other Silent movies T-Shirts at zazzle

"Fleming related: 'He (Gosta) was mixing drinks with six ounce of whisky in them. Both Mr. Flynn and I noticed his condition and got him into the kitchen. We mixed drinks ourselves after that. But Gosta kept coming back and interfering.

"'As the evening went on he got more abusive. As they (the help) were going out the back door, Gosta shouted something at me in Swedish. I didn't know what he said but it sounded insulting. I went outside and asked him to repeat it in English.

"'Then he hit me and I struck back. The blow wasn't hard enough to knock a man down. Maybe he fell and hit his head.'

Others accused Fleming of "pestering Gosta finally chasing him out of the house" and striking him.

"Flynn himself was not available for comment, his studio reporting that his physician had ordered him to remain quietly in bed."
-- St. Petersburg Times, June 25, 1942



Cute clip from Dinah Shore Show: Olivia de Havilland talks about Errol Flynn

Hadler's injuries were so bad that there were worries that he would not survive and they'd have a homicide case. Flynn had told police he'd "retired at midnight" per doctors' orders due to his heart condition. 

Who has the best male figure in Hollywood?
Judges: Victor Heiser, MD; Alice Marble, tennis champ & boxer Jack Dempsey.
The finalists were: Johnny Weissmuller, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Robert Taylor and George Brent

Photoplay magazine May 1942
The winner, Errol Flynn was chosen as having
The Best Male Figure in Hollywood

The May 23, 1938 issue of Life Magazine had Errol Flynn on the cover with the caption: Errol Flynn, Glamor Boy. A photo of Flynn with his wife said. "Mr. and Mrs. Errol Flynn (Lili Damita) are always either fighting or making up."

 
Flynn played Don Juan on screen (1948)


In August, came the headline...
Errol Flynn swears off big parties!
   
"Actor Errol Flynn made a strange vow outside the county grand jury room yesterday, 'I'll never throw another big party as long as I'm in Hollywood.... I didn't see the trouble,' Flynn told reporters, 'But I can say one thing -- it has cured me of giving parties.'
 
"A fight between his stand-in and secretary James Fleming and Eric Gosta, Barbara Hutton's butler loaned out for a party June 21 celebrating the actor's 32nd birthday. Gosta had been in a hospital until recently.

"Flynn declared he couldn't say whether either of the men was intoxicated, 'but as far as Gosta is concerned, I know that some of my guests complained that he was making pink drinks too pink.' 

"One guest muttered, he said, 'It's too bad for a bartender to be getting swacked before the guests have a chance a the liquor.'"
-- Spokane Daily Chronicle, August 5, 1942

So much could be put on the list of things better done sober. One possible moral of the story, not at all suggesting that anyone in the above case was doing anything while under the influence. But how about... 'Don't drink and buttle.'

To show how different things were back then, in a 1943 newspaper article where Flynn was charged with the statutory rape of two underage girls, the names and professions of each juror was listed in the newspaper.

No one suggested that Flynn was involved in the fight and the only guests who were mentioned even as witnesses were Orry Kelly and Frederick McEvoy. Hutton had been visiting Mr. Gosta Hadler in the hospital. 

Were the papers print more swashbuckling Errol Flynn scandal, looking for anything to print? Was he trying to live up to his image or reputation? My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Autobiography of Errol Flynn. He was well known as Robin Hood and Don Juan.

Entirely unrelated to the June Flynn birthday party altercation, it was exciting times for Barbara Hutton and Cary Grant. They were to be married July 8, 1942. Miss Hutton would legally be known as Mrs. Archibald Leach, they said. 

Photo Director John Huston talking to actor Richard Burton The Night of the Iguana.

Errol Flynn and John Huston 1945

A few years later, there was a more famous story...
 
"Errol Flynn six-foot debonair film actor added to his exploits by tangling with Maj. John Huston, son of character actor Walter Huston in a fist fight. Two punches according to the best information landed in Huston's face and stitches were required to close a split eyebrow. His lip was also bruised. ....

"There was a party at the home of producer David O. Selznick. It was uncertain who invited whom out, but Flynn and Huston left the house and were gone for some time. 

"Huston's face was bleeding and Flynn was in 'a towering rage' when they returned, a witness said. But a friend of Huston's said he was uninjured."
-- The Pittsburgh Press, April 30, 1945


John Huston: Courage and Art Huston was a legendary film director; The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951) .... He is the father of actress Anjelica Huston.


The Last of Robin Hood with Kevin Kline (Errol Flynn), Dakota Fanning (young Beverly Aadland) and Susan Sarandon (Beverly's mom, Florence) will be in theaters mid-August 2014. 

Kevin Kline also played Douglas Fairbanks in the Robert Downey Jr. movie Chaplin. It would be interesting to compare the two performances.

Kline was Otto West in A Fish Called Wanda, and John Cleese was Archie Leach. The name was Cleese's tribute to Cary Grant. John Cleese is from the same area where Cary Grant was from.

Next Short Installment:
June 26, 1942: a very excellent adventure for Archibald Alexander Leach. 

* Frederick McEvoy was an Olympic Bronze medalist, a sportsman, a playboy and good friend of Errol Flynn's. Some articles were misspelling his last name. The building that was Errol Flynn's home is said to have been torn down and since replaced.

**In case you're wondering Charlie Chaplin had recently divorced actress Paulette Goddard, the month before, June 4th, 1942. Chaplin, at 54 would marry 18-year-old Oona O’Neill on June 16, 1943 in Santa Barbara. 

The two stayed married for the rest of his life and they had eight children together. O'Neill was the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill and writer Agnes Boulton. Some of his children went into acting including Geraldine Chaplin and Charles Chaplin, Jr. who appeared with his father in Limelight. His grandchildren include actresses Oona Chaplin and Kiera Chaplin.

Flynn T-shirt by disney
Look at Rapunzel T-Shirts online at Zazzle

Charlie Chaplin Portrait Case For The iPad or iPad Mini by allphotos
Look at more Chaplin Cases at zazzle

Related Pages of Interest:

Edna Millay John Barrymore Margaret Mead Shrek Greenwich Village The Narrowest house in New York City : Cary Grant; Charles Chaplin newsreel....

Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart Glamor Boys
The label works against Flynn in 1943 court case

Dressing Male Film Stars of the 1930s-1950s, Provide your own clothes Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Robert Taylor, Peter Lorre, Charles Laughton...

The Misfits: Last film of Clark Gable & Marilyn Monroe, 1961 christening of Gable's son, (similarities) The final films of Tyrone Power Jr. and his father, Tyrone Power, Sr.

 

Another Thin Man 1939 The Return of William Powell

The Return of William Powell 1939
(and Nick Charles in Another Thin Man)

After the death of Jean Harlow, William Powell took time off from acting. Filming

William Powell Original 1928
Vintage Studio Publicity Photo
w/Printed Signature

of Double Wedding had to be halted due to both Powell's mourning and then another unforeseen complication, his own health scare.

The movie costarred long-time friend and acting partner Myrna Loy with whom he made 14 films together.

Later in 1937 reports began that he was having health problems. They said he had stomach and intestinal trouble, it was suggested he had appendicitis. 

Eventually they said he had colon cancer. Friends feared he was going to die. 

Powell had been diagnosed with cancer of the rectum (sometimes also known as colorectal cancer, colon cancer or bowel cancer). 

Some other notable people to have had this form of cancer are and were actress Spring Byington, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother; President Ronald Reagan, Peggy Lipton from The Mod Squad, Wade Hayes, Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts; film

Love Courage Hope Butterfly
Dark Blue Awareness Ribbon
(for Colon Cancer) Tote Bag
Create your own,
Choose from other styles, designs

critic Joel Siegel, New York Yankee outfielder Darryl Strawberry, Audrey Hepburn, Eartha Kitt and musician Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.

In 2002, Sharon Osbourne dealt with a bout of colon cancer while filming the second season of her family's MTV reality show, The Osbournes. Her struggles and openness brought a lot of notoriety to and understanding of the disease.


William Powell chose colon bypass surgery and an experimental radium treatment which within two years put the disease in full remission. Papers said to look at him, he was now 'the real Thin Man' after all he'd been through.

"I was one of the lucky ones," he would say later, that he'd lived at all.  

After Jean Harlow's death and his own illness, articles suggested that Powell would retire. But in an interview, he said he was going to carry on with his life and work because that's what Jean would have wanted him to do.

William Powell with Myrna Loy happy to have him back;
The Thin Man

There was some talk about replacing William Powell for the next Thin Man movie. Luckily for all there was enough argument against that idea and production was postponed until the 'real' Nick Charles was ready to return to the role. 

Now when many people read The Thin Man stories by Dashiell Hammett, the images they conjure up are those of Powell and Loy. They're some of the favorite detective stories around.



"He's back! And William Powell's return to the screen is the best movie news in two years!" These words flash across the screen as the soundtrack plays Happy days are here again in a trailer for Another Thin Man and the warm regard for the star is notable. 

"After the expected scenes from the move and promotion of this latest Thin Man adventure, the trailer ends: 'Welcome back ... Bill Powell!'

"Powell told a reporter after the film was released that walking onto the set the

Powell vows to get
back to work
March 1939

first day of shooting 'was like coming home again. Myrna and Woody were wonderful. If they had been sentimental or emotional about it -- I don't think I could have stood it, I was so choked up.' But those two knew. All they said was, 'Well, Powell at last -- and you're late again!'

"Myrna Loy later said that she got on the set bright and early to greet Powell. 'They'd cut [the cancer] out and he survived it and how!' She wrote in her memoirs. 'He still seemed a bit frail ... but he wasn't giving up a thing."
-- excerpt from William Powell: The Life and Films by Roger Bryant

The movie was released in November 1939.

When you're trying to think of some of the highest grossing movie franchises don't forget the classic ones like The Thin Man. They had humor, sex appeal, danger, glamor, mystery, money, martinis, just about everything -- including the wire haired fox terrier!

Myrna Loy was a trailblazer. They wanted to pay Powell more than they paid her. That was pretty standard in the 1930s-40s, but she fought for a better contract. Powell and Loy were a team, both were crucial to those movies.

On January 6, 1940, Powell married actress Diana Lewis. His new wife was 27 years his junior, and he called her Mousie. They remained married for 44 years. They lived in Palm Springs, California. 

Lewis was Daphne Fowler to Mickey Rooney's Andy Hardy in Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940).  She was in Gold Diggers in Paris (1938), Go West (1940) and Johnny Eager with Robert Taylor, Lana Turner in 1942. 

Her final film was Cry 'Havoc' 1943, starring Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern and Joan Blondell.

William Powell's future ambition as of August 1936
semi-retirement to retirement....
"And maybe Mrs. Powell -- nee Harlow -- will be doing it with him, eh?"

"The bride admits that the wedding ring purchased by the groom just before the ceremony had to be taped in order to stay on her finger and that she had a

Powell and 'his child bride,'
Diana Lewis, Sept 1940
"With a new trinket
from Hubby"

terrific run in her stocking, besides. But she also admits that being Mrs. William Powell is too wonderful for words. .... 

"Bill Powell's wedding gift to his young bride, Diana Lewis was a matching ring, pin and clips set with ruby stones." 
-- Modern Screen magazine, April 1940

"The dainty blue eyed bride wore a printed blue flowered dress with turban to match. Powell was attired in a gray suit with blue sweater. It was a single ring ceremony."
-- St. Petersburg Times, January 6, 1940

Reports such as this Modern Screen blurb
said Powell lavished his new wife with jewels and other
expensive gifts. He'd asked the town's leading merchants
to tip him off when his wife displays a yen for an item....

Powell slowed down his acting career over the years and did, in fact stop making movies. I read that Powell was the first contract player in MGM's history to be eligible for pension benefits.




His last film was the very successful Mr. Roberts in 1955. Powell played Doc. Another very successful later film of his was the 1947 Life with Father. This film earned him a Best Actor nomination for an Academy Award. 

March is Colorectal or Colon Cancer Awareness Month and the ribbon color is dark blue. March 6 is National Dress in Blue Day for Colon Cancer Awareness.

This was Powell's third nomination, having received them in the past for his work in My Man Godfrey and The Thin Man, 1934. The Thin Man had also received a Best Film Oscar nomination, then called the Outstanding Production.

Look for Life with Father to be shown on channels such as Turner Classic Movies, TCM around Father's Day.

Dueling Harlows 1965

In 1965 a group of Jean Harlow's friends and former coworkers publicly disputed the facts in a researched biography that still sells today. The book was the basis for a biopic that was being made about her life and her father had a lawsuit in the works.

When asked if he'd been contacted by biographers for quotes William Powell once said, "They know better. That's buried in the past. It'll stay there."

"Sometimes I'm tempted to almost go berserk when I read some of the things that are printed about me. But would making a fuss help matters? I'm sure that it would only attract more attention to what was said and, in the end make matters far worse.

"Hollywood has also taught me what a refuge home can be. The love and devotion of those who are nearest and dearest to me is all centered here."
-- Jean Harlow 1936

In one article appeared a blurb, almost unheard of a short interview with Powell himself. From the time they were dating on he usually chose not to answer questions or make comments regarding Harlow or their relationship. I'd read that he, like other stars such as Cary Grant, chose not to read biographies that included them.

Powell, in 1965 was "74 and living happily with his wife to whom he has been married for 25 years in Palm Springs labels the book 'scurrilous fiction,' and 'vile character assassination.'"

In a very rare interview, Powell commented on Arthur Landau who supplied information for a biography."'He knew very little about Jean's private life. ... He was her agent for a short while only. I understand he was broke and some years ago he had an operation on his throat for cancer, but nothing would justify such a depraved contribution.'

"'The accurate statements in the book are the dates of Jean's birth, marriages and death. Nearly everything else is false.'"
-- The Miami News, January 10, 1965

There are two movies from 1965. Both are called Harlow and the first name of the lead actress in each is the same, if spelled differently. Both are fictionalized accounts of Jean Harlow's life.

One movie stars Carroll Baker as Jean Harlow. Also featured are Red Buttons, Mike Connors, Raf Vallone. Angela Lansbury portrays her mother.

The other stars Carol Lynley as Jean Harlow. Ginger Rogers is her mother, Barry Sullivan is her mother's husband, Marino Bello. Unlike the Caroll Baker Harlow, this movie has a character modeled after William Powell; Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as William Mansfield.
 
There is even a book, Dueling Harlows: Race to the Silver Screen.

William Powell's son and only child, William David Powell (by his first marriage to Eileen Wilson) became very ill and committed suicide in 1968 at the age of 43. He was close to his father and had left the actor a long note. 

In an interview around his 90th birthday they said he and his wife enjoyed their two dogs. One was a collie that someone abandoned near their yard. Makes sense that the man who'd played Nick Charles, caretaker of Asta in all those movies would be a dog person.

When Powell died in 1984 at the age of 91, his ashes were buried with his son at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.  Friends including celebrities gave remembrances and quotes. Many fans wanted to hear from Myrna Loy.

William Powell and Myrna Loy
Libeled Lady

"'I never enjoyed my work more than when I worked with William Powell,' Loy 76 said yesterday through her press agent in New York. 

"'He was a brilliant actor, a delightful companion, a great friend and above all, a true gentleman. I have seen him frequently and we have kept in touch over the years. I shall miss him more than I can say.'" March 6, 1984. 




Anjelica Huston presented Myrna Loy with an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1991. 
 



Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood download for your Kindle, or just to read on your phone or other device ,or get in paper form. Emily W. Leider, who's being interviewed,  has written other books on other Hollywood stars such as Mae West and Rudolph Valentino.


The last films of Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had married in 1939. On January 16, 1942 Carole Lombard, her mother and press agent died in Trans-World Airlines plane crash. All passengers on board had been killed. 

"The dead included Miss Lombard and her mother and two other women, the actress' press representative and 15 army fliers, in addition to the pilot and co-pilot." -- The Evening Independent, January 19, 1942

"All the world grieves at the sudden and tragic death of Carole Lombard the first Hollywood personality who died in the service of her country. Carole was returning to Hollywood after selling $2,000,000 in Defense Bonds in her native Indiana. 

"This is one of the last pictures taken of the patriotic star before the ill fated plane plummeted her, her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Peters, and 19 other passengers to their death. Carole is shown with her devoted husband Clark Gable and their very good friend, Jack Benny. The editors of Hollywood salute the memory of a truly great person."
-- Hollywood magazine, February 1942


Her 1942 film, To Be or Not to Be directed by Ernst Lubitsch, costarring Jack Benny, was released after her death. There was a remake of this film years later starring Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft.

Clark Gable, suffered a major heart attack at age 59 and died later at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital on November 16, 1960. His final film, The Misfits, was released after his death. It co-starred Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe. It is directed by John Huston. Thelma Ritter, Eli Wallach are also in the movie. Gable was then married to Kay Williams. Their son John Clark Gable would be born after Gable's death.

The Misfits would also be Marilyn Monroe's the final film. She'd started work on another, Something's Got to Give (to be a remake of the Cary Grant/Irene Dunne movie My Favorite Wife) but it was never completed. Monroe died in August 1962.

You may know that Jean Harlow's final film, Saratoga (1937) costarred Clark Gable. It was completed using stand-ins for Miss Harlow. This was the sixth time Harlow and Gable had worked together. The movie also featured Lionel Barrymore, Walter Pidgeon, Hattie McDaniel, Frank Morgan and Margaret Hamilton.

Each of the stars, Powell, Harlow, Lombard, Gable and Loy (and Marilyn Monroe) have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

William Powell: The Life and Films by Roger Bryant.
There are very few books on William Powell. This one has the best reviews, seems to have the most accurate information and interesting content.
Carole Lombard: The Hoosier Tornado

Harlow in Hollywood: The Blonde Bombshell in the Glamour Capital, 1928-1937

Hollywood Romantic Comedy: States of the Union, 1934-1965 Whether you're a student of film (or marriage), a film buff or a particular fan of Powell and Loy or The Thin Man series this book is very interesting.
 
There will continue to be books written and probably films made from them. There may be more as the principals are gone, memories of course fade, rumors saturate and what's left seems more open for interpretation. 

New films about are Princess Grace and Errol Flynn are hitting movie theaters in 2014. Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock have had films made about them. There are too many to mention if you include the fictionalized movies and those where names are changed. 

Question: Which of our current stars will have their life stories made into movies?

Your Own Photo Charm and/or Bracelet your own photo/graphic
Look at Charm Bracelets online at zazzle

Nat King Cole sings Stardust 

"Sometimes I wonder why I spend
The lonely night dreaming of a song
The melody haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
Now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song..."
-- excerpt from lyrics

Powell and Harlow in Libeled Lady 1936

This page is the last in a short series about star sapphires, colored-gem engagement rings and old Hollywood icons, William Powell, Jean Harlow and Carole Lombard.

Related Pages of Interest:

William Powell and Jean Harlow, The 152-Carat Star Sapphire Ring

Carole Lombard and William Powell married 1931-1933; their sapphires, My Man Godfrey. Pre-Jean Harlow and Clark Gable

The Death of Jean Harlow

Jean Harlow, William Powell, Franchot Tone, Rosalind Russell in Reckless

The Misfits: The last film of Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, the baptism of Gable's son, similarities to Tyrone Power  

The Colon Cancer Alliance: The Undy Run/Walk is a family-friendly event; Find signs of colon cancer and treatment; Have a colorectal cancer screening

Was Katharine Hepburn Box Office Poison?

My Favorite Wife, Cary Grant & Irene Dunne; Remake with Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse started in 1962

Bringing Up Cary Grant and the Oscars, Was he snubbed?

Colored Gemstone Sapphire & Emerald Engagement Rings, Princesses Diana & Catherine; Joan Crawford & Elizabeth Taylor, Halle Berry & Penélope Cruz ...

The Death of Jean Harlow

'Goodnight, my Dearest Darling'  

Jean Harlow was making her last film Saratoga, costarring Clark Gable. One day she was out ill with what they said was a cold. William Powell took the afternoon off work to take care of her, bringing her chicken soup and ice cream. There are different reports of her final days.

"Only three weeks before she was stricken with the malady that was to end her life, she came to the studio carrying a cake with her. She was as pleased as a little girl with it. 

"'This is our third anniversary cake,' she said laughing at the three little candles decorating the top. 'Bill sent it because it was the anniversary of our first date.'" -- Louella O. Parsons article, The Milwaukee Sentinel, June 15, 1937

June 4th, 1937 Harlow was reported improved, expected to return to work

Later things took a turn for the worse. Violet Denoyer an MGM makeup artist and friend of Jean Harlow's was applying the star's make up for Saratoga. "Suddenly, Miss Denoyer said, Miss Harlow looked at her and said, 'You know, Violet I have a feeling I'm going away from here and never coming back.'

"Two hours later while she was on the set, she turned to Robert Golden a director and gasped, 'I'm terribly sick, Red. Call Bill.' 

"She referred to William Powell, suave film star who had been her constant escort for more than a year. Since Christmas she had worn a huge star sapphire ring on the third finger of her right hand. It was a gift from Powell. He and a studio nurse took her home the day she became ill. Miss Harlow never returned. Powell was with her when she died."
-- St. Petersburg Times, June 9, 1937

"This is the last photograph of the beautiful star
and was taken during the final scenes of Saratoga,
an M-G-M film in which she was starred with Clark Gable."
-- 1937 article about the funeral

"She was doing Saratoga. We sat in the back of the car. Jean was on my left and she looked very fragile and she had the ring that Bill Powell had given her, it was a big star sapphire. It was on her finger and her hands looked almost too

Newspaper accounts of
her death talked of Powell's
being at her bedside.

frail to lift that big ring. 

"And I said, 'Jean you don't look very well.'

"And she said 'I feel awful, just awful,' she said. 'I don't know if I can finish the picture.'"
-- Maureen O'Sullivan was another big MGM star, a friend of Powell and Harlow. She appeared in The Thin Man to name just one of her many famous films. O'Sullivan is also the mother of actress Mia Farrow. Quote from Harlow Biography.

William Powell went to her home and was one of those instrumental in having her transferred to a hospital.


As said, there is debate as to whether they were engaged or not at the time of her death, there's even debate as to whether or not they were still a couple. Not unusually with a romance like theirs and a big star dies young, different stories began circulating quickly. The press is eager for any news. 

William Powell spoke in a very rare interview about Jean Harlow's death. He seemed moved to respond in 1964-65 by a biography and films that were coming out. Powell said no one thought her illness was that serious. They thought she'd be back at work in a few days. He went to see her on Sunday. From the article....

"She startled me and said, 'You look fuzzy.'

"'I don't, really?' I joked. But I was suddenly worried. I held up my hand. 'How many fingers can you see?' I asked her. She couldn't see any. This was very disturbing.

"I called the doctor and asked him to come right away. In a matter of minutes he was there. He took one look at her and called for an ambulance.

"Mrs. Bello and I rode with her to The Good Samaritan Hospital where she was put immediately into an oxygen tent.

"We spent the night in the hospital, but Jean was in a coma and didn't know we were there. In the morning, she died."

The date was June 7, 1937. After almost three decades, Bill's voice broke and it was hard for him to go on.

His final gift to the girl he loved and admired was a $25,000 crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Park for Jean and for the mother he adored when her time would come. They are there together in death, very close, as they were in their time on earth.
-- The Miami News, January 10, 1965 

A fire chief who'd come to the hospital was interviewed. Members of the city fire department inhalator squad called at the last minute to furnish oxygen for the declining star.

Some papers said that her final word was his name, and he had been too choked up to respond. Some articles at the time and years later said that she'd died in his arms. "But it was too late then," Recalls Powell. "She was too far gone. She died in my arms. It was the saddest day of my life."
 -- The Tuscaloosa News, December 13, 1964

Motion Picture Daily Magazine displayed an image
of Jean Harlow's photograph and a grieving MGM lion

Anything and everything was reported. Her half-hysterical mother urging her to keep fighting. Their friend, actor Warner Baxter paced outside her death chamber in the hall. And the inevitable, "Powell was wearing a sports suit and polo shirt without a necktie."

What killed Jean Harlow? People began having theories immediately. Some wanted to place blame, talk of how it could have been prevented while those closest to her were in still in shock and grieving.  

She died of uremic poisoning, better known as acute renal failure or kidney failure in June 1937, her age was just 26. This was a time before dialysis and kidney transplants.  

Motion Picture Daily ran this note:
"Loew's Spooner in the Bronx and Loew's Astoria, Astoria, L.I. which are showing Personal Property in which Jean Harlow appears will stop the shows for one minute today. The shows will be halted at the time funeral services are to be held in Glendale, Cal."

Jean Harlow's Funeral:

Guests were limited to 200-250 people. Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Carole Lombard, Warner Baxter, Una Merkel, Maureen O'Sullivan, W.S. Van Dyke, Robert Montgomery were there. 

Clark Gable was a pall bearer. Nelson Eddy sang Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life and Jeannette MacDonald sang The Indian Love Call.  Powell sat beside Jean's mother at the funeral. His own mother sat on his other side.

Jean Harlow's first and third husbands, Charles McGrew and Hal Rosson, were in

attendance.
 
"Her second husband was Paul Bern, a film producer whose death a few months after their wedding is still somewhat mysterious, without full explanation of motives for suicide."
-- Gettysburg Times, June 9, 1937

"The service was temporarily interrupted by the drone of aeroplanes overhead."

Police guards were there to keep the crowds back, though fans got in after the services to take souvenirs such as flower petals. 

"Barred from the funeral service yesterday a crowd waited for hours outside the cemetery hoping at least to see some of the 200 film notables inside. 

"This they missed but after the brief service was finished and everybody was gone, they rushed through unlocked gates and scrambled for bits of the thousands of flowers. 

"Some had to be content with tiny scraps of ferns. One little girl placed in her purse a few petals from a rose."
-- The Tuscaloosa News, June 10, 1937 

Carole Lombard is reported to have said to Clark Gable, "Paw, don't ever let them do this to me." Gable and Lombard would marry in 1939. Tragically, Lombard, who helped Powell through his grieving for Jean Harlow, was killed in a plane crash only five years later in 1942.  

Similarly, in 1958, Gable would tell wife, Kay Williams that he didn't want to have a funeral like the large one given to actor Tyrone Power, who'd died of a heart attack. In November 1960, Clark Gable himself died of a heart attack. The wives of both Power and Gable were pregnant at the times of their husbands' deaths.

Reports of Jean Harlow's funeral said that "the services were simple, brief and unostentatious." Others said that MGM boss, Louis B. Mayer had orchestrated something like a scene in a Hollywood film.  

"As a special tribute, all film studios were observing one minute of silence at 9 o'clock." 

Ray-Ban Women's 4101 Jackie Ohh Sunglasses
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There are photos of an anguished Powell wearing dark glasses. He helped Jean's mother to her car. But other photos show his own mother, Mrs. Nettie Powell and Otis Wiles friend and studio attache on either side of him. Another friend, it's said is behind him just in case.

Wee Kirk O' the Heather
in Forest Lawn Memorial Park

The flower blanket made of 500 gardenias and 1500 lilies of the valley that covered the casket were from from Bill's father William Powell, Sr., his mother and Jean Harlow's mother. 
 
"One floral token, however went with the platinum blonde screen star to her resting place. Placed in her hand just before the casket was closed for the last time. It was a single gardenia, her favorite flower, with the inscription, 'Good-night my dearest darling.' The card was unsigned but the handwriting was believed to be that of William Powell, constant escort of Miss Harlow of recent months, who was among the most obviously grief-stricken at the funeral."
-- The Evening Independent, June 10, 1937

Some articles implied and at least one stated that the ring was left on her finger when she was buried in the crypt. Another said she wore no jewelry. The ring was something that had great meaning to her. It has always been on her finger

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard
at the funeral

since Christmas, articles said. "She even showered with it on." It seems probable that she was wearing it or it was placed with her when the casket was closed.

We see differences in descriptions of the dress she was buried in. Most say it was a gown from the film, Libeled Lady. I've seen it described as pure white, pure pink, blue and a few different prints, or hand-painted flowers. That's from people who say they saw her and others.

Powell, her mother and father were the last to see Harlow before the casket was closed. They decided the body would not be taken to Kansas City, the star's former home. 

When talking about the funeral, they started referring to Powell as her bereaved sweetheart as much as calling him her suitor.

A magazine covering the funeral of Jean Harlow refers to her as Powell's Spirit

Some reports noted Harlow's
wearing the ring at her funeral,
"She wore only one jewel, that giant star sapphire that
was William Powell's last gift to her."

Bride and quotes Edgar Allan Poe's poem, Annabel Lee.

The article says it was confirmed that the gardenia unsigned card placed in her hand and were from Powell. His "trembling handwriting" was a bit different from his usual handwriting. 

Because of rumors which had already started, newspapers and magazines were being kept from him. "Those things would hurt him deeply if he knew," friends said.

Harlow's mother said she felt she could disclose the fact that Powell paid for "the crypt in which Jean will repose. ... The room where she will lie forever. There is a place for two other caskets in the wall. One is reserved for Jean's mother. The third? Well who knows? That Powell's purchase of the room with the three spaces may also embody the thought that he might some day wish to be placed beside Jean is not beyond conjecture."
 -- Picture Play magazine, September 1937 

Work was stopped on his film, Double Wedding, which co-starred Myrna Loy. He embarked on a long cruise abroad, wearing mourning black, suit, tie and hat. Spending most of the time locked in his stateroom, reporters tried to get photos and statements from the actor. 

He tried returning to work at the end of 1937. Powell collapsed on the set and had to take some more time off.  His mother had fallen down the stairs being injured, and this just added to everything else on his mind.

Police checking the car of Jean Harlow's father for 'stowaways'

The book, George Hurrell's Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925-1992 includes a bit about Harlow's last sitting for the photographer and Powell's first session after her death. When they talk about old Hollywood superstars, they're talking about Harlow and Powell and Loy... When they talk about Old Hollywood glamor, they're thinking partly about the beautiful photographs taken by George Hurrell.

Harlow had come to Hurrell's studio for a sitting that would combine wardrobe from an already completed Personal Property with wardrobe from the upcoming Saratoga. Some of the photos taken by Hurrell feature her and that star sapphire. 

"As soon as Hurrell saw her he knew something was wrong. 'I could tell she wasn't well,' he recalled. 'She looked heavier and she faded fast. ... I genuinely liked Jean,' recalled Hurrell. 'Even after she became big box office, she never changed personally. She was one star who never ever believed her publicity. But the girl was driven like you'd drive a team of horses. They just worked her to death.'

"A sad postscript occurred when William Powell called Hurrell. 'I hardly recognized his voice,' recalled Hurrell. 'The underlying, mocking tone was gone. He sounded strained and wounded.' Powell asked for a set of prints from her last sitting. Hurrell obliged him. Powell was well-nigh devastated by the passing of the woman whom many assumed he would marry. 

"A few months later, Powell had to be photographed in connection with his latest film, Double Wedding. 'When he arrived for his appointment, Hurrell was shocked at his appearance. He had lost weight and his eyes were still red from weeping. William Powell did not want to be photographed while he was mourning, but the studio held him to his contract. Hurrell was not able to cheer him."
-- George Hurrell's Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925-1992 by Mark A. Vieira

When people think of the great era of Hollywood, independent women, 1930s fashion and glamour, they'll think of Jean Harlow. 

Jean's mother was buried in the crypt by her daughter in 1958.  




This is apparently Powell in October 1937 in Italy press swarming all over.

Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming is an autobiography co-written by Ms. Loy. 

Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood by Emily W. Leider is a biography of the actress. This one is available in eBook form such as Kindle.

William Powell: The Life and Films by Roger Bryant. There are very few books on William Powell. This one has the best reviews, seems to have the most accurate information and interesting content. 

Gable & Lombard & Powell & Harlow A 1975 Dell paperback book talks about how these four stars' lives were intertwined.

"For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling--my darling--my life and my bride,
   In her sepulcher there by the sea,
   In her tomb by the sounding sea."

-- excerpt Annabel Lee, Edgar Allan Poe
William Powell's Spirit Bride article


The Last Installment is next:
A bit about William Powell after Jean Harlow


Related Pages of Interest: 

Sapphires, Gem Symbolism Old Hollywood Carole Lombard Joan Crawford, Mae West

Contemporary Pop Rock Country Memorial Songs Pop, Rock & Country ; Reba McEntire, Monty Python, The Beatles; Inspiration from Graham Chapman, Jim Henson memorial services

Carole Lombard and William Powell married 1931-1933; their sapphires, My Man Godfrey. Pre-Jean Harlow and Clark Gable

Sapphires Old Hollywood, Symbolism, September Birthstone

Gems on The Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness Diamond, Sapphires, Emeralds, Opals, Amethyst...

Bill Powell, Jean Harlow and a 152-Carat Sapphire Ring: Hollywood's biggest star sapphire

The Lady and The Ghost of Rudolph Valentino: He speaks to his wife, Natacha Rambova from Beyond

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Colored Gemstone Sapphire & Emerald Engagement Rings, Princesses Diana and Catherine; Joan Crawford & Elizabeth Taylor, Halle Berry & Penélope Cruz ....

Lou Costello Memorial Bracelet for His Son, Tuesday Flashback Feature, Abbott & Costello