#jean harlow
Jean Harlow photographed in colour, by James N. Doolittle, November 1935.
An animated Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, and who appears to be Constance Bennett, in the cartoon short “Mickey’s Gala Premier,” 1933.
The three women photographed separately, the year prior to the short’s release, 1932.
It only recently occurred to me that Charlie Chaplin was probably one of Golden Age Hollywood’s many secret trans people (Jean Harlow’s on the list, too). Although you think you can see him in your mind’s eye due to the vast collective consciousness seeping into your brain, it isn’t until you actually watch a movie starring him that you truly notice all of his effete features.
Those penciled on eyebrows and that smooth, fair-skinned face all contribute to a decidedly trans aesthetic. Even his mustache has the quality of being put on by a woman still trying to figure out how to look like a man. And the fact that he starred almost exclusively in silent films is telling of his/her desire to not showcase a voice that could reveal too much.
As a romantic interest in film, too, Chaplin displayed a decidedly asexual vibe. In movies such as City Lights and The Cure. Chaplin as a romantic prospect seems utterly incongruous. His trans qualities are so overt that it’s difficult to take him seriously as a leading man. Then again, it could just be his Englishness, mannerisms and fashion sense that made him so irreconcilable as a man in general.
© Genna Rivieccio 2014
Jean Harlow (in trademark outfit of sweater, slacks, and white tennis shoes) poses with Oscar the pom in the backyard of her home at Beverly Glen, 1934.
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The Public Enemy (1931)
Jean Harlow, mid 1930s
Jean Harlow painted by Earl Christy on the cover of Photoplay, August 1932. Internet Archive.
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I thought I’d share this for fun. A rundown of all the Oscar nominations and wins racked up by the 16 people name-checked in Madonna’s “Vogue”.
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Marilyn Monroe as Jean Harlow by Richard Avedon for Life Magazine, 1958
