Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early s and one of the defining figures of the pre-Code era of American cinema. Harlow was in the film industry for only nine years, but she became one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, whose image in the public eye has endured. In , the American Film Institute ranked Harlow number 22 on its greatest female screen legends list. Harlow was first signed by business magnate Howard Hughes , who directed her first major role in Hell's Angels After a series of critically failed films, and Hughes' loss of interest in her career, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought out Harlow's contract in [ 3 ] and cast her in leading roles in a string of hits built on her comedic talent: Red-Headed Woman , Red Dust , Dinner at Eight , Reckless and Suzy She died at the age of 26 of kidney failure while filming Saratoga.
MGM completed the film with the use of body doubles and released it less than two months after her death; it became the highest-grossing film of , as well as the highest-grossing film of her career. He was from a working-class background. She was underage at the time and grew resentful and unhappy in the marriage, but the Carpenters remained together living in a Kansas City house owned by her father. Harlean's family called her "Baby," a nickname to which she was accustomed and which endured for the rest of her life.
It was not until she was five years old that she learned her real name was Harlean, when staff and students at Miss Barstow's Finishing School for Girls used the name. Her mother was reported to have instilled a sense in her daughter that she owed everything she had to her; "She was always all mine!
When Harlean was at finishing school, her mother filed for a divorce. On September 29, , the uncontested divorce was finalized, giving sole custody of Harlean to her mother.
Although Harlean loved her father, she did not see him often after the divorce. In , the year-old Jean Carpenter took her daughter and moved to Hollywood in hopes of becoming an actress, but was told that she was too old to begin a film career. With their finances dwindling, Jean and Harlean moved back to Kansas City after Skip Harlow issued an ultimatum that he would disinherit his daughter if they did not return. Several weeks later, Skip sent his granddaughter to summer camp at Camp Cha-Ton-Ka, in Michigamme, Michigan , where she became ill with scarlet fever.
