The popular and enduring image of a young, independent American woman in the Jazz Age of the 1920s, commonly known as a “flapper,” is thanks in large part to Clara Bow. Known as Hollywood’s “It Girl” at the time, the trendsetting actor and sex symbol was a box office pull in the early and silent film industry, starring in dozens of movies including “True to the Navy,” “Her Wedding Night,” “Love Among the Millionaires,” and “Wings,” the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture.
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In 1930, Bow ceded control of her extensive fortune to Daisy DeVoe, her secretary, an arrangement that lasted less than a year. Bow fired DeVoe, who responded by stealing $20,000, financial paperwork, letters, and jewelry from the actor and then announced plans to sue for unpaid salary. That suit didn’t happen, but a dramatic trial did, after DeVoe was indicted on 37 charges of grand theft. Bow’s spending habits came to light during the proceedings, as did excerpts of the very personal letters stolen by DeVoe, as they entered into the record as evidence. Deeply embarrassed by the ordeal, Bow checked into the Glendale Sanatorium, a mental hospital, in May 1931. At her request, and publicly framed as a mutual decision, Paramount fired Bow from her next film, “City Streets.” Bow retired from filmmaking and went to live on the Nevada ranch of her husband, actor Rex Bell.
