Jean Harlow (March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937)

…Harlow, Jean. Picture of a beauty queen. Jean Harlow (March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) is famous for her roles in movies like “Hell’s Angel,” "Dinner at Eight,” and “Saratoga.” Harlow dies at the age of 26 during the filming of “Saratoga.” On May 29, 1937, Harlow is shooting a scene in which the character she is playing has a fever. Harlow is clearly sicker than her character, and when she leans against co-star Clark Gable between scenes, says, "I feel terrible. Get me back to my dressing room." Harlow starts feeling better on June 3rd and her co-workers totally expect her back on set June 7th. Gable, who visits her during her time off, later says that she was severely bloated and that he smelled urine on her breath when he kissed her—both signs of kidney failure. On June 6th, the day before she is due back on set, Harlow is taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where she slips into a coma. The next day at 11:37 am, Harlow dies in the hospital at the age of 26. In the doctor's press release, the cause of death is given as cerebral edema, a complication of kidney failure. Hospital records mention uremia - the condition of having “urea in the blood.” Urea is one of the primary components of urine. One of the MGM writers later says, "The day Baby died there wasn't one sound in the commissary for three hours.” Spencer Tracy writes in his diary, "Jean Harlow died today. Grand gal." MGM closes on the day of her funeral, June 9. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale in the Great Mausoleum in a private room of multicolored marble. 

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