Jean Harlow (1911-1937) was the Hollywood it-girl of the 1930’s. She made her name starring in such classics as Hell's Angels (Howard Hughes, 1930), The Public Enemy (William Wellman, 1931) and Dinner at Eight (George Cukor, 1933). On July 2, 1932, Harlow stunned the Hollywood community when she married Paul Bern an executive (typically credited as an associate producer) working under Irving Thalberg at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Harlow was the current Hollywood sex symbol and just barely 21 years old. Bern was a 42 year old, mousey, bookish producer. The partnership hardly seemed to be one of Hollywood fantasy.
Here is an photography of the happy couple, likely on the day of their wedding. Her hair and dress appear to match other photos noted to be taken on their wedding day. My thanks (and all credit and rights) go to http://www.allstarpics.net/1725651/015642974/jean-harlow-and-paul-bern-pic.html for this image.
On September 6, 1932, after a little over two months of marriage, Paul Bern reportedly committed suicide. He was found, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, in their $60,000 Benedict Canyon home. Bern reportedly left a suicide note, "Dearest Dear: Unfortunately this is the only way to make good the frightful wrong I have done you and to wipe out my abject humiliation. You understand that last night was only a comedy**. PAUL." ("Paul Bern A Suicide; Wed Jean Harlow" New York Times 6 September 1932). This is where any and all certainty ends, and the rumors begin.
There have also been repeated discussions in recent reports about Bern’s reported sexual inadequacies. Various sources have stated that Bern was impotent, and that these problems might be the "comedy" he references in his suicide note. Time Magazine briefly discusses this in the 19 September 1932 article "Death in Hollywood." "For several days the strongest evidence of a suicide-motive was his personal physician's statement that the autopsy showed Paul Bern had suffered "a physical handi cap that would have prevented a happy marriage." (Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744399-2,00.html#ixzz1IfxT0AXm) A number of statements like these have lead to speculation that Bern and Harlow had never consummated their marriage, causing tension within the marriage, and likely insecurities within Bern.
The above stated article also mentions that upon finding Bern's body, his butler John Carmichael did not call the police; rather, he called Irving Thalberg (Bern's friend and the boy genius Head of Production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) and David O. Selznick (a producer who would later split from Metro to make little picture of his own called Gone with the Wind) to the Bern home. Other sources report that studio head Louis B. Mayer himself could have also been present. It is uncertain how long the MGM execs were at the home before the police were summoned (An L.A. Times article dated 9 September, 1932 states "several hours"), and many sources hypothesize that it could have been at least two hours. The knowledge of this fact alone begs the question, if this was simply a suicide, what were the studio executives doing at the Bern home unattended for so long?
Period sources concur that Harlow was not present in the home at the time of her husband's suicide, "They had dinner Sunday at their Benedict Canyon home. He then complained of a headache, due to overwork. She went to her mother's to spend Sunday night at Bern's suggestion... Bern was to join her there." ("Widow is Mystified By Bern's Suicide" LA Times 7 September, 1932). The article goes on to report that it took the police a day and a half to speak to Harlow, who was sedated and hysterical at the home of her mother and stepfather (the article states she attempted suicide herself in the days following the death of her husband). Brief mention is also made of a second suicide note, which was in Harlow's possession, that the authorities never received.
On September 8, a story broke which further clouded the already complicated situation, and has fueled conspiracy theories about the Bern suicide in the almost 80 years following his death. A short article entitled, "Girl Here Entered Paul Bern's Life" first reports that Bern had been married once before he wed Jean Harlow. It is said that Harlow and her family had been unaware of the first marriage, but were "unconcerned." It was later learned upon the reading of Bern's will that Mrs. Dorothy Bern (Millette) was named as the beneficiary of Bern's estate. ("First Wife Named in Bern Will Here" 9 September, 1932). Days passed, and the story continued to get juicier. On September 10, it was reported that Dorothy Millette had gone missing off a river boat in Sacramento California where she had been living in a sanitarium (due to illness) until the day after Bern's suicide. ("Mrs. Bern Missing; Believed a Suicide" L.A. Times 10 September, 1932). Her body was discovered five days later. Her hat and shoes were missing (later found on the boat deck), which corroborated the police’s theory that she had committed suicide.
Interestingly, days before Millette's existence was known, it was reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Slavka Verkapich, near neighbors of the mansion where Bern's body was found yesterday, (reported) that an automobile had raced down Easton Drive from the vicinity of Bern's home some time after midnight Sunday, at about the hour surgeons say that the film executive met his end..." This report, along with others stating that Bern and his ex-wife had been recently in contact ("Missing Woman Had Bern Letters" L.A. Times 12 September 1932) seem to fuel theories that Bern's suicide was more than simply that. Could his first wife have played a part in his death?
On the same day Millette's body was discovered, a copy of Bern's will (reportedly the last) was found by a secretary, naming Harlow the benefactor of his estate. Later articles briefly detail court battles as a California state official attempted to protect the Millette estate; however, Harlow was eventually named executor.
Was Paul Bern's death a simple suicide? Or was a murder scene tampered with (by studio executives) to protect one of their most bankable stars? In the 80 years since Bern’s death, people have been fascinated with the numerous complications and inconsistencies surrounding the case. It is a morbid story with plenty of sex thrown in, surrounding one of Hollywood's sexiest stars of the 1930s, and as such, it continues to fascinate people around the world.
On September 6, 1932, after a little over two months of marriage, Paul Bern reportedly committed suicide. He was found, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, in their $60,000 Benedict Canyon home. Bern reportedly left a suicide note, "Dearest Dear: Unfortunately this is the only way to make good the frightful wrong I have done you and to wipe out my abject humiliation. You understand that last night was only a comedy**. PAUL." ("Paul Bern A Suicide; Wed Jean Harlow" New York Times 6 September 1932). This is where any and all certainty ends, and the rumors begin.
There have also been repeated discussions in recent reports about Bern’s reported sexual inadequacies. Various sources have stated that Bern was impotent, and that these problems might be the "comedy" he references in his suicide note. Time Magazine briefly discusses this in the 19 September 1932 article "Death in Hollywood." "For several days the strongest evidence of a suicide-motive was his personal physician's statement that the autopsy showed Paul Bern had suffered "a physical handi cap that would have prevented a happy marriage." (Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744399-2,00.html#ixzz1IfxT0AXm) A number of statements like these have lead to speculation that Bern and Harlow had never consummated their marriage, causing tension within the marriage, and likely insecurities within Bern.
The above stated article also mentions that upon finding Bern's body, his butler John Carmichael did not call the police; rather, he called Irving Thalberg (Bern's friend and the boy genius Head of Production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) and David O. Selznick (a producer who would later split from Metro to make little picture of his own called Gone with the Wind) to the Bern home. Other sources report that studio head Louis B. Mayer himself could have also been present. It is uncertain how long the MGM execs were at the home before the police were summoned (An L.A. Times article dated 9 September, 1932 states "several hours"), and many sources hypothesize that it could have been at least two hours. The knowledge of this fact alone begs the question, if this was simply a suicide, what were the studio executives doing at the Bern home unattended for so long?
Period sources concur that Harlow was not present in the home at the time of her husband's suicide, "They had dinner Sunday at their Benedict Canyon home. He then complained of a headache, due to overwork. She went to her mother's to spend Sunday night at Bern's suggestion... Bern was to join her there." ("Widow is Mystified By Bern's Suicide" LA Times 7 September, 1932). The article goes on to report that it took the police a day and a half to speak to Harlow, who was sedated and hysterical at the home of her mother and stepfather (the article states she attempted suicide herself in the days following the death of her husband). Brief mention is also made of a second suicide note, which was in Harlow's possession, that the authorities never received.
On September 8, a story broke which further clouded the already complicated situation, and has fueled conspiracy theories about the Bern suicide in the almost 80 years following his death. A short article entitled, "Girl Here Entered Paul Bern's Life" first reports that Bern had been married once before he wed Jean Harlow. It is said that Harlow and her family had been unaware of the first marriage, but were "unconcerned." It was later learned upon the reading of Bern's will that Mrs. Dorothy Bern (Millette) was named as the beneficiary of Bern's estate. ("First Wife Named in Bern Will Here" 9 September, 1932). Days passed, and the story continued to get juicier. On September 10, it was reported that Dorothy Millette had gone missing off a river boat in Sacramento California where she had been living in a sanitarium (due to illness) until the day after Bern's suicide. ("Mrs. Bern Missing; Believed a Suicide" L.A. Times 10 September, 1932). Her body was discovered five days later. Her hat and shoes were missing (later found on the boat deck), which corroborated the police’s theory that she had committed suicide.
Interestingly, days before Millette's existence was known, it was reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Slavka Verkapich, near neighbors of the mansion where Bern's body was found yesterday, (reported) that an automobile had raced down Easton Drive from the vicinity of Bern's home some time after midnight Sunday, at about the hour surgeons say that the film executive met his end..." This report, along with others stating that Bern and his ex-wife had been recently in contact ("Missing Woman Had Bern Letters" L.A. Times 12 September 1932) seem to fuel theories that Bern's suicide was more than simply that. Could his first wife have played a part in his death?
On the same day Millette's body was discovered, a copy of Bern's will (reportedly the last) was found by a secretary, naming Harlow the benefactor of his estate. Later articles briefly detail court battles as a California state official attempted to protect the Millette estate; however, Harlow was eventually named executor.
Was Paul Bern's death a simple suicide? Or was a murder scene tampered with (by studio executives) to protect one of their most bankable stars? In the 80 years since Bern’s death, people have been fascinated with the numerous complications and inconsistencies surrounding the case. It is a morbid story with plenty of sex thrown in, surrounding one of Hollywood's sexiest stars of the 1930s, and as such, it continues to fascinate people around the world.
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