The Legends of Hollywood - The golden girls; Jean, Carole, Mae, Jayne, and Marilyn

Reminiscing Life: The uncertainties of life is best illustrated from the lives of some of the most beautiful women of Hollywood. Jean Harlow died at the age of 26, Carole Lombard at 34, Jayne Mansfield at 34, and Marilyn Monroe at 36, leaving millions of fans sad and grief-stricken. It is heart-breaking to know that Jean Harlow collapsed on the sets of movie Saratoga, rushed to the hospital, and later died with uremic poisoning. In 1937, Harlow fell ill with influenza, and later diagnosed for kidney disease. This may have resulted from scarlet fever while she was in her early teens. In the days before kidney dialysis and transplants, kidney disease was painful and fatal. Harlow is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale, California in the Great Mausoleum. She was buried in the same negligee she wore on the sets of Saratoga.

Carole Lombard was a great comedic actress despite her glamorous looks; she was a natural in a comedy. After her unsuccessful marriage to William Powell, she eventually married Clark Gable. She was romantically linked to him before their marriage when he was still married to Texas socialite Ria Langham. Gable and Lombard remained a loving couple, and loved each other immensely until her untimely death. The fact that Gable was a conservative republican and Lombard a liberal democrat did not matter in their personal lives. It was rumored that Lombard was desperate to have her own baby but that never materialized. She was well known for her good sense of humor; she is known to have joked about her husband Clark Gable, "If his pee-pee was one inch shorter, they'd be calling him the Queen of Hollywood." Carole Lombard died tragically in a plane crash near Las Vegas in Jan 1942. She was returning to California after a trip to Indiana from war bond rally. She was in the company of her mother at the time of death, and just before boarding the plane, she told her fans that "Before I say goodbye to you all, come on and join me in a big cheer, V for Victory!" Lombard is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, next to Clark Gable.

Mae West is the longest surviving legend, but also one of the most controversial stars of her day. She is one of the early feminists who openly challenged male dominated culture of Hollywood. She employed female writers and presented women in proper perspectives in several of her movies. In her old age she had a very youthful appearance. She was known for her interests in young athletic men; some of them were companions, bodyguards and chauffeurs. She also is known to make daring statements; some of the quotes include: "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" Why don't you come on up and see me sometime, when I got nothing on but the radio?" "Good girls go to heaven, but bad girls get to go everywhere" and "My left leg is Christmas and my right leg is New Year's. Why don't you visit me between the holidays?" Both Mae West and Jayne Mansfield were known for having many men in their lives, but there was a twist; Mae was single much of her life, and Jayne was married much of her adult life. The conservative environment in Hollywood was much more hostile to Jayne than Mae; martial infidelity was not well tolerated. But not everything squared off well. Jayne was a problem, but Mae was a hell-raiser, she was promoting movies that depicted cross dressing and gay themes, which annoyed Hollywood studios: She was a one-woman sexual revolution.  Mae West was cared in her final days by her long time live in companion, and body-builder Charles Krauser. Mae was a people person just like Carole Lombard; she read her fan mail and corresponded with many loyal fans. She listed her phone number in the Los Angeles telephone directory. She died in Hollywood at the age of 87, and she is entombed with her family in Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.   

Jayne Mansfield had a great deal of misfortunes in her career. She had a great future in Hollywood, but demoted to low-budget movies. Her numerous affairs with several men, infidelity and poor business decisions eventually forced her into nightclub acts across the nation. Jayne faced a sad but tragic car accident in June 1967 at Biloxi, MS. It was long rumored that her body was decapitated during the auto accident, but the death certificate does not support this story. Jayne Mansfield studied drama and physics at Southern Methodist University, developed keen interest in Catholicism and Judaism, but her last services were held in Methodist traditions. She is interred at Fairview Cemetery, southeast of Pen Argyl, PA., but her fans erected a cenotaph at Hollywood Forever cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Marilyn Monroe was first discovered by Army photographer David Conover who was working for Yank magazine and later by talent scout Ben Lyon. She first signed up with MGM and then made movies with Columbia and RKO studios. Like Jayne Mansfield, she also posed for Playboy. In her interview with Life magazine, she complained about being labeled as a dumb blonde. She was passionate about politics and discussed atomic bombs with President Kennedy three months before the Cuban Missile Crisis. During a photo shoot for Vogue magazine, she discussed her future film projects with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home in August 1962 at the age of 36. Her death is one of most discussed tragedies of Hollywood as she was romantically linked to President John Kennedy and his brother Robert. It was rumored that CIA was involved in her death, and they tried to blame it on mafia. But some gangsters wryly responded by saying "we don't kill people by putting sleeping drugs up their butt. We have a sleeping pill called a bullet. It's made out of lead and is administered into the patients head." Monroe had an overdose of sleeping pills, and the coroner changed his report three times. According to FBI documents Monroe was considered to be a security risk, because of her association with known communists. Peter Lawford said, on the day of her death she sounded groggy and depressed when he spoke just before her death, but phone records of her long distance calls for that evening were lost. Monroe had a history of taking overdoses of sedatives and being resuscitated. She is interred at the Westwood Memorial Cemetery in Hollywood, California.