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Clara Bow

Hollywood's original "It" Girl and the first true sex symbol of the silver screen, silent-era actress Clara Bow enjoyed unprecedented stardom. Emerging from the tenements of Brooklyn in the early 1920s, Bow was signed by independent movie producer B. P. Schulberg and placed in projects like "Black Oxen" (1923) and "Wine" (1924), films that established the free-spirited actress as Hollywood's "perfect flapper." Efforts like "The Plastic Age" (1925), "Mantrap" (1926), "Wings" (1927) and the career-defining "It" (1927) transformed Bow not only into the biggest movie star of her age, but a bona fide screen legend as well. Unlike many of her fellow silent film stars, the advent of the "talkie" failed to knock Bow off her throne as the reigning movie queen, and sound pictures like "The Wild Party" (1929) and "True to the Navy" (1930) continued to attract audiences in droves. After struggling with the pressures of stardom for some time, Bow chose to leave film forever in 1933. Though nearly forgotten, Bow's legacy was kept alive through film restoration efforts and her influence clearly evident in the style choices of many top contemporary female entertainers decades after her departure from the screen.