Clara Bow: Hollywood's Original It Girl — The Roaring Twenties, Paramount Superstardom, and the Scandals That Changed Everything
She was the face of the Roaring Twenties, Hollywood's original It Girl, and one of the biggest box-office stars of the silent era. Then the headlines stopped being about her movies.
From a Brooklyn tenement to Paramount superstardom, Clara Bow's rise was extraordinary. With Mantrap, It, and the Oscar-winning Wings, she helped define a generation. But the arrival of talking pictures, relentless studio pressures, and a string of explosive scandals threatened everything she'd built. In 1931, the sensational trial of her former secretary, Daisy DeVoe, turned Bow's private life into a national spectacle.
This week, we're exploring the extraordinary life of Clara Bow — her difficult childhood, meteoric rise, Hollywood romances, public downfall, and eventual retreat from the spotlight.
More than ninety years after her last film, her influence lives on, from Margot Robbie's character in Babylon (2022) to Taylor Swift's song "Clara Bow" on The Tortured Poets Department (2024).
Beyond the scandalous headlines and enduring myths lies the story of a remarkably talented actress — whose legacy was as extraordinary as it was complicated.
New episodes of When They Were Making It drop every Tuesday. Follow now wherever you get your podcasts.
WTWMI is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Rankin. Original artwork by Simone Beech and original music by Lionel Ziblat.
A century of Marilyn.
June 1, 2026, marks 100 years since Marilyn Monroe was born. To honor her centennial, WTWMI launches with a three-part series tracing her invention, her rise, and the cost of becoming the most famous woman in the world.
Listen to Part One, Part Two, and Part Three now.
A story of strength, ambition, and self-invention — about a girl who shouldn't have had a chance, and the woman she gave everything to become.
WTWMI — listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.