Taylor Swift is referencing an Old Hollywood star with one of her new songs. The Tortured Poets Department, the singer's 11th studio album, ends with a track titled "Clara Bow," the name of a silent film star from the 1920s.
The namesake of the song was born into poverty in Brooklyn, New York, in 1905 to a mentally ill mother and an abusive father, according to GoldenGlobes.com.
She made her film debut in the 1922 flick Beyond the Rainbow. Bow's defining role, however, came five years later when she starred in It, after which she became Hollywood's original "It Girl" and sex symbol.
"I hate to use the word iconic, but in terms of exemplifying the image of the 1920s woman, and also adding extra currency and global reach to that image, she was key," author Judith Mackrell told the BBC. "She embodied the flapper girl… For the hundreds of thousands of women going to the cinema every week, she was a role model."
Despite this, Bow didn't have an easy time in the press. Rumors about her romances and personal life were fodder for the media, much like Swift experiences today.
"Clara faced that as well and rose above and had to block it out," Bow's great-granddaughter, Nicole Sisneros, told People. "Her tenacity to focus on her career [is] very similar to Taylor."
In fact, Bow's biographer, David Stenn, speculated that the attention from the press may be what intrigued Swift about the late actress.
"If I were to hazard a guess, it's because Clara Bow was both celebrated and condemned in the media in a way that male stars never were. I don’t think that double standard sadly, has left," the Runnin' Wild author told Today. "Clara Bow experienced an unprecedented amount of both and endured and prevailed."
"Today we'd call it slut-shaming," Stenn added. "This idea of an independent strong woman still poses a threat to many people in our culture, especially when she is gifted and has immense talent."
Clara Bow poses for a photo.
Bow starred in 57 films throughout her career, including Wings, the first-ever Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards. Even so, Bow was overworked and underpaid, which led her to have an emotional breakdown in 1931, according to a biography by the National Museum of American History.
"The studios were working her to death. She was on heaps of primitive pills to get her out of bed in the morning and to get her to sleep at night," Elaine Shepherd, who produced a documentary on Bow in 2012, told the BBC. "Executives were trying to exploit her as much as possible, gossip magazines were writing the most awful lies about her, and she was dealing with all that on her own, as a woman in her twenties. She just found it way too stressful."
After a brief stint in a mental health institution, as reported by the National Museum of American History, Bow moved to Nevada and married Rex Bell. While she starred in two more films after her move, Bow ended up retiring from acting at age 28.
Later in her life, Bow, who once attempted suicide according to the museum, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Afterwards, she left Bell and their two sons behind, living out her days in Los Angeles. She died in 1965 at age 60.
Clara Bow circa 1928.
As for how Bow's family feels about Swift's song, her great-granddaughter, Brittany Grace Bell, expressed her hopes for the track in an interview with People.
"She came from a really tough background and she really made it happen for herself. I hope she conveys a positive image of Clara Bow, which I think she will," she said. "I would imagine that Taylor uses this as a way to highlight her accomplishments, her accolades, her talent. They're both people that have really strong raw talent."
RELATED CONTENT:
