whataboutbobbed
Before a camera she could exude personality. Newsreel footage shows Clara among the Baby Stars, her unruly hair blowing in the wind while others wear chic cloche hats. Grinning impishly, she blows a kiss to the camera, as natural as the rest are formal. The moment is charming, but misleading: Clara was not the carefree Baby Star she seemed, and the distinction between her public and private selves did not pass unnoticed. “She was peppy and vivacious in front of people, but when you talked to her one on one, she was serious and sad,” says [fellow Baby Star Ruth] Hiatt. “I liked her, but I didn’t get to know her well,” admits Dorothy Mackaill, another Baby Star aboard the train. “Nobody did. She was away from the crowd, a loner.”
Source: Clara Bow, Runnin’ Wild (Penguin, 1988) by David Stenn, page 43.
The WAMPAS BABY STARS of 1924: Clara Bow, Elinor Fair, Carmelita Geraghty, Gloria Grey, Ruth Hiatt, Julanne Johnston, Hazel Keener, Dorothy Mackaill, Blanche Mehaffey, Margaret Morris, Marian Nixon, Lucille Ricksen, Alberta Vaughn. Original photograph from the SF Examiner files, stamped on reverse: RECEIVED EXAMINER REFERENCE LIBRARY MAY 23 1931.