![Jean Harlow was 1930s Hollywood's reigning sex symbol—and greatest screwball actress. Why did she die at 26? Jean Harlow was 1930s Hollywood's reigning sex symbol—and greatest screwball actress. Why did she die at 26?](https://compote.slate.com/images/def3a60d-05f3-4965-bd90-fa13bbf2675e.jpg)
Jean Harlow was 1930s Hollywood's reigning sex symbol—and greatest screwball actress. Why did she die at 26?
![The last recorded picture of Hollywood starlet Jean Harlow, taken on June 6th 1937 on the movie set of Saratoga - one day before her death from kidney failure and cerebral edema The last recorded picture of Hollywood starlet Jean Harlow, taken on June 6th 1937 on the movie set of Saratoga - one day before her death from kidney failure and cerebral edema](https://external-preview.redd.it/W83g1krMuW2pGDWko1ZqGCEmo6X8nZTLLN2hahH3HIQ.jpg?auto=webp&s=b3148c5a152ea4ab72ef31b02cb1b7ff1328fa9e)
The last recorded picture of Hollywood starlet Jean Harlow, taken on June 6th 1937 on the movie set of Saratoga - one day before her death from kidney failure and cerebral edema
![Not Harlow. Mary Dees, the actress who filmed Jean Harlow's unfinished scenes in Saratoga. – The Film Colony ♛ Not Harlow. Mary Dees, the actress who filmed Jean Harlow's unfinished scenes in Saratoga. – The Film Colony ♛](https://aliciamayer.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/mary-dees-mgm1.jpg?w=640)
Not Harlow. Mary Dees, the actress who filmed Jean Harlow's unfinished scenes in Saratoga. – The Film Colony ♛
![Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe's idol, was Hollywood's original blonde bombshell before tragic demise: book | Fox News Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe's idol, was Hollywood's original blonde bombshell before tragic demise: book | Fox News](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/10/Getty_JeanHarlow_MarilynMonroe.jpg)