Hollywood was being forged, with women right in the thick of it producing stories and attracting crowds to this new, exciting place called the cinema. Film stars were goddesses of the silver screen, and the newly formed industry was just figuring out how to use them. Clara Bow, an early silent film star who made a film called It, became the first “it girl.”2 The blond Jean Harlow was the first bombshell of the screen. Joan Crawford was a star created by and for the public (literally, her name came from a magazine competition), and her public persona evolved as she aged to satisfy her public.
