She was buried in the negligee that she had worn just weeks before while filming a scene from Saratoga. It's been reported that a single white gardenia with an unsigned note attached that read "Good night, my dearest darling" were placed in her hands.
It is assumed that both were from her beloved William Powell, who also paid for her final resting place -- the $25,000. 9 x 10 foot private room lined with multi-colored imported marble located in the Sanctuary of Benediction.
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Buried in the middle of three spaces in the room, Jean's wall is engraved with a simple phrase: "Our Baby."
Visit Jean Harlow's Memorial Page at FindAGrave.com
Who followed Jean to Forest Lawn?
MOTHER JEAN (1891-1958)
Mother Jean died after suffering a heart attack at Good Samaritan Hospital on June 11, 1958 and was buried without fanfare next to her Baby. It is not publicly known which crypt she occupies. The third space, which was assumed to have been reserved for William Powell is left unused. Powell passed away on March 5, 1984 at the age of 91 and is buried in Palm Springs. However, his father Horatio (1865-1941) and mother Nettie (1872-1959) rest-in-peace here, in wall crypts just a few feet away from the Harlow room.
MARINO BELLO (1883-1953)
Jean's notorious stepfather Marino Bello is also buried at Forest Lawn Glendale. He is located in the Graceland section, block 6352, space 4. From the road above Graceland, find block 6359 near the curb and walk eight rows down; the row aligns diagonally with the statue located near the lower road.
At the time of his death he was divorced from Mother Jean and married to his third wife.
CLARK GABLE (1901-1960)
When Jean's good friend and frequent co-star Clark Gable passed away at the age of 59, his pregnant wife Kay laid him to rest next to his beloved Carole Lombard. Lombard and her mother, Bessie Peters, were tragically killed in a 1942 plane crash enroute home from a war bond tour. Lombard was so mortified by the media circus surrounding Jean's death that she told Gable that when she died she wanted a simple, private burial. Today the Gables - Clark, Carole and Kay - and Mrs. Peters, are all entombed in the Great Mausoleum not far from Jean.
IRVING THALBERG (1899-1936)
MGM Wonder Boy, producer Irving Thalberg, was good friends with Paul Bern and together they gave Jean the opportunity to play the role that would lift her to stardom - Lil Andrews in Red-Headed Woman. Thalberg passed away a year prior to Jean, the result of a congenital heart defect. Thalberg, along with his wife, actress Norma Shearer, his parents and sister, occupy the room at the end of the sanctuary, directly next door to Jean.
MARIE DRESSLER (1871-1934)
Beloved character actress Marie Dressler, who delivered one of the funniest punchlines in film history while Jean played her foil in Dinner at Eight, is buried in a wall crypt almost directly across the corridor from the Harlow room. Another Dinner at Eight co-star, Wallace Beery is buried on the grounds of Forest Lawn.
JOHNNY HAMP (1894-1958) & RUTH HAMP (1906-1968)
In the fall of 2003, my friend Mark and I strolling around the grounds of Forest Lawn Glendale when, quite by accident while reading headstones at random, I came across Jean's friends Johnny and Ruth on the lawn outside the Great Mausoleum. It was an eerie moment, I was stunned to say the least, as I'd been trying to figure out what happened to them for years. I guess sometimes folks just want to be found, and remembered. One of my all-time favorite gravehunting moments.
GRAVESITES OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE A PART OF JEAN'S LIFE
Take a tour of my FindAGrave.com Jean Harlow Virtual Cemetery to see the final resting places of other people Jean loved or worked with - including her maternal grandparents Abraham and Diana Carpenter, Paul Bern, Harold Rosson, William Powell, Carmelita Gharrity & Carey Wilson, Marcella Rabwin and more. This list is a work-in-progress, with names frequently added.
IN SEARCH OF... Gravesite information and photos for Jean's father and stepmother Montclair & Maude Carpenter, her Aunt Jetty and cousin Donald Roberson, first husband Charles McGrew, friends Bobbie Brown, Blanche Williams, Violet Denoyer, Edith Hubner, etc. Please email me if you would like to contribute information and/or photographs to this project. Thanks!
Revised 3/4/2006