Harlow

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

MGM began trying to distinguish Harlow's public persona from that of her screen characters, changing her childhood surname from common "Carpenter" to chic "Carpentier", claiming that writer Edgar Allan Poe was one of her ancestors and publishing photographs of Harlow doing charity work to change her image from that of a tramp to an all-American girl. This transformation proved difficult: once Harlow was heard muttering, "My God, must I always wear a low-cut dress to be important?"

According to Fay Wray, who played Ann Darrow in 1933's King Kong, Harlow was the original choice to play the screaming blonde heroine. Because MGM put Harlow under exclusive contract during the pre-production phase of the film, she became unavailable for Kong, and the part went to the brunette Wray, wearing a blonde wig.