1. Paul Bern helped launch the career of Jean Harlow, whom he married in July 1932; two months later, he was found dead of a gunshot wound, leaving what appeared to be a suicide note.
18 Facts About Paul Bern
1. 2.
Paul Bern was born Paul Levy in Wandsbek, which was then a town in the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.
3.
Paul Bern was one of six children of Julius and Henriette Levy, a Jewish couple.
4.
Paul Bern's father died in 1908; his mother drowned herself in 1920, possibly as a threat to keep her beloved son from marrying.
5.
Paul Bern was initially a film editor before working his way up to scenario writing and directing for United Artists and Paramount Pictures.
6.
Paul Bern eventually became the production assistant of Irving Thalberg and then a producer on the MGM lot in his own right.
7.
The award was presented solely to Thalberg since Paul Bern, being deceased, obviously could not accept it.
8.
Paul Bern did not reciprocate his feelings, but the two remained close friends and confidants.
9.
Paul Bern assisted La Marr with her career, paid for her medical and funeral expenses and was by her bedside when she died.
10.
Paul Bern was godfather to her son Don Gallery, and actress Jean Harlow was his godmother.
11.
However, a DNA test commissioned by Gallery later proved that Paul Bern was not his biological father.
12.
Paul Bern financially supported Millette, who reportedly had a mental illness and ended up in a sanatorium in Connecticut.
13.
Paul Bern's body was found in the Sacramento River two days after Bern's death.
14.
Paul Bern met Harlow shortly before the premiere of Hell's Angels in 1930.
15.
Paul Bern was instrumental in helping Harlow's career, as he was the only person who took her seriously as an actress.
16.
Two months after marrying Harlow, on September 5,1932, Paul Bern was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in their home on Easton Drive in Beverly Hills, California.
17.
Paul Bern was cremated, and his ashes were interred in the Golden West Mausoleum at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
18.
Marx, after reviewing the evidence, concluded that Paul Bern was murdered by Millette, who then committed suicide by drowning two days later.