Editing Clara Bow (section)

==Retirement and later years==
[[File:Clara Bow Argentinean Magazine AD 3.jpg|upright=1.0|thumb|''Argentinean'' magazine, 1934]]

Bow and actor [[Rex Bell]] (later a [[lieutenant governor (United States)|lieutenant governor]] of [[Nevada]]) had two sons, Tony Beldam (born 1934, changed name to Rex Anthony Bell, Jr., died 2011) and George Beldam, Jr. (born 1938). Bow retired from acting in 1933. In September 1937, she and Bell opened The 'It' Cafe in the [[Hollywood Plaza Hotel]] at 1637 N Vine Street near Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. It closed in 1943.{{sfnp|Stenn|2000|p=250}} Her last public performance, albeit fleeting, came in 1947 on the radio show ''[[Truth or Consequences]]''. Bow was the mystery voice in the show's "Mrs. Hush" contest.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Biography.com Editors |date=2024-02-06 |title=Meet Clara Bow: The True Story of the "It Girl" Behind Taylor Swift's New Song |url=https://www.biography.com/actors/a45863068/clara-bow |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=[[Biography.com]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Health issues===
{{blockquote|text=All the time the flapper is laughing and dancing, there's a feeling of tragedy underneath, she's unhappy and disillusioned, and that's what people sense. |author=Clara Bow<ref name="vogue-Borelli-Persson-Bow"/>}}

Bow eventually began showing symptoms of psychiatric illness. She became socially withdrawn and, although she refused to socialize with her husband, she also refused to let him leave the house alone.<ref name="Addison 2003 124–5">{{cite book|last=Addison|first=Heather|title=Hollywood and the Rise of Physical Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodrisephy00addi|url-access=limited|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415946766|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hollywoodrisephy00addi/page/n129 124]–125}}</ref> In 1944, while Bell was running for the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], Bow attempted suicide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_199901/ai_n8841928 |title=Politics '99 {Human Events}; Find Articles at BNET.com |publisher=Findarticles.com |date=January 15, 1999 |access-date=August 19, 2010}}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> A note was found in which Bow stated she preferred death to a public life.{{sfnp|Stenn|2000|p=256}}

In 1949, she checked into [[The Institute of Living]] to be treated for her chronic insomnia and diffuse abdominal pains. [[electroconvulsive therapy|Shock treatment]] was tried and numerous psychological tests performed. Bow's [[IQ]] was measured "bright normal", while others claimed she was unable to reason, had poor judgment and displayed inappropriate or even bizarre behavior. Her pains were considered [[delusion]]al and she was diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]];<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robey |first1=Tim |title=Was 'It girl' Clara Bow the real-life epitome of Babylon – or one of predatory Hollywood's earliest victims? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/girl-clara-bow-real-life-epitome-babylon-one-predatory-hollywoods/ |access-date=4 January 2023 |publisher=The Telegraph (London) |date=3 January 2023}}</ref> however, she experienced neither auditory nor visual [[hallucination]]s. Analysts tied the onset of the illness, as well as her insomnia, to the "butcher knife episode" back in 1922, but Bow rejected psychological explanations and left the institute.{{sfnp|Stenn|2000|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mm3gQqcl20UC&pg=PA263 pp. 263–268]}}{{sfn|Morella|Epstein|1976|p=276}} She did not return to her family. After leaving the institution, Bow lived alone in a bungalow, which she rarely left, until her death.<ref name="Addison 2003 124–5"/>