Blanche Barrow

Blanche Barrow
Blanche and Buck Barrow in 1931
Born
Bennie Iva Caldwell

(1911-01-01)January 1, 1911
Garvin, Oklahoma, United States
DiedDecember 24, 1988(1988-12-24) (aged 77)
Dallas, Texas
Criminal statusDeceased
Spouses
John Calloway
(m. 1928; div. 1931)
(m. 1931; died 1933)
Eddie Frasure
(m. 1940; died 1969)

Blanche Barrow (born Bennie Iva Caldwell; January 1, 1911 – December 24, 1988) was the wife of the elder brother of Clyde Barrow, known as Buck.[1] He became her second husband after his release from prison after a pardon. To her dismay, Buck joined his brother's gang.[2][3] Blanche was present at the shootout which resulted in the Barrow Gang becoming nationally recognized fugitives. She spent only four months with the gang.[4]

Although she never used a gun, Blanche was blinded in one eye during a getaway. In the same incident, she rescued her husband under heavy police gunfire. She was caught along with her fatally wounded husband by a posse of local men in Iowa.[citation needed] She served six years in prison for assault with intent to kill the sheriff of Platte County, Missouri, but he treated her sympathetically.

After Barrow's release from prison, she eventually remarried and lived quietly thereafter. Barrow was consulted for the partially fictionalized film Bonnie and Clyde (1967) about the Barrow gang. She disliked her portrayal in the film by Estelle Parsons, despite the actress winning an Oscar for the role.

  1. ^ Spillane, Joseph F. (January 1, 1999). "Review Essay: Myth, Memory, and the American Outlaw". The Oral History Review. 26 (1): 113–117. doi:10.1093/ohr/26.1.113. ISSN 0094-0798.
  2. ^ Bush, Elizabeth (2018). "Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend by Karen Blumenthal". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 72 (1): 9. doi:10.1353/bcc.2018.0551. ISSN 1558-6766.
  3. ^ Potter, Claire Bond (1995). ""I'll Go the Limit and Then Some": Gun Molls, Desire, and Danger in the 1930s". Feminist Studies. 21 (1): 41–66. doi:10.2307/3178316. hdl:2027/spo.0499697.0021.106. ISSN 0046-3663. JSTOR 3178316.
  4. ^ Motta, Giuseppe (June 7, 2021), "Between Ideological Affinity and Economic Necessity", Complicated Complicity, De Gruyter, pp. 99–120, doi:10.1515/9783110671186-006, ISBN 978-3-11-067118-6, retrieved January 1, 2024