Back

Blanche Barrow, wife of Buck Barrow (Clyde Barrow’s older brother) and member of The Barrow Gang.

Blanche was a reluctant member of Bonnie & Clyde’s gang, agreeing to join them on a vacation retreat only after Buck said he was going whether she came along or not. He was hoping to convince his younger brother to give himself in. After two weeks at their retreat the police surprised the gang and gunfire was exchanged. After being pulled into the getaway car Blanche felt "all my hopes and dreams tumbling down around me".

After her capture, Blanche testified that she accompanied the gang solely to be with her husband. She was tried for "harboring" and attempted murder. She was paroled after 6 years and released from prison in 1939.

Blanche Barrow was consulted for the 1969 Arthur Penn film Bonnie & Clyde and producer Warren Beatty even brought her a script for approval before filming - However the script was later changed by the director and Barrow felt that Estelle Parson’s Oscar winning portrayal made her look like “a screaming horses ass”. When she took her 3rd husband to see the film for the first time she nearly died of embarrassment.

While in prison Blanche wrote her memoir - My Life with Bonnie & Clyde. She passed away in 1988 at the age of 77.