BONNIE PARKER, Poet Who Became Infamous Outlaw in 1930s | Clyde Barrow | Brought To Life

Bonnie Parker, c.1933, brought to life. For a more realistic viewing experience, the photograph has been improved (colorized and enhanced) plus animated using Photoshop and AI techniques. This video is a part of series where historical figures (statues, paintings, vintage photographs) are skilfully reconstructed and brought to life.

Bonnie Parker became one of America’s most infamous outlaws during the 1930s. Together with Clyde Barrow, they made a perfect match in crime and love, becoming the notorious Bonnie and Clyde duo. Bonnie Parker was born in Rowena, Texas, on October 1, 1910, the second of three children, to Charles Parker and Emma Krause. Her father was a bricklayer who died when she was four. After his death, the family moved to West Dallas. Bonnie was a lovely, bright student who excelled at poetry and literature. Her youth had no indications that she would follow a criminal path. In September 1926, she fell in love for the first time with a classmate, Roy Thornton, whom she married just a few days before she turned 16. Their marriage was a rocky one, with Thornton being physically abusive. They split up but never divorced. Thornton went to jail for robbery in 1929, and they never saw each other again. Then came the charming ex-con Clyde Barrow. Clyde, 20, and Bonnie, 19, met in January 1930, through a mutual friend. Their love blossomed. Their blooming romance was disrupted few months later, in April, when Clyde went back to prison on several criminal charges. The lovesick Bonnie snuck a gun, which Clyde used to escape from prison. He was recaptured shortly after and sent back to jail. Allegedly he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by another inmate. He retaliated by killing his tormentor with a pipe, committing his first murder. Clyde was paroled in February 1932 after his mother’s successful petitioning for his release. Soon after leaving prison, the hardened and bitter Clyde embarked on a criminal spree with a small gang of men, robbing banks and small businesses. Bonnie joined the gang in April 1932 but she was captured during a failed robbery attempt and imprisoned for two months. While she awaited trial, she passed the time by writing poetry, much of which detailed her connection with Clyde. Among Bonnie’s collection of later recovered poems is “The Trail’s End,” more commonly known as “The Story of Bonnie and Clyde”, whose closing line seems to foresee their fate: “Some day they’ll go down together / And they’ll bury them side by side / To few it’ll be grief / to the law a relief / but it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde.” In June 1932, the court failed to convict Bonnie after she stated that she was kidnapped by the Barrow gang, and thus was released from custody. She quickly rejoined Clyde, and the couple continued their criminal activities with other gang members, taking part in robberies that spanned multiple states. By 1933, the Barrow gang was wanted for several murders, including the deaths of various law enforcement officials. Despite a large law enforcement deployment that included the FBI, the couple eluded arrest for nearly two years, becoming two of America’s most renowned outlaws. Narrowly escaping authorities in Joplin, Missouri, they left many of their possessions behind, including many pictures showing the outlaws striking menacing poses. The pictures were reproduced in newspapers all over the country catapulting the couple to overnight fame. In 1934, Texas Ranger commander Frank Hamer led a posse after them. Despite their brutal crimes and the grim reality of their lives, Bonnie and Clyde have been heavily romanticised by the media, especially after the success of the 1967 film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty.