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Clark Gable

February 19, 2023

William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood".[2] He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades of which was as a leading man. Gable died of a heart attack at the age of 59; his final on-screen appearance was as an aging cowboy in The Misfits, released posthumously in 1961.

Clark Gable
Gable in a publicity portrait in 1940
Born
William Clark Gable

(1901-02-01)February 1, 1901
Cadiz, Ohio, U.S.
DiedNovember 16, 1960(1960-11-16) (aged 59)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S.
Other namesThe King of Hollywood
OccupationActor
Years active1918–1960
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
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(m. 1924; div. 1930)​
Maria Langham
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(m. 1931; div. 1939)​
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(m. 1939; died 1942)​
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(m. 1949; div. 1952)​
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(m. 1955)​
Children2, including Judy Lewis
RelativesClark James Gable (grandson)
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army Air Forces
United States Air Force
Years of service1942–1947[1]
Rank Major
Unit351st Bomb Group
18th AAF Base Unit
Battles/warsWorld War II
Awards Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal
American Campaign Medal
European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Signature

Born and raised in Ohio, Gable traveled to Hollywood where he began his film career as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1926. He progressed to supporting roles for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and his first leading role in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) was alongside Joan Crawford, who requested him for the part. His role in the romantic drama Red Dust (1932) with reigning sex symbol Jean Harlow, made him MGM's biggest male star.[3] Gable won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Frank Capra's romantic comedy It Happened One Night (1934), co-starring Claudette Colbert.[4] He was again nominated for the award for his roles as Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and as Rhett Butler opposite Vivien Leigh's Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). He found continued commercial and critical success with Manhattan Melodrama (1934), San Francisco (1936), Saratoga (1937), Test Pilot (1938), and Boom Town (1940), three of which co-starred Spencer Tracy.

Gable spent two years as an aerial cameraman and bomber gunner in Europe during World War II. Although the movies he appeared in following his return were not critically lauded, they did well at the box office.[5] He experienced a critical revival with The Hucksters (1947), Homecoming (1948), and Mogambo (1953), which also featured newcomer Grace Kelly. Later, he starred in Westerns and War movies, such as Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) with Burt Lancaster, and in comedies and dramas that paired him with a new generation of leading ladies, such as Doris Day in Teacher's Pet (1958), Sophia Loren in It Started in Naples (1960), and Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits (1961).

Gable was one of the most consistent box-office performers in the history of Hollywood, appearing on Quigley Publishing's annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll sixteen times. He was named the seventh greatest male movie star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute.[6] He appeared opposite many of the most popular actresses of their time. Joan Crawford was a favorite actress of his to work with,[7] and he partnered with her in eight films. Myrna Loy worked with him seven times, and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six productions. He also starred with Lana Turner in four features, and in three each with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner.

Life and career

1901–1919: Early life

 
Gable's 1901 birthplace in Cadiz, Ohio

William Clark Gable was born on February 1, 1901, in Cadiz, Ohio, to William Henry "Will" Gable (1870–1948), an oil-well driller,[7][8] and his wife Adeline (née Hershelman). His father was a Protestant and his mother a Catholic. Gable was named William after his father, but he was almost always called Clark, and referred to as "the kid" by his father.[9]: 1  Due to the doctor's illegible handwriting, he was mistakenly listed as male and female in the county register; the clerk later corrected it to male.[7] He had Belgian and German ancestry.[10][11][12] Gable was six months old when he was baptized at a Roman Catholic church in Dennison, Ohio. When he was ten months old, his mother died.[7] His father refused to raise him in the Catholic faith, which provoked criticism from the Hershelman family. The dispute was resolved when his father agreed to allow him to spend time with his maternal uncle Charles Hershelman and his wife on their farm in Vernon Township, Pennsylvania.[13] In April 1903, Gable's father married Jennie Dunlap (1874–1920).[14][15]

Gable's stepmother raised the tall, shy child with a loud voice to be well-dressed and well-groomed. She played the piano and gave him lessons at home.[16] He later took up brass instruments, becoming the only boy in the Hopedale Men's town band at age 13.[17] Gable was mechanically inclined and loved to repair cars with his father, who insisted that he engage in masculine activities such as hunting and hard physical work. Gable also loved literature; he would recite Shakespeare among trusted company, particularly the sonnets.[17]

His father had financial difficulties in 1917 and decided to try his hand at farming, and moved the family to Palmyra Township, near Akron, Ohio. His father insisted that he work the farm, but Gable soon left to work in Akron for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.[18]

1920–1923: Early career

Gable was inspired to become an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise at age 17, but he was unable to make a start in acting until he turned 21 and received his $300 inheritance from a Hershelman trust.[19][15] After his stepmother died in 1920, his father moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, going back into the oil business. He worked with his father for some time wildcatting and sludge removing in the oil fields of Oklahoma before traveling to the Pacific Northwest.[9]: 15–16 

Gable toured in second-class stock companies, finding work with traveling tent shows, lumber mills, and other odd jobs. He made his way across the Midwest to Portland, Oregon, where he worked as a necktie salesman in the Meier & Frank department store.[20] Also working there was local stage actor Earle Larimore, (the nephew of Laura Hope Crews who portrayed Aunt Pittypat alongside Gable in Gone with the Wind) who encouraged Gable to return to acting.[19] Though Larimore didn't invite him to join his theater group The Red Lantern Players, he did introduce Gable to one of its members, Franz Dorfler, and they started dating.[9]: 18  After the couple's audition for The Astoria Players, Gable's lack of training was evident, but the theater group accepted him after cajoling from Larimore. Gable and Dorfler moved to Astoria, Oregon, touring with the group until its bankruptcy, and then moved back to Portland where Gable obtained a day job with Pacific Telephone and started receiving dramatic lessons in the evening.[9]: 19–21 [7]: 31–40 

Gable's acting coach, Josephine Dillon, was a theater manager in Portland. She paid to have his teeth fixed and his hair styled. She guided him in building up his chronically undernourished body, and taught him better body control and posture. He slowly managed to lower his naturally high-pitched voice, his speech habits improved, and his facial expressions became more natural and convincing. After a long period of her training, Dillon considered Gable ready to attempt a film career.[9]: 24 

1924–1930: Stage and silent films

 
In 1928's Machinal with Zita Johann, Gable was lauded as "young, vigorous, and brutally masculine" by one critic.

Gable and Dillon traveled to Hollywood in 1924. Dillon became his manager and also his wife; she was 17 years his senior.[21] He changed his stage name from W. C. Gable to Clark Gable[9]: 29  and appeared as an extra in such silent films as Erich von Stroheim's The Merry Widow (1925), The Plastic Age (1925) starring Clara Bow, and Forbidden Paradise (1924) starring Pola Negri. He appeared in a series of two-reel comedies called The Pacemakers and in Fox's The Johnstown Flood (1926). He also appeared as a bit player in a series of shorts.[22] However, he was not offered any major film roles, so he returned to the stage in What Price Glory? (1925).[23]

He became lifelong friends with Lionel Barrymore, who initially scolded Gable for what he deemed amateurish acting but nevertheless urged him to pursue a stage career.[9]: 36 [24] During the 1927–28 theater season, he acted with the Laskin Brothers Stock Company in Houston, Texas; while there, he played many roles, gained considerable experience, and became a local matinee idol.[25] He then moved to New York City, where Dillon sought work for him on Broadway. He received good reviews in Machinal (1928), with one critic describing him as "young, vigorous, and brutally masculine".[9]: 49 

Gable and Dillon separated, filing for divorce in March 1929, while he began working on the play Hawk Island in New York which ran for 24 performances.[7]: 56–57  In April 1930, Gable's divorce became final, and a few days later he married Texas socialite Maria Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham, nicknamed "Ria". After moving to California, they were married again in 1931, possibly due to differences in state legal requirements.

1930–1935: Early success

 
Jean Harlow and Gable in The Secret Six (1931)

In 1930, after his impressive appearance as the seething and desperate character Killer Mears in the Los Angeles stage production of The Last Mile, Gable was offered a contract with Pathe Pictures. His only film for them and first role in a sound picture was as the unshaven villain in their low-budget William Boyd Western, The Painted Desert (1931). The studio experienced financial problems after the film's delayed release, so Gable left for work at Warner Bros.[7]: 58–66 

The same year in Night Nurse, Gable played a villainous chauffeur who knocked Barbara Stanwyck's character unconscious for trying to save two children whom he was methodically starving to death. The supporting role was originally slated for James Cagney until the release of The Public Enemy catapulted him to star status. "His ears are too big and he looks like an ape", said Warner Bros. executive Darryl F. Zanuck about Gable, after testing him for the second male lead in the studio's gangster drama Little Caesar (1931).[26] After his failed screen test for Zanuck, Gable was signed in 1930 by MGM's Irving Thalberg for $650 per week.[7]: 64  He hired the well-connected Minna Wallis, a sister of producer Hal Wallis, as his agent, whose clients included actresses Claudette Colbert, Myrna Loy and Norma Shearer.[27]

 
Gable's supporting role was almost as important as Wallace Beery's, and he received second billing above the title for the aviation film's lobby card.

Gable's arrival in Hollywood occurred when MGM was looking to expand its stable of male stars, and he fit the bill. He made two pictures in 1931 with Wallace Beery. In the first, he had a seventh-billed support role in The Secret Six, although his role was much larger than the billing would indicate, then he achieved second billing in a part almost as large as the film's star Beery in the naval aviation film Hell Divers. MGM's publicity manager Howard Strickling started developing Gable's studio image with Screenland magazine playing up his "lumberjack-in-evening-clothes" persona.[28]

To increasing popularity, MGM frequently paired him with well-established female stars. Joan Crawford asked for him to appear with her in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931). The electricity of the pair was recognized by studio executive Louis B. Mayer, who would not only put them in seven more films but also began reshooting Complete Surrender, replacing John Mack Brown as Crawford's leading man and retitling the film Laughing Sinners (1931).[29] His fame and public visibility after A Free Soul (1931), in which he played a gangster who shoved the character played by Norma Shearer, ensured that Gable never played a supporting role again. He received extensive fan mail as a result of his performance; the studio took notice.[30] The Hollywood Reporter wrote "A star in the making has been made, one that, to our reckoning, will outdraw every other star ... Never have we seen audiences work themselves into such enthusiasm as when Clark Gable walks on the screen."[9]: 80 

Gable co-starred in Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) with Greta Garbo, and in Possessed (1931), a film about an illicit romantic affair, with Joan Crawford (who was then married to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.). Adela Rogers St. Johns later dubbed Gable and Crawford's real-life relationship as "the affair that nearly burned Hollywood down".[9]: 82  Louis B. Mayer threatened to terminate both their contracts, and for a while, they kept apart when Gable shifted his attentions to Marion Davies as he costarred with her in Polly of the Circus (1932).[31] Gable was considered for the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man, but lost out to Johnny Weissmuller's more imposing physique and superior swimming prowess.[32] Gable then starred as the romantic lead in Strange Interlude (1932), again teaming with Shearer, the second of three films they would make together for MGM.

 
Gable in his star-making turn with Jean Harlow in Red Dust (1932)
 
Gable and Harlow in Hold Your Man (1933), one of the six films they would make

Next, Gable starred with Jean Harlow in the romantic comedy-drama Red Dust (1932) set on a rubber plantation in Indochina. Gable portrayed a plantation manager involved with Harlow's wisecracking prostitute; however, upon her arrival, Gable's character started to pursue Mary Astor's prim, classy newlywed.[33] While some critics thought Harlow stole the show,[34][35] many agreed that Gable was a natural screen partner.[35]

Gable's "unshaven love-making" with braless Jean Harlow in Red Dust made him MGM's most important romantic leading man.[36] With Gable established as a star, MGM positioned him in the same manner as Harlow for Myrna Loy, a previously lesser billed actor in Night Flight, moving Loy to a costar role in Men in White, a movie filmed in 1933, though delayed in release due to pre-Code Legion of Decency cuts until 1934.[37] The relationship of a doctor (Gable) and nurse (Elizabeth Allan) implied intimacy with a resulting complication of pregnancy, a sensitive issue and new image for Gable.

Gable and Harlow were then teamed in Hold Your Man (1933), China Seas (1935), in which the pair were billed above Wallace Beery, and Wife vs. Secretary (1936) with Myrna Loy costarring and supported by newcomer James Stewart. A popular combination on-screen and off, Gable and Harlow made six films together in five years. Their final film together was Saratoga (1937), a bigger hit than their previous collaborations. Harlow died during its production. The film was ninety percent completed, and the remaining scenes were filmed with long shots or the use of doubles like Mary Dees; Gable said he felt as if he were "in the arms of a ghost".[9]: 179 

In 1934, MGM did not have a project ready for Gable that he was interested in, paying him $2,000 a week under his contract to do nothing. Studio head Louis B. Mayer lent him to Columbia for $2,500 per week, making a $500 per week profit.[9] Gable was not Capra's first choice to play the lead role of newspaper reporter Peter Warne in the romantic comedy It Happened One Night (1934) opposite Claudette Colbert playing a spoiled heiress, but Columbia wanted him and had paid handsomely for it. Robert Montgomery was originally offered the role but said he declined, feeling the script was poor.[38]

Filming for the movie, in which Gable and Colbert's characters have to travel together from Florida to New York by whatever means available, began in a tense atmosphere;[9] nevertheless, both Gable and director Frank Capra enjoyed making the movie. It Happened One Night became the first movie to sweep all five of the major Academy Awards, with Gable winning for Best Actor and Colbert for Best Actress. "Critics praised the fast-paced farce that would enter in a whole new romantic genre: the screwball comedy."[39] The movie opened slowly at the box office, but once word of mouth spread it became a big hit, with men's underwear sales plummeting because Gable didn't wear an undershirt in the movie.[40][41][42]

 
Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night (1934), his Academy Award-winning performance

Gable's career was revitalized by his whimsical, good-natured performance[41] and to Capra, Gable's character in the film closely resembled his real personality:

It Happened One Night is the real Gable. He was never able to play that kind of character except in that one film. They had him playing these big, huff-and-puff he-man lovers, but he was not that kind of guy. He was a down-to-earth guy, he loved everything, he got down with the common people. He didn't want to play those big lover parts; he just wanted to play Clark Gable, the way he was in It Happened One Night, and it's too bad they didn't let him keep up with that.[43]

It Happened One Night clinched stardom for Gable[44] making him a bigger star than ever.[45] From 1934 until 1942, when World War II interrupted his movie career, he was near the top of the box office money-makers lists.[46]

Gable's first movie role back at MGM was to portray reluctant leader of mutineers Fletcher Christian, an "Englishman in knickers and a three-cornered hat", one he had to be talked into by friend and producer Irving Thalberg, and of which Gable said "I stink in it" after filming.[47] Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) was a critical and commercial success, receiving eight Academy Award nominations. There were three Best Actor nominations for stars Gable, Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone,[48] and the film won Best Picture, the second of three films in which Gable played a leading role to do so. The film cost $2 million and grossed $4.5 million, making it one of the top moneymakers that decade.[49] It used life-size replicas of the Bounty and Pandora, and was partly filmed in Catalina and French Polynesia.[50]

1936–1938: Spencer Tracy collaborations

 
Lobby card for Test Pilot (1938)

Gable made three pictures with Spencer Tracy, which boosted Tracy's career and permanently cemented them in the public mind as a team. San Francisco (1936), with Jeannette MacDonald, featured Tracy for only 17 minutes in an Oscar-nominated portrayal of a Catholic priest who knocks Gable down in a boxing ring.[51][52] The film was a box office hit and remains the third-highest-grossing film of Gable's career. Their next film together was the Academy Award–nominated box office success Test Pilot (1938), with Myrna Loy, who made seven pictures with Gable. He plays Jim Lane, the test pilot of the title; Tracy is his sidekick mechanic, Gunner Morse.[53]

For their final film, 1940's Boom Town, Tracy would play a larger role, with billing directly under Gable and above Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr. The picture, a lavish epic about two oil wildcatters who become partners then rivals, was a box office success, earning $5 million.[54] Gable and Tracy were off-screen friends; Tracy was one of the few Hollywood industry luminaries who attended Lombard's private funeral.[55] After Boom Town no more Gable-Tracy partnerships were possible; Tracy's success led to a new contract and both stars had conflicting stipulations requiring top billing in MGM movie credits and on promotional posters.[56]

1939: Gone with the Wind

 
Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind (1939)
 
Gable as Rhett Butler
 
Gable and Vivien Leigh strike an amorous pose in Gone with the Wind (1939)

Despite his reluctance to play the role, Gable is best known for his Oscar-nominated performance in the Academy Award-winning best picture Gone with the Wind (1939). Carole Lombard may have been the first to suggest that he play Rhett Butler (and she play Scarlett) when she bought him a copy of the best-seller, which he refused to read.[9]: 164 

Butler's last line in Gone with the Wind, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", is one of the most famous lines in movie history.[57] Gable was an almost immediate favorite for the role of Rhett with both the public and producer David O. Selznick. Since Selznick had no male stars under long-term contract, he needed to negotiate with another studio to borrow an actor. Gary Cooper was Selznick's first choice.[58] When Cooper turned down the role of Butler, he was quoted as saying, "Gone With the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I'm glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling flat on his nose, not me."[59] By then, Selznick had become determined to hire Gable, and set about finding a way to borrow him from MGM. Gable was wary of potentially disappointing an audience that had decided that no one else could play the part. He later conceded, "I think I know now how a fly must react after being caught in a spider's web."[9]: 189 

By all accounts, Gable got along well with co-stars[60] and was great friends with actress Hattie McDaniel; he even slipped her a real alcoholic drink during the scene in which they were celebrating the birth of Scarlett and Rhett's daughter.[61] According to Lennie Bluett, an extra in the film, Gable almost walked off the set when he discovered the studio facilities were segregated and signage posted "White" and "Colored".[62] Gable phoned the film's director Victor Fleming and told him, "If you don't get those signs down, you won't get your Rhett Butler." The signs were then taken down.[63] Gable tried to boycott the Gone with the Wind premiere in segregated Atlanta, because African American McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen were not permitted to attend. He reportedly only went after McDaniel pleaded with him to go.[64] They appeared in several more films, remaining life-long friends and he always attended her Hollywood parties.[65]

Gable did not want to shed tears for the scene after Rhett inadvertently causes Scarlett to miscarry their second child.[66] Olivia de Havilland made him cry, later commenting, "Oh, he would not do it. He would not! Victor (Fleming) tried everything with him. He tried to attack him on a professional level. We had done it without him weeping several times and then we had one last try. I said, 'You can do it, I know you can do it, and you will be wonderful ...' Well, by heaven, just before the cameras rolled, you could see the tears come up at his eyes and he played the scene unforgettably well. He put his whole heart into it."[67] The role was one of Gable's most layered performances and partially based on the personality of director and friend Fleming.[68]

Years later, Gable said that whenever his career would start to fade, a re-release of Gone with the Wind would soon revive his popularity, and he continued as a top leading actor for the rest of his life. One reissue publicized "Clark Gable never tires of holding Vivien Leigh".[69]

Marriage to Carole Lombard

 
Gable with his third wife Carole Lombard after their 1939 honeymoon

Gable's relationship and marriage in 1939 to his third wife, actress Carole Lombard (1908–1942), was one of the happiest periods of his personal life.[7]: 189–201  They met while filming 1932's No Man of Her Own, when Lombard was still married to actor William Powell. A Gable and Lombard romance did not take off until 1936,[70] after becoming reacquainted at a party. They were soon inseparable, with fan magazines and tabloids citing them as an official couple.

Gable thrived being around Lombard's youthful, charming, and frank personality, once stating:

You can trust that little screwball with your life or your hopes or your weaknesses, and she wouldn't even know how to think about letting you down.[9]: 182 

 
"Ma and Pa" as they affectionately called each other, at their Encino, California, ranch

Gable was still legally married, having prolonged an expensive divorce from his second wife, Ria Langham, until his salary from Gone with the Wind enabled him to reach a divorce settlement with her on March 7, 1939. On March 29, during a production break on Gone with the Wind, Gable and Lombard were married in Kingman, Arizona[9]: 200–201  and honeymooned in room 1201 of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.[71] They purchased a ranch previously owned by director Raoul Walsh in Encino, California, for $50,000 making it their home.[72] The couple, who lovingly referred to each other as "Ma and Pa",[73] owned a menagerie of animals and raised chickens and horses there.

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor many Hollywood stars joined the war effort, some such as James Stewart signing up for active duty. Carole Lombard sent a telegram to President Roosevelt on behalf of Gable expressing his interest in doing so, but F.D.R. thought the 41-year-old actor could best serve by increased patriotic roles in movies and bond drives, which Lombard tirelessly began.[74]

On January 16, 1942, Lombard was a passenger on Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 3 with her mother and press agent Otto Winkler. She had just finished her 57th movie, To Be or Not to Be, and was on her way home from a successful war bond selling tour when the flight's DC-3 airliner crashed into Potosi Mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada, killing all 22 passengers aboard, including 15 servicemen en route to training in California. Gable flew to the crash site to claim the bodies of his wife, mother-in-law, and Winkler, who had been the best man at Gable and Lombard's wedding. Lombard was declared to be the first war-related American female casualty of World War II, and Gable received a personal note of condolence from President Roosevelt. The Civil Aeronautics Board investigation into the crash concluded that pilot error was its cause.[9]: 250–251 

Gable returned to their Encino ranch and carried out her funeral wishes as she had requested in her will. A month later, he returned to the studio to work with Lana Turner in their second movie together, Somewhere I'll Find You. Having lost 20 pounds since the tragedy, Gable evidently was emotionally and physically devastated, but Turner stated that Gable remained a "consummate professional" for the duration of filming.[75] He acted in 27 more films, and remarried twice more. "But he was never the same", according to Esther Williams. "He had been devastated by Carole's death."[76]

1939–1942: Continuing career

Between his marriage to Lombard and her death, Gable again costarred with Norma Shearer in the World War II romantic intrigue film, Idiot's Delight (1939). He plays a nightclub singer that doesn't recognize former love (Shearer) while Nazis are closing in on guests at a hotel on the brink of war. The film is memorable for Gable's song and dance routine, "Puttin' on the Ritz" and an alternative ending.[77]

 
Gable and Crawford in Strange Cargo (1940)

Gable also starred in Strange Cargo (1940), a romantic drama with Joan Crawford, costarring Peter Lorre and Ian Hunter.[33][78] The film's focus is on Gable and French Devil's Islands convicts in an escape from the penal colony, who on the way pick up a local entertainer (Crawford) whom Gable had met earlier in the movie.[79] In their eighth and last film together, Gable and Crawford "again demonstrated their on-screen magic" and the film was among the top ten grossing films for the year.[79]

Gable then made his first film with 20-year old Lana Turner, a newcomer whom MGM saw as a successor for both Crawford and the now-deceased Jean Harlow.[80] Honky Tonk (1941) is a western where Gable's con-man/gambler character romances Turner, a prim, young judge's daughter.[81][80] Gable had been reluctant to act opposite the younger Turner in the required romantic scenes. But their chemistry served them well in this and three later films, with Honky Tonk finishing third at the box office that year.[82]

Since the couple had been popular with the public, Gable and Turner were quickly paired again in Somewhere I'll Find You (1941) as war correspondents who travel to the Pacific theatre and get caught up in a Japanese attack.[83] The movie was another hit finishing No. 8 at the box office for 1942.[84] Film historian David Thomson wrote the quality of his movies after Gone With the Wind "hardly befitted a national idol" and began a career decline for Gable.[85][5]

1942–1944: World War II

For details of Gable's combat missions, see RAF Polebrook § Hollywood at Polebrook.
 
Gable with an 8th Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in England, 1943

On August 12, 1942, following Lombard's death and completion of the film Somewhere I'll Find You, Gable joined the United States Army, under the Army Air Forces.[86] Lombard had suggested that Gable enlist as part of the war effort, but MGM was reluctant to let him go. Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces Henry H. "Hap" Arnold offered Gable a "special assignment" with the First Motion Picture Unit following basic training.[87]

The Washington Evening Star reported that Gable took a physical examination at Bolling Field on June 19, preliminary to joining the service.

"Mr. Gable, it was learned from a source outside the war department, conferred with Lieutenant General H. H. Arnold, head of the air forces yesterday." The Star continued, "It was understood that Mr. Gable, if he is commissioned, will make movies for the air forces. Lieutenant Jimmy Stewart, another actor in uniform, has been doing this."[88]

Gable had expressed an earlier interest in officer candidate school, with the intention of becoming an aerial gunner upon enlisting in bomber training school. MGM arranged for his studio friend, the cinematographer Andrew McIntyre, to enlist with him and accompany him through training.[89]

On August 17, 1942, shortly after his enlistment, he and McIntyre were sent to Miami Beach, Florida, where they entered USAAF OCS Class 42-E. Both completed training on October 28, 1942, and were commissioned as second lieutenants. His class of about 2,600 students (of which he ranked about 700th) selected Gable as its graduation speaker. General Arnold presented the cadets with their commissions. Arnold then informed Gable of his special assignment: to make a recruiting film in combat with the Eighth Air Force to recruit aerial gunners. Gable and McIntyre were immediately sent to Flexible Gunnery School at Tyndall Field, Florida,[90] followed by a photography course at Fort George Wright, Washington State and promoted to first lieutenants upon its completion.[89]

 
James Stewart and Gable, 1943

On January 27, 1943, Gable reported to Biggs Army Airfield, Texas to train with and accompany the 351st Bomb Group to England as head of a six-man motion picture unit. In addition to McIntyre, he recruited the screenwriter John Lee Mahin, camera operators Sgts. Mario Toti and Robert Boles, and the sound man Lt. Howard Voss, to complete his crew. Gable was promoted to captain while he was with the 351st Bomb Group at Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado, a rank commensurate with his position as a unit commander. (Prior to this, he and McIntyre were both first lieutenants.)[89]

Gable spent most of 1943 in England at RAF Polebrook with the 351st Bomb Group. Gable flew five combat missions, including one to Germany, as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses between May 4 and September 23, 1943, earning the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts.[91] During one of the missions, Gable's aircraft was damaged by flak and attacked by fighters, which knocked out one of the engines and shot up the stabilizer. In the raid on Germany, one crewman was killed and two others were wounded, and flak went through Gable's boot and narrowly missed his head. When word of this reached MGM, studio executives began to badger the Army Air Forces to reassign its most valuable screen actor to noncombat duty. In November 1943, Gable returned to the United States to edit his film, on an old Warner's lot donated to the war effort, assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit) at Culver City, California, where other stars contributed with any film equipment they had as well.[92]

In June 1944, Gable was promoted to major. While he hoped for another combat assignment, he had been placed on inactive duty and on June 12, 1944, his discharge papers were signed by Captain (later U.S. president) Ronald Reagan.[93] Gable completed editing of the film Combat America in September 1944, giving the narration himself and making use of numerous interviews with enlisted gunners as focus of the film.[89] Because his motion picture production schedule made it impossible for him to fulfill reserve officer duties, he resigned his commission on September 26, 1947, a week after the Air Force became an independent service branch.[1]

Adolf Hitler favored Gable above all other actors. During World War II, Hitler offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and bring Gable to him unscathed.[9]: 268 

Gable was awarded military honors for service: the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. He was a qualified aerial gunner having received his wings upon completion of flexible gunnery school at Tyndall field.[94]

He made good use of his wartime experiences in the movie Command Decision (1948), playing a World War II brigadier general who supervised bombing raids over Germany. Variety said, "His is a believable delivery, interpreting the brigadier-general who must send his men out to almost certain death with an understanding that bespeaks his sympathy with the soldier... ".[95]

1945–1953: After World War II

Immediately after his discharge from the service, Gable returned to his ranch and rested. Personally, he resumed a pre-war relationship with Virginia Grey,[96] a co-star from Test Pilot and Idiot's Delight, that newspapers reported might be the next Mrs. Gable.[97] Professionally, Gable's first movie after World War II was Adventure (1945), with Greer Garson, by then the leading female star at MGM. Given the famous teaser tagline "Gable's back, and Garson's got him", the film was a commercial hit, earning over $6 million, but a critical failure.[98]

Gable was acclaimed for his performance in The Hucksters (1947), a satire of post-war Madison Avenue corruption and immorality, which co-starred Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner. The film was popular with audiences, placing 11th at the box office,[99] but both Variety and The New York Times reviewed it as a sanitized version of the novel with script issues, that was heavy on Gable screentime, who struggled in the role.[100][101]

 
Turner and Gable in Homecoming (1948)

Gable followed this up with Homecoming (1948), where he played a married doctor enlisting in World War II and meeting Lana Turner's army surgical nurse character with a romance unfolding in flashbacks.[102] After that he made the war film Command Decision (1948), a psychological drama with Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, and John Hodiak. It was a hit with audiences, but it lost MGM money due to the high cost of the all-star cast.[98][102]

A very public and brief romance with Paulette Goddard occurred after that.[103] In 1949, Gable married Sylvia Ashley, a British model and actress previously married to Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.[104] The relationship was profoundly unsuccessful; they divorced in 1952.[105]

Gable did a series of films with female co-stars: Any Number Can Play (1950) with Alexis Smith, Key to the City (1950) with Loretta Young, and To Please a Lady (1950) with Barbara Stanwyck. They were reasonably popular, but he had more success with two Westerns: Across the Wide Missouri (1951), and Lone Star (1952).[106]

He then made Never Let Me Go (1953) opposite Gene Tierney. Tierney was a favorite of Gable's, and he was very disappointed when her mental health problems caused her to be replaced in Mogambo by Grace Kelly.[107]

 
Gable and Grace Kelly in Mogambo (1953)

Mogambo (1953), directed by John Ford, was a somewhat sanitized and more action-oriented remake of Gable's hit pre-Code film Red Dust, with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor. Ava Gardner, in her third and final pairing with Gable, was well received in Harlow's leading lady role, as was Kelly in Astor's role, with both receiving Academy Award nominations, Gardner for Lead Actress and Kelly for Supporting Actress.[108] While on location in Africa, reports of an affair between Gable and Kelly began to surface (the result of private dinners the stars were having), but their relationship was an intense friendship according to costar Gardner,[109] with Kelly herself later commenting on the lack of any sexual aspect, "maybe because of the age difference".[110][111] The publicity only helped ticket sales as the film finished No. 7 at the box office, grossing 8.2 million for the year, easily his most popular hit since he returned to MGM after the war.[112][113]

1954: Leaving MGM

 
Lionel Barrymore's 61st birthday in 1939, standing: Mickey Rooney, Robert Montgomery, Clark Gable, Louis B. Mayer, William Powell, Robert Taylor, seated: Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore, and Rosalind Russell

Despite the positive critical and public response to Mogambo, Gable became increasingly unhappy with what he considered mediocre roles offered by MGM, while the studio regarded his salary as excessive. Studio head Louis B. Mayer was fired in 1951, amid slumping revenue and increased Hollywood production costs, due in large part to the rising popularity of television.[3] The new studio head, former production chief Dore Schary, struggled to maintain profits for the studio. Many long-time MGM stars were fired, or their contracts were not renewed, including Greer Garson and Judy Garland.[114][115]

Gable refused to renew his contract.[116] His last film at MGM was Betrayed (1954), an espionage wartime drama with Turner and Victor Mature. Critic Paul Mavis wrote, "Gable and Turner just don't click the way they should here...poor plots and lines never stopped these two pros from turning in good performances in other films."[117] In March 1954, Gable left MGM.[118]

1955–1957: After MGM

His next two films were made for 20th Century Fox: Soldier of Fortune, an adventure story in Hong Kong with Susan Hayward, and The Tall Men (1955), a Western with Jane Russell and Robert Ryan. Both were profitable, although only modest successes, earning Gable his first profit sharing royalties.[119] In 1955, Gable would be 10th at the box office – the last time he was in the top ten.[120]

That same year, Gable married fifth wife Kay Spreckels (née Kathleen Williams). A former fashion model and actress, she had previously been married three times: first to Charles Capps (1937–39), then to Argentinian cattle tycoon Martín de Alzaga (1942–43), and to sugar-refining heir Adolph B. Spreckels, Jr. (1945–52). Gable became stepfather to her son Bunker Spreckels, who went on to live a notorious celebrity lifestyle in the late 1960s and early 1970s surfing scene, ultimately leading to his early death in 1977.[121]

 
Gable and Yvonne De Carlo in Band of Angels (1957)

Gable also formed Russ-Field-Gabco in 1955, a production company with Jane Russell and her husband Bob Waterfield, and they produced The King and Four Queens (1956), a film Gable thought would also star Russell to capitalize on The Tall Men's moderate success. That role instead went to Jo Van Fleet.[122] It was Gable's only time as producer.[123] He found producing and acting to be too much work and this Raoul Walsh western was the only film made.[119]

After turning down the lead role in Universal-International's Away All Boats,[124] his next project was the Warner Bros. production Band of Angels (1957), co-starring Yvonne De Carlo and featuring relative newcomer Sidney Poitier; it was not well received, despite Gable's role's similarities to Rhett Butler. Newsweek said, "Here is a movie so bad that it must be seen to be disbelieved."[9]: 351 

1958–1960: Paramount

Next, he paired with Doris Day in Teacher's Pet (1958), shot in black and white at Paramount. He did Run Silent, Run Deep (also 1958), with co-star and producer Burt Lancaster, which featured his first on-screen death since 1937, and which garnered good reviews. Gable started to receive television offers, but rejected them outright. At 57, Gable finally acknowledged, "Now it's time I acted my age".[9]: 361  His contracts began including a clause that his filming and work days ended at 5 p.m.[125]

His next two films were light comedies for Paramount: But Not for Me (1959) with Carroll Baker, and It Started in Naples (1960) with Sophia Loren. Naples, was written and directed by Melville Shavelson and it mainly showed the beauty of Loren and the Italian island Capri.[126] It was a box-office success and was nominated for an Academy Award for art direction[127] and two Golden Globes, one for picture and Loren for actress in a leading role.[128] Filmed mostly on location in Italy, it was Gable's last film released in color. While there Gable's weight had increased to 230 pounds, something he credited to pasta, and he started on a crash diet to achieve a goal weight of 195, along with briefly quitting drinking and smoking, to pass a required physical for his next movie.[129]

On February 8, 1960, Gable received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in motion pictures, located at 1608 Vine Street.[130][131]

1961: The Misfits

 
Marilyn Monroe and Gable with Eli Wallach and Montgomery Clift (in the background) in The Misfits (1961)

Gable's last film was The Misfits (1961), with a script by Arthur Miller and directed by John Huston. Co-starring with Gable were Marilyn Monroe (in her last completed film), Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter. Many critics regard Gable's performance to be his finest, and Gable, after seeing the rough cuts, agreed,[132] although the film did not receive any Oscar nominations. Miller wrote the screenplay for his wife Monroe; it was about two aging cowboys and a pilot that go mustanging in Reno, Nevada, who all fall for a blonde. In 1961, it was a somewhat disconnected film with its antihero western themes, but it has since become a classic.[133]

Portraitist Al Hirschfeld created a drawing, and then a lithograph, portraying the film's stars Clift, Monroe, and Gable with screenwriter Miller, in what is suggested as a typical "on-the-set" scene during the troubled production.[134] In a 2002 documentary Eli Wallach recalled the mustang wrangling scenes Gable insisted on performing himself, "You have to pass a physical to film that" and "He was a professional going home at 5 p.m. to a pregnant wife".[135] The New York Times found "Mr. Gable's performance as a leathery old cowboy with a realistic slant on most plain things" ironically vital, with his death before the film's release.[136]

Politics

Gable was a conservative Republican, though he never publicly spoke about politics. His third wife, Carole Lombard, was an activist liberal Democrat,[137] and she convinced him to support Democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. In 1944, he became an early member of the conservative Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, an anti-communist organization, alongside Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and other conservative actors and film-makers. In February 1952, he attended a televised rally in New York where he enthusiastically urged General Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for president, when Eisenhower was still being sought by both parties as their candidate. Despite suffering a severe coronary thrombosis, Gable voted by mail for Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election.[138]

Illness and death

 
Gable's crypt in the Sanctuary of Trust of the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn, Glendale

On November 6, 1960, Gable was sent to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, where doctors found that he had suffered a heart attack. Newspaper reports the following day listed his condition as satisfactory.[139] By the morning of November 16, he seemed to be improving,[140] but he died that evening at the age of 59 from a second heart attack caused by an infection. Medical staff did not perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation for fear that the procedure would rupture Gable's heart, and a defibrillator was not available.[141]

Gable is interred in the Great Mausoleum, Memorial Terrace, at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park next to Carole Lombard and her mother.[142] An honor guard and pallbearers Spencer Tracy and James Stewart were in attendance. Twenty-two years later Kay Gable died and was interred there as well.[142]

Personal life

In 1933, Gable was initiated into Freemasonry at the Beverly Hills Lodge No. 528 CA.[143][144]

Marriages and children

 
1957 Confidential Magazine with article about Gable's first wife Josephine Dillon

Gable habitually married. He was engaged to actress Franz Dorfler when he lived in Astoria, Oregon. She referred him to the woman who would become his acting coach and manager, Josephine Dillon. Gable and Dillon married in 1924 and divorced in 1930.[145] Gable would say "he owed her a debt of gratitude" for the training he received from Dillon in the early years of his career.[146] His second wife was Texas socialite Maria Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham (nicknamed "Ria"). The couple divorced on March 7, 1939.[145] Only 13 days later, during a production break on Gone with the Wind, Gable married comedic actress Carole Lombard,[9]: 200–201  who died in a plane crash less than three years later.

 
With fourth wife Sylvia Ashley

In 1949, Gable married Sylvia Ashley, a British model and actress who was the widow of Douglas Fairbanks; the couple divorced in 1952.[145]

In 1955, Gable married Kay Spreckels (née Kathleen Williams),[145] a thrice-married former fashion model and actress who had previously been married to sugar-refining heir Adolph B. Spreckels, Jr., and became stepfather to her two children. On March 20, 1961, Kay Gable gave birth to Gable's only son, John Clark Gable, at the same hospital in which her husband had died four months earlier.[147] John Clark raced cars and trucks most notably in the Baja 500 and 1000,[148] turning down Hollywood offers to act until Bad Jim (1990), a straight to video film. By 1999, his work with The Clark Gable Foundation helped restore the house in which his father was born and open it as a museum in Cadiz, Ohio.[9]: 380–383  He had two children: Kayley Gable (born 1986) and Clark James Gable (1988–2019). Kayley is an actress, while Clark James was the host of two seasons of the nationally syndicated reality show Cheaters.[149] Clark James died at age 30 on February 22, 2019.[150]

During the filming of The Call of the Wild in early 1935, the film's lead actress, Loretta Young, became pregnant with Gable's child. Their daughter Judy Lewis was born on November 6, 1935, in Venice, California.[151][152] Young hid her pregnancy in an elaborate scheme. Nineteen months after the birth, she claimed to have adopted the baby.[151] Most in Hollywood (and some in the general public) believed Gable was Lewis's father because of their strong resemblance and the timing of her birth.[153]

Allegations of rape

In 1935, Clark Gable allegedly date-raped co-star Loretta Young while on an overnight train from a studio location to Hollywood.[154] Five years after Gable's death, when confronted by Lewis, Loretta Young said that she was Lewis's biological mother and that Gable was her father by an affair.[155] Young died on August 12, 2000;[156] her autobiography, published posthumously, confirmed that Gable was indeed Lewis's father.[151] Judy Lewis died of cancer at age 76 on November 25, 2011.[157] In 2015, Young's daughter-in-law alleged that Young had said in 1998 that Judy Lewis was conceived by date rape. Young had previously admitted to an affair with Gable, which was a known secret in Hollywood at the time. Young's family had chosen to remain silent about the information until both Young and Lewis were deceased; they went public with the information four years after Lewis's death.[158]

Style and reception

In a photo essay of Hollywood film stars, Life magazine called Gable, "All man ... and then some."[159]

Doris Day summed up Gable's unique personality: "He was as masculine as any man I've ever known, and as much a little boy as a grown man could be —it was this combination that had such a devastating effect on women."[9]: 352 

An eight-time co-star, long-time friend and on-again, off-again romance, Joan Crawford concurred, stating on David Frost's TV show in January 1970 that, "He was a king wherever he went. He earned the title. He walked like one, he behaved like one, and he was the most masculine man that I have ever met in my life. Gable had balls."[160]

 
Gable in 1938

Robert Taylor said Gable "was a great, great guy, and certainly one of the great stars of all times, if not the greatest. I think that I sincerely doubt that there will ever be another like Clark Gable; he was one of a kind."[161]

In his memoir Bring on the Empty Horses,[162] David Niven states that Gable, a close friend, was extremely supportive after the sudden, accidental death of Niven's first wife, Primula (Primmie), in 1946. Primmie had supported Gable emotionally after Carole Lombard's death four years earlier: Niven recounts Gable kneeling at Primmie's feet and sobbing while she held and consoled him. Niven also states that Arthur Miller, the author of The Misfits, had described Gable as "the man who did not know how to hate."[162]

Gable has been criticized for altering aspects of a script he felt were in conflict with his image. Screenwriter Larry Gelbart, as quoted in James Garner's biography stated that Gable, "...  refused to go down with the submarine, because Gable doesn't sink." (In reference to Gable's film Run Silent, Run Deep).[163] The novel's author, Capt. Beach, noted changes should be made among the crew to get a Hollywood audience and where a subsequent battle sequence was altered when he should have had script approval, feeling his book was bought by United Artists for its title.[164]

Eli Wallach recalls in his 2006 autobiography The Good, The Bad and Me, that what he felt was one of his best dramatic scenes in The Misfits was cut from the script.[165] Wallach's character is emotionally crushed when he visits Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe), and instead runs into Gable's character and realizes any hope with Roslyn is dashed. Gable asked (within his contractual rights) that the scene be removed, and when Wallach spoke to him, Gable explained he felt that "his character would never steal a woman from a friend."[165]

In popular culture

 
Gable, Cary Grant, Bob Hope and David Niven laughing in the 1950s

Warner Bros. cartoons sometimes caricatured Gable.[166] Examples include: Have You Got Any Castles? (in which his face appears seven times inside the novel "The House of the Seven Gables"), The Coo-Coo Nut Grove (in which his ears flap on their own), Hollywood Steps Out (in which he follows an enigmatic woman),[167] and Cats Don't Dance (in which he appears on a billboard promotion for Gone with the Wind and on the backlot of MGM).[168]

Along with actor Kent Taylor, Clark Gable served as the inspiration behind the name of Superman's alter-ego Clark Kent.[169]

In the film Broadway Melody of 1938, Judy Garland (aged 15) sings "You Made Me Love You" while looking at a composite picture of Gable.[170] The opening lines are: "Dear Mr Gable, I am writing this to you, and I hope that you will read it so you'll know, my heart beats like a hammer, and I stutter and I stammer, every time I see you at the picture show, I guess I'm just another fan of yours, and I thought I'd write and tell you so. You made me love you, I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to do it ..."[171]

Bugs Bunny's nonchalant carrot-chewing standing position, as explained by Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Bob Clampett, originated in a scene in the film It Happened One Night, in which Clark Gable's character leans against a fence, eating carrots rapidly and talking with his mouth full to Claudette Colbert's character. This scene was well known while the film was popular, and viewers at the time likely recognized Bugs Bunny's behavior as parody.[172]

The 1948 show tune “Always True to You in My Fashion” contains the lyrics “Mister Gable, I mean Clark / Wants me on his boat to park".

The 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail contained a reference to impersonating Gable in the song performed by the Knights of the Round Table.

The 2003 music album Give Up by The Postal Service has a song titled "Clark Gable".[173] The singer wants to "find a love that looks and sounds like a movie", and includes the lyric, "I kissed you in a style Clark Gable would have admired, I thought it classic".

Gable has been portrayed in a number of films. Actors who have played the role include: Phillip Waldron in It Happened in Hollywood (1937), James Brolin in Gable and Lombard (1976),[174] Larry Pennell in Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980),[175] Edward Winter in Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980),[176] Boyd Holister in Grace Kelly (1983),[177] Gary Wayne in Malice in Wonderland (1985), Gene Daily in The Rocketeer (1991), Bobby Valentino in RKO 281 (1999), Bruce Hughes and Shayne Greenman in Blonde (2001), and Charles Unwin in Lucy (2003).

Filmography

Main article: Clark Gable filmography

Gable is known to have appeared as an "extra" in 13 films between 1924 and 1930. He then appeared in a total of 67 theatrically released motion pictures, as himself in 17 "short subject" films, and he narrated and appeared in a 1945 World War II propaganda film entitled Combat America, produced by the United States Army Air Forces.[178]

See also

References

Works cited

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Bibliography

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February 19, 2023
clark, gable, william, february, 1901, november, 1960, american, film, actor, often, referred, king, hollywood, roles, more, than, motion, pictures, multiple, genres, during, career, that, lasted, years, three, decades, which, leading, gable, died, heart, atta. William Clark Gable February 1 1901 November 16 1960 was an American film actor often referred to as The King of Hollywood 2 He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years three decades of which was as a leading man Gable died of a heart attack at the age of 59 his final on screen appearance was as an aging cowboy in The Misfits released posthumously in 1961 Clark GableGable in a publicity portrait in 1940BornWilliam Clark Gable 1901 02 01 February 1 1901Cadiz Ohio U S DiedNovember 16 1960 1960 11 16 aged 59 Los Angeles California U S Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale California U S Other namesThe King of HollywoodOccupationActorYears active1918 1960Political partyRepublicanSpousesJosephine Dillon m 1924 div 1930 wbr Maria Langham m 1931 div 1939 wbr Carole Lombard m 1939 died 1942 wbr Sylvia Ashley m 1949 div 1952 wbr Kay Williams m 1955 wbr Children2 including Judy LewisRelativesClark James Gable grandson Military careerAllegiance United StatesService wbr branchUnited States Army Air ForcesUnited States Air ForceYears of service1942 1947 1 RankMajorUnit351st Bomb Group18th AAF Base UnitBattles warsWorld War II European TheaterAwardsDistinguished Flying Cross Air Medal American Campaign Medal European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal World War II Victory MedalSignatureBorn and raised in Ohio Gable traveled to Hollywood where he began his film career as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1926 He progressed to supporting roles for Metro Goldwyn Mayer and his first leading role in Dance Fools Dance 1931 was alongside Joan Crawford who requested him for the part His role in the romantic drama Red Dust 1932 with reigning sex symbol Jean Harlow made him MGM s biggest male star 3 Gable won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Frank Capra s romantic comedy It Happened One Night 1934 co starring Claudette Colbert 4 He was again nominated for the award for his roles as Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty 1935 and as Rhett Butler opposite Vivien Leigh s Scarlett O Hara in Gone with the Wind 1939 He found continued commercial and critical success with Manhattan Melodrama 1934 San Francisco 1936 Saratoga 1937 Test Pilot 1938 and Boom Town 1940 three of which co starred Spencer Tracy Gable spent two years as an aerial cameraman and bomber gunner in Europe during World War II Although the movies he appeared in following his return were not critically lauded they did well at the box office 5 He experienced a critical revival with The Hucksters 1947 Homecoming 1948 and Mogambo 1953 which also featured newcomer Grace Kelly Later he starred in Westerns and War movies such as Run Silent Run Deep 1958 with Burt Lancaster and in comedies and dramas that paired him with a new generation of leading ladies such as Doris Day in Teacher s Pet 1958 Sophia Loren in It Started in Naples 1960 and Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits 1961 Gable was one of the most consistent box office performers in the history of Hollywood appearing on Quigley Publishing s annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll sixteen times He was named the seventh greatest male movie star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute 6 He appeared opposite many of the most popular actresses of their time Joan Crawford was a favorite actress of his to work with 7 and he partnered with her in eight films Myrna Loy worked with him seven times and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six productions He also starred with Lana Turner in four features and in three each with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner Contents 1 Life and career 1 1 1901 1919 Early life 1 2 1920 1923 Early career 1 3 1924 1930 Stage and silent films 1 4 1930 1935 Early success 1 5 1936 1938 Spencer Tracy collaborations 1 6 1939 Gone with the Wind 1 7 Marriage to Carole Lombard 1 8 1939 1942 Continuing career 1 9 1942 1944 World War II 1 10 1945 1953 After World War II 1 11 1954 Leaving MGM 1 12 1955 1957 After MGM 1 13 1958 1960 Paramount 1 14 1961 The Misfits 1 15 Politics 1 16 Illness and death 2 Personal life 2 1 Marriages and children 2 2 Allegations of rape 3 Style and reception 4 In popular culture 5 Filmography 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Works cited 8 Bibliography 9 External linksLife and career Edit1901 1919 Early life Edit Gable s 1901 birthplace in Cadiz Ohio William Clark Gable was born on February 1 1901 in Cadiz Ohio to William Henry Will Gable 1870 1948 an oil well driller 7 8 and his wife Adeline nee Hershelman His father was a Protestant and his mother a Catholic Gable was named William after his father but he was almost always called Clark and referred to as the kid by his father 9 1 Due to the doctor s illegible handwriting he was mistakenly listed as male and female in the county register the clerk later corrected it to male 7 He had Belgian and German ancestry 10 11 12 Gable was six months old when he was baptized at a Roman Catholic church in Dennison Ohio When he was ten months old his mother died 7 His father refused to raise him in the Catholic faith which provoked criticism from the Hershelman family The dispute was resolved when his father agreed to allow him to spend time with his maternal uncle Charles Hershelman and his wife on their farm in Vernon Township Pennsylvania 13 In April 1903 Gable s father married Jennie Dunlap 1874 1920 14 15 Gable s stepmother raised the tall shy child with a loud voice to be well dressed and well groomed She played the piano and gave him lessons at home 16 He later took up brass instruments becoming the only boy in the Hopedale Men s town band at age 13 17 Gable was mechanically inclined and loved to repair cars with his father who insisted that he engage in masculine activities such as hunting and hard physical work Gable also loved literature he would recite Shakespeare among trusted company particularly the sonnets 17 His father had financial difficulties in 1917 and decided to try his hand at farming and moved the family to Palmyra Township near Akron Ohio His father insisted that he work the farm but Gable soon left to work in Akron for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company 18 1920 1923 Early career Edit Gable was inspired to become an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise at age 17 but he was unable to make a start in acting until he turned 21 and received his 300 inheritance from a Hershelman trust 19 15 After his stepmother died in 1920 his father moved to Tulsa Oklahoma going back into the oil business He worked with his father for some time wildcatting and sludge removing in the oil fields of Oklahoma before traveling to the Pacific Northwest 9 15 16 Gable toured in second class stock companies finding work with traveling tent shows lumber mills and other odd jobs He made his way across the Midwest to Portland Oregon where he worked as a necktie salesman in the Meier amp Frank department store 20 Also working there was local stage actor Earle Larimore the nephew of Laura Hope Crews who portrayed Aunt Pittypat alongside Gable in Gone with the Wind who encouraged Gable to return to acting 19 Though Larimore didn t invite him to join his theater group The Red Lantern Players he did introduce Gable to one of its members Franz Dorfler and they started dating 9 18 After the couple s audition for The Astoria Players Gable s lack of training was evident but the theater group accepted him after cajoling from Larimore Gable and Dorfler moved to Astoria Oregon touring with the group until its bankruptcy and then moved back to Portland where Gable obtained a day job with Pacific Telephone and started receiving dramatic lessons in the evening 9 19 21 7 31 40 Gable s acting coach Josephine Dillon was a theater manager in Portland She paid to have his teeth fixed and his hair styled She guided him in building up his chronically undernourished body and taught him better body control and posture He slowly managed to lower his naturally high pitched voice his speech habits improved and his facial expressions became more natural and convincing After a long period of her training Dillon considered Gable ready to attempt a film career 9 24 1924 1930 Stage and silent films Edit In 1928 s Machinal with Zita Johann Gable was lauded as young vigorous and brutally masculine by one critic Gable and Dillon traveled to Hollywood in 1924 Dillon became his manager and also his wife she was 17 years his senior 21 He changed his stage name from W C Gable to Clark Gable 9 29 and appeared as an extra in such silent films as Erich von Stroheim s The Merry Widow 1925 The Plastic Age 1925 starring Clara Bow and Forbidden Paradise 1924 starring Pola Negri He appeared in a series of two reel comedies called The Pacemakers and in Fox s The Johnstown Flood 1926 He also appeared as a bit player in a series of shorts 22 However he was not offered any major film roles so he returned to the stage in What Price Glory 1925 23 He became lifelong friends with Lionel Barrymore who initially scolded Gable for what he deemed amateurish acting but nevertheless urged him to pursue a stage career 9 36 24 During the 1927 28 theater season he acted with the Laskin Brothers Stock Company in Houston Texas while there he played many roles gained considerable experience and became a local matinee idol 25 He then moved to New York City where Dillon sought work for him on Broadway He received good reviews in Machinal 1928 with one critic describing him as young vigorous and brutally masculine 9 49 Gable and Dillon separated filing for divorce in March 1929 while he began working on the play Hawk Island in New York which ran for 24 performances 7 56 57 In April 1930 Gable s divorce became final and a few days later he married Texas socialite Maria Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham nicknamed Ria After moving to California they were married again in 1931 possibly due to differences in state legal requirements 1930 1935 Early success Edit Jean Harlow and Gable in The Secret Six 1931 In 1930 after his impressive appearance as the seething and desperate character Killer Mears in the Los Angeles stage production of The Last Mile Gable was offered a contract with Pathe Pictures His only film for them and first role in a sound picture was as the unshaven villain in their low budget William Boyd Western The Painted Desert 1931 The studio experienced financial problems after the film s delayed release so Gable left for work at Warner Bros 7 58 66 The same year in Night Nurse Gable played a villainous chauffeur who knocked Barbara Stanwyck s character unconscious for trying to save two children whom he was methodically starving to death The supporting role was originally slated for James Cagney until the release of The Public Enemy catapulted him to star status His ears are too big and he looks like an ape said Warner Bros executive Darryl F Zanuck about Gable after testing him for the second male lead in the studio s gangster drama Little Caesar 1931 26 After his failed screen test for Zanuck Gable was signed in 1930 by MGM s Irving Thalberg for 650 per week 7 64 He hired the well connected Minna Wallis a sister of producer Hal Wallis as his agent whose clients included actresses Claudette Colbert Myrna Loy and Norma Shearer 27 Gable s supporting role was almost as important as Wallace Beery s and he received second billing above the title for the aviation film s lobby card Gable s arrival in Hollywood occurred when MGM was looking to expand its stable of male stars and he fit the bill He made two pictures in 1931 with Wallace Beery In the first he had a seventh billed support role in The Secret Six although his role was much larger than the billing would indicate then he achieved second billing in a part almost as large as the film s star Beery in the naval aviation film Hell Divers MGM s publicity manager Howard Strickling started developing Gable s studio image with Screenland magazine playing up his lumberjack in evening clothes persona 28 To increasing popularity MGM frequently paired him with well established female stars Joan Crawford asked for him to appear with her in Dance Fools Dance 1931 The electricity of the pair was recognized by studio executive Louis B Mayer who would not only put them in seven more films but also began reshooting Complete Surrender replacing John Mack Brown as Crawford s leading man and retitling the film Laughing Sinners 1931 29 His fame and public visibility after A Free Soul 1931 in which he played a gangster who shoved the character played by Norma Shearer ensured that Gable never played a supporting role again He received extensive fan mail as a result of his performance the studio took notice 30 The Hollywood Reporter wrote A star in the making has been made one that to our reckoning will outdraw every other star Never have we seen audiences work themselves into such enthusiasm as when Clark Gable walks on the screen 9 80 Gable co starred in Susan Lenox Her Fall and Rise 1931 with Greta Garbo and in Possessed 1931 a film about an illicit romantic affair with Joan Crawford who was then married to Douglas Fairbanks Jr Adela Rogers St Johns later dubbed Gable and Crawford s real life relationship as the affair that nearly burned Hollywood down 9 82 Louis B Mayer threatened to terminate both their contracts and for a while they kept apart when Gable shifted his attentions to Marion Davies as he costarred with her in Polly of the Circus 1932 31 Gable was considered for the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man but lost out to Johnny Weissmuller s more imposing physique and superior swimming prowess 32 Gable then starred as the romantic lead in Strange Interlude 1932 again teaming with Shearer the second of three films they would make together for MGM Gable in his star making turn with Jean Harlow in Red Dust 1932 Gable and Harlow in Hold Your Man 1933 one of the six films they would make Next Gable starred with Jean Harlow in the romantic comedy drama Red Dust 1932 set on a rubber plantation in Indochina Gable portrayed a plantation manager involved with Harlow s wisecracking prostitute however upon her arrival Gable s character started to pursue Mary Astor s prim classy newlywed 33 While some critics thought Harlow stole the show 34 35 many agreed that Gable was a natural screen partner 35 Gable s unshaven love making with braless Jean Harlow in Red Dust made him MGM s most important romantic leading man 36 With Gable established as a star MGM positioned him in the same manner as Harlow for Myrna Loy a previously lesser billed actor in Night Flight moving Loy to a costar role in Men in White a movie filmed in 1933 though delayed in release due to pre Code Legion of Decency cuts until 1934 37 The relationship of a doctor Gable and nurse Elizabeth Allan implied intimacy with a resulting complication of pregnancy a sensitive issue and new image for Gable Gable and Harlow were then teamed in Hold Your Man 1933 China Seas 1935 in which the pair were billed above Wallace Beery and Wife vs Secretary 1936 with Myrna Loy costarring and supported by newcomer James Stewart A popular combination on screen and off Gable and Harlow made six films together in five years Their final film together was Saratoga 1937 a bigger hit than their previous collaborations Harlow died during its production The film was ninety percent completed and the remaining scenes were filmed with long shots or the use of doubles like Mary Dees Gable said he felt as if he were in the arms of a ghost 9 179 In 1934 MGM did not have a project ready for Gable that he was interested in paying him 2 000 a week under his contract to do nothing Studio head Louis B Mayer lent him to Columbia for 2 500 per week making a 500 per week profit 9 Gable was not Capra s first choice to play the lead role of newspaper reporter Peter Warne in the romantic comedy It Happened One Night 1934 opposite Claudette Colbert playing a spoiled heiress but Columbia wanted him and had paid handsomely for it Robert Montgomery was originally offered the role but said he declined feeling the script was poor 38 Filming for the movie in which Gable and Colbert s characters have to travel together from Florida to New York by whatever means available began in a tense atmosphere 9 nevertheless both Gable and director Frank Capra enjoyed making the movie It Happened One Night became the first movie to sweep all five of the major Academy Awards with Gable winning for Best Actor and Colbert for Best Actress Critics praised the fast paced farce that would enter in a whole new romantic genre the screwball comedy 39 The movie opened slowly at the box office but once word of mouth spread it became a big hit with men s underwear sales plummeting because Gable didn t wear an undershirt in the movie 40 41 42 Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night 1934 his Academy Award winning performanceGable s career was revitalized by his whimsical good natured performance 41 and to Capra Gable s character in the film closely resembled his real personality It Happened One Night is the real Gable He was never able to play that kind of character except in that one film They had him playing these big huff and puff he man lovers but he was not that kind of guy He was a down to earth guy he loved everything he got down with the common people He didn t want to play those big lover parts he just wanted to play Clark Gable the way he was in It Happened One Night and it s too bad they didn t let him keep up with that 43 It Happened One Night clinched stardom for Gable 44 making him a bigger star than ever 45 From 1934 until 1942 when World War II interrupted his movie career he was near the top of the box office money makers lists 46 Gable s first movie role back at MGM was to portray reluctant leader of mutineers Fletcher Christian an Englishman in knickers and a three cornered hat one he had to be talked into by friend and producer Irving Thalberg and of which Gable said I stink in it after filming 47 Mutiny on the Bounty 1935 was a critical and commercial success receiving eight Academy Award nominations There were three Best Actor nominations for stars Gable Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone 48 and the film won Best Picture the second of three films in which Gable played a leading role to do so The film cost 2 million and grossed 4 5 million making it one of the top moneymakers that decade 49 It used life size replicas of the Bounty and Pandora and was partly filmed in Catalina and French Polynesia 50 1936 1938 Spencer Tracy collaborations Edit Lobby card for Test Pilot 1938 Gable made three pictures with Spencer Tracy which boosted Tracy s career and permanently cemented them in the public mind as a team San Francisco 1936 with Jeannette MacDonald featured Tracy for only 17 minutes in an Oscar nominated portrayal of a Catholic priest who knocks Gable down in a boxing ring 51 52 The film was a box office hit and remains the third highest grossing film of Gable s career Their next film together was the Academy Award nominated box office success Test Pilot 1938 with Myrna Loy who made seven pictures with Gable He plays Jim Lane the test pilot of the title Tracy is his sidekick mechanic Gunner Morse 53 For their final film 1940 s Boom Town Tracy would play a larger role with billing directly under Gable and above Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr The picture a lavish epic about two oil wildcatters who become partners then rivals was a box office success earning 5 million 54 Gable and Tracy were off screen friends Tracy was one of the few Hollywood industry luminaries who attended Lombard s private funeral 55 After Boom Town no more Gable Tracy partnerships were possible Tracy s success led to a new contract and both stars had conflicting stipulations requiring top billing in MGM movie credits and on promotional posters 56 1939 Gone with the Wind Edit Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind 1939 Gable as Rhett Butler Gable and Vivien Leigh strike an amorous pose in Gone with the Wind 1939 Despite his reluctance to play the role Gable is best known for his Oscar nominated performance in the Academy Award winning best picture Gone with the Wind 1939 Carole Lombard may have been the first to suggest that he play Rhett Butler and she play Scarlett when she bought him a copy of the best seller which he refused to read 9 164 Butler s last line in Gone with the Wind Frankly my dear I don t give a damn is one of the most famous lines in movie history 57 Gable was an almost immediate favorite for the role of Rhett with both the public and producer David O Selznick Since Selznick had no male stars under long term contract he needed to negotiate with another studio to borrow an actor Gary Cooper was Selznick s first choice 58 When Cooper turned down the role of Butler he was quoted as saying Gone With the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history I m glad it ll be Clark Gable who s falling flat on his nose not me 59 By then Selznick had become determined to hire Gable and set about finding a way to borrow him from MGM Gable was wary of potentially disappointing an audience that had decided that no one else could play the part He later conceded I think I know now how a fly must react after being caught in a spider s web 9 189 By all accounts Gable got along well with co stars 60 and was great friends with actress Hattie McDaniel he even slipped her a real alcoholic drink during the scene in which they were celebrating the birth of Scarlett and Rhett s daughter 61 According to Lennie Bluett an extra in the film Gable almost walked off the set when he discovered the studio facilities were segregated and signage posted White and Colored 62 Gable phoned the film s director Victor Fleming and told him If you don t get those signs down you won t get your Rhett Butler The signs were then taken down 63 Gable tried to boycott the Gone with the Wind premiere in segregated Atlanta because African American McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen were not permitted to attend He reportedly only went after McDaniel pleaded with him to go 64 They appeared in several more films remaining life long friends and he always attended her Hollywood parties 65 Gable did not want to shed tears for the scene after Rhett inadvertently causes Scarlett to miscarry their second child 66 Olivia de Havilland made him cry later commenting Oh he would not do it He would not Victor Fleming tried everything with him He tried to attack him on a professional level We had done it without him weeping several times and then we had one last try I said You can do it I know you can do it and you will be wonderful Well by heaven just before the cameras rolled you could see the tears come up at his eyes and he played the scene unforgettably well He put his whole heart into it 67 The role was one of Gable s most layered performances and partially based on the personality of director and friend Fleming 68 Years later Gable said that whenever his career would start to fade a re release of Gone with the Wind would soon revive his popularity and he continued as a top leading actor for the rest of his life One reissue publicized Clark Gable never tires of holding Vivien Leigh 69 Marriage to Carole Lombard Edit Gable with his third wife Carole Lombard after their 1939 honeymoon Gable s relationship and marriage in 1939 to his third wife actress Carole Lombard 1908 1942 was one of the happiest periods of his personal life 7 189 201 They met while filming 1932 s No Man of Her Own when Lombard was still married to actor William Powell A Gable and Lombard romance did not take off until 1936 70 after becoming reacquainted at a party They were soon inseparable with fan magazines and tabloids citing them as an official couple Gable thrived being around Lombard s youthful charming and frank personality once stating You can trust that little screwball with your life or your hopes or your weaknesses and she wouldn t even know how to think about letting you down 9 182 Ma and Pa as they affectionately called each other at their Encino California ranch Gable was still legally married having prolonged an expensive divorce from his second wife Ria Langham until his salary from Gone with the Wind enabled him to reach a divorce settlement with her on March 7 1939 On March 29 during a production break on Gone with the Wind Gable and Lombard were married in Kingman Arizona 9 200 201 and honeymooned in room 1201 of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel 71 They purchased a ranch previously owned by director Raoul Walsh in Encino California for 50 000 making it their home 72 The couple who lovingly referred to each other as Ma and Pa 73 owned a menagerie of animals and raised chickens and horses there With the bombing of Pearl Harbor many Hollywood stars joined the war effort some such as James Stewart signing up for active duty Carole Lombard sent a telegram to President Roosevelt on behalf of Gable expressing his interest in doing so but F D R thought the 41 year old actor could best serve by increased patriotic roles in movies and bond drives which Lombard tirelessly began 74 On January 16 1942 Lombard was a passenger on Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 3 with her mother and press agent Otto Winkler She had just finished her 57th movie To Be or Not to Be and was on her way home from a successful war bond selling tour when the flight s DC 3 airliner crashed into Potosi Mountain near Las Vegas Nevada killing all 22 passengers aboard including 15 servicemen en route to training in California Gable flew to the crash site to claim the bodies of his wife mother in law and Winkler who had been the best man at Gable and Lombard s wedding Lombard was declared to be the first war related American female casualty of World War II and Gable received a personal note of condolence from President Roosevelt The Civil Aeronautics Board investigation into the crash concluded that pilot error was its cause 9 250 251 Gable returned to their Encino ranch and carried out her funeral wishes as she had requested in her will A month later he returned to the studio to work with Lana Turner in their second movie together Somewhere I ll Find You Having lost 20 pounds since the tragedy Gable evidently was emotionally and physically devastated but Turner stated that Gable remained a consummate professional for the duration of filming 75 He acted in 27 more films and remarried twice more But he was never the same according to Esther Williams He had been devastated by Carole s death 76 1939 1942 Continuing career Edit Between his marriage to Lombard and her death Gable again costarred with Norma Shearer in the World War II romantic intrigue film Idiot s Delight 1939 He plays a nightclub singer that doesn t recognize former love Shearer while Nazis are closing in on guests at a hotel on the brink of war The film is memorable for Gable s song and dance routine Puttin on the Ritz and an alternative ending 77 Gable and Crawford in Strange Cargo 1940 Gable also starred in Strange Cargo 1940 a romantic drama with Joan Crawford costarring Peter Lorre and Ian Hunter 33 78 The film s focus is on Gable and French Devil s Islands convicts in an escape from the penal colony who on the way pick up a local entertainer Crawford whom Gable had met earlier in the movie 79 In their eighth and last film together Gable and Crawford again demonstrated their on screen magic and the film was among the top ten grossing films for the year 79 Gable then made his first film with 20 year old Lana Turner a newcomer whom MGM saw as a successor for both Crawford and the now deceased Jean Harlow 80 Honky Tonk 1941 is a western where Gable s con man gambler character romances Turner a prim young judge s daughter 81 80 Gable had been reluctant to act opposite the younger Turner in the required romantic scenes But their chemistry served them well in this and three later films with Honky Tonk finishing third at the box office that year 82 Since the couple had been popular with the public Gable and Turner were quickly paired again in Somewhere I ll Find You 1941 as war correspondents who travel to the Pacific theatre and get caught up in a Japanese attack 83 The movie was another hit finishing No 8 at the box office for 1942 84 Film historian David Thomson wrote the quality of his movies after Gone With the Wind hardly befitted a national idol and began a career decline for Gable 85 5 1942 1944 World War II Edit For details of Gable s combat missions see RAF Polebrook Hollywood at Polebrook Gable with an 8th Air Force Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress in England 1943 On August 12 1942 following Lombard s death and completion of the film Somewhere I ll Find You Gable joined the United States Army under the Army Air Forces 86 Lombard had suggested that Gable enlist as part of the war effort but MGM was reluctant to let him go Commanding General of the U S Army Air Forces Henry H Hap Arnold offered Gable a special assignment with the First Motion Picture Unit following basic training 87 The Washington Evening Star reported that Gable took a physical examination at Bolling Field on June 19 preliminary to joining the service Mr Gable it was learned from a source outside the war department conferred with Lieutenant General H H Arnold head of the air forces yesterday The Star continued It was understood that Mr Gable if he is commissioned will make movies for the air forces Lieutenant Jimmy Stewart another actor in uniform has been doing this 88 Gable had expressed an earlier interest in officer candidate school with the intention of becoming an aerial gunner upon enlisting in bomber training school MGM arranged for his studio friend the cinematographer Andrew McIntyre to enlist with him and accompany him through training 89 On August 17 1942 shortly after his enlistment he and McIntyre were sent to Miami Beach Florida where they entered USAAF OCS Class 42 E Both completed training on October 28 1942 and were commissioned as second lieutenants His class of about 2 600 students of which he ranked about 700th selected Gable as its graduation speaker General Arnold presented the cadets with their commissions Arnold then informed Gable of his special assignment to make a recruiting film in combat with the Eighth Air Force to recruit aerial gunners Gable and McIntyre were immediately sent to Flexible Gunnery School at Tyndall Field Florida 90 followed by a photography course at Fort George Wright Washington State and promoted to first lieutenants upon its completion 89 James Stewart and Gable 1943 On January 27 1943 Gable reported to Biggs Army Airfield Texas to train with and accompany the 351st Bomb Group to England as head of a six man motion picture unit In addition to McIntyre he recruited the screenwriter John Lee Mahin camera operators Sgts Mario Toti and Robert Boles and the sound man Lt Howard Voss to complete his crew Gable was promoted to captain while he was with the 351st Bomb Group at Pueblo Army Air Base Colorado a rank commensurate with his position as a unit commander Prior to this he and McIntyre were both first lieutenants 89 Gable spent most of 1943 in England at RAF Polebrook with the 351st Bomb Group Gable flew five combat missions including one to Germany as an observer gunner in B 17 Flying Fortresses between May 4 and September 23 1943 earning the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts 91 During one of the missions Gable s aircraft was damaged by flak and attacked by fighters which knocked out one of the engines and shot up the stabilizer In the raid on Germany one crewman was killed and two others were wounded and flak went through Gable s boot and narrowly missed his head When word of this reached MGM studio executives began to badger the Army Air Forces to reassign its most valuable screen actor to noncombat duty In November 1943 Gable returned to the United States to edit his film on an old Warner s lot donated to the war effort assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit Motion Picture Unit at Culver City California where other stars contributed with any film equipment they had as well 92 In June 1944 Gable was promoted to major While he hoped for another combat assignment he had been placed on inactive duty and on June 12 1944 his discharge papers were signed by Captain later U S president Ronald Reagan 93 Gable completed editing of the film Combat America in September 1944 giving the narration himself and making use of numerous interviews with enlisted gunners as focus of the film 89 Because his motion picture production schedule made it impossible for him to fulfill reserve officer duties he resigned his commission on September 26 1947 a week after the Air Force became an independent service branch 1 Adolf Hitler favored Gable above all other actors During World War II Hitler offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and bring Gable to him unscathed 9 268 Gable was awarded military honors for service the Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal American Campaign Medal European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal He was a qualified aerial gunner having received his wings upon completion of flexible gunnery school at Tyndall field 94 He made good use of his wartime experiences in the movie Command Decision 1948 playing a World War II brigadier general who supervised bombing raids over Germany Variety said His is a believable delivery interpreting the brigadier general who must send his men out to almost certain death with an understanding that bespeaks his sympathy with the soldier 95 1945 1953 After World War II Edit Immediately after his discharge from the service Gable returned to his ranch and rested Personally he resumed a pre war relationship with Virginia Grey 96 a co star from Test Pilot and Idiot s Delight that newspapers reported might be the next Mrs Gable 97 Professionally Gable s first movie after World War II was Adventure 1945 with Greer Garson by then the leading female star at MGM Given the famous teaser tagline Gable s back and Garson s got him the film was a commercial hit earning over 6 million but a critical failure 98 Gable was acclaimed for his performance in The Hucksters 1947 a satire of post war Madison Avenue corruption and immorality which co starred Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner The film was popular with audiences placing 11th at the box office 99 but both Variety and The New York Times reviewed it as a sanitized version of the novel with script issues that was heavy on Gable screentime who struggled in the role 100 101 Turner and Gable in Homecoming 1948 Gable followed this up with Homecoming 1948 where he played a married doctor enlisting in World War II and meeting Lana Turner s army surgical nurse character with a romance unfolding in flashbacks 102 After that he made the war film Command Decision 1948 a psychological drama with Walter Pidgeon Van Johnson Brian Donlevy and John Hodiak It was a hit with audiences but it lost MGM money due to the high cost of the all star cast 98 102 A very public and brief romance with Paulette Goddard occurred after that 103 In 1949 Gable married Sylvia Ashley a British model and actress previously married to Douglas Fairbanks Sr 104 The relationship was profoundly unsuccessful they divorced in 1952 105 Gable did a series of films with female co stars Any Number Can Play 1950 with Alexis Smith Key to the City 1950 with Loretta Young and To Please a Lady 1950 with Barbara Stanwyck They were reasonably popular but he had more success with two Westerns Across the Wide Missouri 1951 and Lone Star 1952 106 He then made Never Let Me Go 1953 opposite Gene Tierney Tierney was a favorite of Gable s and he was very disappointed when her mental health problems caused her to be replaced in Mogambo by Grace Kelly 107 Gable and Grace Kelly in Mogambo 1953 Mogambo 1953 directed by John Ford was a somewhat sanitized and more action oriented remake of Gable s hit pre Code film Red Dust with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor Ava Gardner in her third and final pairing with Gable was well received in Harlow s leading lady role as was Kelly in Astor s role with both receiving Academy Award nominations Gardner for Lead Actress and Kelly for Supporting Actress 108 While on location in Africa reports of an affair between Gable and Kelly began to surface the result of private dinners the stars were having but their relationship was an intense friendship according to costar Gardner 109 with Kelly herself later commenting on the lack of any sexual aspect maybe because of the age difference 110 111 The publicity only helped ticket sales as the film finished No 7 at the box office grossing 8 2 million for the year easily his most popular hit since he returned to MGM after the war 112 113 1954 Leaving MGM Edit Lionel Barrymore s 61st birthday in 1939 standing Mickey Rooney Robert Montgomery Clark Gable Louis B Mayer William Powell Robert Taylor seated Norma Shearer Lionel Barrymore and Rosalind Russell Despite the positive critical and public response to Mogambo Gable became increasingly unhappy with what he considered mediocre roles offered by MGM while the studio regarded his salary as excessive Studio head Louis B Mayer was fired in 1951 amid slumping revenue and increased Hollywood production costs due in large part to the rising popularity of television 3 The new studio head former production chief Dore Schary struggled to maintain profits for the studio Many long time MGM stars were fired or their contracts were not renewed including Greer Garson and Judy Garland 114 115 Gable refused to renew his contract 116 His last film at MGM was Betrayed 1954 an espionage wartime drama with Turner and Victor Mature Critic Paul Mavis wrote Gable and Turner just don t click the way they should here poor plots and lines never stopped these two pros from turning in good performances in other films 117 In March 1954 Gable left MGM 118 1955 1957 After MGM Edit His next two films were made for 20th Century Fox Soldier of Fortune an adventure story in Hong Kong with Susan Hayward and The Tall Men 1955 a Western with Jane Russell and Robert Ryan Both were profitable although only modest successes earning Gable his first profit sharing royalties 119 In 1955 Gable would be 10th at the box office the last time he was in the top ten 120 That same year Gable married fifth wife Kay Spreckels nee Kathleen Williams A former fashion model and actress she had previously been married three times first to Charles Capps 1937 39 then to Argentinian cattle tycoon Martin de Alzaga 1942 43 and to sugar refining heir Adolph B Spreckels Jr 1945 52 Gable became stepfather to her son Bunker Spreckels who went on to live a notorious celebrity lifestyle in the late 1960s and early 1970s surfing scene ultimately leading to his early death in 1977 121 Gable and Yvonne De Carlo in Band of Angels 1957 Gable also formed Russ Field Gabco in 1955 a production company with Jane Russell and her husband Bob Waterfield and they produced The King and Four Queens 1956 a film Gable thought would also star Russell to capitalize on The Tall Men s moderate success That role instead went to Jo Van Fleet 122 It was Gable s only time as producer 123 He found producing and acting to be too much work and this Raoul Walsh western was the only film made 119 After turning down the lead role in Universal International s Away All Boats 124 his next project was the Warner Bros production Band of Angels 1957 co starring Yvonne De Carlo and featuring relative newcomer Sidney Poitier it was not well received despite Gable s role s similarities to Rhett Butler Newsweek said Here is a movie so bad that it must be seen to be disbelieved 9 351 1958 1960 Paramount Edit Next he paired with Doris Day in Teacher s Pet 1958 shot in black and white at Paramount He did Run Silent Run Deep also 1958 with co star and producer Burt Lancaster which featured his first on screen death since 1937 and which garnered good reviews Gable started to receive television offers but rejected them outright At 57 Gable finally acknowledged Now it s time I acted my age 9 361 His contracts began including a clause that his filming and work days ended at 5 p m 125 His next two films were light comedies for Paramount But Not for Me 1959 with Carroll Baker and It Started in Naples 1960 with Sophia Loren Naples was written and directed by Melville Shavelson and it mainly showed the beauty of Loren and the Italian island Capri 126 It was a box office success and was nominated for an Academy Award for art direction 127 and two Golden Globes one for picture and Loren for actress in a leading role 128 Filmed mostly on location in Italy it was Gable s last film released in color While there Gable s weight had increased to 230 pounds something he credited to pasta and he started on a crash diet to achieve a goal weight of 195 along with briefly quitting drinking and smoking to pass a required physical for his next movie 129 On February 8 1960 Gable received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in motion pictures located at 1608 Vine Street 130 131 1961 The Misfits Edit Marilyn Monroe and Gable with Eli Wallach and Montgomery Clift in the background in The Misfits 1961 Gable s last film was The Misfits 1961 with a script by Arthur Miller and directed by John Huston Co starring with Gable were Marilyn Monroe in her last completed film Montgomery Clift Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter Many critics regard Gable s performance to be his finest and Gable after seeing the rough cuts agreed 132 although the film did not receive any Oscar nominations Miller wrote the screenplay for his wife Monroe it was about two aging cowboys and a pilot that go mustanging in Reno Nevada who all fall for a blonde In 1961 it was a somewhat disconnected film with its antihero western themes but it has since become a classic 133 Portraitist Al Hirschfeld created a drawing and then a lithograph portraying the film s stars Clift Monroe and Gable with screenwriter Miller in what is suggested as a typical on the set scene during the troubled production 134 In a 2002 documentary Eli Wallach recalled the mustang wrangling scenes Gable insisted on performing himself You have to pass a physical to film that and He was a professional going home at 5 p m to a pregnant wife 135 The New York Times found Mr Gable s performance as a leathery old cowboy with a realistic slant on most plain things ironically vital with his death before the film s release 136 Politics Edit Gable was a conservative Republican though he never publicly spoke about politics His third wife Carole Lombard was an activist liberal Democrat 137 and she convinced him to support Democratic president Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal In 1944 he became an early member of the conservative Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals an anti communist organization alongside Ronald Reagan John Wayne Gary Cooper and other conservative actors and film makers In February 1952 he attended a televised rally in New York where he enthusiastically urged General Dwight D Eisenhower to run for president when Eisenhower was still being sought by both parties as their candidate Despite suffering a severe coronary thrombosis Gable voted by mail for Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election 138 Illness and death Edit Gable s crypt in the Sanctuary of Trust of the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Glendale On November 6 1960 Gable was sent to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles where doctors found that he had suffered a heart attack Newspaper reports the following day listed his condition as satisfactory 139 By the morning of November 16 he seemed to be improving 140 but he died that evening at the age of 59 from a second heart attack caused by an infection Medical staff did not perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation for fear that the procedure would rupture Gable s heart and a defibrillator was not available 141 Gable is interred in the Great Mausoleum Memorial Terrace at Glendale s Forest Lawn Memorial Park next to Carole Lombard and her mother 142 An honor guard and pallbearers Spencer Tracy and James Stewart were in attendance Twenty two years later Kay Gable died and was interred there as well 142 Personal life EditIn 1933 Gable was initiated into Freemasonry at the Beverly Hills Lodge No 528 CA 143 144 Marriages and children Edit 1957 Confidential Magazine with article about Gable s first wife Josephine Dillon Gable habitually married He was engaged to actress Franz Dorfler when he lived in Astoria Oregon She referred him to the woman who would become his acting coach and manager Josephine Dillon Gable and Dillon married in 1924 and divorced in 1930 145 Gable would say he owed her a debt of gratitude for the training he received from Dillon in the early years of his career 146 His second wife was Texas socialite Maria Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham nicknamed Ria The couple divorced on March 7 1939 145 Only 13 days later during a production break on Gone with the Wind Gable married comedic actress Carole Lombard 9 200 201 who died in a plane crash less than three years later With fourth wife Sylvia Ashley In 1949 Gable married Sylvia Ashley a British model and actress who was the widow of Douglas Fairbanks the couple divorced in 1952 145 In 1955 Gable married Kay Spreckels nee Kathleen Williams 145 a thrice married former fashion model and actress who had previously been married to sugar refining heir Adolph B Spreckels Jr and became stepfather to her two children On March 20 1961 Kay Gable gave birth to Gable s only son John Clark Gable at the same hospital in which her husband had died four months earlier 147 John Clark raced cars and trucks most notably in the Baja 500 and 1000 148 turning down Hollywood offers to act until Bad Jim 1990 a straight to video film By 1999 his work with The Clark Gable Foundation helped restore the house in which his father was born and open it as a museum in Cadiz Ohio 9 380 383 He had two children Kayley Gable born 1986 and Clark James Gable 1988 2019 Kayley is an actress while Clark James was the host of two seasons of the nationally syndicated reality show Cheaters 149 Clark James died at age 30 on February 22 2019 150 During the filming of The Call of the Wild in early 1935 the film s lead actress Loretta Young became pregnant with Gable s child Their daughter Judy Lewis was born on November 6 1935 in Venice California 151 152 Young hid her pregnancy in an elaborate scheme Nineteen months after the birth she claimed to have adopted the baby 151 Most in Hollywood and some in the general public believed Gable was Lewis s father because of their strong resemblance and the timing of her birth 153 Allegations of rape Edit In 1935 Clark Gable allegedly date raped co star Loretta Young while on an overnight train from a studio location to Hollywood 154 Five years after Gable s death when confronted by Lewis Loretta Young said that she was Lewis s biological mother and that Gable was her father by an affair 155 Young died on August 12 2000 156 her autobiography published posthumously confirmed that Gable was indeed Lewis s father 151 Judy Lewis died of cancer at age 76 on November 25 2011 157 In 2015 Young s daughter in law alleged that Young had said in 1998 that Judy Lewis was conceived by date rape Young had previously admitted to an affair with Gable which was a known secret in Hollywood at the time Young s family had chosen to remain silent about the information until both Young and Lewis were deceased they went public with the information four years after Lewis s death 158 Style and reception EditIn a photo essay of Hollywood film stars Life magazine called Gable All man and then some 159 Doris Day summed up Gable s unique personality He was as masculine as any man I ve ever known and as much a little boy as a grown man could be it was this combination that had such a devastating effect on women 9 352 An eight time co star long time friend and on again off again romance Joan Crawford concurred stating on David Frost s TV show in January 1970 that He was a king wherever he went He earned the title He walked like one he behaved like one and he was the most masculine man that I have ever met in my life Gable had balls 160 Gable in 1938 Robert Taylor said Gable was a great great guy and certainly one of the great stars of all times if not the greatest I think that I sincerely doubt that there will ever be another like Clark Gable he was one of a kind 161 In his memoir Bring on the Empty Horses 162 David Niven states that Gable a close friend was extremely supportive after the sudden accidental death of Niven s first wife Primula Primmie in 1946 Primmie had supported Gable emotionally after Carole Lombard s death four years earlier Niven recounts Gable kneeling at Primmie s feet and sobbing while she held and consoled him Niven also states that Arthur Miller the author of The Misfits had described Gable as the man who did not know how to hate 162 Gable has been criticized for altering aspects of a script he felt were in conflict with his image Screenwriter Larry Gelbart as quoted in James Garner s biography stated that Gable refused to go down with the submarine because Gable doesn t sink In reference to Gable s film Run Silent Run Deep 163 The novel s author Capt Beach noted changes should be made among the crew to get a Hollywood audience and where a subsequent battle sequence was altered when he should have had script approval feeling his book was bought by United Artists for its title 164 Eli Wallach recalls in his 2006 autobiography The Good The Bad and Me that what he felt was one of his best dramatic scenes in The Misfits was cut from the script 165 Wallach s character is emotionally crushed when he visits Roslyn Marilyn Monroe and instead runs into Gable s character and realizes any hope with Roslyn is dashed Gable asked within his contractual rights that the scene be removed and when Wallach spoke to him Gable explained he felt that his character would never steal a woman from a friend 165 In popular culture Edit Gable Cary Grant Bob Hope and David Niven laughing in the 1950s Warner Bros cartoons sometimes caricatured Gable 166 Examples include Have You Got Any Castles in which his face appears seven times inside the novel The House of the Seven Gables The Coo Coo Nut Grove in which his ears flap on their own Hollywood Steps Out in which he follows an enigmatic woman 167 and Cats Don t Dance in which he appears on a billboard promotion for Gone with the Wind and on the backlot of MGM 168 Along with actor Kent Taylor Clark Gable served as the inspiration behind the name of Superman s alter ego Clark Kent 169 In the film Broadway Melody of 1938 Judy Garland aged 15 sings You Made Me Love You while looking at a composite picture of Gable 170 The opening lines are Dear Mr Gable I am writing this to you and I hope that you will read it so you ll know my heart beats like a hammer and I stutter and I stammer every time I see you at the picture show I guess I m just another fan of yours and I thought I d write and tell you so You made me love you I didn t want to do it I didn t want to do it 171 Bugs Bunny s nonchalant carrot chewing standing position as explained by Chuck Jones Friz Freleng and Bob Clampett originated in a scene in the film It Happened One Night in which Clark Gable s character leans against a fence eating carrots rapidly and talking with his mouth full to Claudette Colbert s character This scene was well known while the film was popular and viewers at the time likely recognized Bugs Bunny s behavior as parody 172 The 1948 show tune Always True to You in My Fashion contains the lyrics Mister Gable I mean Clark Wants me on his boat to park The 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail contained a reference to impersonating Gable in the song performed by the Knights of the Round Table The 2003 music album Give Up by The Postal Service has a song titled Clark Gable 173 The singer wants to find a love that looks and sounds like a movie and includes the lyric I kissed you in a style Clark Gable would have admired I thought it classic Gable has been portrayed in a number of films Actors who have played the role include Phillip Waldron in It Happened in Hollywood 1937 James Brolin in Gable and Lombard 1976 174 Larry Pennell in Marilyn The Untold Story 1980 175 Edward Winter in Moviola The Scarlett O Hara War 1980 176 Boyd Holister in Grace Kelly 1983 177 Gary Wayne in Malice in Wonderland 1985 Gene Daily in The Rocketeer 1991 Bobby Valentino in RKO 281 1999 Bruce Hughes and Shayne Greenman in Blonde 2001 and Charles Unwin in Lucy 2003 Filmography EditMain article Clark Gable filmography Gable is known to have appeared as an extra in 13 films between 1924 and 1930 He then appeared in a total of 67 theatrically released motion pictures as himself in 17 short subject films and he narrated and appeared in a 1945 World War II propaganda film entitled Combat America produced by the United States Army Air Forces 178 See also EditList of actors with Academy Award nominations List of members of the American LegionReferences EditWorks cited Edit a b Maj Clark Gable National Museum of the United States Air Force Retrieved October 5 2019 Clark Gable King of Hollywood The Huffington Post Retrieved April 22 2014 a b Balio Tino March 14 2018 MGM Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 42967 8 AFI s 100 YEARS 100 STARS PDF Archived PDF from the original on October 9 2022 a b Thomson David 2010 The New Biographical Dictionary of Film Alfred A Knopf ISBN 978 0 307 27174 7 America s Greatest Legends PDF American Film Institute Archived PDF from the original on October 9 2022 Retrieved July 29 2009 a b c d e f g h i Spicer Chrystopher 2002 Clark Gable Biography Filmography Bibliography Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company ISBN 978 0 7864 1124 5 Van Neste Dan 1999 Clark Gable Reconstructed Birthhome Fit For A King Classic Images Archived from the original on January 5 2005 Retrieved April 3 2008 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Harris Warren G 2002 Clark Gable A Biography New York Harmony Books ISBN 978 0 609 60495 3 Spicer Chrystopher J January 15 2002 Clark Gable Biography Filmography Bibliography McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 1124 5 Justus George Frederick 1935 Pennsylvania Dutch and their cookery their history art accomplishments Retrieved August 31 2012 via Google Books 1933 Clark Reaches His Goal Dear Mr Gable Retrieved August 31 2012 Philip C DiMare June 30 2011 Movies in American History An Encyclopedia Volume 1 p 661 ISBN 978 1 59884 296 8 Retrieved June 2 2017 Clark Gable on Biography com Accessed August 5 2016 a b Harris Warren G September 1 2010 Clark Gable A Biography Crown ISBN 978 0 307 55517 5 Todd E Creason 2009 Famous American Freemasons Volume 2 p 92 ISBN 978 0 557 07088 6 Retrieved June 2 2017 a b Spicer Chrystopher J January 15 2002 Clark Gable Biography Filmography Bibliography McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 1124 5 Jordan Elisa October 22 2018 Rockhaven Sanitarium The Legacy of Agnes Richards Arcadia Publishing ISBN 978 1 4396 6558 9 a b Chrystopher J Spicer October 14 2011 Clark Gable in Pictures Candid Images of the Actor s Life ISBN 978 0 7864 8714 1 Retrieved June 2 2017 Jeff Dwyer January 19 2016 Ghost Hunter s Guide to Portland and the Oregon Coast ISBN 978 1 4556 2117 0 Retrieved June 2 2017 Brett L Abrams November 21 2014 Hollywood Bohemians Transgressive Sexuality and the Selling of the Movieland Dream ISBN 978 0 7864 8247 4 Retrieved June 2 2017 Anthony Slide September 5 2012 Hollywood Unknowns A History of Extras Bit Players and Stand Ins ISBN 978 1 61703 475 6 Retrieved June 2 2017 Spicer Chrystopher J October 14 2011 Clark Gable in Pictures Candid Images of the Actor s Life McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 8714 1 Clark Gable North American Theatre Online Legendary Actor s Old Montrose Home Completely Demolished Another Historic Bungalow is Gone with the Wind Making Way for Townhomes PaperCity Magazine August 1 2018 Retrieved October 11 2019 Turner Classic Movies 2006 Leading Men The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era Chronicle Books ISBN 0 8118 5467 1 Leider Emily W 2011 Myrna Loy The Only Good Girl in Hollywood 1 ed University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 25320 9 JSTOR 10 1525 j ctt1ppqr5 Harris Warren G September 1 2010 Clark Gable A Biography Crown Archetype p 80 ISBN 978 0 307 55517 5 Thomas Bob 1978 Joan Crawford A Biography New York Simon and Schuster pp 79 80 ISBN 978 1 5011 9435 1 Harris Warren G September 1 2010 Clark Gable A Biography Crown Archetype p 68 ISBN 978 0 307 55517 5 James Egan 2016 3000 Facts about Actors ISBN 978 1 326 70113 0 Retrieved June 2 2017 Harris Warren G September 1 2010 Clark Gable A Biography Crown Archetype p 82 ISBN 978 0 307 55517 5 a b Shipman David 1979 The Great Movie Stars The Golden Years Da Capo Publishing New York p 134 Tookey Christopher 1994 The Film Critics Film Guide Boxtree Limited London p 700 a b Thomson David 1994 A Biographical Dictionary of Film Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd London p 317 Wagman Geller Marlene January 25 2011 And the Rest Is History The Famous and Infamous First Meetings of the World s Most Passionate Couples Penguin ISBN 978 1 101 47553 9 Leider Emily W October 3 2011 Myrna Loy The Only Good Girl in Hollywood University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 94963 8 Kotsabilas Davis James Myrna Loy 1998 Myrna Loy Being and Becoming Primus Donald amp Fine Inc p 94 ISBN 1 55611 101 0 Kinn Earl and Piazza Jim 2002 The Academy Awards The Complete History of Oscar Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers New York p 32 Kinn Earl and Piazza Jim 2002 The Academy Awards The Complete History of Oscar Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers New York pp 32 33 a b Shipman David 1979 The Great Movie Stars The Golden Years Da Capo Publishing New York p 223 Clark Gable undershirt Fitchburg Sentinel August 1 1934 p 4 Retrieved August 11 2020 Griffin Merv 1982 From Where I Sit Arbor House p 141 Fox Ken Ed Grant Jo Imeson Andrew Joseph and Maitland McDonugh 1999 The Movie Guide Berkley Publishing Group New York p 323 Gable s Oscar recently drew a top bid of 607 500 from Steven Spielberg who promptly donated the statuette to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Colbert s Oscar for the same film was offered for auction by Christie s on June 9 1997 but no bids were made for it Shipman David 1979 The Great Movie Stars The Golden Years New York Da Capo p 223 ISBN 978 0 316 78487 0 Martin Pete August 14 2017 Leading Men of Hollywood Clark Gable The Saturday Evening Post Retrieved May 20 2019 8th Academy Awards 1935 Nominees and Winners Cinema Sight by Wesley Lovell February 6 2014 Retrieved May 19 2019 Balio Tino March 14 2018 MGM Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 42967 8 Hanson Patricia King 1993 The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States Feature Films 1931 1940 University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 07908 3 Nugent Frank S June 27 1936 San Francisco at the Capitol Is a Stirring Film of the Barbary Coast Other New Pictures The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved May 20 2019 Leslie Roger June 26 2017 Oscar s Favorite Actors The Winningest Stars and More Who Should Be McFarland ISBN 978 1 4766 6956 4 Test Pilot Variety January 1 1938 Retrieved November 17 2019 Balio Tino March 14 2018 MGM Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 42967 8 Edwards Anne April 8 2000 Katharine Hepburn A Remarkable Woman Macmillan ISBN 978 0 312 20656 7 Shipman David New York 1979 The Great Movie Stars The Golden Years Da Capo Publishing pg 224 Although legend persists that the Hays Office fined Selznick 5 000 for using the word damn In fact the Motion Picture Association board passed an amendment to the Production Code on November 1 1939 that forbade use of the words hell or damn except when their use shall be essential and required for portrayal in proper historical context of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or folklore or a quotation from a literary work provided that no such use shall be permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste With that amendment the Production Code Administration had no further objection to Rhett s closing line Leonard J Leff and Jerold L Simmons The Dame in the Kimono Hollywood Censorship and the Production Code pp 107 108 ISBN 978 0813190112 Selznick David O 2000 Memo from David O Selznick New York Modern Library pp 172 173 ISBN 0 375 75531 4 Donnelley Paul 2003 Fade To Black A Book Of Movie Obituaries London Omnibus Press ISBN 0 7119 9512 5 Stallings Penny Mandelbaum Howard 1981 Flesh and Fantasy New York Bell Publishing Co ISBN 0 517 33968 4 Bartel Pauline June 9 2014 The Complete Gone With the Wind Trivia Book The Movie and More Taylor Trade Publishing ISBN 978 1 58979 821 2 Gavin James June 23 2009 Stormy Weather The Life of Lena Horne Simon and Schuster p 100 ISBN 978 1 4391 6425 9 clark gable gone with the wind Malone Alicia August 15 2017 Backwards and in Heels The Past Present And Future Of Women Working In Film Mango Media Inc ISBN 978 1 63353 618 0 Oscar s First Black Winner Accepted Her Honor in a Segregated No Blacks Hotel in L A The Hollywood Reporter February 19 2015 Retrieved December 21 2019 Philip C DiMare June 17 2011 Movies in American History An Encyclopedia ISBN 978 1 59884 297 5 Retrieved June 2 2017 Gone With the Wind 73 03 Part Three www theatlantic com Retrieved November 28 2019 Frankly my dear de Havilland shares her movie memories Deseret News Associated Press November 14 2004 Denby David May 18 2009 The Real Rhett Butler The New Yorker ISSN 0028 792X Retrieved October 19 2019 Hannan Brian May 25 2016 Coming Back to a Theater Near You A History of Hollywood Reissues 1914 2014 McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 9813 0 Morgan Michelle October 5 2016 Carole Lombard Twentieth Century Star The History Press ISBN 978 0 7509 6939 0 The Landmark Jewel of the Desert PDF Archived from the original PDF on April 18 2015 Retrieved December 24 2018 Tour Clark Gable and Carole Lombard s Ranch Home in California Architectural Digest August 30 2016 Retrieved September 25 2019 Morgan Michelle October 5 2016 Carole Lombard Twentieth Century Star The History Press ISBN 978 0 7509 6939 0 Matzen Robert 2014 Fireball Carole Lombard and The Mystery of Flight 3 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania GoodNight Books pp 145 146 ISBN 978 0 9885025 1 2 Spicer Chrystopher J January 15 2002 Clark Gable Biography Filmography Bibliography McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 1124 5 Williams Esther Diehl Digby 1999 The Million Dollar Mermaid New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 0 684 85284 5 Maltin Leonard Sader Luke Clark Mike 2008 Leonard Maltin s 2009 Movie Guide Penguin p 13 ISBN 978 0 452 28978 9 Idiots delight Crisler B r April 26 1940 THE SCREEN Strange Cargo Lands at Capitol Palace Has Ma He s Making Eyes at Me Foreign Film Opens The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved October 1 2019 a b Kay Eddie Dorman New York 1990 Box Office Champs The Most Popular Movies from the Last 50 Years M amp M Books pg 14 a b Shipman David New York 1979 The Great Movie Stars The Golden Years Da Capo Publishing pg 545 Thomson David London 1994 A Biographical Dictionary of Film Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd pg 761 Box Office Champs The Most Popular Movies from the Last 50 Years M amp M Books pgs 18 19 Shipman David New York 1979 The Great Movie Stars The Golden Years Da Capo Publishing pg 224 Box Office Champs The Most Popular Movies from the Last 50 Years M amp M Books pg 19 Thomson David London 1994 A Biographical Dictionary of Film Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd pg 272 From the Archives Clark Gable joins the Army Los Angeles Times January 2 2019 Retrieved October 5 2019 Ciment James 2007 The Home Front Encyclopedia United States Britain and Canada in World Wars I and II ABC CLIO ISBN 978 1 57607 849 5 Associated Press Gable Tested For Air Corps The Spokesman Review Spokane Washington June 20 1942 Vol 60 No 37 p 5 a b c d Argoratus Steven Clark Gable in the 8th Air Force Air Power History Spring 1999 Centenniel Tribute to Clark Gable Archived from the original on August 6 2009 Retrieved August 12 2008 Yank Headquarters Detachment Special Service War Department 1942 Clark Gable American Air Museum in Britain www americanairmuseum com Retrieved October 22 2019 Betancourt Mark World War II The Movie Air amp Space Magazine Retrieved October 5 2019 Spicer Chrystopher J January 15 2002 Clark Gable Biography Filmography Bibliography McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 1124 5 Clipped From Sioux City Journal Sioux City Journal January 7 1943 p 11 Retrieved October 9 2019 Command Decision Variety January 1 1948 Retrieved October 5 2019 Gussow Mel August 6 2004 Virginia Grey a Veteran Of 100 Films Dies at 87 The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved May 20 2019 Virginia Grey The Independent August 7 2004 Retrieved November 26 2019 a b The Eddie Mannix Ledger Los Angeles Margaret Herrick Library Center for Motion Picture Study Hannan Brian December 20 2018 In Theaters Everywhere A History of the Hollywood Wide Release 1913 2017 McFarland ISBN 978 1 4766 7414 8 Crowther Bosley July 18 1947 THE SCREEN The Hucksters Starring Gable and Kerr Opens at Capitol Slave Girl Take Off on Film Adventures Has Twin Debut The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved May 20 2019 The Hucksters Variety January 1 1947 Retrieved May 20 2019 a b Harris Warren G September 1 2010 Clark Gable A Biography Crown Archetype ISBN 978 0 307 55517 5 Tims Hilton September 19 2013 The Last Romantic A life of Eric Maria Remarque Little Brown Book Group ISBN 978 1 4721 1335 1 Gable marries Sylvia more details with Muir Daily News December 21 1949 p 99 Retrieved May 20 2019 Spicer Chrystopher J October 14 2011 Clark Gable in Pictures Candid Images of the Actor s Life McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 8714 1 Chaneles Sol 1974 The movie makers Wolsky Albert Secaucus N J Derbibooks ISBN 0 89009 002 5 OCLC 940571 Tierney and Herskowitz 1978 Wyden Books Self Portrait pp 150 151 Crowther Bosley October 2 1953 THE SCREEN IN REVIEW Mogambo With Ava Gardner and Clark Gable Presented at Radio City Music Hall The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved May 20 2019 Spoto Donald 2010 High Society The Life of Grace Kelly Three Rivers Press ISBN 978 0 307 39562 7 Letters show another side to Grace Kelly The Independent March 10 1994 Retrieved May 20 2019 Spicer Chrystopher J January 15 2002 Clark Gable Biography Filmography Bibliography McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 1124 5 Michael Gebert The Encyclopedia of Movie Awards St Martin s Paperbacks New York 1996 pg 305 Mogambo Variety January 1 1953 Retrieved May 20 2019 Fricke John 2003 Judy Garland A Portrait in Art amp Anecdote Bulfinch ISBN 978 0 8212 2836 4 Till MGM Do Us Part Vanity Fair April 2000 Retrieved October 17 2019 Clipped From The Childress Index The Childress Index February 5 1954 p 6 Retrieved January 2 2020 Mavis Paul June 8 2015 The Espionage Filmography United States Releases 1898 through 1999 McFarland ISBN 978 1 4766 0427 5 THOMAS M PRYOR December 18 1953 GREER GARSON TO DO A MOVIE IN ENGLAND The New York Times ProQuest 112727444 a b Harris Warren G September 1 2010 Clark Gable A Biography Crown Archetype ISBN 978 0 307 55517 5 Quigley Publishing Co Quigley Publishing Co 1955 Motion Picture Herald Oct Dec 1955 Media History Digital Library New York Quigley Publishing Co A surfing god rides again Los Angeles Times December 23 2007 Retrieved October 5 2019 Bret David October 22 2008 Clark Gable Tormented Star Hachette Books ISBN 978 0 7867 2675 2 D Arc James September 1 2010 When Hollywood Came to Town A History of Movie Making in Utah Gibbs Smith ISBN 978 1 4236 1984 0 Brode Douglas From Hell To Hollywood An Encyclopedia of World War II Films Vol 1 BearManor Media 2 March 2020 Series takes Loren back to where it all started Los Angeles Times June 4 2008 Retrieved November 3 2019 Crowther Bosley September 3 1960 Screen Backdrop for Sophia Loren Appears With Gable in It Started in Naples Kept in Foreground by Cameras and Script The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 3 2019 It Started in Naples Variety January 1 1960 Retrieved November 3 2019 It Started in Naples www goldenglobes com Retrieved November 7 2019 Bret David December 14 2007 Clark Gable Tormented Star Da Capo Press ISBN 978 0 7867 2093 4 Clark Gable Hollywood Walk of Fame www walkoffame com Retrieved August 23 2016 Clark Gable Hollywood Star Walk Los Angeles Times Retrieved August 23 2016 Miller Arthur 1987 Timebends New York Grove Press p 485 ISBN 0 8021 0015 5 Michael Wilmington The Misfits Arthur Miller s Hollywood story Chicago Tribune Retrieved November 7 2019 Hirschfeld Al The Misfits On the Set Margo Feiden Galleries Ltd Archived from the original on July 24 2017 Retrieved May 17 2013 The Misfits Finally Gets Some Respect Los Angeles Times October 1 2002 ISSN 0458 3035 Retrieved June 15 2019 Crowther Bosley February 2 1961 Gable and Monroe Star in Script by Miller The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved September 25 2019 Glynis McCants November 2010 Love by the Numbers How to Find Great Love Or Reignite the Love You Have Through the Power of Numerology ISBN 978 1 4022 4463 6 Retrieved June 2 2017 Jack Scagnetti 1976 The Life and Loves of Gable J David Publishers p 156 ISBN 978 0 8246 0205 5 The Milwaukee Journal permanent dead link November 7 1960 p 20 Ocala Star Banner November 18 1960 p 1 Ocala Star Banner November 18 1960 p 4 a b Wilson Scott August 17 2016 Resting Places The Burial Sites of More Than 14 000 Famous Persons 3d ed McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 7992 4 List of famous freemasons Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon Archived from the original on October 4 2001 Retrieved September 30 2018 East Nashville No 560 TN 19 Gran Loggia 2017 Massoneria e i suoi trecento anni di modernita una mostra ricorda i massoni protagonisti del Novecento Grande Oriente d Italia Grand Orient of Italy in Italian April 4 2017 Archived from the original on March 22 2017 Retrieved April 6 2017 a b c d From the Archives Clark Gable Dies at 59 Los Angeles Times November 17 1960 Verdugo Views Clark Gable s first wife helped launch his career Glendale News Press September 6 2018 Retrieved October 19 2019 Marilyn Monroe Rare Footage 1961 May 5 2010 Marilyn Monroe Clark Gable son christening archived from the original on October 28 2021 retrieved January 17 2018 Glick Shav June 2 2000 Clark Gable s Son Blazing His Own Trail Off Road Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 8 2020 Clark Gable Biography Cheaters September 20 1988 Archived from the original on October 10 2012 Retrieved August 31 2012 Nakamura Reid February 22 2019 Clark James Gable Former Cheaters Host Dies at 30 TheWrap Retrieved February 22 2019 a b c Judy Lewis Secret Daughter of Hollywood Dies at 76 The New York Times November 30 2011 Retrieved December 27 2018 Downey Sally A November 30 2011 Judy Lewis daughter of Loretta Young and Clark Gable dies Philly com Retrieved November 30 2011 Vitello Paul November 30 2011 Judy Lewis Secret Daughter of Hollywood Dies at 76 The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved September 28 2020 How Classic Hollywood s Party Culture Turned Women into Prey Daughter of Deception People Elegant Beauty Loretta Young Dies BBC August 12 2000 Retrieved May 2 2010 Woo Elaine December 1 2011 Judy Lewis dies at 76 daughter of stars Loretta Young and Clark Gable Los Angeles Times ISSN 0458 3035 Retrieved January 17 2018 Petersen Anne Helen July 12 2014 Clark Gable Accused Of Raping Co Star BuzzFeed Retrieved September 30 2015 Evans Art June 25 2020 World War II Veterans in Hollywood McFarland ISBN 978 1 4766 7777 4 Bret David 2006 Hollywood Martyr Joan Crawford United Kingdom Robson Books p 287 ISBN 978 0 7867 1868 9 UPI Year In Review 1960 Year In Review Casey Stengel retires Clark Gable Dies Retrieved May 19 2009 a b David Niven Bring on the Empty Horses 1975 Putnam Books ISBN 978 0 399 11542 4 Garner James Winokur Jon October 23 2012 The Garner Files A Memoir Simon and Schuster ISBN 978 1 4516 4261 2 Finch Edward September 2 2013 Beneath the Waves The Life and Navy of Capt Edward L Beach Jr Naval Institute Press ISBN 978 1 61251 453 6 a b Eli Wallach The Good the Bad and Me In My Anecdotage Mariner Books 2006 p 224 ISBN 978 0 15 603169 1 Charney Maurice 2005 Comedy A Geographic and Historical Guide Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 313 32714 8 McCall Douglas L October 31 2005 Film Cartoons A Guide to 20th Century American Animated Features and Shorts McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 2450 4 Cats Tries to Mix Parody and Nostalgia Los Angeles Times March 26 1997 Retrieved November 7 2019 Gross John December 15 1987 Books of the Times The New York Times Retrieved January 29 2007 Schechter Scott August 25 2006 Judy Garland The Day by Day Chronicle of a Legend Taylor Trade Publishing ISBN 978 1 4616 3555 0 Nowlan Robert A Nowlan Gwendolyn W April 30 2016 Film Quotations 11 000 Lines Spoken on Screen Arranged by Subject and Indexed McFarland ISBN 978 1 4766 2058 9 Hahn Matthew November 15 2017 The Animated Marx Brothers BearManor Media The Postal Service Reunion Is Really a Real Thing Now Spin January 22 2013 Retrieved November 7 2019 Gable and Lombard Variety January 1 1976 Retrieved November 15 2019 Lentz Harris M III May 16 2014 Obituaries in the Performing Arts 2013 McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 7665 7 Lentz Harris M III October 24 2008 Obituaries in the Performing Arts 2001 Film Television Radio Theatre Dance Music Cartoons and Pop Culture McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 5206 4 Wydra Thilo November 18 2014 Grace A Biography Skyhorse ISBN 978 1 62914 967 7 Center National Audiovisual 1982 A List of Audiovisual Materials Produced by the United States Government for History General Services Administration National Archives and Records Service National Audiovisual Center Bibliography EditEssoe Gabe 1970 The Films of Clark Gable Secaucus The Cidadel Press ISBN 978 0 8065 0011 9 Harris Warren G 2002 Clark Gable A Biography New York Harmony Books ISBN 978 0 609 60495 3 Lewis Judy 1994 Uncommon Knowledge New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 0 671 70019 5 Samuels Charles 1962 The King A Biography of Clark Gable New York G P Putnam s Sons ISBN 978 1 258 80672 9 Spicer Chrystopher J 2002 Clark Gable Biography Filmography Bibliography Jefferson McFarland amp Company ISBN 978 0 7864 1124 5 Tornabene Lyn 1976 Long Live The King A Biography of Clark Gable New York Putnam ISBN 978 0 399 11863 0 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clark Gable Wikiquote has quotations related to Clark Gable Clark Gable at IMDb Clark Gable at the TCM Movie Database Clark Gable at AllMovie Clark Gable at the Internet Broadway Database Clark Gable at Virtual History Clark Gable at National Museum of the United States Air Force AF mil Combat America at the Internet Archive Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Portals Biography Film Greater Los Angeles Ohio World War II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Clark Gable amp oldid 1139665886, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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