Carole Lombard Gable

Today we mourn the passing of Clark’s beloved little screwball, Carole Lombard. Her dying  69 years ago today at the age of 33 changed the path of his life forever.

A letter to the editor from April 1942:

Editor’s Note: It was heartwarming to read the number of letters received as tributes to Carole Lombard by Photoplay-Movie Mirror [magazine]. So sincere were they all, we found it difficult to choose this single one for publication:

Carole Lombard

She left a trail of laughter when she walked

Across this world which needs a laugh so much.

She did not care when pompous people talked

About her lack of dignity and such.

For while her work was make-believe, pretense

Could never touch her gallant, generous heart

And she was quick to help her flag’s defense

And glad to know that she could do her part.

She did not wear a uniform, it’s true,

But she died none the less for freedom’s sake.

You men shot down at Guam and Oahu,

Ghosts of the Philippines, Midway and Wake,

Admit another solider to your troop

For she should march through time with your brave group!

–Ruth Arundel Piercy, Oreland, PA

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“Sometimes I wonder how she’d take things the way they are today, and I always come up with the same answer–with a laugh. She’d get through it better than me.” ~Clark in the 1950’s