Articles
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{New Article} 1953: Gable Wants to Marry Again
This article is an interesting piece, since in the majority of interviews with Clark after the abrupt end of his marriage with Sylvia have him stating he will never marry again ever, that perhaps him and marriage weren’t compatible. There are some interesting quotes from Clark littered throughout: “That was unfortunate. The faults weren’t all on one side, you know. It might have lasted, I suppose. I don’t ever go into marriage thinking ahead to divorce.” (on the split from Sylvia) “Sure, I’ve been unhappy, too, at times. After marriage has failed, for example. But you can’t go on being miserable. Some people may say I’m crusty,but I take life…
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{New Article} 1940: Help Kill Crazy Rumors About Me!
This article is a little bit of fun. I’ve read here and there over the years about Carole Lombard’s “fragile health” after she married Clark Gable. I know she had poison ivy at one point, and appendicitis, but I’ve always suspected that this whole “fragile health” scenario was a bit of a cover-up for her struggle with fertility. It gave a reason as to why she wasn’t pregnant yet despite everyone’s held breath for the news, and as to why she had slowed down making movies. Well, here is one time where she is denying she’s an invalid; this article addresses Carole’s feelings on the subject of her being…
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{New Article} 1936: Humor is a Habit with Gable
This 1936 article isn’t earth-shattering by any means, but does contain a few interesting little tidbits: Any time you can get Clark to taking about himself, you can depend on it that he’s kidding himself thoroughly, relentlessly, fiercely, You know that typical Clark Gable expression that’s always on his face? A sort of grinning bewilderment? Mixed with a certain surprise and incredulity? Plus a dash of secret ridicule? Well, that “Clark Gable look” is perfectly indicative of what he thinks of himself. He’s constantly mystified at all the fame and good luck and popularity that stays with him, and he’s laughing at himself for it. He can’t take himself seriously.…
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{New Article} Two Happy People: Part 1
Let’s kick off the weekend of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard’s 75th wedding anniversary with a new article, shall we? There were a LOT of articles written about Clark and Carole from the second they started flirting in 1936 through 1942 and even beyond. But my favorites, by far, are the series of articles written by James Street for Movie and Radio Guide magazine in May 1940. They are straightforward, laid back, non-fluffy and make you think you are sitting there chatting with Clark and Carole yourself. The series was four parts, with one focusing on Carole, one on Clark, one on their ranch home, and the final on their…
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Remembering Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard Gable died 72 years ago today, in a horrific plane crash. She was 33 years old. It’s always difficult to realize that she died such a long time ago, as she always comes across as so modern. This memorial article from Hollywood magazine sums her up quite nicely. Rather than being sappy about her death, it is rather a tribute to the person that she was. “This Was Carole,” Hollywood magazine, April 1942: Carole Lombard was a great woman. The president of the United States paid tribute to her and the service she gave her country in time of need. International press associations wrote in praise of her and named…
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{New Article} 1933: Clark Gable’s New Year Resolutions
It’s a new year! And back in 1933, new star Clark Gable was pretty much forced by this female reporter to announce his resolutions to the world. And he said to read more books, be more organized, drink less coffee and get to the gym every once in a while…oh wait, those aren’t his… This article is fluffy fluff fluff, so take his “resolutions” with a grain of salt, but who could help but swoon at the description of how he arrived to meet the reporter: Clark Gable came into his dressing room at the noon hour, dusty from the set of “Red Dust.” His shirt was open at the collar.…
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{New Article} 1931: How Many Marriages for Clark Gable?
This short little article from 1931 is extremely tabloid-y but that is what makes it interesting! Published in the fall of 1931 when Clark was the newest heart throb, articles like this were the result of editors screaming at their writing staff, “I need pieces on Clark Gable NOW!” So, they grasp at whatever straws they have, which, back in the days before internet and uh, actual fact checking, were largely rumors. “No,” Clark Gable’s friends quote him as saying last summer. “I’m not married now. My wife just got a divorce in April.” “Yes,” Clark Gable admitted six months later to inquiring interviewers. “I’m married. But I’d rather not…
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{New Article} 1934: Are Women to Lose Clark Gable?
This article is from 1934 when Clark was the #1 heart throb, and it threatens that he may be jumping the Hollywood ship! Gasp! Eh. This one is really PR and I am pretty doubtful about most of the quotes in it as they don’t really sound like him. Women have idolized him, and women have made him what he is today. “So what?” asks Clark. What matters except living his own life again? He wants to escape from Hollywood and all that it means. He had time to think it all over, when he was ill! Clark Gable told me, “If I had enough laid aside so that I…
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{New Article} 1937: The Utterly Balmy Home Life of Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard was wacky. This was an adjective that would be used to describe her for years and, I think, often exaggerated. I know she did have a menagerie of animals and liked to play pranks, but I doubt her home was a virtual funhouse every day of the year. BUT this is a cute article anyway, describing the crazy antics of Carole’s humble abode. Take—if you can stand it! Carole Lombard’s household— There’s Carole and Fieldsie, her secretary-pal-confidante-companion-advisor-manager-sparring-partner-critic-et-cetera; then there’s two dachshunds, one bantam rooster, six doves, two ducks, one Pekinese named “Pushface the Killer,” two hens, one cocker spaniel, three goldfish, one cat named “Josephine,” which insists on…
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{New Article} 1939: Lombard Unlimited
She’s harum-scarum, she dances in the park at three A.M., she dotes on practical jokes, she hates pink, and she’s so impulsive she almost lives behind the eight-ball. Meet Carole, screw-ball comedian, dramatic actress, and radio’s new star. Continuing in our Carole Lombard theme for the month of October, here’s one from 1938. This article is from Radio Mirror magazine and was written to promote the fact that Carole was a newly minted radio star on the new Kellogg-sponsored program “The Circle.” Well, unfortunately for Radio Mirror, Carole left the show just a few weeks after it premiered, so calling her the new radio star is a bit foolish. But, nonetheless, it’s…