Anniversary
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Hollywood Loses its King
“No one, not even Brando, has ever approached Gable. He’s the king–and he always will be.” ~Joan Crawford Clark Gable died of a heart attack 51 years ago today, at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital. Clark Gable, All-Time King of Movie Stars, Dies of Heart Attack by James Bacon HOLLYWOOD–Clark Gable, the greatest movie star of them all, dropped his head back on a pillow late Wednesday and died of a heart attack. The end came so fast that his doctor said there was no pain–just a few gasps. A few seconds before he had been asleep. A nurse in his room heard the gasps and shouted across the hall to Mrs.…
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We’re Two!
DearMrGable.com is two years old today! I can hardly believe it has been two years since I decided to create a little Clark Gable niche on the internet. In two short years, this site has come a long way. Over 9,000 pictures, a page for every one of Clark’s 66 films, lots of information pages, 20 radio shows, a Facebook page and weeks and weeks of “Gossip Fridays’! And there’s so much more to come! I have a stack of CDs of radio shows waiting to be uploaded and my most prized possessions at the moment are these scrapbooks. What’s in them? Well, they were kept by a very devoted Gable fan…
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72 Years Ago Today…
…Clark and Carole were married. Here is an interesting article I found from that year. It is a letter to Hollywood newlyweds, including Clark and Carole. It is interesting to note the fate of the marriages she mentions here. We all know, sadly, what became of Clark and Carole’s union. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Eppling Hartford were married for 49 years, until her death in 1988. They had three daughters: Daphne, Victoria, and Melissa. He remarried a few years later and remained so until he died at the ripe old age of 91. Tyrone Power and Annabella lasted nearly nine years, divorcing in 1948. Annabella did not remarry. Tyrone married twice…
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Happy 100th, “Sis”!
“She never wanted to be famous. She wanted to be happy.” Clark said this of Jean Harlow after her untimely death at age 26, and it appears to be true. Jean Harlow was a sweet, good natured girl, someone who everybody liked. Affectionately called “The Baby” (by everyone but Clark, who called her “Sis”), she was far from the harlot she portrayed on screen in her early pictures. To understand Jean’s hectic life, her film “Bombshell” is pretty much it in a nutshell—relatives and friends hanging on like leeches, sucking away her money and fame for their own benefit; the press and studio pigeon-holing her into an image that really wasn’t…
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Happy 110th Birthday, Mr. Gable
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGOUvzPzhkk) I am asked often, “Why Clark Gable? Why a site for him?” First of all, Clark is an excellent place to start if one wants to get into classic films. He is where my love for classic films began. After being awestruck by “Gone with the Wind”, I saw his Oscar-winning performance in “It Happened One Night”, which introduced me to the lovely Claudette Colbert and to investigate more Frank Capra films, and so on. From Clark’s films alone one can be introduced to Joan Crawford, Vivien Leigh, Ava Gardner, Jeanette MacDonald, Marion Davies, Helen Hayes, Grace Kelly, Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy,…
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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.…
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Where were Clark and Carole 70 years ago today?
All dolled up and out on the town for a worthy cause! There’s Clark and Carole looking quite dashing, posing in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The occaison? An all-star radio broadcast for Greek War Relief that was held seventy years ago today–January 8, 1941. I love all-star events like this because the pictures answer the questions of “Did so- and-so ever meet so-and-so?” For instance, the event was only one of two instances that I know of that Carole is pictured with Myrna Loy (and that’s Melvyn Douglas and Tyrone Power with them too): Carole, Myrna and Tyrone share a secret:The dashing duo with Dick Powell, Frank Morgan, Ann Rutherford and Shirley…
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Gone with the Wind hits Los Angeles
The Los Angeles premiere of Gone with the Wind was 71 years ago this very evening. Jean Garceau, Clark and Carole’s faithful secretary, attended the event with them. Here is how she described it: The theater was decorated inside and out in keeping with the background and theme of the film. Huge searchlights probed the sky, bands played, streets were roped off and uniformed attendants held back the crowds as the police permitted only those cars with passes to draw up in front of the theater. A long flower-decked canopy extended to the sidewalk and a master of ceremonies stood there to welcome the stars, announce their names over a…
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In tribute
Clark died fifty years ago today, at the age of 59, leaving behind him 66 films, legions of fans, hundreds of shocked friends and a devastated pregnant fifth wife. Here is a piece by famed Hollywood gossip columnist (and longtime friend of Clark’s) Louella Parsons: Goodbye to My Dear Friend I still can’t believe he is gone, although reams and reams of copy have been written about his death, more than has appeared about many heads of State. Since that heartbreaking moment, a few minutes after he died on the night of [November 16] at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, when I was awakened by the shocking message, “Clark is dead”–there has…
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Happy Veterans Day
Happy Veterans Day! Clark said of his time in the Army Air Corps: “You know, that was the thing I am most proud of. Not only because I helped in a small way, and believe me, it was a small way–but because it was the first thing I felt that I did completely unselfishly and not caring about my own hide. And I know Ma would have been proud. Makes me feel a bit better.” Read about Clark’s time in the army here. Recently updated with his registration card and service certificate.