Gossip
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Gossip Friday: Difference of Temperament
From June 1936: The possibility of a divorce between Clark Gable and his estranged wife is reported. He has brought a suit against her, demanding that she abide by a property agreement made when they separated in November. Rhea Gable is Clark Gable’s second wife. They met first in New York when he was a struggling young leading man and she was a widow, Mrs. Langham. Tall, slim and dark, Mrs. Gable is several years older than her husband (now 34) and is known as one of Hollywood’s most gracious hostesses. Their separation has up to now been amicable, with both avoiding publicity. No scandal attaches to the separation. Difference…
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Gossip Friday: A Kiss for Paulette
From August 1949, Louella Parsons’ column: When Paulette Goddard flew to Mexico City last night she was put on the plane by Clark Gable, who took her to dinner and sent her on her way complete with corsage and a farewell kiss. Just before Paulette took the plane she signed papers with her attorney, Gregson Bautzer, which enables him to file suit for divorce in Los Angeles. The amazing point of this whole thing is that Paulette has steadily denied to me and all other reporters that she has had any trouble about a property settlement with Burgess Meredith. I happen to know that Burgess never agreed to any settlement…
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Gossip Friday: Don’t Pat Clark Gable on the Back!
From June 1936: Don’t Pat Clark Gable on the Back–He Hates It! Clark Gavle was named recently as one of the three greatest stars of 1936 throughout the world–yet he remains the same Clark Gable. Now he adds to his laurels, with Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy in Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s “Wife Versus Secretary” opening at the Luverne Theatre June 29th. He wears the same hat size that he wore when he was an unknown extra, but there’s a red feather in it today. He still has a passion for turtleneck sweaters, brilliant neckties and old clothes. His favorite relaxation is fooling the willy trout. He can ride a horse…
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Gossip Friday: A Hameroo
From March 1939: Clark Gable’s frequent ribbing of himself has made him just as popular at Selznick as on his home lot, MGM. A good example comes as he makes the scene in “Gone with the Wind” in which he is insulted before a large group of men by Rand Brooks, portraying Charles Hamilton, Scarlett O’Hara’s first husband. “I again must apologize for all my shortcomings.” Then he must turn to Leslie Howard, playing Ashley Wilkes, excuse himself, toss a barbed remark at Brooks and stride from the room. Gable goes through the scenes, struts out and then turns with a laugh and says: “Boy, was that exit a hameroo.…
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Gossip Friday: Bring ’em Back Alive
From March 1938: Barring further rains, Clark Gable is off to Mexico in a few days on a “bring ’em back alive” hunt for mountain lions. Gable’s pals ribbed him quite a bit about the cub he brought back from an earlier expedition, so he is carrying a cameraman along this time to bring back the photographic evidence of the actual capture–if he makes one.
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Gossip Friday: Rhett the Rooster
From April 1939: That big red rooster which Andy Devine gave Clark Gable has now surpassed every other head of livestock and even Gable as the boss of the Gable ranch in San Fernando Valley. The rooster is a prize fowl and Gable says “he knows it.” He is nearly three feet high. Gable has named him Rhett Butler.
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Gossip Friday: Happy Easter from Carole to Clark
From April 1936: Among Easter gags pulled in Hollywood, don’t forget that Carole Lombard sent Clark Gable a dozen tiny Easter bunnies. All he had to do was find a place to keep them at his hotel. This story combined with the fact that she sent the same star an old Ford for a Valentine present, is making Hollywoodians wonder if there is really something to this friendship that might lead to romance, after all. It’s a lot of effort to plan all these jokes, if nothing but friendship is in back of it.
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Gossip Friday: Party Trick
From 1941: This happened at a housewarming at the Fred MacMurrays. Everyone was talking about the war and Paris fashions and how to cultivate dahlias, when suddenly Clark [Gable] took a cigarette, held the burning end of it between his thumb and forefinger, and, without a wince, slowly crushed it out with his fingers. That was something! Immediately, the vital topics under discussion were dropped, and everyone wanted to know if Clark’s fingers were made out of asbestos. Now wait—don’t try it yourself, until you hear how Clark did it. It’s not done with mirrors Just an ice cube. He smuggled an ice cube in his hand, held it between…
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Gossip Friday: They’re Not So Much
From June 1936: Not until you have been out with some of the better known screen favorites can you fully appreciate how many imbeciles there are among the fans. One night Carole Lombard and Clark Gable and a few others were ankling along a boulevard when a crowd gathered. Gable and Lombard were surrounded by them, shoved and pushed and otherwise mangled. The both tried to smile and groped for a way out. Their obvious predicament amused the crowd, which responded with happy cracks, which is what usually follows when people are self conscious. Finally one greasy-looking man pushed forward–close to them and shouted: “Hmph. They’re not so much.” He…
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Gossip Friday: A Speed War
From May 1936: Out of a “gag” gift from Carole Lombard, Clark Gable is fashioning a gasoline racer in which he plans to show the actress what speed really means on the Muroc Dry Lake. The entire idea had its inception last February 14 when Miss Lombard presented the Metro Goldwyn Mayer star with a broken down car of well-known vintage, painted white with red hearts appropriate for Valentine’s Day. Up until the present time Gable had been too busy before the cameras in the picture, “San Francisco” to do much thinking about what disposal he would make of the heap. But under the hood there now lies a new…
