Oscar Night! Clark Gable and Doris Day are Proud to Present…

On March 26, 1958, Clark Gable put on a tux (complete with tails, no less) and headed to the RKO Pantages Theater for the 30th Annual Academy Awards. He attended as a presenter with his Teacher’s Pet co-star, Doris Day.  This marked one of the handful of times that Clark attended the awards and is especially significant because it is one of just a few occasions that he appeared on television. Clark and Doris presented the two awards for Best Screenplay, Adapted and Written for the Screen.

Clark and Doris appear at 4:40, after Bob Hope does some stand-up (lot of Russian and I’m-never-nominated jokes). Notice they play the theme from Teacher’s Pet when they walk out. Clark looks very nervous; he was notoriously scared of crowds and public speaking. And what is with his haircut?

The big winner that year was Bridge on the River Kwai, walking away with Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing in addition the screenplay Oscar. Sayonara was also a big winner, winning four Oscars.

Other presenters that evening included John Wayne, June Allyson, Vincent Price, Bette Davis, Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire, Ronald Reagan, Gregory Peck, Ernest Borgnine, Cyd Charisse, Lana Turner and Sophia Loren–wow!

Some of my all-time favorite pictures are from the rehearsal a few days prior:

PS…you can watch Kirk and Burt’s hilarious performance here.