Gossip Friday: Punished

From July 1934:

Clark Gable was punished by a Santa Barbara newspaper the other morning. Clark, it appears, was dining in a hotel when a reporter sent over a note urging an interview. The actor made a “Humpfh–a reporter” noise, which was heard by the scribe. Gable also refused the interview, and the reporter got even, by golly. He put Gable on the front page, center, with a teasing tale of remembering the old days when Gable would have been glad to get publicity. Alongside the story was space for one-column photograph of the actor, but no likeness was used. Instead it said: “This space reserved for picture of Clark Gable. Considering that all moviegoers know what Gable looks like–it was better than a picture of him. Better, I thought, was the reporter’s closing comment on his story. He wrote: “Nevertheless, next to Mickey Mouse and the Three Little Pigs, Gable is still one of my favorite stars.” Sticks and stones, etc.