{New Article} Gable’s Mystery Romance

In 1952, Clark Gable headed for an extended trip overseas. The plan was, to avoid paying income tax, he was to stay out of the United States for 18 months, during which time he would make what would ultimately be his final three films for his home studio of over 20 years, Metro Goldwyn Mayer. The three films were Never Let Me Go (filmed in London), Mogambo (filmed in London and Africa) and Betrayed (filmed in Holland). Of course, the King of Hollywood was not going to wander the streets of Europe alone. He was quickly spotted with a young model named Suzanne Dadolle. I wrote a piece on her a few years back that you can read here. What’s odd is she seemed to have entertained Clark for a few months, scared him off when she boasted that they’d be married, and then vanished from the planet. I can’t find anything about her after that, no obituary or anything.

This article is all about Clark and Suzanne, although I doubt much of it is true. First of all, the article gets her name wrong–calling her Susan Dadolle throughout.It also refers to her as being brunette. I’ve never seen a color picture of her, but every other article I’ve read has referred to her as being blonde, most even going as far as to say she was a doppelganger for Carole Lombard (yeah not so much.)

Ever since April of this year, for example, when Grace Kelly, the beautiful young blonde with whom he starred in “Mogambo,” left London for New York, Gable has been touring the Continent with a tall, dark-haired, statuesque French model named Susan Dadolle Dabadie.

For a time, Gable was under the erroneous impression that he might keep this romance a dark secret.

In Venice he told his hotel manager that under no circumstances was his girl’s name to be released. Newspapermen quickly jumped to the conclusion that Susan was a wealthy American widow. They had Gable and the girl followed by photographers who snapped them touring the Grand Canal in gondolas, feeding the pigeons in front of St. Mark’s, walking hand-in-hand across the hundreds of picturesque little bridges that dot the city.

When asked about his traveling partner, all Gable would say was, “She’s just a friend.”

Once photographs of Clark’s “mystery friend” were released, however, her identity was no longer a secret.

In Paris, one Schiaparelli model, picking up the afternoon paper, turned to a friend and pointing to Susan’s picture, asked, “Who does this look like?”

The second model grinned. “It is Susan Dadolle,” she said, “Who else? Don’t you know about her?” An explanation was forthcoming immediately. “A few weeks ago when Clark Gable came here to Paris he got in touch with Susan. I think they have known each other a long time or something. Anyway, she went to Madame Schiaparelli and said, ‘I would like to have some time off.’ And she is very understanding about these things, so she said, ‘But of course, Susan.’ So she went away with Monsieur Gable, and now they are traveling all over Europe, and since his divorce from his fourth wife—I think she was his fourth wife, that blonde English one—I guess Susan is hoping to marry him. She has always been in love with him, you know. Susan would make him a very good wife.”

While such talk was making the rounds of Paris, Gable and his new love were sunning themselves on the beach at Capri. And in Italy, of course, no one interfered with the privacy of the lovers.

Occasionally, someone would ask a professional question such as, “What’s your next picture, Mr. Gable?” and Clark would prop himself up on his elbows and say, “Really don’t know. Everytime I call Hollywood from here I can’t understand what they say. They can hear me, but I can’t hear them. I guess the studio will rope something for me.”

In Capri, Gable lives in the hotel suite formerly occupied by Egypt’s ex-King Farouk which prompted him to quip, “Even I can be a king for a few bucks.”

Natives who saw Susan and Clark said, “There is no doubt about it. They are both deeply in love. They are together always. They are always smiling. I am sure they have already married. I say this because what you see in their eyes is the light of honeymooners.”

Gable has insisted ever since his divorce from Sylvia Ashley that “I’m not against marriage. I’ve believed in marriage for years, only the next time I’m going to be very careful.”

Gable usually gravitates to mature, successful women. Susan has neither age nor a very large bank account. She is a brunette in her middle thirties who has a slavish devotion to Gable, a Gallic wit, a sophisticated outlook on life, a respect for thrift—a quality very close to Gable’s heart.

Clark was wishy-washy with these marriage statements, sometimes saying he’d never get married again and other times saying the opposite. The fan magazines were rather tiring–every girl on his arm was for sure the next Mrs. Gable.

It may well be, of course, that Gable has now reached the point in life where he needs young blood to maintain the illusion of perpetual youth. This is why actresses in their forties frequently marry younger men; and it may be why lately Clark has chosen Grace Kelly, a blonde in her early twenties, and Susan Dadolle, a brunette in her early thirties. But friends insist this isn’t true.

One MGM director who probably knows the actor as well as any other man, says, “There are some men who, when they have nothing to do, read a book. There are others who go hunting or fishing. Clark Gable is tired of these pursuits. The one thing he will never tire of is girls—all sizes, all shapes, all ages. It makes no difference to the guy. He’s very democratic where women are concerned. The minute a film is over he likes to relax. Right now he’s relaxing with this French girl, Susan Dadolle. How long she can hold him nobody knows.

“At least she has the opportunity to try out her charms. A million girls would give anything, well, almost anything, to have the same opportunity.”

From what I have read of Suzanne “Susan,” she would not appear to be the type of girl he would marry. Grace Kelly either. And he didn’t marry either of them, did he!

You can read the article in its entirety in The Article Archive.

(#12 Article Posted in 2019)