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Judy Lewis, 1935-2011
Judy Lewis, the daughter of Clark Gable, and Loretta Young, died Friday, November 25, of cancer in Pennslyvania. Read the New York Times article on her death here. Judy was concieved during the freezing Washington location shoot for Call of the Wild. Loretta maintained that there had not been a big love affair between her and Clark, just that they were mutually attracted to each other and one night her “iron will slipped.” Loretta realized she was pregnant during the filming of her next picture, The Crusades, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. This was crushing news. Not only did she feel ashamed by her actions, she had violated the morals…
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{New Article} 1940: Mr. and Mrs. Gable
Here’s another “look how happy they are and how simple they live” article on Clark and Carole from Ladies Home Journal. I say that like I am sick of that kind of article. But of course I am not! A typical scene between Mr. and Mrs. Gable at home would be at tea or cocktails in Gable’s faintly adolescent gun room with its collection of lethal weapons in a glass case on the wall. Clad in jodhpurs or levis and usually needing a shave, Gable sits back in a large chair. Mrs. Gable starts off by perching decorously enough on a sofa. But soon she is squatting on the floor,…
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Gossip Friday: Turkey Trouble
Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, here’s one from September 1940: Clark Gable and Robert Young both have their troubles with fowl-fancying ventures. Gable had turkey trouble, Young encountered chicken grief… Clark and wife Carole Lombard had been raising two dozen turkeys, for Thanksgiving–both their own Thanksgiving feast and as gifts to friends. BUT the other day, they decided to give something else when November rolls around. Reason: They had sprayed weeds on their ranch with weed-killing poison, and then the turkeys came along and gobbled the weeds. That was when Gable found that weed-killer is turkey-killer, too. As for Robert Young–well, he doesn’t like chicken pie anymore. This is the…
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{For the Boys Blogathon} November Movie of the Month: The Tall Men (1955)
This post is part of The Scarlett Olive’s For the Boys Blogathon. I am, obviously, a Clark Gable completist. I read anything and watch anything Clark related. Whenever I meet men in their 50’s or 60’s, their favorite Gable movies are not usually the 1930’s fluffy comedies or even Gone with the Wind. They always usually say ones that would be near the bottom of my list, such as Soldier of Fortune or Command Decision or this month’s movie of the month, The Tall Men. I am generally not a fan of Westerns, and this one is not the greatest ever made. However, it does have its endearing moments and it is…
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Gossip Friday: Always the Business Man
From June 1940: Clark Gable hasn’t enough to do–with his twenty-five costume changes in “Boom Town”–but has even gone in for technical advertising, as well! Gable was an oil field worker himself, way back when, so one day on the set he offered a few tips to the director and was promptly encouraged to give out more. “Not for nothing,” said Gable. “Okay, I’ll buy your lunch,” offered the director. “Lunch and a bottle of beer,” said Gable, always the business man.
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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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{Moustaches for Movember Blogathon} Clark Gable: Evolution of a Moustache
This post is part of Bette Classic Movie Blog’s Moustaches for Movember Blogathon. Movember is a campaign in which men grow moustaches over the month of November to raise funds for prostate cancer. You can learn more about the cause here. You think of Clark Gable and you think of that familiar moustache (well, that and maybe the ears…) It’s funny that the mustache has become so synonomous with the image of Clark Gable, considering he didn’t want one to begin with. Clark was a clean freak, the kind who took showers multiple times a day and who reportedly shaved his chest hair because he considered all that extra…
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Gossip Friday: Parnell is Serious Business
Clark on the set of Parnell From May 1937: Never has Clark Gable taken a role more seriously than “Parnell.” For the three days he was filming Parnell’s death, he went around looking like a ghost. He wouldn’t even ride his bike. He just gloomed. On top of that, he had a very bad cold. Late one afternoon frantic calls from newspapers besieged MGM demanding to know the truth about a rumor that Gable was dead. Gable replied from the Beverly Wilshire that the Gable rumor was garbled. The moment the picture was finished, Gable dashed for the Arizona mountains on a hunting trip with Ted Tetrach of the property…
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{Hollywood} Forest Lawn Glendale: The Great Mausoleum and The Church of the Recessional
Continuing on in Forest Lawn Glendale… Before we venture over to the Great Mausoleum, we have one important pitstop: The Church of the Recessional, where both Clark Gable and Carole Lombard’s funerals were held–Clark on November 19, 1960 and Carole (with her mother) on January 21, 1942. Naturally, we tried to see inside but there wasn’t much to see through the windows and all the doors were locked. Here is a photo of the inside, from Forest Lawn’s website: And now…onto the Great Mausoleum. A place I have thought of often and had always hoped to visit. It is absolutely gorgeous to behold in person.The building is huge…
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{Hollywood} Forest Lawn Glendale: The Lawn and Freedom Mausoleum
Forest Lawn Glendale is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous! I have heard this before, of course, but this is one of those times where words don’t do it justice. Founded in 1906, the memorial park is famous for its vast collection of sculpture and art, as well as for being one of the first cemeteries to not allow upright headstones, giving the park a smoother look and appeal. There truly is no other cemetery like it, not that I have ever seen in my life. Of the five we visited, this was the first one (for obvious reasons) and we said later on that we shouldn’t have visited it first since it…