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Happy Anniversary, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were married 79 years ago today, on March 29, 1939, eloping to Kingman, Arizona on the spur of the moment. You can read Clark’s description of their wedding day here. Because they managed to slink away and marry with no fanfare, they dutifully obliged to an early morning press conference on the front lawn of Carole’s home on St. Cloud Rd. There is newsreel footage of this press conference, with Clark and Carole in their wedding attire, beaming and laughing and constantly touching each other. But it is silent. There are dozens and dozens of pictures of them; every time I think I’ve seen every…
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Goodbye, Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard died 76 years ago today, at the age of 33. Her brief time on earth ending after crashing into a snowy mountaintop near Las Vegas, she left behind a world of grieving fans and one distraught husband. Celebrate, rather than mourn, Carole today. She would not be one to wallow, after all! Some great Carole content around here: Last year I chronicled the newspaper headlines around the time of her death, starting with January 16, through January 23: 75th Anniversary of Carole Lombard’s Death Here’s a piece regarding Carole and those persisting baby rumors: Carole Lombard, Clark Gable and The Baby That Never Was Some rare Carole photos…
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Gossip Friday: A Horse for Carole
From December 1936: Clark Gable’s Christmas gift to Carole Lombard was a thoroughbred three-gaited saddle horse; Carole, still sick in bed, is yearning to try out her latest pet.
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Gossip Friday: Not a Clotheshorse
From April 1941: One of the reasons, admittedly a minor one, that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard get along so famously is that both see eye to eye on the matter of “dressing up” and putting on the ritz. Framer Gable goes for those dusty old trousers and sweaters in his real farm life as well as in the still pictures, and Carole, he says, will have no part in that general feminine conspiracy which aims at getting the male into white-tie-and-tails at the slightest provocation. Gable’s new picture, with Rosalind Russell, is “The Uniform,” but the title doesn’t mean he’ll be duded up any more than usual. Gable is…
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Gossip Friday: Got Weeds?
From December 1941: Weeds have so over-run the Clark Gable-Carole Lombard garden, they’re offering cuttings of Tuberous Burdock and Nightblooming Pigweeds to friends.
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Gossip Friday: A Friend to Reed
From July 1941: Because Clark Gable and Carole Lombard interested themselves in his career, tall, handsome Reed Hadley, who hails from Texas via New York theatre and radio acting stopovers, appears to be safely launched in Hollywood. Young Hadley first attracted Miss Lombard’s attention when he appeared with her on a national radio broadcast. Gable met him at that time also.Both were impressed with young Hadley’s appearance and talents. Gable subseqyently suggested to Director Clarence Brown that Hadley be tested for the role of a young British officer in “They Met in Bombay” at MGM. Gable and Rosalind Russell are co-starring in the picture and a requirement of the officer…
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{In The News} Carole Lombard in 1936: May-December
Continuing our news clippings series, following Carole around in 1936…we pick up in May. Here’s January-April. May 12: Carole Lombard’s hospital party, after she recovered from the flu, brought guest dressed as doctors and nurses. They arrived in ambulances and sat around on hospital cots sipping cocktails from medicine bottles. A hospital shower for Margot Grahame, about to lose her appendix, netted her 16 hot water bottles. May 20: The romance scouts are speculating on the temperature of Gable’s friendship with Carole Lombard. He has been meeting her at the Paramount gate every afternoon at 5. May 28: At Carole Lombard’s house party the other night, a departing guest…
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Gossip Friday: Lombard Camping Co.
From September 1940: Before Clark Gable was married, he would go on a hunting trip by tossing a sleeping bag and guns into an auto and whizzing away. Since his wife, Carole Lombard, has became a hunting and camping enthusiast, she has bought great masses of gadgets and equipment. The other day when they started a trip, Gable drove up to the house in a huge truck, sporting a sign: “Lombard Camping Co., Ltd.”
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Gossip Friday: Star Ranchers
From November 1940: Most publicized star-ranchers are Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who can’t pick an orange or feed a hen without having to pose for a picture. So many yarns were written about Squire Gable’s real ambition—to leave the screen and go back to the land–that every mail still brings him a sale-offer of some other estate. One owner was sure that his $250,000 place would be exactly what the stars wanted, because it had two swimming pools and accommodations for 25 guests. That’s just what Mr. and Mrs. Gable don’t want–especially the 25 guests. And Hollywood calls them shrewd bargainers because they paid Director Raoul Walsh only $40,000…
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Gossip Friday: Mystery Flowers
From August 1936: Red Camellias for Carole Lombard. There’s a romance there, but Hollywood has been unable to learn the name of the man. Each morning during the past week the flowers have arrived on the set where she and Fred MacMurray are making “The Princess Comes Across.” Some accuse the shy MacMurray. Others speak the name of Clark Gable with whom rumors have linked the blonde Carole of late. But Carole herself, she just smiles, admitting cautiously that she has found new interest in life and that he is a well-known actor. Apparently she shares the secret with the red camellias only. If you remember right, this is Miss…