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Gossip Friday: Can Clark Gable Stay Married?
From December 1931: Can Clark Gable stay married? Clark recently said: “Neither my wife nor I ever expect to be married again. She is my ideal woman. I hope I never fail as her ideal man.” And Hollywood, remembering that Clark has been married before and that he is younger than his wife, sighs: “Ah…” If Clark Gable and Rita [sic] Langham can stay married, it will be a great thing brought to pass between a man, a wife and that most exacting mistress of all, Fame. The only other two men upon whom she has bestowed her hysterical favors so lavishly have been Rudolph Valentino and John Gilbert. And…
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Gossip Friday: Eligible Gable
From March 1936: All things considered, Clark Gable will probably have the most terrifc year of anybody in Hollywood. Imagine Clark on the semibachelor list! The first announcement of the formal separation of himself from Ria Gable was immediately followed by an onslaught of rumors concerning fair ladies and Clark. He was variously reported engaged or about to be engaged to Elizabeth Allan, Mary Taylor and Loretta Young. It can be wagered that they’ll be no peace or contentment in and about the colony until Clark is married again. The suspense will be pretty terrible, because even after a divorce is filed, it takes a year for the final decree…
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Gossip Friday: The Curtain Raiser?
From December 1936: YOU know, of course, that Clark Gable and his wife are merely separated—and that, until now at least, there’s been no move toward divorce. They’ve been living under a verbal agreement whereby they have arranged to live “peaceably apart.” BUT—just the other day, Clark started legal proceedings in open court, asking the California Superior bench to “define, compute and compound” the agreement between himself and his wife—so that there may be no misunderstanding when and if a divorce move is started by either. Wonder if that’s the curtain raiser?
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{New Article} 1931: How Many Marriages for Clark Gable?
This short little article from 1931 is extremely tabloid-y but that is what makes it interesting! Published in the fall of 1931 when Clark was the newest heart throb, articles like this were the result of editors screaming at their writing staff, “I need pieces on Clark Gable NOW!” So, they grasp at whatever straws they have, which, back in the days before internet and uh, actual fact checking, were largely rumors. “No,” Clark Gable’s friends quote him as saying last summer. “I’m not married now. My wife just got a divorce in April.” “Yes,” Clark Gable admitted six months later to inquiring interviewers. “I’m married. But I’d rather not…
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Gossip Friday: No Dinner Parties!
From January 1932: Clark Gable and his wife are pretty well reconciled to the fact that they are going to have to fight off divorce rumors from here on in. But just by way of keeping down the quantity, Clark has let it known that Mr. and Mrs. Gable “do not do any entertaining.” In other words, there wll be no chance for curious “friends” to be present at a party and mistable an innocent little difference of opinion for what would later pass as a “first-hand” report of an argument between the Gables. Social affairs are a hotbed of Hollywood gossip. You know how the whisper goes: “So-and-So arrived…
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{New Article} 1934: Any Man Would Like Clark Gable’s House!
This is the story of the house that a million women have dreamed about and have wanted to know about—Clark Gable’s new home. And when men read about Clark’s surroundings, he will rate even higher with them as a he-man than he already does. Don’t miss this vivid pen-picture of the interior of his home, which will give you new ideas of your own! …says the Editor’s note at the beginning of this article from 1934. Which is rather funny on many levels. This article describes the Brentwood home that Clark and his second wife Ria rented for about two years, 1933-1935. I believe that Ria stayed on there after…
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Gossip Friday: Mrs. Gable Out of the Shadows
From April 1932: When a crowd at the last opening caught sight of Clark Gable descending from a car, they raised a shout not unlike that which greeted the Trojans after their triumphant return after defeating Notre Dame. Clark, good naturedly, took a bow while his companion waited in the shadow. “We want Mrs. Gable too!” the crowd shouted. It was then that Clark gave the retort courteous. Taking his wife’s hand, he led her out under the blaze of the arc lights. “Let me introduce you all,” said he, “to Mrs. Gable.”
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Gossip Friday: Splitsville for Mr. and Mrs. G?
From May 1932: An air gossiper recently started the rumor that the Clark Gables were about to get a divorce. Immediately the studio publicity department was overwhelmed with phone calls. Whether true or not immediately after the rumor started Mr. and Mrs. Gable were seen together conspiciously at a restaurant popular with movie stars and at the opening of the musical show. It is said that their apartment in a fashionable apartment house is the object of so much curiousity, and with so many peering eyes and listening ears that the Gables have decided to move out and into a house of their own to prevent surveillance.
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82 Years Ago, Clark Marries His Second Wife…For the Second Time?
It was 82 years ago today that 30-year-old Clark Gable married 47-year-old Maria “Ria” Franklin. According to the press at the time, it was a repeat ceremony because the one that had been performed months earlier in New York was suddenly discovered to be invalid in California. Well at least, that’s the way it was spun to the public… In many ways, it was easier to be a star back then. The studio assigned you your films, your co-stars, dictated your schedule; they covered up your affairs, paid off columnists to shoo away divorce rumors and personal scandals, and made sure the pictures of you that were published were…
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Gossip Friday: Buzzing about Mr. and Mrs. Clark Gable
From May 1932: The Monday following a recently notable Sunday, Hollywood was fairly buzzing with reports that the Clrk Gables had had a really serious disagreement–so serious, in fact, that the only ultimate outcome could be divorce. Some of us believed..and others didn’t, because ever since Clark has become so popular as a screen hero there have been rumors that all was not well in the Gable establishment. The Tuesday, after the Monday, after the Sunday, Gene Dennis, the girl-psychic wonder who’s been appearing on a local stage in Hollywood, was being interviewed by one of the magazine writers. The interviewer thought this a particularly good time to find out…