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Gossip Friday: Mobbed by Fans
From May 1934: Clark Gable came home from his personal apperance tour minus dozens of handkerchiefs, twenty-seven coat buttons–and a dress-shirt sleeve. The crowd in Kansas City was so dense that the crack train he was on was delayed thirty minutes while the police broke through the mob and got Gable aboard. In Baltimore, police refused to let him sleep in his own hotel! A huge crowd had massed in the corridor outside his room. He anticipated seeing many old friends in New York–but didn’t see one of them. He had no time, and they couldn’t crash through the crowds! On that same page of gossip was this piece about…
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{New Article} 1939: The Hilarious Friendship of Clark Gable and Andy Devine
Clark Gable wasn’t a glamorous gent. Not in private. This is no more proved than by examining his close friends. No tuxedo-wearing nightclubbers. One of Clark’s close friends was funny-looking, funny-sounding film sidekick Andy Devine. You may not recall the name, but the voice is unmistakable! Peter Lawford referred to it as “an asthmatic vacuum cleaner!” There exists in all Hollywood no finer, truer friendship than the tie between Clark Gable and Andy Devine. And certainly no two men in any country anywhere can testify to more fun and sheer keen enjoyment than results from that friendship. It began when Andy rode over to Clark’s place to look at a…
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Gossip Friday: Carole Lombard’s Hair Styling Advice
From March 1937: We watched Carole Lombard swishing around on the “Swing High, Swing Low” set at Paramount the other day, attired in two inches of white chiffon and two carloads of white ostrich feathers. We thought it all looked pretty elegant, and couldn’t understand the worried look in Travis Banton’s face. “These gowns give me the jitters,” he said. “They’re strictly honky tonk fashions, but Lombard makes them look so modish that I’m afraid every woman in the country will copy them–and probably look like a herd of ostriches.” The hairdresser came up just then to arrange Carole’s blonde curls for a close-up. “This wave won’t stay in place…
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{New Article} 1937: Clark Gable Answers the Call of the Wild
No, this article from 1937 isn’t rehashing Clark Gable’s hit movie of the same name. It’s all about Clark going hunting for mountain lions. Which I did not find particularly thrilling, to be honest. The one interesting tidbit is the story of how Clark caught that wild mountain lion he gave to Carole Lombard, in his own words. “Our next cat didn’t give us such a long chase. The dogs had him treed and were dancing and howling below him when we arrived. Then I had to laugh. It was a cub, about six months old, and it was trying to put up a ferocious front. “I tried to think…
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70 Years Ago Today, Clark Gable Joins the Army
Within weeks of Carole Lombard’s untimely death in January 1942, rumors swirled that Clark Gable was going to give up Hollywood for good and take off for the Armed Forces like so many other stars had. Carole had wanted her “Pappy” to join while she was alive; in fact her last telegram to him urged him to “join this man’s [Roosevelt’s] army!” Not surprisingly, MGM was desperate to hold on to him, after having lost so many male stars to the service already and tried to dissuade him. Clark made no public statements one way or the other, so the public was left to speculate what was next for their…
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Gossip Friday: Spotting the Widower
Some gossip about Clark from the August after Carole Lombard’s death… From August 1942: Our most pleasant experience in many weeks: spotting Clark Gable dining out for the first time since his loss, accompanied by friends at the Vine Street Brown Derby. Later we saw him shaking hands with young soldiers who clustered around him. Gable looks more fit than he has in a long time, lean and tanned from riding to and from work on his motorcycle. Remember that old Ford that Carole Lombard dolled with fancy paint and gave to Clark Gable for a Valentine years ago? It was so much a part of their happy love story…
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Gossip Friday: Carole Lombard vs. a Bee
From November 1940: Carole Lombard reported on the “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” set with a huge bump on the nose and a lump on the ear, result of a Mr. and Mrs. fishing trip (Gable’s the Mr.) with two bees practically eating her up. Gable sends her a pound of honey a day, as a gag.
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Gossip Friday: Clark Pranks Spencer
From January 1941: You won’t find two greater pranksters in all of Hollywood than Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. So when Spencer returned to town from a trip to New York and found an invitation to dine with the Gables, he knew there was something up. Accompanied by Mrs. Tracy, he arrived at the Gable ranch, fully expecting some gag. All during dinner, he was on pins and needles waiting for the joke to pop. Up until the moment he and Mrs. Tracy were at the door ready to leave, he looked furtively about, expecting something to happen. But all had gone divinely well. Finally,Spencer mopped his brow nervously and…
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Gossip Friday: It’s a Wrap for Gone with the Wind
From October 1939: Most welcome news of a “completion party” for a picture came from Selznick studios. On one of the “Gone with the Wind” stages, refreshments were served and all who had worked on the picture were invited to come. Carole Lombard came, anyhow. Said her sense of curiosity drove her to it, since she’d never believe it was actually happening without seeing it with her own eyes. Cameraman Fred Parrish, who had made a record 6,000 stills for this one picture, arrived to take a few more of the party. But Gable insisted he put down the camera and relax. “As it is,” Gable pointed out, “you’ll probably be…
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Gossip Friday: Carole Waits for Her Man
From July 1937: True Love Note: Carole Lombard waited at the studio gates for Clark Gable to finish a couple of retakes the other night. She waited until 2:00am!!