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Remembering Clark Gable
Clark Gable died 63 years ago today. He was 59 years old. The Los Angeles Evening Herald Express, Thursday, November 17, 1960: Marilyn Monroe Weeps for Gable by Bus Engleman It was my sad task to break the news of Clark Gable’s death to Marilyn Monroe, who co-starred with “The King of Hollywood” in the last picture he’ll ever make. “Oh, God, what a tragedy,” Marilyn sobbed, almost unable to believe it. I had gone to her apartment at 44 E, 57th St. at 4am and called her on the house phone. Her maid awakened her and she came to the phone sleepy voiced. The news that the man she…
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{75th Anniversary of Carole Lombard’s Death} January 23, 1942
Now that Carole had been properly laid to rest, the focused shifted to the grieving widower. Gable To Seek Solace in Work Clark Gable, turned from a swashbuckling, carefree prankster into a depressed, grief-stricken recluse by the tragic death of Carole Lombard, will seek solace in work. The fun-loving screen star was so anguished by loss of his wife that he wanted only to be alone. Shielded by studio executives, Gable has been so alone that friends became alarmed at his depressed brooding. Gable hasn’t yet gone to his Encino ranch where he and Carole lived so fully and joyously. He’s in seclusion at a friend’s home. He has left…
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{75th Anniversary of Carole Lombard’s Death} January 22, 1942
The morning of January 22 brought details from Carole and her mother’s brief funeral, held the day before. Simple Funeral Rites Held for Carole Lombard Actress is Buried With Other Movie Immortals in Memorial Park Carole Lombard was with the other movie immortals in Forest Lawn Memorial Park today. After a brief, simple service–in accordance with the wish expressed in her will–the bodies of Miss Lombard and her mother, Elizabeth K. Peters, were interred in the green acres where are buried Marie Dressler, Will Rogers, Jean Harlow, Douglas Fairbanks, Lon Chaney, Tom Mix and many another movie star. The sealed coffins of Miss Lombard and her mother, killed in last…
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{75th Anniversary of Carole Lombard’s Death} January 21, 2016
January 21 brought news of Carole’s funeral to be held later that day at Forest Lawn. Carole Lombard Funeral at Forest Lawn Private funeral services, with only intimate friends present, were arranged for 4:00pm today, in the Church of the Recessional, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, for screen star Carole Lombard and her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters. The bodies, recovered from the Nevada mountain top where a commercial airliner carried 22 persons to their deaths last Friday night, were taken from a train at Pomona this morning and transported by hearse to the cemetery. Carole Lombard’s husband, Clark Gable, issued a statement, saying: “Miss Lombard and her mother,…
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{75th Anniversary of Carole Lombard’s Death} January 19, 1942
By Monday, the reports were grim indeed. Dental Records Needed to Identify Remains of Carole Lombard Gable Grim But Brave During Long Ordeal Tentative arrangements were made today to return the shattered body of Film Star Carole Lombard, killed with her mother and 20 others in an airliner crash Friday night, to Hollywood tonight in custody of her grieving husband, Clark Gable Plans called for the body to be placed on the Union Pacific, Los Angeles Limited leaving Las Vegas at 9:20pm and arriving Los Angeles at 8:30am tomorrow. Definite arrangements were delayed pending positive identification of the body of Miss Lombard’s mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Peters. Studio associates of Gable…
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{75th Anniversary of Carole Lombard’s Death} January 18, 1942
By the time Americans received their Sunday morning papers on January 18, the headlines changed from Carole Lombard being “feared” dead to being a confirmed casualty. Carole Lombard Among 22 Killed in Air Crash Blonde, carefree screen actress Carole Lombard, her mother and 20 other occupants of a luxurious TWA skysleeper crashed to flaming death last night on 8,5000-foot Table mountain. Searchers on horseback reached the scene today, nearly 18 hours later, and found the shattered wreckage, with bodies scattered for hundreds of yards up the mountain’s face/ Because 15 army ferry pilots were aboard, army guards were sent to the scene to take charge. A patrol also barred the…
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{75th Anniversary of Carole Lombard’s Death} January 17, 1942
Yesterday we looked at the headlines from the day of Carole Lombard’s death, published before she perished in a plane crash later that day. The next morning, the world was greeted with the frightful headlines: Carole Lombard Among Those On Plane That Has Crashed In West Screen Star, Army Men Crash Victims Carole Lombard Feared Dead in Plane Crash Carole Lombard, 20 Others on Wrecked Airplane Carole Lombard, Screen Actress, 15 Army Fliers Among Accident Victims Hollywood Performers Weep at Death of Carole Lombard Carole Lombard Believed Victim of Air Tragedy They all said the same thing, in different ways. Carole Lombard and 21 Others Killed As Air Liner Crashes…
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Remembering Clark Gable
Today, November 16, marks 56 years since Clark Gable passed away at the age of 59. You can read about his death and funeral here. Below are the past years memorial tributes: 2015: Marilyn Monroe and John Huston Remember Clark Gable 2014: Goodbye, Mr. Gable (Clark’s final days, as told by his widow) 2013: In Memory 2012: Goodbye, Mr. Gable (Time Magazine) 2011: Hollywood Loses Its King 2010: In Tribute 2009: Rest in Peace This newspaper article ran across the country on November 17: Gable is Gone–And There is No One to Replace Him by Vernon Scott News of the death late Wednesday of Clark Gable, 59-year-old idol of…
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Goodbye, Mr. Gable
Clark Gable died 54 years ago today, on November 16, 1960. He was 59 years old. Here is the description of his final ten days on earth, detailed by his widow, Kay. The last day Clark spent in the house he loved began much as any other day on the ranch, except that it was raining. It was Saturday, Nov. 5, 1960. The night before, Pa had finally finished all work on The Misfits and he came home looking so worn out my heart ached for him. He talked of flying up to the duck club near Stockton for the weekend, but changed his mind. Saturday morning he looked…
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Goodbye, Mr. Gable
Fifty two years ago today, Clark Gable died in Los Angeles at age 59. Described by many as a man they thought would live forever, his death came as a great shock to his friends, family and fans. The obituary piece that ran in the following week’s TIME magazine: A Hero’s Exit Time Magazine, November 28, 1960 “I’ve laughed about my so-called death before,” he said last year, when his health seemed excellent and he smilingly scotched the sort of morbid rumor that forever comes up in the career of an aging giant. Of course he was not dead. The lines of his face had deepened and the skin had…
