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Gossip Friday: Salesmanship Going in for Showmanship
From December 1936: Salesmanship is going in for showmanship. Door-to-door salesmen and street vendors are imitating the stars to get their products across. Clark Gable was the first to discover the new sales method. As he was driving to his MGM “Parnell” set the other morning, Clark noticed a man dressed like Charlie Chaplin, with mustache, big shoes, cane and a derby hat. The fellow would ring a doorbell, do a Chaplin routine, and then go into a sales talk. Clark, interested by the demonstration, stopped to talk to the salesman, who, it developed, was selling Christmas cards. “It’s a swell way to get the attention of customers,” said the…
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Oscar Night! Clark Gable and Doris Day are Proud to Present…
On March 26, 1958, Clark Gable put on a tux (complete with tails, no less) and headed to the RKO Pantages Theater for the 30th Annual Academy Awards. He attended as a presenter with his Teacher’s Pet co-star, Doris Day. This marked one of the handful of times that Clark attended the awards and is especially significant because it is one of just a few occasions that he appeared on television. Clark and Doris presented the two awards for Best Screenplay, Adapted and Written for the Screen. Clark and Doris appear at 4:40, after Bob Hope does some stand-up (lot of Russian and I’m-never-nominated jokes). Notice they play the…
