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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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Gossip Friday: Quite a Hazard
From November 1960: The hazards of choosing magazine cover subjects! The cover of the December issue of Cosmopolitan magazine just out, pictures a smiling Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable as exponents of the issue’s theme, “the pursuit of happiness.” Since the magazine went to press, Miss Monroe announced her plans to divorce Arthur Miller, and Clark Gable was the victim of a fatal heart attack.
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Gossip Friday: Not a New Big Romance
From February 1954: The most absurd publicity stunt of the month: the wire service which released a photograph of Marilyn Monroe dancing with Clark Gable and captioned it: THE NEW, BIG ROMANCE OF HOLLYWOOD. Clark was seated at her table at a party and invited Marilyn to twirl around the floor with him, the one and only meeting they ever had.
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Movie of the Week: The Misfits (1961)
This week, because Friday is the 58th anniversary of Clark Gable’s death, our movie is, of course, his final film: The Misfits (1961). Clark Gable is Gay Langland, an aging cowboy in Reno who avoids responsibility and anything tying him down. He and his buddy Guido (Eli Wallach) run into Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe), a depressed ex-dancer who is in Reno getting a divorce. She’s been staying with Isabelle (Thelma Ritter) to establish her residency requirement for the divorce, a very common practice. They all have nowhere to be and no one to answer to, so they decide to head out to Guido’s house in the Nevada desert. Although Guido actively…
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Marilyn Monroe and John Huston Remember Clark Gable
Clark Gable died 55 years ago today, at the age of 59. A heart attack struck him just days after finishing his final film, The Misfits, and a second one stilled his heart ten days after that. You can read more about his death and funeral here. See where he is buried here. The Misfits hit movie screens on February 1, 1961, on what would have been Clark’s 60th birthday. Clark had seen a rough cut and had declared it the best thing he’d ever done. Director John Huston and co-star Marilyn Monroe were both interviewed by the press around this time, and shared their memories of the late great…
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Dearest Marilyn
Here is a letter that Clark Gable’s widow Kay Williams Gable wrote to Marilyn Monroe on April 11, 1961: Dearest Marilyn, How about our little ‘carbon copy lover boy’–I am certain you have seen his press pictures. Just exactly like Clark. The ears are too close to his dear little head–I’ll fix that dept. later. Do let me know when you plan to return to California–I’ll let you be second nanny in charge. Later you may take him fishing. Guess I will be the one to teach him to shoot ducks. My work is really cut out for me. I feel certain his dearest father is watching his every…
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In a Nutshell: The Misfits (1961)
In a Nutshell: The Misfits (1961) Directed by: John Huston Co-stars: Marilyn Monroe, Eli Wallach, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter Synopsis: The last film of two icons of the screen, The Misfits is a poetic end to the careers of both Gable and Monroe. Gable is Gay Langland, an aging cowboy in Reno who avoids responsibility and anything tying him down. He and his buddy Guido (Wallach) run into Roslyn (Monroe), a depressed ex-dancer who is in Reno getting a divorce. She’s been staying with Isabelle (Ritter) to establish her residency requirement for the divorce. They all have nowhere to be and no one to answer to, so they decide to head…
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“The Misfits” through the lens of Eve Arnold
It was on November 4, 1960, 53 years ago today, that Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe filmed what would be their final scene ever onscreen. Sitting in the cab of a pick-up truck and gazing at the night sky as they traveled through the desert, Marilyn inquires, “How do you find your way back in the dark?” Clark, in a grainy and rather husky tone, responds, “Just head for that big star straight on. The highway’s under it, it’ll take us right home.” The music swells, the screen fades to black, and two stars are gone from us. I’ve had many a Clark Gable fan say to me that…
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Gossip Friday: Marilyn Monroe won’t be Clark’s “Lady”
From August 1955: Everybody at 20th Century Fox studio has been unhappy about Marilyn [Monroe], including Clark Gable. She was supposed to be his leading lady in “The Lumberjack and The Lady,” and the king was looking forward to playing opposite the Lady of the Calendars. What combo they’d make! ___ First I’ve heard of this project or even the prospect of Clark starring with Marilyn in 1955. Interesting. They’d have to wait five years…
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{New Article} 2001: A Man’s Man Off the Screen Too
This article is one I found during my recent trip to Los Angeles. It was published in the Los Angeles Times to commemerate Clark Gable’s 100th birthday. I particularly enjoyed this article because it is very casual in style–just the author describing what Clark was like while he talked to him. An interesting glimpse inside the man. Particularly funny is the description of Clark trying to run a simple errand and getting accosted on the street: A few minutes later he came out of the elevator wearing a double-breasted, camel hair wrap-around coat, a tan, wide-brim fedora hat, and the Gable grin. He was taller and more rugged looking than…
