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Gossip Friday: No Photos Please
From September 1949: Hyman Fink, longtime Photoplay magazine photographer: “Many a sleepless night I’ve spent scheming up ways to grab a Clark Gable exclusive. Clark has a neat way of stalling. Whenever a cameraman wants a picture of him, he takes away their camera and starts shooting them. Once, on the set of one of his films, he had me posing all over the place. I’ve a sneaking suspicion that Gable has more pictures of Fink than Fink has of Gable. Clark also had a ban about pictures being taken of his home. But I managed to fool him with a telescopic lens. I climbed the hill behind his house…
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Gossip Friday: Mr. and Mrs. Gable in Nashville
From January 1941: Nashville, TN: Gable, Lombard Smilingly Give Autographs in Stopover Here Clark Gable and Carole Lombard smilingly gave autographs and had a cheery greeting for nearly a hundred persons who had gathered to see the movie stars in their brief stopover at Berry Airport last night. The two were en route to Hollywood via American Airlines from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore where Gable underwent an operation for an abscessed tooth and where Mrs. Gable had taken a room to be near him. They were accompanied by Howard Strickling, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer representative, who said Gable’s next starring vehicle will be “Soapy Smith,” a roistering romance of the Colorado mineral…
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{New Article} 1946: Are You The Girl For Clark Gable?
This article is run-of-the-mill for the period. After Carole Lombard died and Clark was home from the war, every article was about who would be the next Mrs. Gable and what kind of women he likes. Hey but this one included a quiz! (and yes, it’s quite sexist) Take this test to see if you’re the girl for Gable. Are you mature in your manner? Do you have a quick mind? Do you possess a quality or knowledge which would make you interesting to Clark? Are you honest, frank, direct? Do you have a sense of humor? Are you good at gay small talk? Can you intelligently discuss engines, hunting,…
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2020 Year in Review
So our 11th year has come and gone. I’m not going to wax poetic on 2020 here. Let’s just all agree that a lot happened this year so things didn’t exactly go according to plan. But we did have a Gossip Friday every Friday. For the 60th anniversary of Clark Gable’s death, I posted never-before-seen color photos from Clark’s funeral. Screen legend Olivia de Havilland, Gone with the Wind‘s Melanie, died at the age of 104. We celebrated Clark’s 119th birthday. The following new articles were added to the site: 1931: Tongue in His Cheek 1932: What the Future Holds for Clark Gable 1935: Why I Stay Married 1945: Clark…
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Gossip Friday: Happy New Year
From January 1, 1957: Hollywood Throws $125,000 Party The film colony’s upper crust welcomed the new year with a $125,000 party in Texas style at Mike Romanoff’s restaurant. Texas oilman David (Tex) Feldman picked up the tab and was so exclusive about his guest list that he refused to let Clark Gable and Gable’s wife, the former Kay Spreckels, bring along two friends… A seven course dinner along with seven kinds of wine was served. The entertainment bill, which featured singer Edith Piaf, cost Feldman $7,500. The costume motif was styled in the gay 90s fashion after the musical “My Fair Lady.” The main party room was turned into a…
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Gossip Friday: To Carole from Clark
From November 1936: The Clark Gable-Carole Lombard gift swapping reached a new glittering high the other day. It was from him to her–a gorgeous chromium bag, with Carole’s monogram in rubies like a neon sign!
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Gossip Friday: Closed for the Holidays
From January 1946: Clark Gable will spend the holidays in New York or Florida. The ranch again will be closed. When Carole Lombard was alive the ranch was a festive place at Christmas. The other night the Gable ranch saw its first party in several years with Clark entertaining about twelve of us at a charming buffet supper. Among the guests were Victor Fleming who directed “Adventure,” which brings Clark back to the screen, Diana and Bill Powell and Mrs. Jay (Dolly) O’Brien. We had barbecued lamb that was delicious. I asked Dolly O’Brien–it’s with her and her large family that Clark will spend the holidays–if she and Clark would…
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Gossip Friday: Below Freezing
From March 1947: Clark Gable and Lana Turner are another pair of movie lovers who are not presently what you might call friendly. During “Homecoming,” the atmosphere on the set was below freezing they tell me. And that’s really strange because Lana and Clark are the two sexiest characters in the film business. I mean, if anyone can out-sexy Clark, it’s Lana–and vice versa. I’m told they had an outside date once and something went wrong. However, they’re both too smart to let it show in their movies.
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Gossip Friday: Lunch with Buster
From December 1931: Buster Keaton got generous one day and invited the entire cast of “Possessed” to be his guests for luncheon. Joan Crawford and Clark Gable were the honored guests. Then he served them corned beef with cabbage and onions. And that afternoon Joan and Clark had to do a big love scene. Oh, Buster!
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Gossip Friday: Follow the Peanut Shells
From October 1932: Clark Gable is the least food conscious person on the MGM lot. Dinner is the big meal for Clark, but once in a while for luncheon he’ll order his favorite sandwich (if he’s working hard) that rivals the Empire State Building (tower included) for dizzy heights. It’s a double-double decker including bacon, Swiss cheese, roast beef and minced eggs. And it’s Clark (heavy lover) Gable who carries pockets and pockets of peanuts. They keep track of Clark on the MGM lot simply by tracing the peanut shells.
