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Happy 115th Birthday, Clark Gable!
Happy 115th Birthday, Clark Gable! In celebration, here are 115 random facts about The King of Hollywood: 1. Clark weighed 10 1/2 pounds at birth. 2. He was born at home with the assistance of the town doctor, who charged $10 for the delivery. 3. He was baptized Catholic, one of his dying mother’s final requests. His father was Methodist. 4. He was named Clark after his maternal grandmother’s maiden name. 5. Clark liked to wear trench coats in movies, considering them lucky. Burberry made him one especially for Comrade X and it instantly became his favorite; he kept it and wore it for twenty years. At an MGM auction in 1969,…
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January Movie of the Month: Chained (1934)
This month, the site’s friends on Facebook voted and chose this 1934 romantic comedy starring Clark and his most frequent leading lady, Joan Crawford, for January’s Movie of the Month. Gable is Mike Bradley, a South American rancher who falls for the glamorous Diana (Crawford) on a cruise ship. Diana falls for Mike too, despite the fact that she is romantically involved with a married Manhattan businessman, Richard (Otto Kruger). She decides to leave Richard for Mike but, upon her return home, Richard tells her he has finally left his wife for her. Diana feels obligated to marry Richard and Mike is left in the dust. This is certainly more…
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Gossip Friday: The Perfect Man
From November 1936: Virginia Bruce, who is seen with filmland’s most eligible young men, enjoys a variety of escorts, because, she says, “No one man combines all the qualities I like.” The perfect escort, according to the Hollywood actress, would have to possess the best points of the men. She lists them: Robert Taylor to make all the other girls jealous. Jack Dempsey for protection. Clark Gable for his manly characteristics. Noel Coward for his wit. Fred Astaire as a dancing partner. George Bernard Shaw for his intelligent conversation. William Powell for his spontaneous good humor. James Stewart for his lack of affectation. Cesar Romero for his polished manners. Francis…
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{New Article} 1950: Love Walked In
Here is another article Modern Screen magazine ran just a few months after the article I posted yesterday. This one goes into more (fluffy fluffy fluffy) detail about Clark and Sylvia’s “great romance.” For the actor he is, Clark Gable put on a bad performance these past few years. Loneliness stood out on him like a neon sign. The evenings he spent at his Encino ranch home, he’d wander from room to room, pick up a book and drop it, pick up a phone and decide not to call, sink into a chair and stare at nothing. The nights he went out the newshounds followed him to parties and theaters…
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{New Article} 1950: Fit For a King
This article was published in March 1950, one in a sea of articles heralding Clark Gable’s fourth marriage to Sylvia Ashley. They sat opposite me at Amelio’s, one of those restaurants in San Francisco where the steaks are tender and titanic. I tried not to stare. Clark and Sylvia Gable had been married only 48 hours. In another two, they would head for pier 32, and board the S.S. Lurline for Honolulu and their honeymoon. As I say, I tried not to stare. But after all, I’m a woman with a woman’s curiosity, and I couldn’t help myself. There, sitting opposite me was Clark Gable, the King, the most celebrated…
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Gossip Friday: Awkward Neighbors
From December 1937: There was an awkward moment at the tennis matches the other day when Clark Gable and Carole Lombard found themselves in the next box to Mrs. Rhea Gable.
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Gossip Friday: A Request to Regress
From January 1934: The latest report from The Merry Widow front is that Clark Gable has asked the studio to permit him to appear in the production as an extra. There are sentimental reasons behind the request. Gable was an extra in the silent version six years ago. The earlier Merry Widow won fame for Roy D’Arcy, whose name has passed from the lists of major stars now, and Clark is at the other end of the film see-saw. At the moment of writing there is very little prospect of the Metro moguls acceding to his request.
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{New Article} 1955: Clark Gable: After 25 Years in Hollywood, He’s On His Own
This article about post-MGM Clark was syndicated in newspapers in 1955. After a quarter of a century in the movie business, William Clark Gable, the acknowledged king of the actors, has decided at the ripe age of 54 to go on his own. “From here on in,” Gable confided recently in Durango, Mexico, where he was on location for The Tall Men, “I’m through working for salary. I’ve been on salary since 1930, and I’ve got less to show for that kind of security than most people think. “The thing for an actor to do nowadays is to work for a share of the picture’s profits. You’ve gotta take a…
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Gossip Friday: Happy New Year in Hawaii
From June 1950: December 31, 1949 was our last vacation day in Hawaii, and some friends and I decided to make it one we’d never forget. At 1:00am, after seeing the New Year in, we took one last spin along Waikiki Beach, hoping to meet some celebrities we could talk about back home. Suddenly a sparkling 1950 car drive up alongside ours, and a handsome person stretched out his head and yelled, “Happy New Year!” Surprised as we were, we quickly answered, “Happy New Year Clark Gable…Happy New Year, Mrs. Gable!” Winifred Chinem Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Gossip Friday: What’s Ahead for 1940
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! From January 1940, “Hollywood psychic” reveals what was in store for Clark Gable and Carole Lombard in that coming year: Both may expect a fine year. But there is someone in the background who is trying to make trouble for them. Clark faces a minor operation, and Carole must watch her health also. Toward the end of the year, a baby adoption is indicated. _____ Not so much….