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Gossip Friday: Ailing Eye
From January 1942: A hot rumor that Clark Gable was in one of the local hospitals under an assumed name suffering with eye inflammation kept this writer busy. After spending most of the day and half the night checking I learned Gable has had a bad cyst on his eye. He was told he should have it removed but so far he has not gone into the hospital. He was not able to go duck hunting as he planned but spent New Year’s Eve in town and went to a small private party with Carole Lombard.
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Gossip Friday: Not a Cowboy in This Grass
From March 1937: Clark Gable in a ten-gallon hat, and the duds of the plains–and maybe even wearing chaps…that’s an interesting vision, and one nearer the innate Gable personality than most, if you seriously consider (and why not?) how he favors the outdoors for recreation. This Clark Gable may be realized in “Sea of Grass,” for I understand there is much talk about his playing the lead in that picture, regarded as a follow-up (in American environment) for “The Good Earth-“–with its Chinese. “Sea of Grass: is an epic programmed for late in the year at MGM. Sidney Franklin is already settled on as its director. Spencer Tracy will probably…
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Gossip Friday: Storks Flying West?
From December 1939: The movie colony is as excited as a couple of maiden aunts over the persistent rumor that both Carole Lombard and Barbara Stanwyck are expecting babies. There’s no denying that Miss Lombard isn’t herself on the set these days. More than once she has displayed a Victorian fragility quite uncommon to her usual vivacious character by fainting during the filming of “Vigil in the Night.” For future father Clark Gable there may be some vigils in the night yet to come. Miss Stanwyck has been cancelling her picture engagements and now has no future commitments. Enjoying this period of inactivity with her is handsome husband Bob Taylor.…
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Gossip Friday: One Foot in Front of the Other
From April 1939: Walter Pidgeon became indignant when he read that Clark Gable, with a 11 1/2 shoe size, claimed the largest acting foot in Hollywood. Pidgeon picks ’em up and lays ’em down with size 13 and all his shoes and socks are made to order.
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{New Article} 1934: Clark Gable Replies
As a followup to this article posted this week, “An Open Letter to Clark Gable,” here’s Clark’s response to claims that he’s gone “high hat.” Anyhow, thanks for the kick in the pants. Perhaps I needed it. I just finished rereading your open letter to me in the August issue of HOLLYWOOD and if talk like that is going around, you can tell the world I want to answer it. You ask if I’m going high-hat. My answer is No! You ask if I’m going social, if I’ve traded my turtleneck sweaters for a tuxedo. No again! I’d rather climb into a leather jacket and a pair of hiking boots…
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{New Article} 1934: An Open Letter to Clark Gable
This article is one of these “Open Letters” that often appeared in fan magazines of the period; they would be written by fan magazine writer “friends” of the star and then the following month the star would “respond.” When Laurette Taylor became a big star in Peg O’ My Heart, she noticed that the audiences were not as friendly to her as they had been at the beginning of the play. She complained to her husband, Hartley Manners, author of the play, and asked him why. “Because,” said Manners, “when you were on the way up you asked your audience to love you. Now that you are on top, you…
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{New Article} 1934: Gable-Crazy!
This article from June 1934 details some of the outlandish experiences Clark Gable had with crazy fans on his public appearance tour to the east coast. It’s not easy being a film star, folks: A toll of Gable’s losses on his short trip includes the following articles: 27 silk handkerchiefs 33 buttons torn from his clothes 1 complete sleeve of a dress shirt 1 lapel from the coat of a business suit 1 pair of bedroom slippers 1 top half of a pair of silk pajamas 1 wrist watch Anybody find that their grandmother or great-grandmother had one of Clark Gable’s buttons or shirt sleeves? Many and strange were the…
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Gossip Friday: Not So Hot
From February 1934: Baltimore–Clark Gable, the movie star, who is supposed to send the female heart a-fluttering, may not be so hot. Two hundred and fifty Washington misses were invited to have tea with the one and only Gable, appearing here in a theatrical tour, and 13 came. ___ Poor Clark. Any volunteers?
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{New Article} 1934: Why I Like To Be Alone
Here is another article from 1934. This one is a typical “Clark Gable isn’t into the glamour and glitz of Hollywood! He is an outdoorsy, simple man just like you!” piece. “Hollywood is over-civilized! A man could go soft in this place in a month. I had to fight like the devil during the first year or so to keep my perspective. Too much chatter. Too many parties. Too much bunk! That’s why I took to going off the backwoods by myself. I had to do that or go crazy…” This was Clark Gable—the last of Hollywood’s Great Untamed—speaking. “The Last of Hollywood’s Great Untamed”—oh brother. He looks you…
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{New Article} 1934: Clark Gable’s Real Family Life!
Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing new-to-the-site articles from the year 1934. We’ll start out with this one, which proclaims with an exclamation point that it’s about Clark Gable’s Real Family Life! A rather deceptive title. Clark at this time was a superstar; 1934 saw him win national acclaim for his performance in It Happened One Night, and his films with Joan Crawford that year had been hits. His studio, MGM, was not too pleased that their manly man star that had women falling at his feet came with a much older, matronly wife with two kids in tow. But that’s what they had to work with, so…
