Biography for
Clark Gable
Nicknames: Gable, The King
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Mini biography
On the strength of Gable's performance as the lead in a play, "The Last Mile", Lionel Barrymore tried to interest Irving Thalberg in this new actor. A screen test was made, and Thalberg
exclaimed, "Look at those big, batlike ears! Forget it, Lionel". But he was eventually hired by MGM and, with a new moustache (and some new teeth), he was on his way. Incidentally, the same role in "The
Last Mile" on Broadway brought Spencer Tracy to Hollywood, where he made a film called Up the River (1930) featuring a young Humphrey Bogart and directed by John Ford.
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IMDb mini-biography by
<craigcsonic.net>
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Mini biography
His mother died when he was seven months old. At sixteen he quit high school, went to work in an Akron tire factory, and decided to become an actor after seeing the play "The Bird of
Paradise". He toured in stock companies, worked oil fields and sold ties. In 1924 he reached Hollywood with the help of Portland OR theatre manager Josephine Dillon, who coached and (twelve years older) married
him. After bit parts he returned to theatre, becoming lifelong friends with Lionel Barrymore. After several failed screen tests (Barrymore and Zanuck) he was signed in 1930 by MGM's Irving Thalberg. Joan Crawford asked
for him as co-star in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) and the public loved him manhandling Norma Shearer in Free Soul, A (1931) the same year. His unshaven love-making with braless Jean Harlow in Red Dust (1932) made him
MGM's most important star. The studio punished him for refusing an assignment; he was farmed out to Columbia where he won an Oscar for It Happened One Night (1934). He returned to substantial roles at MGM, winning
nominations for Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939). When his third wife Carole Lombard died in a plane crash returning from a War Bond drive, a grief-stricken
Gable joined the Army Air Corps, out of movies for three years. When he returned the studio regarded his salary as excessive and did not renew his contract. He free-lanced, but his films didn't do well at the boxoffice.
He announced during filming of Misfits, The (1961) that, for the first time, he was to become a father. Two months later he died of a heart attack. He was laid to rest beside Carole Lombard at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
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IMDb mini-biography by
Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
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Spouse
'Kay Spreckles' (11 July 1955 - 16 November 1960) (his death); 1 son John Clark Gable
'Sylvia Ashley' (20 December 1949 - 21 April 1952) (divorced)
Carole Lombard (29 March 1939 - 16 January 1942) (her death)
'Rhea Langham' (19 June 1931 - 4 March 1939) (divorced)
Josephine Dillon (13 December 1924 - 1 April 1930) (divorced)
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Trivia
Adolf Hitler esteemed the film star above all
other actors, and during the war offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and return Gable unscathed to him.
A few months after his death, his wife gave birth to John Clark Gable. John is into racing
and has appeared in at least one film.
Actress Judy Lewis is Clark's illegitimate daughter by actress Loretta Young.
In the '70s his Encino, California estate was subdivided and turned into a very
upscale tract development called "Clark Gable Estates."
Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Trust, on the left hand side, next to Carole Lombard.
(1995) Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#36).
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Personal quotes
"The only reason they come to see me is that I know that life is great -- and they know I know it."
On his acting ability: "I worked like a son of a bitch to learn a few tricks and I fight like a
steer to avoid getting stuck with parts I can't play."
David O. Selznick: "Oh, Gable has enemies all right, but they all like him!"
A former girlfriend: "Of course, Clark never really
married anyone. A number of women married him; he just went along for the gag."
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Salary
Misfits, The (1961) $750,000 + $58,000 for each week of overtime
Soldier of Fortune (1955) $100,000
Gone with the Wind (1939) $120,000 (USA)
Actor - filmography
(1990s) (1980s) (1970s) (1960s) (1950s) (1940s) (1930s) (1920s)
Hollywood Commandos (1996) (archive footage) .... Himself
1950's: Music, Memories & Milestones, The (1988) (V) (archive footage) .... Himself
That's Dancing! (1985) (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! (1974) (archive footage)
Love Goddesses, The (1965) .... Himself
... aka Love Goddesses: A History of Sex in the Cinema, The (1965)
MGM's Big Parade of Comedy (1964) (uncredited) (archive footage)
... aka Big Parade of Comedy, The (1964)
Misfits, The (1961) .... Gay Langland
It Started in Naples (1960) .... Michael Hamilton
But Not for Me (1959) .... Russell 'Russ' Ward
Run Silent Run Deep (1958) .... Commander Richardson
... aka Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) (USA: poster title)
Teacher's Pet (1958) .... James 'Jim' Gannon
Band of Angels (1957) .... Hamish Bond
King and Four Queens, The (1956) .... Dan Kehoe
Soldier of Fortune (1955) .... Hank Lee
Tall Men, The (1955) .... Ben Allison
Betrayed (1954) .... Colonel Pieter Deventer
... aka True and the Brave, The (1954)
Never Let Me Go (1953) .... Philip Sutherland
Mogambo (1953) .... Victor Marswell
Lone Star (1951) .... Devereaux Burke
Callaway Went Thataway (1951) .... Cameo appearance
... aka Star Said No, The (1951) (UK)
Across the Wide Missouri (1951) .... Flint Mitchell
Key to the City (1950) .... Steve Fisk
To Please a Lady (1950) .... Mike Brannan
... aka Red Hot Wheels (1950)
Screen Actors (1950) (uncredited) .... Himself
Any Number Can Play (1949) .... Charley Enley Kyng
Command Decision (1948) .... Brig. General K.C. "Casey" Dennis
Homecoming (1948) .... Colonel Ulysses Delby 'Lee' Johnson
Hucksters, The (1947) .... Victor Albee Norman
Adventure (1945) .... Harry Patterson
Combat America (1943) .... Himself/Narrator
Show Business at War (1943) .... Himself
... aka March of Time Volume IX, Issue 10, The (1943)
Wings Up (1943) (voice) .... Narrator
Somewhere I'll Find You (1942) .... Jonathon 'Jonny' Davis
Honky Tonk (1941) .... Jederiah 'Candy' Johnson
You Can't Fool a Camera (1941) (uncredited) .... Himself
They Met in Bombay (1941) .... Gerald Meldrick, aka Mr. Gibbons/Captain Huston
Comrade X (1940) .... McKinley B. Thompson
Boom Town (1940) .... Big John 'The Moose'/'J.M.' McMasters
Strange Cargo (1940) .... Verne
Northward, Ho! (1940) (uncredited) .... Himself
Gone with the Wind (1939) .... Rhett Butler
Hollywood Hobbies (1939) (uncredited) .... Himself
Idiot's Delight (1939) .... Harry Van
Too Hot to Handle (1938) .... Chris Hunter
Test Pilot (1938) .... Jim Lane
Candid Camera Story (Very Candid) of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures 1937 Convention, The
(1937) (uncredited) .... Himself
Saratoga (1937) .... Duke Bradley
Parnell (1937) .... Charles Stewart Parnell
Love on the Run (1936) .... Michael 'Mike' Anthony
Cain and Mabel (1936) .... Larry Cain
San Francisco (1936) .... Blackie Norton
Wife vs. Secretary (1936) .... Van Stanhope
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) .... Lt. Fletcher Christian Master's Mate
China Seas (1935) .... Captain Alan Gaskell
Call of the Wild, The (1935) .... Jack Thornton
After Office Hours (1935) .... James 'Jim' Branch
Men in White (1934) .... Dr. Ferguson
Forsaking All Others (1934) .... Jeff Williams
Chained (1934) .... Michael 'Mike' Bradley
Manhattan Melodrama (1934) .... Edward 'Blackie' Gallagher
It Happened One Night (1934) .... Peter Warne
White Sister, The (1933) .... Giovanni Severi
Dancing Lady (1933) .... Patch Gallagher
Bombshell (1933) (uncredited) .... In movie clip with Lola
... aka Blonde Bombshell (1933) (UK)
Night Flight (1933) .... Jules
Hold Your Man (1933) .... Eddie
Jackie Cooper's Christmas Party (1932) .... Himself
No Man of Her Own (1932) .... Babe Stewart
Screen Snapshots (1932) .... Himself
Strange Interlude (1932) .... Ned Darrell
... aka Strange Interval (1932)
Red Dust (1932) .... Dennis Carson
Polly of the Circus (1932) .... Reverend John Hartley
Hell Divers (1932) .... Steve Nelson
Christmas Party, The (1931) (uncredited) .... Himself
... aka Christmas Story, A (1931)
Finger Points, The (1931) .... Louis Blanco
Possessed (1931) .... Mark Whitney
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) .... Rodney
... aka Rise of Helga, The (1931) (UK)
... aka Rising to Fame (1931)
Night Nurse (1931) .... Nick
Sporting Blood (1931) .... Rid Riddell
Free Soul, A (1931) .... Ace Wilfong
Laughing Sinners (1931) .... Carl Loomis
... aka Complete Surrender (1931) (USA)
Secret Six, The (1931) .... Carl Luckner
Painted Desert, The (1931) .... Rance Brett
Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) .... Jake Luva
Easiest Way, The (1931) .... Nick Feliki
North Star (1926) .... Archie West
Pacemakers, The (1925)
Plastic Age, The (1925) .... Athlete
Merry Widow, The (1925) (uncredited) .... Ballroom Dancing Extra
Declassée (1925) (uncredited) .... Extra
... aka Social Exile, The (1925)
Forbidden Paradise (1924) (uncredited) .... Extra
White Man (1924) .... Lady Andrea's Brother
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
Actor. (b. Feb. 1, 1901, Cadiz, Ohio, as William Clark Gable; d. Nov. 16, 1960.) Ironically, the role for
which this still-popular star is best remembered-that of Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind (1939)-was one he didn't want to play. In fact, the "King of Hollywood" initially passed on several of the
assignments that ultimately won him fame, and accepted several that he should have refused. Born into a transient family (his father was a wildcat oil driller), Gable dropped out of school and worked with his dad in the
Oklahoma oil fields for several years before joining a touring stock company to learn the acting business. Under the tutelage of actress Josephine Dillon (whom he married in 1924 even though she was 14 years older), the
dark-haired, jug-eared Gable worked diligently. While the couple was in Hollywood he got extra work in Forbidden Paradise (1924), The Merry Widow, The Plastic Age (both 1925), and other silent films, but juicy
opportunities weren't as plentiful as he'd initially hoped, and eventually he and Dillon split up.
Gable toured some more, even playing on Broadway, but then came back to Los Angeles and played the brutal Killer
Mears in a stage production of "The Last Mile" (which, in its Broadway incarnation, had launched the starring career of Spencer Tracy). His critically acclaimed performance led to several screen tests, and
while the major studios hesitated to hire him, he did finally snare a solid supporting role as a villain in The Painted Desert (1931), a Pathé Western starring Bill Boyd. He worked at Warner Bros. that same year,
playing gangsters in The Finger Points and Night Nurse (drawing gasps from audiences when he socked Barbara Stanwyck on the chin in the lat ter). But it was at MGM, where he first appeared in the Joan Crawford vehicle
Dance, Fools, Dance (1931, again as a gangster), that Gable would ultimately find success. A Free Soul (also 1931) saw him once again as a gangster, this time defended on a murder rap by free-wheeling attorney Lionel
Barrymore and romanced by the lawyer's equally free-spirited daughter Norma Shearer. Barrymore won an Oscar for his performance, but Gable was tagged a comer.
Sporting Blood (also 1931) saw him topbilled for the
first time. Metro soon tumbled to the fact that Gable, even though he played tough guys, appealed to women precisely because he was "dangerous." The studio labored mightily to keep him in films that would
capitalize on that persona while expanding his range. During the next few years he worked opposite most of MGM's female stars: Garbo in Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise (1932), Joan Crawford in Possessed (1931) and
Dancing Lady (1933), Norma Shearer in Strange Interlude (1932), Myrna Loy in Men in White and Manhattan Melodrama (both 1934), and especially, blond bombshell Jean Harlow in Red Dust (1932, probably the best of Gable's
early starring vehicles, and a huge hit) and Hold Your Man (1933). His popularity grew by leaps and bounds; nobody complained anymore about the size of his ears. And they seemed to like him both with and without
mustache.
But nothing boosted Gable's stock more than Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934). MGM honcho Louis B. Mayer loaned Gable to lowly Columbia Pictures to make this film as a means of disciplining the
unruly star. Gable feared that his appearance in a substandard picture would cost him much of his hardearned momentum. Capra, who'd landed Paramount's Claudette Colbert as well, convinced his players that they wouldn't
be embarrassed. Indeed, Gable's insouciant performance as a wisecracking reporter (opposite Colbert, as a runaway heiress) helped define his ultimate screen persona. The film was a sensational hit, and swept the Academy
Awards-with Gable himself collecting an Oscar for his work. (The only people who weren't happy with him were undershirt manufacturers; when Gable stripped off his shirt in one scene to reveal nothing underneath, sales
of men's undershirts reportedly plummeted.)
Back at Metro, Gable starred in Chained, Forsaking All Others (both 1934), and After Office Hours (1935)- pleasant but humdrum offerings-before racking up a string of
memorable hits later in 1935. Darryl F. Zanuck (who once screen-tested Gable and said he looked like an ape) borrowed him for The Call of the Wild a popular remake of the Jack London story that teamed him with beautiful
Loretta Young. Returning to his home studio, he top lined the atmospheric adventure China Seas and stayed afloat to play Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty one of MGM's biggest moneymakers and one of the handful
of films for which Gable (who was Oscarnominated for his work) is best remembered. And the hits kept on coming: Wife vs. Secretary, San Francisco, Cain and Mabel (all 1936), Saratoga (1937, again opposite Harlow, whose
untimely death during production necessitated much juggling of scenes and reshooting with a double), Too Hot to Handle, Test Pilot (both 1938, both with Myrna Loy), and Idiot's Delight (1939, out of his element, but
gamely playing a song-and-dance man performing "Puttin' on the Ritz"). His only flop during the period was Parnell (1937), a laborious biopic in which he was miscast as the popular Irish nationalist.
Millions of fans, as well as producer David O. Selznick and, reportedly, authoress Margaret Mitchell, saw Gable as the only man in Hollywood suited to play dashing Rhett Butler, the charismatic Southern gentleman of
Gone With the Wind Gable himself was less sanguine about the prospect, especially with director George Cukor at the helm. But the stakes were high: Selznick had guaranteed MGM full distribution rights and an
unprecedented share of the profits for Gable's services. Needless to say, by the time the troubled production finally premiered and Gable had spoken his immortal last line to Vivien Leigh's Scarlett
O'Hara-"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"everyone knew that it would be one of the most successful movies ever made. (Gable was again nominated for an Oscar.)
By this time Gable had married screen
star Carole Lombard, whom he'd known since they worked together in a 1932 Paramount potboiler, No Man of Her Own They began seeing each other after her divorce from William Powell in 1933 and finally married during the
production of Wind With two wives behind him, Gable seemed content at last with his new spouse, and his popularity continued unabated. In Strange Cargo, Boom Town (reunited with Colbert), Comrade X (all 1940), Honky
Tonk, They Met in Bombay (both 1941), Somewhere I'll Find You (1942)-Gable was in peak form. He could hardly make a false step.
Then tragedy intervened. Lombard, returning from a war bond drive in late 1942, died
in a plane crash. A crushed Clark Gable, sobered by the war and devastated by the loss of his beloved wife, enlisted in the Air Corps. He served with distinction, participating in several bombing raids over Nazi
Germany, achieving the rank of major, and ultimately receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. He returned to Hollywood in 1945, making a rather lackluster screen comeback in Adventure (about which the ad line
"Gable's Back and Garson's Got Him!" was the most memorable thing).
Gable never regained the box-office standing he'd enjoyed before the war. MGM still gave him top production mounting, the best
directors, and the pick of the studio's extensive star roster-but it just wasn't the same. The Hucksters (1947), Homecoming (1948), Any Number Can Play (1949), Key to the City (1950), Across the Wide Missouri (1951),
Lone Star (1952), Never Let Me Go (1953), and Betrayed (1954) all came and went without much discernible impact on Gable's career. Of his later Metro pictures, only Command Decision (1948), an all-star adaptation of a
hit Broadway play, showed a vibrant Gable in full command of his art. Mogambo (1953) confirmed that he was still as macho-and desirable to women-as ever. After all, how many other men could star in a remake of their own
21-year-old movie (1932's Red Dust) and get away with it?
By the time he left Metro in 1954 to freelance, Gable looked every bit the tired, restless matinee idol suggested by the toll of advancing years and
personal hardships. His fourth and fifth wives, Sylvia Ashley (formerly married to, and widowed by, Douglas Fairbanks) and Kay Spreckels, both bore resemblance to Lombard, for whom, it is said, Gable mourned the rest of
his life. Soldier of Fortune, The Tall Men (both 1955), The King and Four Queens (1956), Band of Angels (1957), Teacher's Pet (a welcome change-of-pace comedy), Run Silent, Run Deep (both 1958), But Not for Me (1959),
and It Started in Naples (1960) got by on the strength of his name and former popularity, but the King's reign was clearly drawing to a close. Director John Huston was able to channel Gable's weariness into what was his
last performance, that of an aging, brooding horse wrangler in Arthur Miller's The Misfits (1961, opposite Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift). It was a fine film, and demonstrated that the star-who performed most of
his own stunts during the arduous productioncould still deliver the goods, with the right motivation and guidance. Sadly, he never got another chance to do so: Clark Gable died of a heart attack shortly after completing
The Misfits He never saw it, nor the only child he fathered, John Clark Gable, who was born several weeks later. That son is today an actor. |
