Clark Gable
William Clark Gable arrived in the world on the 1st of February 1901, inside a small house in Cadiz, Ohio. His father worked as an oil-well driller while his mother practiced Catholicism before she died when he was ten months old. The family dispute over religion ended with him spending time on a farm in Vernon Township, Pennsylvania, under the care of his maternal uncle Charles Hershelman. He grew up tall and shy with a loud voice that often embarrassed him during childhood gatherings. His stepmother Jennie Dunlap taught him to play piano and insisted he wear well-groomed clothes despite his natural shyness. At age thirteen he became the only boy in the Hopedale Men's town band playing brass instruments. He loved repairing cars alongside his father who pushed him toward masculine activities like hunting and hard physical labor. Financial troubles forced his family to move to Palmyra Township near Akron, Ohio, where he soon left farming to work for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.
Gable found inspiration to become an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise at age seventeen but could not start until he turned twenty-one. He received three hundred dollars from a Hershelman trust which allowed him to pursue acting seriously. A local stage actor named Earle Larimore encouraged him to return to theater work after meeting him at Meier & Frank department store in Portland, Oregon. Gable joined The Astoria Players group and moved to Astoria, Oregon, touring with them until bankruptcy struck. Josephine Dillon became his acting coach and later his wife when they married on the 13th of December 1924, in California. She paid to fix his teeth and style his hair while guiding him through body control exercises that improved his posture. Her training helped lower his naturally high-pitched voice and made his facial expressions more natural and convincing. They traveled to Hollywood together in 1924 where she managed his career as well as being his spouse. He changed his name from W.C. Gable to Clark Gable and appeared as an extra in silent films like Erich von Stroheim's The Merry Widow released in 1925. His first major role came in Machinal with Zita Johann in 1928 where critics called him young vigorous and brutally masculine.
Gable joined the United States Army Air Forces on the 12th of August 1942 following Carole Lombard's death and completion of Somewhere I'll Find You. Commanding General Henry H. Arnold offered him a special assignment to make movies for the air forces after basic training. He entered USAAF OCS Class 42-E at Miami Beach Florida alongside cinematographer Andrew McIntyre who enlisted to accompany him. Both completed training by the 28th of October 1942 and were commissioned as second lieutenants. His class of about two thousand six hundred students selected him as graduation speaker before General Arnold presented their commissions. He flew five combat missions between May 4 and the 23rd of September 1943 as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses. During one mission his aircraft was damaged by flak which knocked out an engine and shot up the stabilizer. A crewman died while two others were wounded during that raid when flak went through Gable's boot and narrowly missed his head. He earned the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross for these efforts. Adolf Hitler favored Gable above all other actors and offered a sizable reward for capturing him unscathed. He returned to the United States in November 1943 to edit Combat America on an old Warner lot donated to the war effort.
Gable married Carole Lombard on the 29th of March 1939, during a production break on Gone with the Wind in Kingman Arizona. They honeymooned in room 1201 of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel after purchasing an Encino California ranch for fifty thousand dollars. The couple lovingly referred to each other as Ma and Pa while raising chickens and horses at their home. On the 16th of January 1942, Lombard boarded Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 3 carrying her mother and press agent Otto Winkler. Her Douglas DC-3 airliner crashed into Potosi Mountain near Las Vegas Nevada killing all twenty-two passengers aboard including fifteen servicemen en route to training. Gable flew to the crash site to claim bodies of his wife mother-in-law and Winkler who had been best man at their wedding. Lombard became first war-related American female casualty of World War II and he received personal condolence from President Roosevelt. Having lost weight since tragedy struck Gable remained emotionally and physically devastated yet Turner stated he stayed professional throughout filming. Esther Williams later said he was never the same after losing Lombard because he had been devastated by her death.
Gable's last film was The Misfits released posthumously in 1961 with script written by Arthur Miller and directed by John Huston. Co-stars included Marilyn Monroe Montgomery Clift Eli Wallach Thelma Ritter and Rex Bell during production in Reno Nevada. Many critics regard his performance as finest despite no Oscar nominations for the film which has since become a classic. Portraitist Al Hirschfeld created lithograph portraying stars Clift Monroe and Gable with screenwriter Miller suggesting typical on-the-set scene during troubled production. Eli Wallach recalled mustang wrangling scenes Gable insisted performing himself while noting he was professional going home at five p.m. to pregnant wife. His weight increased to two hundred pounds due to pasta consumption before starting crash diet targeting goal weight of one hundred ninety-five pounds. He briefly quit drinking and smoking to pass required physical for next movie. On the 8th of February 1960, Gable received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 1608 Vine Street honoring motion picture work. He died the 16th of November 1960 from second heart attack caused by infection after suffering first attack six days earlier at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.
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Common questions
When and where was William Clark Gable born?
William Clark Gable arrived in the world on the 1st of February 1901, inside a small house in Cadiz, Ohio. His father worked as an oil-well driller while his mother practiced Catholicism before she died when he was ten months old.
Who helped Clark Gable become an actor and what training did they provide?
Josephine Dillon became his acting coach and later his wife when they married on the 13th of December 1924, in California. She paid to fix his teeth and style his hair while guiding him through body control exercises that improved his posture and lowered his naturally high-pitched voice.
What military service did Clark Gable perform during World War II?
Gable joined the United States Army Air Forces on the 12th of August 1942 following Carole Lombard's death and completion of Somewhere I'll Find You. He flew five combat missions between May 4 and the 23rd of September 1943 as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses and earned the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross for these efforts.
How did Clark Gable lose his first wife Carole Lombard?
On the 16th of January 1942, Lombard boarded Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 3 carrying her mother and press agent Otto Winkler. Her Douglas DC-3 airliner crashed into Potosi Mountain near Las Vegas Nevada killing all twenty-two passengers aboard including fifteen servicemen en route to training.
When did Clark Gable die and what was his final film release date?
He died the 16th of November 1960 from second heart attack caused by infection after suffering first attack six days earlier at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. His last film The Misfits released posthumously in 1961 with script written by Arthur Miller and directed by John Huston.