[15] He changed his stage name from W. C. Gable to Clark Gable[6]:29 and appeared as an extra in such silent films as Erich von Stroheim's The Merry Widow (1925), The Plastic Age (1925) starring Clara Bow, and Forbidden Paradise (1924) starring Pola Negri. [93][94], Gable followed this up with Homecoming (1948), where he played a married doctor enlisting in World War II and meeting Lana Turner's army surgical nurse character with a romance unfolding in flashbacks. Joan Crawford was a favorite actress of his to work with,[4] and he partnered with her in eight films. [2] He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades of which was as a leading man. "Box Office Champs: The Most Popular Movies from the Last 50 Years", M & M Books. Dorfler introduced Gable to Josephine Dillon, who would become his acting coach, manager, and then his wife. [49] After Boom Town no more Gable-Tracy partnerships were possible; Tracy's success led to a new contract and both stars had conflicting stipulations requiring top billing in MGM movie credits and on promotional posters. [6]:268, Gable was awarded military honors for service: the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. [6][7][8], Gable hosted the reality show Cheaters from seasons 13 to 15. [12], Gable was inspired to become an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise at age 17, but he was unable to make a start in acting until he turned 21 and received his $300 inheritance from a Hershelman trust. Having lost 20 pounds since the tragedy, Gable evidently was emotionally and physically devastated, but Turner stated that Gable remained a "consummate professional" for the duration of filming. In addition to McIntyre, he recruited the screenwriter John Lee Mahin, camera operators Sgts. [107] The new studio head, former production chief Dore Schary, struggled to maintain profits for the studio. His other several films, including "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Gone With the Wind," earned him huge success. His class of about 2,600 students (of which he ranked about 700th) selected Gable as its graduation speaker. The film cost $2million and grossed $4.5million, making it one of the top moneymakers that decade. [6]:18 After the couple's audition for The Astoria Players, Gable's lack of training was evident, but the theater group accepted him after cajoling from Larimore. Clark Gable III died of an accidental fentanyl overdose . [2] "His ears are too big and he looks like an ape", said Warner Bros. executive Darryl F. Zanuck about Gable, after testing him for the second male lead in the studio's gangster drama Little Caesar (1931). In the final years of his life, however, Gable seemed to be on the upswing. ". William Clark Gable was born on February 1, 1901, in Cadiz, Ohio, to William Henry "Will" Gable (18701948), an oil-well driller,[4][5] and his wife Adeline (ne Hershelman). Judy Lewis, Secret Daughter of Hollywood, Dies at 76 By Paul Vitello Nov. 30, 2011 Her mother was Loretta Young. Clark James Gable, the grandson of the 1930s Hollywood star Clark Gable and former host of the syndicated reality series "Cheaters," has died at the age of 30, according to his family. Gable's family confirmed the death to TMZ which reported the cause of death was unclear. The grandson of Clark Gable died at the age of 30 from an accidental overdose of fentanyl, oxycodone and alprazolam (generic Xanax . Many long-time MGM stars were fired, or their contracts were not renewed, including Greer Garson and Judy Garland. [162], Along with actor Kent Taylor, Clark Gable served as the inspiration behind the name of Superman's alter-ego Clark Kent. The Dallas County Medical Examiner's office says an autopsy found Clark James . The movie also proved to be the final performance of his co-star Marilyn Monroe. [147], In 1935, Clark Gable allegedly date-raped co-star Loretta Young while on an overnight train from a studio location to Hollywood. Gable and Dillon separated, filing for divorce in March 1929, while he began working on the play Hawk Island in New York which ran for 24 performances. Please fill in your e-mail so we can share with you our top stories! Miller's wife, actress Marilyn Monroe, co-starred with Gable and legendary actor Montgomery Clift. Movie Actor. Gary Cooper was Selznick's first choice. Gable was one of the most consistent box-office performers in the history of Hollywood, appearing on Quigley Publishing's annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll sixteen times. "[53] By then, Selznick had become determined to hire Gable, and set about finding a way to borrow him from MGM. "The Misfits" had a slew of Hollywood and literary heavyweights associated with the project. [17], He became lifelong friends with Lionel Barrymore, who initially scolded Gable for what he deemed amateurish acting but nevertheless urged him to pursue a stage career. Here Are All His Criticised Comments, Tom Brady & Pregnant Bridget Moynahan Split - She Wed Husband at Secret Ceremony 9 Years Later, Martin Sheen's Longtime Wife Helped Him 'Heal Psychically' When He Thought He Was Going to Die, Liam Neeson Never Did Know How Much Older Helen Mirren Was - It Was Difficult for Him to Be In Her Shadow, Kirk Douglas' Childhood Made Him a Charitable Man Yet None of His Kids Got a Penny from His Fortune. "[59] The role was one of Gable's most layered performances and partially based on the personality of director and friend Fleming. Gable was still legally married, having prolonged an expensive divorce from his second wife, Ria Langham, until his salary from Gone with the Wind enabled him to reach a divorce settlement with her on March 7, 1939. They were separated in 1935 and were subsequently divorced in March, 1939. [128] In a 2002 documentary Eli Wallach recalled the mustang wrangling scenes Gable insisted on performing himself, "You have to pass a physical to film that" and "He was a professional going home at 5 p.m. to a pregnant wife". [151] In 2015, Young's daughter-in-law alleged that Young had said in 1998 that Judy Lewis was conceived by date rape. A native of Cadiz, Ohio, Gable broke into the movies after a fling as a roustabout in the Texas and Oklahoma oilfields. On March 29, during a production break on Gone with the Wind, Gable and Lombard were married in Kingman, Arizona[6]:200201 and honeymooned in room 1201 of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. Newspaper headlines remembered Gable as one of film's top stars. 528 CA.[137][138]. [4]:189201 They met while filming 1932's No Man of Her Own, when Lombard was still married to actor William Powell. He was one of its highest-paid stars, Los Angeles Times reported. The couple learned that they were expecting their first child together in 1960, and Gable planned to take a break from work when their little one arrived, according to the Los Angeles Times. She paid to have his teeth fixed and his hair styled. William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 November 16, 1960) was an American film actor. [19] He then moved to New York City, where Dillon sought work for him on Broadway. We believe that every person's story is important as it provides our community with an opportunity to feel a sense of belonging, share their hopes and dreams. Gable never got the opportunity to see his son, John Clark Gable, who was born four months after Clark's death, according to United Press International. He starred in many classic movies like It Happened One Night and Gone wi. He took his fifth wife, Kay Williams Spreckles, a 37-year-old divorcee, in 1955. He was 30 years old. pg. He's Making Eyes at Me'--Foreign Film Opens", "From the Archives: Clark Gable joins the Army", "Clark Gable | American Air Museum in Britain", "Virginia Grey, a Veteran Of 100 Films, Dies at 87", "THE SCREEN; ' The Hucksters', Starring Gable and Kerr, Opens at Capitol 'Slave Girl', Take-Off on Film Adventures, Has Twin Debut", "Gable marries Sylvia, more details with Muir", "THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'Mogambo', With Ava Gardner and Clark Gable, Presented at Radio City Music Hall", "Letters show another side to Grace Kelly", "Series takes Loren back to where it all started", "Screen: Backdrop for Sophia Loren:Appears With Gable in 'It Started in Naples' Kept in Foreground by Cameras and Script", "Gable and Monroe Star in Script by Miller", "Gran Loggia 2017. [133] By the morning of November 16, he seemed to be improving,[134] but he died that evening at the age of 59 from a second heart attack caused by an infection. He later conceded, "I think I know now how a fly must react after being caught in a spider's web. Caldwell, hospital administrator, said it was assumed that another heart attack took the actors life. The supporting role was originally slated for James Cagney until the release of The Public Enemy catapulted him to star status. The star was taken to the hospital for treatment, and he seemed to be doing okay. [131] [132], On November 6, 1960, Gable was sent to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, where doctors found that he had suffered a heart attack. [100], Mogambo (1953), directed by John Ford, was a somewhat sanitized and more action-oriented remake of Gable's hit pre-Code film Red Dust, with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor. [24] The Hollywood Reporter wrote "A star in the making has been made, one that, to our reckoning, will outdraw every other star Never have we seen audiences work themselves into such enthusiasm as when Clark Gable walks on the screen. His death came just weeks after he finished shooting The Misfits, which also marked the last screen appearance of his co-star Marilyn Monroe. 224. He had suffered one heart attack earlier in his life, and he was known for his heavy drinking and smoking habit. MGM arranged for his studio friend, the cinematographer Andrew McIntyre, to enlist with him and accompany him through training. Twenty-two years later Kay Gable died and was interred there as well. He also starred with Lana Turner in four features, and in three each with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner. During the filming, a doctor was on call 24 hours a day for both Monroe and actor Montgomery Clift, who starred as Perce Howland, because both were encountering health issues with liquor and medical stimulants. "He was sitting up, then he put his head back on the pillow and that was that.". But his sudden death in 1960 left fans wondering what other great performances he might have given if he'd had the time. [157] The novel's author, Capt. Gable, a native of Cadiz, Ohio, was long the undisputed "king" of movieland. Tall and charming, he starred in such popular hits as "It Happened One Night" (1934, for which he won the Oscar), "Gone with the Wind" (1939), and "The Misfits" (1960), per IMDb. Kay Williams' son was not an exception; he is known as John Clark Gable. (1925). The film was made on location in Nevada, and its stars had to cope with the area's brutal heat. Clark Gable III's cause of death was an accidental drug overdose of fentanyl, oxycodone, and alprazolam (Xanax). The 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail contained a reference to impersonating Gable in the song performed by the Knights of the Round Table. A legend of the silver screen with appearances in genre-defining films such as Gone . When Gable and Dillon married in 1924, Gable was 23 and Dillion was 40; the couple divorced in 1930. The film was ninety percent completed, and the remaining scenes were filmed with long shots or the use of doubles like Mary Dees; Gable said he felt as if he were "in the arms of a ghost". | Photo: Getty Images. He was discovered dead in his bed by his fiance. Lieutenant Jimmy Stewart, another actor in uniform, has been doing this. Their task is to choose caskets. DALLAS (AP) A medical examiner says the grandson of actor Clark Gable died of an accidental drug overdose. [2], Gable was a grandson of actor Clark Gable, the son of John Clark Gable and Tracy Yarro, and the younger brother of actress Kayley Gable. It was suspected that he had been struck by yet another heart attack. I think that I sincerely doubt that there will ever be another like Clark Gable; he was one of a kind. The couple divorced on March 7, 1939.[139]. Clark Gable and wife Kay Spreckels at the premier of "The Spirit of St. Louis" in Los Angeles, California on April 11, 1957. He plays Jim Lane, the test pilot of the title; Tracy is his sidekick mechanic, Gunner Morse. Studio head Louis B. Mayer was fired in 1951, amid slumping revenue and increased Hollywood production costs, due in large part to the rising popularity of television. In November 1943, Gable returned to the United States to edit his film, on an old Warner's lot donated to the war effort, assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit) at Culver City, California, where other stars contributed with any film equipment they had as well. "He had been devastated by Carole's death. [58] Olivia de Havilland made him cry, later commenting, "Oh, he would not do it. Nineteen months after the birth, she claimed to have adopted the baby. [141] John Clark raced cars and trucks most notably in the Baja 500 and 1000,[142] turning down Hollywood offers to act until Bad Jim (1990), a straight to video film. It Happened One Night became the first movie to sweep all five of the major Academy Awards, with Gable winning for Best Actor and Colbert for Best Actress. He was a qualified aerial gunner having received his wings upon completion of flexible gunnery school at Tyndall field. [63] They purchased a ranch previously owned by director Raoul Walsh in Encino, California, for $50,000 making it their home. "[153], Doris Day summed up Gable's unique personality: "He was as masculine as any man I've ever known, and as much a little boy as a grown man could beit was this combination that had such a devastating effect on women. Here is all you want to know, and more! [10] He later took up brass instruments, becoming the only boy in the Hopedale Men's town band at age 13. [6]:200201 Lombard died in a plane crash less than three years later. thought the 41-year-old actor could best serve by increased patriotic roles in movies and bond drives, which Lombard tirelessly began. Actress Marilyn Monroe poses for a portrait, circa 1952. He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades of which was as a leading man.Gable died of a heart attack at the age of 59; his final on-screen appearance was as an aging cowboy in The Misfits . [66], On January 16, 1942, Lombard was a passenger on Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 3 with her mother and press agent Otto Winkler. Gable flew five combat missions, including one to Germany, as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses between May 4 and September 23, 1943, earning the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. Screenwriter Larry Gelbart, as quoted in James Garner's biography stated that Gable, " refused to go down with the submarine, because Gable doesn't sink." [122] Filmed mostly on location in Italy, it was Gable's last film released in color. In 1961, it was a somewhat disconnected film with its antihero western themes, but it has since become a classic. He then appeared in a total of 67 theatrically released motion pictures, as himself in 17 "short subject" films, and he narrated and appeared in a 1945 World War II propaganda film entitled Combat America, produced by the United States Army Air Forces. The heir to the famous actor has two . He served as a tail gunner and went on to earn the rank of major. [54] Gable phoned the film's director Victor Fleming and told him, "If you don't get those signs down, you won't get your Rhett Butler." Clark Gable III was the host of the reality show "Cheaters" as well as an actor and the grandson of Hollywood legend Clark Gable. Gable died of a heart attack at the age of 59; his final on-screen appearance was as an aging cowboy in The Misfits, released posthumously in 1961. [20] After his failed screen test for Zanuck, Gable was signed in 1930 by MGM's Irving Thalberg for $650 per week. [82], On August 17, 1942, shortly after his enlistment, he and McIntyre were sent to Miami Beach, Florida, where they entered USAAF OCS Class 42-E. William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 - November 16, 1960) was an American film actor. A few months after the United States entered World War II, Gable enlisted in the Army as a private at the age of 41. | Photo: Getty Images, Known in Hollywood circles as a "loner," Gable's other notable films were "Too Hot to Handle," "Hell Divers," "The Hucksters," "Strange Interlude," and "Call of the Wild.". [60], Years later, Gable said that whenever his career would start to fade, a re-release of Gone with the Wind would soon revive his popularity, and he continued as a top leading actor for the rest of his life. [25] Gable was considered for the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man, but lost out to Johnny Weissmuller's more imposing physique and superior swimming prowess. [73][72] Gable had been reluctant to act opposite the younger Turner in the required romantic scenes. 7 at the box office, grossing 8.2million for the year, easily his most popular hit since he returned to MGM after the war. In the latter part of 1944, Gable, then a major, resume civilian life. On November 6, 1960, Gable was sent to Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, where doctors discovered that he had suffered a heart attack, as reported by Los Angeles Times. That role instead went to Jo Van Fleet. [6]:182. Miller wrote the screenplay for his wife Monroe; it was about two aging cowboys and a pilot that go mustanging in Reno, Nevada, who all fall for a blonde. [91][95], A very public and brief romance with Paulette Goddard occurred after that. [95] After that he made the war film Command Decision (1948), a psychological drama with Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, and John Hodiak. Newspaper reports the following day listed his condition as satisfactory. His impressive career spanned several decades, making him one of Hollywood's most enduring stars. The 2003 music album Give Up by The Postal Service has a song titled "Clark Gable". The son of Gable and his wife Kay Williams was born a few months after the actor's death. But only 10 days later, Gable died suddenly in his bed at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital. He was named the seventh greatest male movie star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute. ", "Clark Gable's Grandson Gets 10 Days in Jail for Laser-Pointer Incident", "Clark Gable's Grandson Gets 10 Days for Laser Incident", "It's A Girl! She played the piano and gave him lessons at home. 224. [90] Professionally, Gable's first movie after World War II was Adventure (1945), with Greer Garson, by then the leading female star at MGM. His death came only hours after having dinner with his wife in his room there. After a long period of her training, Dillon considered Gable ready to attempt a film career. Clark Gable's grandson's cause of death has been revealed. "A Biographical Dictionary of Film", Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd. pg. MGM's publicity manager Howard Strickling started developing Gable's studio image with Screenland magazine playing up his "lumberjack-in-evening-clothes" persona. "[6]:189, According to Lennie Bluett, an extra in the film, Gable almost walked off the set when he discovered the studio facilities were segregated and signage posted "White" and "Colored". [123], On February 8, 1960, Gable received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in motion pictures, located at 1608 Vine Street. Gable passed away on November 16. In his personal life, however, Gable seemed to have more than his share of troubles. [160] Examples include: Have You Got Any Castles? American actor Montgomery Clift leaning on a fence, circa 1950. Clark Gable (paternal grandfather) Jason Scheff (stepfather) Judy Lewis (aunt) Clark James Gable (September 20, 1988 - February 22, 2019), [1] also known as Clark Gable III, was an American actor, model, and television presenter. [39] From 1934 until 1942, when World War II interrupted his movie career, he was near the top of the box office money-makers lists. [159] Wallach's character is emotionally crushed when he visits Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe), and instead runs into Gable's character and realizes any hope with Roslyn is dashed. Forest Lawn, California, United States. He was doing walkon parts when he was called home because his stepmother was dying. His death came only hours after having dinner with his wife in his room there. Thomson, David (London, 1994). (in which his face appears seven times inside the novel "The House of the Seven Gables"), The Coo-Coo Nut Grove (in which his ears flap on their own), Hollywood Steps Out (in which he follows an enigmatic woman),[161] and Cats Don't Dance (in which he appears on a billboard promotion for Gone with the Wind and on the backlot of MGM).

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