He was born William Clark Gable in Cadiz, Ohio on February 1st, 1901. But his birth certificate gives Meadville, PA. as his place of birth and his sex as female! His baptismal certificate gives his name as Clark William (his mother had him baptized in her Catholic faith) but he would be called Billy. Gable weighed in at a whopping 11 pounds and that probably cost his fragile mother, Adeline, her tenuous lease on life. She died when he was only 7 months old. His father, Will, an oil wildcatter, left him with relatives until he remarried in 1906. Jennie Dunlap Gable, Billy's new stepmother adored him and he loved her back. She taught him love and respect for others and he gave her the love of the child she wanted so much.

He worked at Miller Rubber Co. by day and moonlighted as a backstage go-fer by night. Then Jennie Gable died and he went home. Will sold the farm and went back to wildcatting and Billy went with him but the work was hard and dirty. At 21 when he got a $300 legacy from his maternal grandfather, he left the oilfields for Portland, Oregon where he met up with another stock company.

He also met his first love, Franz Dorfler, an actress in the same company, who he dated seriously from 1922 until 1924. Billy was still working at day jobs, lumber yards, telephone lineman, clerking in a department store while doing bit parts at night. Franz, realizing he was getting nowhere on the stage, suggested a drama teacher, Josephine Dillon, a Broadway actress teaching drama in Portland. Franz would soon learn what a big mistake she made.

Dillon was very impressed with Billy, so impressed that in 1924 she took him with her to Los Angeles where she was opening a school. Josephine encouraged Billy to see movies and study the actors. She brought home books for him to read (a difficult task for Billy whose dyslexia went unrecognized). She changed his name to Clark and had his teeth fixed. Then in late 1924, Josephine Dillon age 37, became Mrs. Clark Gable #1. Clark was only 23. In Los Angeles, Clark joined the West Coast Players and, between plays, did extra work in films. Fidelity would never be Clark's strong point and so he had several play-length affairswith the leading ladies...Jane Cowl, 41, during "Romeo and Juliet" and Pauline Fredericks, age 44, during "Madame X". Clark Gable loved women and this would be a recurring theme in his life. Men would be his cronies but it was women, often older women, with whom he shared his innermost confidences. In 1928 during the run of "Machinal", he met Maria (Ria) Langham, a wealthy socialite and when the play closed Ria was around to keep body and soul together. In 1929 Josephine Dillon Gable filed for divorce, and when it was final in 1930, Ria Langham became Mrs. Gable #2. She was 17 years older than her new husband.

While Clark’s first real entry into feature films was Pathe’s “The Painted Desert”, it was a bit part in MGM’s “The Easiest Way” that got the public’s attention and a contract for him. It should be noted here that it was also the first time he ever saw a morality clause in a contract. He would later have cause to regret it. It would also be the sole reason that his on-off love affair with Joan Crawford never resulted in marriage. That relationship spanned almost 30 years until his death.

Clark met Carole again at a party. They had made a film together in 1930(“No Man of Her Own”) but there were no sparks off the set. But, before the year was out, Gable was head over heels in love with the beautiful, witty Carole and she felt the same about him. The gossip columnists couldn’t get enough of this real life romance. The only thing in the way to happy-ever-after was Ria Gable. Then an article in Photoplay about ‘unmarried lovers’ spurred the studio to get the two of them married (along with the Robert Taylor/Barbara Stanwyck coupling among others) Finally, in 1939, 3 1/2 years after they first got stars in their eyes, Carole Lombard became Mrs. Gable #3. In that same year Clark became Rhett Butler, a role that he would be identified with the rest of his life.

The Gables bought a 13-year-old house on a 20-acre ranch and settled in. Clark liked Carole’s more intimate dinner parties and she learned to hunt and fish. They affectionately called each other ‘Ma’ and “Pa’. “GWTW” was a huge success and won 10 Academy Awards but Clark lost out to Robert Donat for Best Actor. Carole even went on a crusade to get pregnant. Then, in 1942 Gable suggested Carole for a US Bond tour in Indiana so she took off on the tour with her mother and Gable’s personal public-relations man, Otto Winkler.

She was phenomenally successful and raised $2,017,531 in Defense Bonds. Then Carole decided to return home early by plane rather than train. On the way home the plane crashed just outside Las Vegas and all on board perished in the burning wreckage. Carole Lombard was only 33 years old and she left a husband who would never really stop grieving.

Gable left orders that Carole’s room was to remain untouched even by the cleaning help. He roamed the house and grounds until late at night when he would drink himself to sleep. Friends tried futilely to comfort him. Then, suddenly in 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army…as a private. He was 41 years old. Gable entered aerial gunnery school and eventually flew several missions over Germany. He was even named on Hitler’s hit list and other planes shadowed him on raids. When he was discharged in May, 1944 he has risen to the rank of a Major.

He dated several women including actress Virginia Grey but none of them seemed to take his mind away from Carole. He worked but his drinking increased and he often took a full bottle of Scotch to bed with him. In his first screen attempt, “Adventure” he was unhappy with both the script and his leading lady, Greer Garson. But the public was so happy to have their idol back that the movie was a big hit at the box office.

Then, in 1949, almost seven years after Lombard’s death, Clark suddenly eloped with Lady Sylvia Ashley, 42. He would say later that he was drunk at the time but nevertheless, the marriage was doomed the minute Sylvia decided to redecorate the ranch house including Carole’s room. They divorced in 1952 leaving Gable broke again. In 1953, MGM terminated his contract (they were shedding all their high-salaried stars). After a time. Gable signed with 20th Century Fox to do “Soldier of Fortune” with Susan Hayward.

In 1954, Gable was again withdrawn and depressed. He became irate at any rumors of romance. But he began renewing his acquaintance with Kay Williams Spreckels, 37, a former model and actress he had known for over 15 years. The resemblance to Carole was marked and not overlooked by Hollywood insiders. Kay already had 2 children from a previous marriage and Clark doted on them. On July 11th, 1955 Kay became the 5th and last Mrs. Gable.

Clark was making “The Misfits” in 1960 and things weren’t going well. But his spirits were certainly brightened with the news that Kay was pregnant. However, when the film rapped on November 4th Clark was feeling exhausted. The first hint of trouble was a searing chest pain while he was changing a tire at the ranch. Then on November 6th, he was rushed to the hospital with what was discovered to be the second of 2 heart attacks. He was seemingly improving when he suddenly died 10 days later on November 16th, 1960 four months before the birth of his, John Clark Gable.

There was no eulogy and only a few friends present when Gable was buried at Forest Lawn next to Carole Lombard. The country mourned at his passing and the loss of one of filmdom’s greatest idols. Louella Parsons wrote: ”There will never be another Clark Gable nor another King of Hollywood”. Perhaps not but the legend still survives and hopefully some will remember the gentle, kind Clark Gable as well as they do the suave charmer that became Rhett Butler. Long live the King!

For much more on Clark Gable please see Arabella’s Notes. Many books on Clark Gable can be found at your local library. For a listing of my sources, e-mail me
at...Mamalion27@aol.com

Filmography