Clark Gable and Carole Lombard from Dead Famous to The Facts.

by Barbara Washburn

My Tivo is set up to auto-record shows about Carole Lombard, so one night not too long ago, I clicked my list of recorded programs, and there was one with an intriguing title: Dead Famous. I began watching, and an hour later felt compelled to write Chris Fleming, for this episode was riddled with historical inaccuracies, not to mention two serious misrepresentations of fact by individuals in the locations visited. I emailed Chris, and he promptly responded, our correspondence leading to an invitation by Chris to write an article about the truth regarding these two celebrities, and revealing what I know was inaccurate and misleading.

Carole Lombard, the screwball queen to Hollywood's King, Clark Gable, was the daughter of an accomplished numerologist, born in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, but raised, from age six, in Los Angeles. She had a brief career as a Fox starlet, which ended in an explosion of glass in a car accident, scarring her face. Within two years, her facial scar healed to a tiny mark on an otherwise beautiful face, she was working for Mack Sennett, and from there moved to Paramount Studios. It was at Paramount, in 1932, where she met the rising Clark Gable, and they made their one film together, "No Man of Her Own." When it wrapped, they went their separate ways, neither having made a lasting impression on the other.

Not so in 1936, when Carole, now divorced from William Powell, played hostess at the White Mayfair Ball. Clark asked her to dance, and thus began what has been called "Hollywood's Greatest Love Story." Unlike Gable's two previous wives, Carole was not significantly older than he (in fact, she was several years younger), nor was she encrusted with social proprieties. Her peers nicknamed her "The Profane Angel" and "The Hoosier Tornado," aptly summarizing the beautiful, glamorous woman with the mouth of a sailor and the energy of a roomful of first graders.

Clark was still legally married to Ria Gable, and so they kept a low profile, both saddled with the "morals clause" in their respective contracts with their studios. Any nights they spent together were behind the locked doors of Carole's home or out in the woods, with trusted friends, on hunting and fishing trips. Ria held up the divorce - she wanted money, and lots of it. David Selznick wanted Gable for Rhett Butler; MGM, who owned Gable's contract, wanted a piece of "Gone With the Wind." Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, agreed to meet Ria's financial demands as soon as Clark signed to play Rhett Butler. Clark signed, his aversion to Selznick and the role outweighed by his desire to marry Carole.

And marry they did. In early March 1939, Ria Gable was granted a divorce in Reno, on the grounds of desertion. Clark arranged for a few days off at the end of March, and he and Carole, along with Otto Winkler, Clark's personal publicity agent and friend, eloped to Kingman, Arizona. There wasn't time for a honeymoon, then or ever, he had to go right back to work on "Gone With the Wind," so as soon as the wedding was over, they returned to LA. They didn't spend their wedding night in Oatman, Arizona, nor is the gown displayed in the room where the owner claims they spent their honeymoon hers. Carole wore an ensemble designed by Irene: a tailored gray linen suit with polka dot accessories, as photographs taken the next day, at a press conference at Carole's home announcing their marriage, confirm.

The great love story ended on January 16, 1942, when the TWA DC-3 on which Carole was a passenger slammed into Mt. Potosi, 30 miles from Los Vegas, at full throttle. Gable was taken to Los Vegas, where, accompanied and protected by close friends, he took refuge in a motel, remaining there until Carole's charred and dismembered body was brought down the mountain, along with her mother's and Otto Winkler's. The crush of press and rubberneckers would have kept this most private of men holed up in his room; add the soul-crushing grief and the idea that he would have taken solace in a public bar is unthinkable. There is no documentation to support the bar's claim, either.

Inadequate research, and the willingness of certain individuals to present as fact blatant fiction destroyed the credibility of this episode. Chris and Gail might find Lombard - she loved giving interviews - but only in the places she actually visited. And where you find Lombard, you're likely to find Gable, still grumbling about the press and interviews, letting his energetic wife do all the talking.