Gable, (William) Clark

(1901-1960)

   Actor Clark Gable was born in Cadiz, Ohio. He left home to tour with an acting troupe in 1917 and then worked as a lumberjack and a telephone lineman before returning to theater in 1924. After several minor parts on Broadway, he made his first appearances in movies as an extra. After some success on the stage in The Last Mile in 1930, he signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. After appearing in a number of films with leading female stars, including Strange Interlude (1932), Polly of the Circus (1932), Hold Your Man (1933), and Dancing Lady (1933), he won an Oscar for his role in It Happened One Night (1934) and was the star in such films as Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), China Seas (1935), San Francisco (1936), and several others. His standing as one of the world’s leading actors was confirmed in his iconic performance as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939) and the immortal line, “Quite frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” Following the outbreak of World War II, Gable enlisted in the army air corps and won the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery in combat. He returned to Hollywood after the war and successfully resumed his career making several more films, his last being The Misfits with Marilyn Monroe in 1960.

   See also Cinema.