Contents
Clark Gable
Playing Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.
It Happened One Night · Gone with the Wind
- Born
- 1 February 1901
- Birthplace
- Cadiz, USA
- Died
- 16 November 1960
More people
Clark Gable
Clark Gable was an American actor whose confident screen presence made him one of the defining leading men of Hollywood’s studio era. His films ranged from romantic comedy to adventure and westerns.
Early life
Ohio childhood
Grew up in Ohio; his mother died while he was an infant.
Theatre ambitions
Worked outside acting before joining touring theatre companies.
Career
- 1920s
Stage apprenticeship
Toured in plays and took small screen parts.
- 1931
MGM contract
Became a leading actor at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
- 1930s–1940s
Studio star
Headlined major romantic dramas and comedies.
- 1950s–1961
Later films
Continued as a leading man after leaving MGM, ending with The Misfits.
Selected work
It Happened One Night
A reporter and a runaway heiress share a comic road journey.
Gone with the Wind
Rhett Butler in the Civil War-era romantic drama.
The Misfits
A modern western with Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift.
Beyond work
Wartime service
Served in the US Army Air Forces during the Second World War.
Carole Lombard
Married the actor in 1939; she died in a plane crash in 1942.
Sources & photo credit
Life and career ↗Institutional or specialist reference ↗Photo: New York Daily News Color Studio (likely Harry Warnecke). Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
