Clark Gable "The King of Hollywood"

Nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Gable seventh among the greatest male stars of all time. Gable's marriage in 1939 to his third wife, the successful American actress Carole Lombard, was the happiest period of his personal life. On Lombard's way home from a successful war bond selling tour, her flight's DC-3 airliner crashed into a mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada, killing all aboard, including Lombard's mother, and her MGM staff publicist Otto Winkler. Gable was devastated by the tragic death of his wife for many months afterwards, and he began to drink heavily. However, he carried out his performances professionally on the movie sets. Gable was seen to break down for the first time in public when Lombard's funeral request note was given to him. For a while, Joan Crawford returned to his side to offer her support and friendship. Gable resided the rest of his life at his and Lombard's house in Encino. He acted in twenty-seven more movies, and he re-married twice. "But he was never the same," said Esther Williams. "His heart sank a bit." Gable died in Los Angeles, California on November 16, 1960, the result of a heart attack ten days after suffering a severe coronary thrombosis. Gable is interred in The Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California beside Carole Lombard. 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 be it was this combination that had such a devastating effect on women. Longtime friend, eight time co-star and on-again, off-again romance Joan Crawford stated, "he was a king wherever he went. He walked like one, he behaved like one, and he was the most masculine man that I have ever met in my life."