LOMBARD

Carole Lombard was the great love of Gable's life. Gable had met Lombard when he co-starred with her at Paramount in "No Man of Her Own" in 1932. The irony was that neither star at the time liked each other. Gable would cross paths with Lombard again in 1936 at the Mayfair Ball in Hollywood. At this point, the love affair took off and for the next three years, they were the most talked about couple in the film industry. Finally, they married on March 29, 1939 in Kingman, Arizona. It was a private and quiet ceremony. He called her Ma and she called him Pa. Gable was low key, reserved and laid back. Lombard, on the other hand, was boisterous, wacky and funny; she brought the joy out in him and learned to do everything he did: fishing, hunting and swearing. They were complement opposites. They lived happily on a small ranch in Encino, California until January 16, 1942 when Lombard was killed in a plane crash while returning home from a war bond tour in Indianapolis. She was only 33. Devastated, Gable was never the same again and enlisted into the army to bury his grief.

NO MAN OF HER OWN (1932)
Paramount
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Dorothy Mackaill, Grant Mitchell, Elizabeth Patterson

No Man of Her Own

"No Man of Her Own"
(1932)
their only film together

No Man of Her Own

"No Man of Her Own"
(1932)

Gable and Lombard 1938

Gable and Lombard 1938

Kingman, Arizona

Kingsman, Arizona
March 29, 1939

Gable and Lombard 1938

Gable and Lombard on their wedding day
Kingsman, Arizona, March 29, 1939

Kingman, Arizona

Lombard and Gable
at Trocadero Nightclub

Ma & Pa

1st Wedding Anniversary

Celebrating their first wedding anniversary 1940

at the golf course

At the golf course 1940

Movies

Encino Ranch 1940

Encino Ranch

Working on the ranch 1940

Working on the ranch 1940

Duck hunting 1940

Duck hunting 1940

Raising chickens 1940

Raising chickens
Encino Ranch 1940

Raising chickens 1940

Gable and Lombard

Gable and Lombard

Gable and Lombard

Gable and Lombard

Lombard and Gable

Newspaper Coverage of Lombard's Death

Newspaper Coverage
January 17, 1942

Ghost of Carole Lombard

The Ghost of Carole Lombard
Gable Mourns

Return to the top of the page