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"
(1932)
their only film together
"No Man of Her Own"
(1932)
Gable and Lombard 1938
Kingsman, Arizona
March 29, 1939
Gable and Lombard on their wedding day
Kingsman, Arizona, March 29, 1939
Lombard and Gable
at Trocadero Nightclub
Ma & Pa
Celebrating their first wedding anniversary 1940
At the golf course 1940
Movies
Encino Ranch
Working on the ranch 1940
Duck hunting 1940
Raising chickens
Encino Ranch
1940
Gable and Lombard
Gable and Lombard
Lombard and Gable
Newspaper Coverage
January 17, 1942
The Ghost of Carole Lombard
Gable Mourns