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 GABLE, (William) Clark (1901-60), American film actor, born in
Cadiz, Ohio. Before achieving fame, Gable performed a wide variety of jobs, from drilling oil wells to playing minor parts in silent films. He made a successful Broadway appearance in Machinal (1928). The first film in
which he was featured was The Painted Desert (1931). During the 1930s Gable was the outstand ing leading man in American films; he played opposite the best-known female stars of the time and was
frequently cited as the personality whose films made the most money at the box office. In films such as It Happened One Night (1934), for which Gable won an
Academy Award, Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and Gone With the Wind (1939), he played a role that was the prototype of the virile, adventurous American male. Gable served as a combat
gunner in World War II. After the war he returned to the screen in such films as Command Decision (1949), Across the Wide Missouri (1951), and Mogambo (1953). He died a few days
after completing his last film, The Misfits. |
