Log in Sign up
Back to Discover
🎨

Clark Gable

arts Maturity 11-13 death dying war conflict
This article covers sensitive topics: death_dying, war_conflict. Parents can manage visibility in Parental Controls.

Clark Gable was a famous actor.

Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
He acted in many movies. People called him the King of Hollywood. He won a big prize for his work. He was a very big star. Do you like movies?
Clark Gable 1938.jpg
Clark Gable 1938.jpg

47 words

Clark Gable was a famous movie star.

Clark Gable 1938.jpg
Clark Gable 1938.jpg
People called him the King of Hollywood. He acted in more than 60 films.

He was a very big star. Many people loved to watch him on screen. He won a special prize for his acting.

He worked in movies for 37 years. He often acted with other famous stars. He was a top star for a long time.

Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
He was born in a small town in Ohio. He loved to fix cars with his father.

He even played music in a band. He was a very important part of movie history.

110 words

Clark Gable was a very famous movie star.

Clark Gable 1938.jpg
Clark Gable 1938.jpg
Many people called him the "King of Hollywood." He worked in more than 60 films. His career lasted for 37 years. He was a leading man for three decades.

Gable was born in Cadiz, Ohio.

Clark-Gable-Birth-Home-003.jpg
Clark-Gable-Birth-Home-003.jpg
As a boy, he liked to fix cars with his father. He also played brass instruments in a band. He loved to read books and recite poems. He wanted to be an actor after seeing a play.

At first, acting was hard for him. He had to take lessons to improve his voice. He also worked to improve his posture.

The secret six.jpg
The secret six.jpg
He moved to Hollywood to find film work. He became a huge star at MGM. He worked with many famous actresses. These stars included Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford.

Gable won an Academy Award for Best Actor. He won this for the film "It Happened One Night." He was also known for his role in "Gone with the Wind."

Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
He was one of the most successful stars in movie history. He died in 1960 at age 59.

195 words

Clark Gable was one of the most famous movie stars in history.

Clark Gable 1938.jpg
Clark Gable 1938.jpg
Many people called him the "King of Hollywood" because he was so successful. He appeared in more than 60 motion pictures during his long career. This career lasted for 37 years in total. For three decades, he worked as a leading man. The American Film Institute even ranked him as the seventh greatest male screen legend of classical Hollywood. He was a star who could always make money for studios.
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg

His life began in Cadiz, Ohio, on February 1, 1901.

Clark-Gable-Birth-Home-003.jpg
Clark-Gable-Birth-Home-003.jpg
His father, Will, worked as an oil-well driller. Gable was a tall and shy child with a very loud voice. He enjoyed many different activities as he grew up. He learned to play brass musical instruments in a town band. He also loved to repair cars with his father. He even spent time reciting Shakespeare poems to people he trusted.

Becoming an actor was not easy for him at first. He was inspired to act after seeing a play at age 17.

The secret six.jpg
The secret six.jpg
He had to work many odd jobs to make money. He even worked as a necktie salesman in a department store. Later, an acting coach named Josephine Dillon helped him improve. She helped him fix his teeth and style his hair. She also taught him how to control his posture and his voice. These lessons helped him get ready for his film career.

Once he reached Hollywood, his fame grew very quickly.

Hell Divers 1932.jpg
Hell Divers 1932.jpg
He signed a contract with MGM in 1930. He became very popular when he worked with famous actresses. He starred alongside stars like Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford. One of his biggest wins was an Academy Award for Best Actor. He won this for the 1934 film "It Happened One Night." He also received many other nominations for his great acting.

Throughout his life, Gable worked in many different kinds of movies.

Marilyn Monroe Misfits.jpg
Marilyn Monroe Misfits.jpg
He acted in comedies, westerns, and even adventures. He was famous for playing strong and masculine characters. He appeared in notable films like "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Mogambo." His very last role was playing an aging cowboy in "The Misfits." He passed away in 1960 at the age of 59. His name remains a big part of movie history today.

400 words

William Clark Gable was a legendary American actor known as the "King of Hollywood."

Clark Gable 1938.jpg
Clark Gable 1938.jpg
His career spanned 37 years, during which he appeared in more than 60 motion pictures. For three decades, he served as a premier leading man in the film industry. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him as the seventh greatest male screen legend of classical Hollywood cinema. Gable was also a highly reliable star for film studios. He appeared 16 times on Quigley Publishing's annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll. This made him one of the most consistently bankable stars in Hollywood history.

Gable's journey to stardom involved significant personal and professional transformation.

Machinal-Johann-Gable-1928-crop.jpg
Machinal-Johann-Gable-1928-crop.jpg
Born in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1901, he was a tall, shy child with a loud voice. He was mechanically inclined and enjoyed repairing cars with his father. He also possessed a love for literature and would recite Shakespearean sonnets. After his mother died when he was ten months old, his upbringing was shaped by his father and stepmother. His stepmother provided him with piano lessons and encouraged him to be well-groomed. These early influences helped develop the discipline he would later use in his craft.

Before reaching Hollywood, Gable underwent rigorous training to prepare for the screen.

Hell Divers 1932.jpg
Hell Divers 1932.jpg
He worked various jobs, including a stint as a necktie salesman in Portland, Oregon. An acting coach named Josephine Dillon played a vital role in his development. She helped him fix his teeth and style his hair to improve his appearance. Dillon also worked with him to manage his chronically undernourished body. She taught him better posture and body control. Most importantly, she helped him lower his naturally high-pitched voice to make his speech more convincing.

Gable's transition to film began with silent movies and stage work.

The secret six.jpg
The secret six.jpg
He traveled to Hollywood in 1924 and used the name Clark Gable. He initially appeared as an extra in silent films like *The Merry Widow* and *The Plastic Age*. He also performed in various comedies and shorts. Seeking more significant roles, he returned to the stage for productions like *What Price Glory?*. By the 1927–28 theater season, he was acting in Houston, Texas, where he became a local matinee idol. This stage experience provided the foundation for his eventual move to major motion pictures.

His rise to major stardom was cemented by a contract with MGM in 1930.

Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
He earned a weekly salary of $650, which was a significant amount at the time. MGM's publicity department helped build his image as a "lumberjack-in-evening-clothes." He found immense success when paired with famous actresses. He starred alongside legends such as Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Jean Harlow. His performance in *A Free Soul* in 1931 ensured that he would never play a supporting role again. Audiences responded to him with unprecedented enthusiasm.

Gable's filmography includes some of the most celebrated movies in cinema history.

Mogambo2.jpg
Mogambo2.jpg
He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in *It Happened One Night* (1934). He also earned Academy Award nominations for his work in *Mutiny on the Bounty* (1935) and *Gone with the Wind* (1939). His versatility allowed him to move between genres, from romantic dramas to comedies. For his comedic roles in *Teacher's Pet* and *But Not for Me*, he received Golden Globe nominations. He worked with many famous directors, including Frank Capra, John Ford, and John Huston.

Throughout his career, Gable's presence connected him to the broader evolution of the film industry.

Marilyn Monroe Misfits.jpg
Marilyn Monroe Misfits.jpg
He worked during the transition from silent films to "talkies," or sound pictures. He appeared in films alongside many of the era's most iconic actresses, including Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner. His career concluded with his final on-screen role in the 1961 film *The Misfits*. Gable passed away from a heart attack in 1960 at the age of 59. He remains a central figure in the study of classical Hollywood cinema.

665 words
🖼️ Images & Media (20)
File:Clark-Gable-Birth-Home-003.jpg
Clark-Gable-Birth-Home-003.jpg
File:Machinal-Johann-Gable-1928-crop.jpg
Machinal-Johann-Gable-1928-crop.jpg
File:The secret six.jpg
The secret six.jpg
File:Hell Divers 1932.jpg
Hell Divers 1932.jpg
File:Test Pilot 4 1938.jpg
Test Pilot 4 1938.jpg
File:Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind trailer.jpg
File:Clark Gable and Joan Crawford in 'Strange Cargo', 1940.jpg
Clark Gable and Joan Crawford in 'Strange...
File:Clark Gable 8th-AF-Britain1943.jpg
Clark Gable 8th-AF-Britain1943.jpg
File:Plb-stewart-gable.jpg
Plb-stewart-gable.jpg
File:Lana Turner and Clark Gable in Homecoming, 1948.png
Lana Turner and Clark Gable in...
File:Mogambo2.jpg
Mogambo2.jpg
File:Lionel Barrymore 61st birthday 1939.jpg
Lionel Barrymore 61st birthday 1939.jpg

+ 8 more

Up Next
🎨
Carole Lombard
Arts
More to explore

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.