Carole Lombard - The Life and Tragic Death of Hollywood's Sweetheart

Welcome to the 5 Minute Biographies YouTube channel. Here is your host, Wayne Armstrong. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and if you enjoy the show and would like to say thanks by say, buying me a coffee, please head on over to 5minutebiographies.com forward slash coffee to see how. Right, with that all being said, let's get on with the show and episode 52, Carol Lombard. Born Jane Alice Peters, Hollywood starlet Carol Lombard would go on to be called many names. The blonde beauty would eventually become one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood in the 1930s and the darling of America's favourite leading man, Clark Gable. She would tragically perish in a plane crash at the age of only 33, but left a lasting and wonderful legacy. Lombard was born into a wealthy family on October 6th 1908 in the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was the youngest of three children. Lombard's mother was unhappy in her marriage and moved with her children to Los Angeles in 1914. Lombard was an avid sportswoman when she was growing up and this led to her being discovered by director Alan Dwan, who saw her playing baseball. He gave her a small role in the movie A Perfect Crime in 1921. Dwan describes his first time seeing Lombard saying that he saw, quote, A Perfect Crime was far from a box office smash but Lombard enjoyed her time filming and decided to actively pursue more roles. She went on auditions and completed a screen test and at this time changed her first name because she was told Jane was too dull. After several near misses Lombard was finally given a contract with Fox Film Corporation. She left school and subsequently changed her surname at the urging of Fox. Lombard disliked the work she was given during her time at Fox. She was quoted as saying that, All I had to do was simper prettily at the hero and scream with terror when he battled with the villain. She felt she had more talent than to simply play bit parts as the pretty damsel in distress. Despite a well-received leading role in the movie Marriage in Transit in 1925, Fox decided Lombard's contract. Some speculate that it was partly due to a facial scar she had acquired as a result of a car crash. As a result Lombard underwent plastic surgery to diminish the appearance of the scar and would spend the rest of her career carefully hiding the scar with makeup and lighting. Lombard would truly find her niche when she began work as Sennett, who was known as the king of comedy. She would go on to say that working with Sennett was the turning point in her career. She worked in a group of beautiful women known as the Sennett Bathing Beauties. They would dress in the popular bathing costumes of the time and appear in comedy short films. Lombard was at this time contracted to Pathé to Pathé Exchange who produced Sennett's films. After several successful roles in popular films such as High Voltage, which was Lombard's talkie movie, and Big News, Lombard returned to Fox to film The Arizona Kid. After the success of this film she was recruited by Paramount Pictures where her contract was paying her as much as $3,500 per week by 1936. In 1931 Lombard starred in the movies Man of the World and Ladies Man alongside Paramount's most popular male star, William Powell. Despite being very different and there being an age gap of 16 years, the two fell in love and married that same year. The pairing was a huge boost to Lombard's popularity. The romance was short-lived however and the marriage lasted only 26 months. Lombard later stated that the reason for the divorce was simply due to the fact that, quote, we were just two completely incompatible people, end quote. In 1934 Lombard starred in 20th Century, which was said to be a pioneering film in the screwball comedy genre. The film is often considered to be the one that marked Lombard as a major star. Lombard went on to have massive success in more screwball comedy films including My Man Godfrey, Nothing Sacred and Gable. In 1936 Lombard began dating Hollywood icon and handsome leading man Clark Gable. Lombard's career slowed as she devoted more time to Gable and they eventually married and bought a ranch in Encino, California. She began working in more dramatic roles for which she was quite well received. In 1940-1941 Lombard traveled to Indiana to help raise money for the war effort. After the event at which she raised two million dollars through defense bonds in one night, Lombard, her mother and Otto Winkler, who was Clark Gable's press agent and had accompanied her on the trip, boarded a plane. Tragically, on January 16th, 1942, after stopping to refuel in Las Vegas, the plane crashed into Potosi Mountain. All on board were killed instantly. Lombard has been posthumously noted as being among the most commercially successful and admired film personalities in Hollywood in the 1930s and a natural, who was loved by all the technicians and studio functionaries who worked with her. She has been ranked 23rd on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Greatest American Female Screen Legends and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.