Clark Gable: Tormented Star

by David Bret

Overview

Clark Gable was perceived as the archetypal Hollywood superman, the kind of man that women lusted after and their husbands envied. However, as David Bret reveals in this powerful biography, in the early days of his career, with his squinty teeth and fondness for men as well as woman, he was anything but the wholesome figure he appeared. Gable was adopted by the ‘Sewing Circle’ – the group that included Jean Harlow and, ironically, Carole Lombard, the great love of his life.

Bret also reveals how Gable’s wartime ‘heroics’, which saw him promoted through the ranks from Private to Major in less than a year, were no more than an elaborate publicity stunt. Like an earlier paternity suit, it was an exercise dreamed up by studio chief, Louis B. Mayer to promote and protect Gable’s image.

After ending an affair with Ben Maddox in 1942, Gable seems to have ‘gone straight’, from which point Bret moves into more familiar territory, focusing on Gable’s great movies including Gone With the Wind and on his affairs with Joan Crawford, Ava Gardner and other famous stars. Drawing on a wealth of unpublished material, Bret pulls no punches in this star-studded story of Gable’s life, told with candour and panache.

David Bret is one of Britain’s leading showbusiness biographers, and an authority on the chanson. His many highly successful books incllde: Edth Piaf, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Errol Flynn and the soon to be published Mario Lanza (all from JR Books)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781313527
Publisher:	Quarto Publishing Group USA
Publication date:	12/20/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	316
Sales rank:	391,050
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

David Bret's first biography, The Piaf Legend, was published in 1988 to great critical acclaim. Biographies of the French star Mistinguett and Maurice Chevalier followed, and Marlene Dietrich, one of his closest friends, was the subject of his fourth book, fully authorized by Marlene and published shortly after her death. Since then he has written successful biographies of Morrissey, Gracie Fields, Freddie Mercury, Tallulah Bankhead, and Maria Callas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements     vi
Introduction: A Hunk Of Rough     vii
Gay For Pay: Ascending The Lavender Ladder     1
Clark & Ria...& Joan...& Johnny     22
Harlow     48
Ben & Loretta     70
Lombard     97
Southern Belles & Sinners     121
Love Conquers All     154
Death Wish In The Clouds     181
Strange Interlude     203
Safe In The Arms Of Ma     232
Epilogue     255
Filmography     260
Documentaries     275
Bibliography     277
Index     280

Editorial Reviews

Sex-obsessed biography of the man who was Rhett Butler. Clark Gable's father taunted his son, calling him a "sissy." Young Clark responded by fashioning a macho-stud demeanor and projecting dad's disgust onto the many homosexuals he met and worked with. And Bret (Joan Crawford: Hollywood Martyr, 2007, etc.) makes it clear that quite a few gays and lesbians populated Hollywood's soundstages and swimming pools. The author tags virtually everyone who shows up here as straight, gay or bi, the majority falling into the latter two categories. Like previous accounts, this one alleges that early in his career Gable was "gay for pay" and for career advancement. He squired older women, some of them perhaps closet lesbians, and had close personal, possibly sexual relationships with a number of openly gay men. He was, as well, a serial seducer of women. Bret's sourcing is unclear throughout; he qualifies most assertions about Gable's sexuality with phrases like "it could be" and "it was alleged." As for insight into the star's films and acting, look for it elsewhere. The author lavishes far more care on the details of Hollywood's sexual roundelays than on his flat summaries of Gable's films, including eight unnecessary pages on the plot of Gone with the Wind. Then it's on to the actor's severe halitosis (repeatedly mentioned) and his suffering from phimosis, an inability to retract the foreskin of his uncircumcised penis. Neither problem kept the King from scoring big time in the bedroom. The image, craft and perhaps art that made Gable a huge star for decades receive scant notice. Frankly, my dears, it's time to look beyond the love lives of movie stars.

Kirkus Reviews