Carole Lombard broke into Clark Gable's house as his wife refused to divorce

The former co-stars couldn't get married until Ria Langham let him go.


During their short but passionate relationship, carol lombard And Clark Gable had a lot of ups and downs. THE the co-stars wouldn't get along when they worked together, only to hit it off years later and eventually get married. Lombard and Gable seemed to find true love once they settled down, but they also had to deal with an important fact before they could get married: Gable was still married to his second wife, Ria Langham , when they decided to get married.

Langham was not keen on granting Gable a divorce, which upset Lombard. In fact, according to a biography of the two stars, Lombard broke into Gable and Langham's house in order to make quite a statement to Langham. Read on to learn more about Gable and Lombard's love story, including its tumultuous beginnings.

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Gable and Lombard faced off on set.

Carole Lombard and Clark Gable in
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Lombard and Gable met when they were playing opposite each other in the 1932 film. no man to her . Although they played a married couple in the film, they would not like each other.

As reported vanity lounge , Warren G. Harris "1974 biography Pinion and Lombard explain that Gable found Lombard too loud and she found him too indifferent. On the other hand, TCM reports that Lombard and Gable got along well well enough, and that she gave him her "trademark prank gift" at the end of the film, which was a ham with a picture of him on it.

But, even though they got along well as co-stars, Lombard and Gable's romance didn't begin at this point. At the time, Lombard was married to her first husband, the actor William Powell — this marriage lasted from 1931 to 1933 — and Gable had married Langham in 1931.

They reconnected years later.

Carole Lombard and Clark Gable in 1936
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In 1936, Gable and Lombard met again when he attended Mayfair's annual ball, which she was hosting that year. This time, the two connected romantically. According to To live in the countryside , Gable was separated from Langham at that time, but they were still legally married.

Their flirtation that night would have been somewhat theatrical. According to Harris's book, when Gable drove Lombard back to her hotel and hit on her, she replied, “Who do you think you are, Clark Gable? This upset him and he brought her back to the party. According to Harris, Gable woke up to a surprise from Lombard the next day.

"[Lombard] decided she had been too hard on him, so she called a pet store and asked them to send a pair of doves as a peace offering." Pinion and Lombard bed. "She then bribed one of the hotel employees to release the doves into Gable's apartment while he was still asleep. Then he found a card attached to the leg of one of the birds. , with the words 'What if? Carole.'"

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Lombard broke into Langham's house.

Clark Gable and Ria Langham in New York City in 1934
Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

According to Harris, Langham was upset by the news of her romance with Lombard and did not want to grant Gable a divorce. In response, Lombard broke into the house where Langham lived. The actor didn't go there to steal anything. Instead, she shouted a statement. ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb

"Lombard walked quietly to the door, cleared his throat, and shouted to Mrs. Gable in surprise, 'Hi, old hag. If you want to call me a burglar now, that's your [expletive] privilege," Pinion and Lombard bed.

Eventually, Langham agreed to divorce Gable. The separation was finalized in March 1939, and later that same month Gable and Lombard were married.

RELATED: Gregory Peck revealed his affair with this co-star, years after his death .

Lombard and Gable's marriage was tragically cut short.

Carole Lombard and Clark Gable in 1940
Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Lombard and Gable spent their sadly short-lived marriage on a ranch in Encino, Calif., known as "The House of Two Gables," while pursuing their careers. They were called "Ma" and "Pa".

" They lived a peaceful life ," Michelle Morgan , who wrote Carole Lombard: star of the 20th century , said Closer . "Clark took care of his old cars and farm work, and Carole was very happy to help and look after her animals."

But the relationship was not perfect. During their marriage, Lombard discovered that she could not have children. vanity lounge also explains that Gable regularly cheated on his wife, which led to a suspicious Lombard showing up frequently on the sets of his films.

Then, in 1942, after three years of marriage, Lombard tragically died in a plane crash at the age of 33 while returning from an event in support of the purchase of war bonds during the Second World War. World War.

"The most wonderful, beautiful and greatest thing, the only real happiness he ever had in his life, was gone." Howard Strickling , the MGM public official once said, according to vanity lounge .

Gable remarried twice - for Sylvia, Lady Ashley And Kay Williams . But when he died in 1960, he was buried next to Lombard.


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