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Forgotten Details From The Golden Age Of Hollywood

Khalid Elhassan July 10, 2023 29 min

The Golden Age of Hollywood was as posh as posh gets. Filmmaking Lifestyle

When Clark Gable Fought the Nazis

Hollywood - Clark Gable in 'Gone With the Wind' — Clark Gable in ‘Gone With the Wind’. Wikimedia

Once known as “The King of Hollywood”, William Clark Gable (1901 – 1960) is one of the silver screen’s greatest legends. He starred in over 60 movies, and is perhaps best known for his role as Rhett Butler in the blockbuster Gone With the Wind. Gable won a Best Actor Oscar for his lead in It Happened One Night. Other notable films in which he starred and that met both critical and commercial success include Mutiny on the Bounty, The Hucksters, and The Misfits, his last film, as well as that of his co-star, Marilyn Monroe.

When America entered WWII, Gable was Tinsletown’s biggest star and its greatest box office draw. He took a break from Hollywood to fight the Axis. Gable had quit school at age sixteen to work in a tire factory, and decided to become an actor after he saw a play. He took acting lessons and worked a variety of jobs, from oil field roustabout to selling neckties. In 1924, he married his acting coach and the couple moved to Hollywood so he could focus on his dream.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.