L is for Carole Lombard

Born: October 6, 1908

Died: January 16, 1942

Aged: 33 years in a plane crash

Real Name: Jane Alice Peters

Marriages: Twice-William Powell, Clark Gable

Engaged: Russ Columbo (The greatest love of her life-she was known to say)

Bold, beautiful woman who could swear like a sailor and stand up to the powers at be like Harry Cohn(head of Columbia Pictures) who admired her style. In 1925 she suffered a horrible car accident  that left her face badly scarred and in need of extensive plastic surgery. Camera angles and make-up did the rest. She fell in love with Russ Columbo and was devastated when he died by an accidental gunshot blast(1934). His mother was blind and an invalid so the family, friends, including Lombard, decided not to tell his mom but stated he was on tour and devised ways she could listen to radio broadcasts that were previously recorded. They kept up the charade until his mom passed away in 1944! She loved parties and practical jokes. When she was filming "Mr. & Mrs. Smith for Alfred Hitchcock, she had heard him say that all actors were cattle. The following day when Hitchcock appeared on set he was greeted by a bunch of cows:) She preferred lunching with the crew rather than other actors since she enjoyed their company and could swear like them and often did! She and Clark Gable (The King of Hollywood) fell in love  and lived together since he could not get a divorce right away. Once he was free, they married and bought a farm, called each other Ma and Pa and she started to settle down. She even went hunting with him becoming a better shot. She was very patriotic and went on a War Bond tour with her mom. She wanted to see her husband so rather than take the train, she decided to take the plane despite her mother's concerns. They chartered the plane which crashed into Tablerock mountain-all perished. Gable, so grief stricken had to be held back from looking for Carole's body. He immediately joined the War but never got over her death keeping her bedroom as it was the day she left. He married 2 more times and both women looked similar to Lombard. The Queen of Screwball comedy was given the Medal of Freedom posthumously by FDR and a Liberty ship was named after her.

Oscar Nominations: "My Man Godfrey"

Films: "No Man of Her Own", "Bolero", "Twentieth Century", "Nothing Sacred", "Made For Each Other", "To Be Or Not To Be".

Quote: "I've lived a man's code designed to fit a man's world, yet at the same time I never forget that a woman's first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick".

The films in bold are films I would choose to see first, but they are all great