Carole Lombard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters, October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American film actress. She was particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s. She was the highest-paid star in Hollywood in the late 1930s. She was the third wife of actor Clark Gable.
Lombard was born into a wealthy family in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but was raised in Los Angeles by her single mother. At 12, she was recruited by the film director Allan Dwan and made her screen debut in A Perfect Crime (1921). Eager to become an actress, she signed a contract with the Fox Film Corporation at age 16, but mainly played bit parts. She was dropped by Fox after a car accident left a scar on her face. Lombard appeared in 15 short comedies for Mack Sennett between 1927 and 1929, and then began appearing in feature films such as High Voltage and The Racketeer. After a successful appearance in The Arizona Kid (1930), she was signed to a contract with Paramount Pictures.
Paramount quickly began casting Lombard as a leading lady, primarily in drama films. Her profile increased when she married William Powell in 1931, but the couple divorced after two years. A turning point in Lombard's career came when she starred in Howard Hawks' pioneering screwball comedy Twentieth Century (1934). The actress found her niche in this genre, and continued to appear in films such as Hands Across the Table (1935) (forming a popular partnership with Fred MacMurray), My Man Godfrey (1936), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and Nothing Sacred (1937). At this time, Lombard married "the King of Hollywood", Clark Gable, and the supercouple gained much attention from the media. Keen to win an Oscar, at the end of the decade, Lombard began to move towards more serious roles. Unsuccessful in this aim, she returned to comedy in Alfred Hitchcock's Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) and Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942)—her final film role.
Lombard's career was cut short when she died at the age of 33 in an airplane crash on Mount Potosi, Nevada while returning from a war bond tour. Today, she is remembered as one of the definitive actresses of the screwball comedy genre and American comedy, and ranks among the American Film Institute's greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Photos
Movies (106)
The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell
2023 · Self (archive footage)
Normandie ne partira pas ce soir
2021 · Self (archive footage)
Carole Lombard
2016 · Self (archive footage)
William Powell: A True Gentleman
2005
That's Entertainment! III
1994 · (archive footage) (uncredited)
Death In Hollywood
1990 · Self (archive footage)
Anthony Quinn: An Original
1990 · Self (archive footage)
Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow
1989 · Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988 · Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984 · (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Showbiz Goes to War
1982 · (archive footage)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982 · Self (archive footage)
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976 · (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975 · Self (archive footage)
Gable: The King Remembered
1975 · Self (archive footage)
Dear Mr. Gable
1968 · Self (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964 · Mary Magiz in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
1961 · Self - Actress 'Nothing Sacred' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Golden Age of Comedy
1957 · archive footage
Yesterday and Today
1953 · (archive footage)
To Be or Not to Be
1942 · Maria Tura
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942 · Self (archive footage)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
1941 · Ann
They Knew What They Wanted
1940 · Amy Peters
Vigil in the Night
1940 · Anne Lee
British Pathé Newsreels: Gone with the Wind
1939 · Self (archive footage)
In Name Only
1939 · Julie Eden
Made for Each Other
1939 · Jane Mason
Breakdowns of 1938
1938 · Kay Winters (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Goes to Town
1938 · Self
Fools for Scandal
1938 · Kay Winters
True Confession
1937 · Helen Bartlett
Nothing Sacred
1937 · Hazel Flagg
Swing High, Swing Low
1937 · Maggie King
My Man Godfrey
1936 · Irene Bullock
The Princess Comes Across
1936 · Princess Olga / Wanda Nash
Love Before Breakfast
1936 · Kay Colby
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
1935 · Self - Diana Harrison (archive footage)
Hands Across the Table
1935 · Regi Allen
Rumba
1935 · Diana Harrison
The Gay Bride
1934 · Mary Magiz
Lady by Choice
1934 · Alabam Lee
Now and Forever
1934 · Toni Day
Twentieth Century
1934 · Lily Garland, formerly Mildred Plotka
We're Not Dressing
1934 · Doris Worthington
Bolero
1934 · Helen Hathaway
White Woman
1933 · Judith Denning
Brief Moment
1933 · Abby Fane Deane
Hollywood on Parade No. A-12
1933 · Self
The Eagle and the Hawk
1933 · The Beautiful Lady
Supernatural
1933 · Roma Courtney
From Hell to Heaven
1933 · Colly Tanner
No Man of Her Own
1932 · Connie Randall
No More Orchids
1932 · Annie Holt
Virtue
1932 · Mae
Sinners in the Sun
1932 · Doris Blake
No One Man
1932 · Penelope 'Nep' Newbold
I Take This Woman
1931 · Kay Dowling
Up Pops the Devil
1931 · Anne Merrick
Ladies' Man
1931 · Rachel Fendley
Man of the World
1931 · Mary Kendall
It Pays to Advertise
1931 · Mary Grayson
Fast and Loose
1930 · Alice O'Neil
Safety in Numbers
1930 · Pauline
The Arizona Kid
1930 · Virginia Hoyt
The Racketeer
1929 · Rhoda Philbrooke
Big News
1929 · Margaret Banks
High Voltage
1929 · Billie ("Phyllis")
Don't Get Jealous
1929 · Girl at Shoeshine Stand (uncredited)
Matchmaking Mamma
1929 · Phyllis
Ned McCobb's Daughter
1928 · Jennie
The Campus Vamp
1928 · Carole (as Carol Lombard)
Hubby's Weekend Trip
1928 · Minor Role (uncredited)
Show Folks
1928 · Cleo (as Carol Lombard)
Me, Gangster
1928 · Blonde Rosie
Motorboat Mamas
1928 · Automobile Passenger (uncredited), Automobile Passenger
Power
1928 · Another Dame (as Carol Lombard)
The Campus Carmen
1928 · Carole
Smith's Restaurant
1928 · Minor Role (uncredited)
His Unlucky Night
1928 · Peggy - Telephone Operator
The Girl from Nowhere
1928 · Miss Boyle - Dress Shop Owner
The Divine Sinner
1928 · Millie Claudert
The Bicycle Flirt
1928 · Mabel - The Wife's Sister
The Swim Princess
1928 · Trudy - the Swim Star
The Best Man
1928 · Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Smith's Army Life
1928 · Clarence's Wife
The Beach Club
1928 · Jump Rope Girl on Beach
Run, Girl, Run
1928 · Norma Nurmi
The Girl from Everywhere
1927 · Vera Veranda - Miss Anybody
My Best Girl
1927 · Flirty Blonde Salesgirl (uncredited)
Gold Digger of Weepah
1927 · Fortune Teller (uncredited)
Smith's Pony
1927 · Lillian Saunders
The Fighting Eagle
1927 · (unconfirmed)
The Johnstown Flood
1926 · Gloria's Bridesmaid (uncredited)
The Road to Glory
1926 · Bit Part (as Carol Lombard)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925 · Slave Girl (uncredited)
The Plastic Age
1925 · Co-ed (uncredited)
Durand of the Bad Lands
1925 · Ellen Boyd
Pretty Ladies
1925 · Showgirl (uncredited)
Hearts and Spurs
1925 · Sybil Estabrook
Gold and the Girl
1925
Marriage in Transit
1925 · Celia Hathaway
Dick Turpin
1925 · Crowd Extra (uncredited)
Gold Heels
1924 · Bit (uncredited)
A Perfect Crime
1921 · Griggs' Kid Sister
