As TCM's Summer Under The Stars winds downs to their last few days, they continue to spotlight some of Hollywood's most-loved stars. Their Sunday, August 28 marathon features one such star in Carole Lombard.
Known for her rapid-fire delivery as much as her curvaceous figure and platinum blonde locks, Lombard, if you can believe it, got her start in films in a 1921 silent film, A Perfect Crime, playing the tomboy younger sister of the film's primary character. She was only 12-years-old at the time. Her film debut also marked the one time she was billed by her birth name, Jane Peters. In the years that immediately followed, she would appear in a handful of mostly non-credited roles until she was signed to 20th Century Fox in 1925. Her first major talkie was 1929's High Voltage for Pathe Studios.
While most of Lombard's early feature films showcased her dramatic talent, Lombard's lighter side was seen in a series of short films. Big News (1929) was among her first feature-length comedic roles. By the mid-30s, Lombard became one of RKO Studio's leading ladies of the then-popular screwball comedy genre.
Off-screen, Lombard had a reputation for good-natured, but a bit of a foul mouth, even being dubbed The Profane Angel. Once, upon entering the office of a Hollywood hotshot who said, "You're hair is too blonde, you look like a whore." Lombard famously shot back, "If anyone would know a whore it'd be you."
Among her celebrity friends were Gloria Swanson, Lucille Ball and Alfred Hitchcock. He also had familiar tie to Hollywood, being second cousins with Howard Hawks and cousin-in-law to Mary Astor. Lombard was married twice. Her first marriage was to William Powell, some sixteen-years her senior, from 1931-1933. The two had met in 1930 and had worked together on two films Man of the World and Ladies' Man. After their divorce, they remained friendly, even starring together in My Man Godfrey, one of her most memorable roles. The film also garnered Lombard her only Oscar nomination. Luise Rainer beat out Lombard for the 1936 Best Actress Oscar for her role in The Great Ziegfeld. My Man Godfrey has the distinction of being the only film in Oscar history to receive nominations for Best Actor & Actress, Best Supporting Actor & Actress and not win either. It was also nominated for, but didn't win, Best Director and Best Writing/Screenplay.
Following her divorce from Powell, Lombard reportedly dated actors Gary Cooper, George Raft, screenwriter Robert Riskin and singer Russ Columbo. According to biographer Larry Swindell's 1975 Lombard bio, Screwball: The Life of Carole Lombard, Columbo proposed marriage to Lombard, but a freak hunting accident took his life before the two could be wed.
Lombard's most famous romance was next. She met Clark Gable while working on 1932's No Man of Her Own, but the duos legendary romance began a few years later, in 1936, while Gable was still married to heiress Rhea Langham. In 1939, when his divorce was finalized, he married Lombard. They quickly became Hollywood's ideal couple. Sadly their marriage ended in tragedy when, on January 16, 1942, Lombard, her mother and Gable's press agent were among 22 passengers killed in a plane crash.
Just prior to the crash, Lombard had been on a War Bond Tour. The plane was heading back west after a stop in Lombard's home state of Indiana. Before boarding the plane, addressing the crowd of fans and well-wishers, her final words to be spoken in public were, "Before I say goodbye to you all, Come on!, Join me in a big cheer. V for Victory!" President Franklin D. Roosevelt posthumously awarded Lombard the prestigious Medal of Freedom in honor of her war efforts, making her the first woman to ever receive such an award.
Lombard's final screen appearance, To Be or Not to Be, co-starring Jack Benny, was in post-production at the time of her death. The film, a war satire, was released March 6, 1942.
At the height of her career,Lombard was the highest paid star in Hollywood, earning somewhere around $500,000 per year. For her work, she received a single Oscar nomination. It wasn't until 1960 that she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1999, The American Film Institute named her #23 among their list of 50 Greatest American Female Screen Legends.
TCM's day-long tribute to Carole Lombard is as follows:
1933's Brief Moment, co-starring Gene Raymond, airs at 6am/5c
1932's No More Orchids, co-starring Lyle Talbot, airs at 7:15am/6:15c
1934's The Gay Bride, co-starring Chester Morris & Zasu Pitts, airs at 8:30am/7:30c
1938's Fools for Scandal, co-starring Fernand Gravey & Ralph Bellamy, airs at 10am/9c
1934's Lady By Choice, co-starring May Robson & Roger Pryor, airs at 11:30am/10:30c
1932's Virtue, co-starring Pat O'Brien, airs at 1pm/12c
1939'sIn Name Only, co-starring Cary Grant, Kay Francis & Charles Coburn, airs at 2:30pm/1:30c
1934's Twentieth Century, directed by Howard Hawks, co-starring John Barrymore, featuring Charles Lane, airs at 4:30pm/3:30c
1942's To Be or Not To Be, co-starring Jack Benny, airs at 6:15pm/5:15c
1936's My Man Godfrey, co-starring William Powell, with a bit part by Jane Wyman, airs at 8pm/7c
1935's Hands Across the Table, co-starring Fred MacMurray & Ralph Bellamy, airs at 10pm/9c
1937's Nothing Sacred, co-starring Fredric March, with a pre-Wizard of Oz Margaret Hamilton in a small role, airs at 11:30pm/10:30c
1941's Mr. & Mrs. Smith, co-starring Robert Montgomery, Jack Carson and Lucile Watson, airs at 1am/12c (Look for director, Alfred Hitchcock, who appears at 42 minutes into the film, seen walking by Montgomery in front of his apartment building.
1940's Vigil in the Night, co-starring Brian Aherne, airs at 3am/2c
1929's The Racketeer, co-starring Robert Armstrong with an appearance by Hedda Hopper, airs at 4:45am/3:45c
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TCM's Summer Under The Stars continues Monday, August 29 with a day-long salute to 50s & 60s eternal ingenue, Anne Francis.
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