Gable, William Clark, born 01-02-1902 in Cadiz, Ohio, 
to William Henry “Will” Gable (1870–1948), an oil-well driller, and his wife Adeline, born Hershelman. His father was a Protestant and his mother a Catholic. He was mistakenly listed as a female on his birth certificate. His original last name was Goebel, but this was considered too German during World War I because of anti-German sentiment. Birth registrations, school records and other documents contradict one another. “William” would have been in honor of his father. “Clark” was the maiden name of his maternal grandmother. In childhood he was almost always called “Clark”; some friends called him “Clarkie,” “Billy,” or “Gabe”. His mother died when he was ten months old, probably of an aggressive brain tumor. Gable was a tall shy child with a loud voice and at thirteen, he was the only boy in the men’s town band. His acting coach and first wife, was a theater manager in Portland, Oregon, Josephine Dillon
to William Henry “Will” Gable (1870–1948), an oil-well driller, and his wife Adeline, born Hershelman. His father was a Protestant and his mother a Catholic. He was mistakenly listed as a female on his birth certificate. His original last name was Goebel, but this was considered too German during World War I because of anti-German sentiment. Birth registrations, school records and other documents contradict one another. “William” would have been in honor of his father. “Clark” was the maiden name of his maternal grandmother. In childhood he was almost always called “Clark”; some friends called him “Clarkie,” “Billy,” or “Gabe”. His mother died when he was ten months old, probably of an aggressive brain tumor. Gable was a tall shy child with a loud voice and at thirteen, he was the only boy in the men’s town band. His acting coach and first wife, was a theater manager in Portland, Oregon, Josephine Dillon
and she after a long period of rigorous training, eventually considered him ready to attempt a film career. “His ears are too big and he looks like an ape,” said Warner Bros. executive Darryl F. Zanuck about Clark Gable after testing him. Lucky for him he got the role of Peter Warne in It Happened One Night. Robert Montgomery was originally offered the role, but he felt that the script was poor. Gable won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his 1934 performance in the film. He returned to MGM a bigger star than ever. Best movie, “ Gone with the wind “. In 1942, Gable joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. On 17-08-1942, shortly after his enlistment, he and his friend cinematographer Andrew McIntyre were sent to Miami Beach, Florida, where they entered USAAF OCS Class 42-E. General of the Army Air Forces Henry ” Happy” Arnold 
offered Gable a “special assignment” in aerial gunnery.
He enlisted on 12-08-1942, with the intention of becoming an enlisted gunner on an air crew. Gable spent most of the war in the United Kingdom at RAF Polebrook with the 351st Squadron 
. Gable flew five combat missions, including one to Germany, as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses between 04-05 and 23-09-1943, 
earning the Air Medal 
and the Distinguished Flying Cross 
for his efforts. During one of the missions, Gable’s aircraft was damaged by flak and attacked by fighters, which knocked out one of the engines and shot up the stabilizer. In the raid on Germany, one crewman was killed and two others were wounded, and flak went through Gable’s boot and narrowly missed his head. He was a qualified aerial gunner having received his wings upon completion of flexible gunnery school at Tyndall field. In May 1944, Gable was promoted to major. He, here with actor and ww2 second lieutenant James Stewart, 
hoped for another combat assignment but, when D-Day came and passed in June without further orders, he requested and was granted a discharge. Adolf Hitler (did you know) (see Alois Hitler) (see William Hitler) look a likes,
esteemed Gable above all other actors; during the Second World War, he offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and bring Gable to him unscathed.He was certainly a womaniser, a serial seducer and philanderer, and he ruthlessly used his attractivenness to women, particularly older women who held powerful positions in Broadway and Hollywood, to make his way to the top. He was a toyboy before the name had been coined. By the end of the decade his marriage to Josephine Dillon was crumbling. He had become famous on Broadway but not in Hollywood and he needed help with his Hollywood ambitions. Again he found an older, rich woman to provide it. In 1930 he divorced Josephine and married Texas socialite Ria Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham. 
He explained to Josephine quite candidly that he wished to marry Ria Langham because she could do more for him financially. “He is hard to live with because his career and ambition always came first,” said Josephine wistfully. Clark and Ria divorced on 07-03-1939. Clark Gable and his next girlfriend Carole Lombard were married during a production break on the movie, Gone with the Wind. 
Tragically, the woman Clark considered the love of his life would be killed in a plane crash less than three years later, in January 1942. In December 1949, Clark married Sylvia Ashley, 
a British model and actress who was the widow of actor Douglas Fairbanks. 
The couple divorced in April 1952, after less than three years of marriage. In 1955, Clark married his fifth and final wife, Kay Spreckels 
a three-times-married former fashion model and Hollywood starlet. With two young children of her own, Kay was able to give Clark the family he had long wanted. Then in 1960, Kay became pregnant with Clark’s child. 
Sadly Clark Gable would pass away just four months before his first and only son, John Clark Gable, 
was born, 20-03-1961.
He explained to Josephine quite candidly that he wished to marry Ria Langham because she could do more for him financially. “He is hard to live with because his career and ambition always came first,” said Josephine wistfully. Clark and Ria divorced on 07-03-1939. Clark Gable and his next girlfriend Carole Lombard were married during a production break on the movie, Gone with the Wind. Tragically, the woman Clark considered the love of his life would be killed in a plane crash less than three years later, in January 1942. In December 1949, Clark married Sylvia Ashley, a British model and actress who was the widow of actor Douglas Fairbanks. The couple divorced in April 1952, after less than three years of marriage. In 1955, Clark married his fifth and final wife, Kay Spreckels a three-times-married former fashion model and Hollywood starlet. With two young children of her own, Kay was able to give Clark the family he had long wanted. Then in 1960, Kay became pregnant with Clark’s child. Sadly Clark Gable would pass away just four months before his first and only son, John Clark Gable, was born, 20-03-1961.Death and burial ground of Gable, William Clark.
Gable died in Los Angeles, California on 16-11-1960, age 59, the result of a coronary thrombosis ten days after suffering a severe heart attack. His ashes are buried on Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California.
