Hollywood Memorial

Comedic actress, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her career spanned from the silent era to ‘talkies.’ She received her only Oscar nomination for Best Actress in ‘My Man Godfrey’. ‘No Man Of Her Own’ put her opposite Clark Gable for the first and only time but their marriage was still seven years away when they became the ideal Hollywood couple known for their success in the film industry. Clark Gable journeyed to Nevada to join a search party seeking the wreckage of a TWA twin engine DC-3 airliner flying from Indianapolis to Los Angeles. Aboard were 22 passengers including Carole Lombard Gable and her mother on their way home after appearing at a war bond drive just before boarding. There were no survivors. Clark Gable rode on the train that carried the bodies of his wife and mother-in-law back to Los Angeles. Gable purchased three crypts at Forest Lawn Cemetery, one for Carole, her mother and a reserve for himself. A World War II Liberty Ship was christened in her honor. She is interred next to Gable and to her mother who also perished in the crash. A distraught Gable enlisted in the Army Air Corp and flew missions over Germany, some thought he had a death wish. He never fully recovered from the tragedy, and despite future marriages it is thought she was the only wife he ever truly loved. Another tragic end for a beautiful Hollywood blonde, dead at age 33.