The Gable - Lombard romance started on January 25, 1936 at the formal ball called The White Mayfair Ball. This was the first time they had met since the making of their only movie together No Man of Her Own. They seemed to have an eye for each other and then they had a fight. The next morning Gable was awakened by doves in his apartment. Carole had paid the hotel clerks to release the doves in Gable's room. Ah, Gable still had a chance with Lombard.

By Valentine’s Day, Lombard had found a decrepit old Model-T Ford. She knew Gable’s love for fast cars so she had this Model-T towed to a body shop and painted white with big red hearts all over it. Lombard had it delivered to the MGM lot where Gable was working. A note on the steering wheel said, "You’re driving me crazy." Well, Gable called Lombard and invited her dancing at the Trocadero that night. Lombard spent the rest of the day preparing for her first date with Gable. A champagne-colored gown and a white chinchilla jacket. Gable had a surprise for Lombard now. He picked her up in the Model-T Ford. Lombard being the good sport went right along with the joke. They chugged down Hollywood Boulevard at 10 mph laughing all the way.

Clark went on a hunting trip and returned with his idea of a kitten. It was a small baby cougar that he presented to Carole. The cougar created so much havoc with Carole's other domesticated animals that Clark had to donate it to the MGM Zoo.

On Gable’s 36th birthday on the set of Parnell, Clark discovered he had a secret admirer. Judy Garland sang to Gable a hit tune called "You Made Me Love You." Carole bought Garland's recording of "Dear Mr. Gable" and played it endlessly, driving its namesake, embarrassed and irritated by the song, to distraction.

After the filming of Test Pilot, Gable was eager to go hunting so he persuaded Lombard to go also. They decided to spend a few days at Gable’s gun club in Bakersfield but no women had ever stayed over night at the all male preserve. Lombard solved the problem by buying herself a small trailer, complete with kitchen and bathroom. Lombard had to haul the trailer out to the club herself, as seeing Clark and Carole together pulling a trailer would have upped Ria’s settlement for a divorce. Lombard and Gable spent most of the day hunting together. That night they sat around the camp with about 20 other men, drinking, and telling off color jokes. The men were not real happy with having a woman around so Lombard finally got the message and retreated to the trailer. After about an hour, the smell of freshly baked bread and the tinkle of ice cubes came from Lombard’s trailer. Within minutes, every man in the camp was at her door. A party in progress and Gable was sent out for more liquor. When bedtime came around, the men were teasing Gable about where he was going to sleep that night. Lombard made it quite clear it would not be with her. She said "Goodnight boys, it has been swell" and shooed them away, Gable included.

Gable loved to tell Carole of his sexual prowess. He would boast of all the places he had made love to a woman. Once in a phone booth, fire escape and in a swimming pool. He told Carole who was fuming by this time, "It's hard to do in a swimming pool." Carole just bided her time and said "Yes, isn’t it." Gable went off the handle and proclaimed "How dare you do a thing like that and then have the nerve to tell me about it." Oh, that Carole sure knew how to play the game.

In 1938, Clark was working on the movie Idiot’s Delight with Norma Shearer. He had to do a dance routine in the movie and Carole was helping him with his dance routines. While the shooting of the movie was going on Carole sent Clark a full ballet outfit including some oversized dancing slippers. When the shooting was completed, Carole sent him a huge bouquet as if he were some prima donna.

On March 1939 while Clark had a few days off from filming Gone with the Wind, Carole and he eloped to Kingman, Arizona. When they arrived home, which was early morning, the newlyweds were so tired they went to Lombard’s bedroom to get some rest before the press conference the next day. Lombard shrieked with laughter when she discovered that her brothers had hung a shotgun over the bed.

Laughter had a lot to do with the success of the Gable-Lombard marriage. They both had a keen sense of humor. There was always a joke or prank they could use to relieve the tension between them. One morning Gable went to the barn door and was charged by an angry cow, which threw him halfway across the yard when he tried to bulldog the animal western-style. Later that day, Lombard went shopping and bought him a red toreador’s costume which she solemnly presented at dinner. Gable had to get even with her. She had just bought a new riding outfit she had Irene design for her specially. Clark decided that Carole needed a new thoroughbred horse to go along with it and promised one to be delivered the next morning. Well, the next morning Carole ran outside to see her new thoroughbred and was confronted with a decrepit, swayed backed horse that, like herself, was a veteran of the old Mack Sennett comedies. Gable had rented it just for the day.

Clark and Carole tried to put the farm on a paying basis. They started raising chickens. Carole designed egg cartons with the name "The King's Eggs" showing eggs with crowns on them. But the chickens did not lay eggs in any kind of a routine. It ended up that each egg cost them about $1. They also had oranges picked from their orange trees however when they were marketed, they received a check for $6.00. The oranges were considered "culls" or rejects.

Life was a lark to Carole Lombard Gable. She had a beautiful dress made and wore it to a party at Fred MacMurray's house. She got to romping around the pool and fell in ruining the dress. She spent the rest of the evening in Fred’s pajamas as the story goes. She just laughed at herself and ordered another.

Clark happened to have some time off between making movies and Carole and he had decided as soon as they could they would take a hunting trip. Carole was still working on a movie and Clark was getting a little bored waiting for her. So he told her, "Hurry it up down there will ya, Ma." Carole asked him, "What's on your mind, Pa?" Clark replied "Ducks" with a grin.

Clark had a few quirks, also. It was known that Carole and Clark both loved hats. But a rule at the Gable house was not one hat was to be cleaned. Carole used to tell that Clark had to have his boots polished when he went out to feed the chickens but he would wear a dirty hat. Carole on the other hand would wear a particular hat that Clark disliked when she was mad at him. She was also known to have bought a dozen hats at a time at the Bullock’s Wilshire. She stated "I’ll probably never wear them, I just want to take them home to make Pa laugh".

Carole teased Clark continuously. She called him "Big Lug", "Moose", and teased him about his acting in the movie Parnell. She would also quip "Who do you think you are, Clark Gable?"

Gable one time told friends that when they went to the horse races that Carole bet on a horse if she liked the color of the silks the jockey wore.

Occasionally, Carole would plan a party at the Gable home. These were never as lavish as the ones she did before the Gable's got married but most would have a gimmick involved. This particular night, the guests appeared to find a 12 piece orchestra was set up on the patio. The thing was that there was no band. Each guest was urged to pick up an instrument and form a band. Carole picked up the trumpet and also attempted to be the band leader.

The Gable's were sitting alone on the patio watching the sun go down late one evening. Supposedly Gable was feeling the effects of several Scotches, and said to Carole, "Ma, we’re lucky people. We have this ranch, and while its not going to support us, it feels like a ranch. We’ve got this house fixed just to suit us, we’ve both good jobs, friends, money in the bank and our health. God’s been good to us. Can you think of anything you really need or want that you haven’t got? Lombard sipped her Coke before she answered. "Pa, to tell you the truth, I could use a couple of loads of manure if we’re going to do any good with those fruit trees."

We have seen the comedy in this couple’s life. Now we must see the tragedy. On January 16, 1942 Carole Lombard Gable was killed in a plane crash along with the crew of the plane, service men aboard, her mother and Otto Winkler. She was killed outside of Las Vegas, Nevada on treacherous Table Rock Mountain. She was just a few hours from reaching her destination, "home." Carole had been on a war bond selling tour and was returning from her home state of Indiana where she had sold over $2,000,000 worth or war bonds. She was supposed to take the train back to California. She was too tired and wanted to get home as quickly as she could and back to the man she loved. Otto Winkler tried to get Carole to take the train. Carole said they would flip a coin to decide which way to go home. It was the flip of a coin and (supposedly by all accounts I have read) pilot error ended the life of the greatest comedic actress I have ever seen, heard, or read about. It tore Clark Gable apart. January 16, 1942 was the day "The Comedy Died."

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