Academy Award for Best Actor

1934

Clark Gable

As

Peter Warne

It Happened One Night

William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often regarded as The King of Hollywood or just simply as The King. Gable began his career as a stage actor and appeared as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for MGM in 1931. The next year he landed his first leading Hollywood role and became a leading man in more than 60 motion pictures over the next three decades.

Gable was arguably best known for his role as Rhett Butler in the epic Gone with the Wind (1939), for which he received his third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was also nominated for leading roles in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and he won for It Happened One Night (1934). Gable found further success commercially and critically with films like Red Dust (1932), Manhattan Melodrama (1934), San Francisco (1936), Saratoga (1937) Boom Town (1940), The Hucksters (1947) Homecoming (1948) and The Misfits (1961) which was his final screen presence. Clark Gable is considered one of the most consistent box-office performers in history, having been appeared on Quigley Publishing's Annual Top Ten Money Making Stars sixteen times.

Gable appeared opposite some of the most popular actresses of the time. Joan Crawford, who was his favorite actress to work with, was partnered with Gable in eight films; Myrna Loy worked with him seven times, and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six productions. He also starred with Lana Turner in four features, and with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner in three each. Gable's final film, The Misfits (1961), united him with Marilyn Monroe (also in her last screen appearance). He was named the seventh greatest male actor of all time by the American Film Institute.