Clark Gable

"Frankly, my dear..." So begins one of the most memorable quotes every uttered in the history of motion pictures. Shortly before his appearance in Gone With the Wind, a poll of entertainment readers overwhelmingly selected William Clark Gable as  "King of Hollywood." However, though his role as Rhett Butler earned him one of his 3 Oscar nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role, it was not enough to earn him his second win (his first, and only Oscar was for his role in It Happened One Night). Gable got his start in acting at the tender age of 16, when he quit high school and joined a traveling theater company. His  acting coach, Josephine Dillon, helped him get started in Hollywood and, though 15 years his senior, became his first wife. This, along with his second marriage, would end in divorce. His third marriage, to actress Carole Lombard, ended in tragedy - she died in an airplane crash on her way home from selling war bonds. Grief-stricken, Gable joined the Air Force and flew combat missions in Europe for three years. Upon returning to civilian life, and to Hollywood, Gable's career gradually declined, finally ending in his last film, The Misfits.

Over the course of his career, Clark Gable acted in 80 films, spanning 4 decades and opposite some of the greatest female stars Hollywood has ever seen, including Marilyn Monroe, Claudette Colbert, Jean Harlow and Joan Crawford. His trademark pencil thin mustache, rough-shod good looks and unmistakable voice earned Gable a permanent place in the hallowed halls of Hollywood's top leading men.

Click here to see all Clark Gable photos featured in Jay Parrino's The Mint.