Clark Gable, one of moviedom's larger-than-life leading men, is probably best known for his role in the classic film
Gone with the Wind, Rhett Butler. A close second might be his portrayal of Fletcher Christian in
Mutiny on the Bounty.
Born in 1902 in Cadiz in northeastern Ohio, Gable dropped out of school at the age of 16 for a job in an Akron tire factory and eventually joined a traveling theater company at age 21. To keep food on the table between gigs, Gable filled in as an oil field rigger, lumberjack and telephone repairman.
Gable got his first big screen action in the silent The Merry Widow as an extra in 1925. A screen test followed, signing with MGM and making 12 films his first year. In 1932 Gable teamed with sultry Jean Harlow in Red Dust propelling him into true stardom. He won his first and only "Best Actor" award in 1934 in It Happened One Night co-starring Claudette Colbert.
