Clark Gable was born in Cadiz， Ohio， on February 1， 1901. His early life was as restless as that of one of his screen characters. His father was an oil driller and farmer， who for the most part1 left his son to his own services2. His mother died not long after giving him birth. A stepmother gentled him and gave him what maternal love he experienced.

When he was fifteen he left his Ohio farm home to work in Akron. There he worked backstage with a stock company3 during his free time. He left to join his father in the oil fields after his stepmother died， then left that miserable existence for another city and another theatrical troupe4.

After doing extra5 work in such films as The Merry Widow (1925)， Gable moved to New York where he became friends with Lionel Barrymore. Years later， Barrymore arranged for Gable to test at MGM，but it was a disaster. Gable also tested at Warner Bros. to play Edward G. Robinson's best friend in Little Caesar， but production chief Darryl F. Zanuck turned him down， saying \"His ears are too big. He looks like an ape.\"

After a second screen test at MGM(again arranged by Barrymore)， Gable won a contract， making his debut in a small role as Constance Bennett's brother-in-law in The Easiest Way. When he rose to stardom within a year，MGM re-issued the film with Gable listed as its star.

His first important role， in A Free Soul (1930)， cast him as a gangster who humbled proud Norma Shearer with， among other things6， a sharp right to the jaw7， which was Gable's ticket to stardom. Female fans fell for8 a new type of hero，as likely to slug them as to kiss them. He accomplished much the same thing in Red Dust(1932) for Mary Aster，though he gave her up for tough， good-guyish Jean Harlow. Some twenty years later， in a remake of Red Dust called Mogambo， he proved the agelessness of his appeal，by knocking the same kind of sexual sense into9 proud， chilly Grace Kelly.

As Gable's star rose， he started to refuse run-of-the-hill10 roles. When he turned down a Joan Crawford soap opera， studioheadLouisB. Mayer punished him by loaning him to the less prestigious Columbia Pictures. Thefilmhemade there was It HappenedOne Night (1934)， which brought Gable an Oscar for Best Actor.

Initially，Gable refused the role of Blackie Nortom in San Francisco (1936) because he didn't want to stand around11 while co-star Jeanette MacDonald sang to him. \"It's one thing if you have a voice and can sing back and defend yourself，\" he explained to MGM production chief Irving G. Thalberg. \"It's another if you don't， and I don't.\" He changed his mind when he learned that MacDonald had taken herself off salary while waiting for him to accept the role. Thinking he was over the hill12， MGM executives refused to renew Gable's contract in 1954. To their embarrassment，Mogambo， one of his last pictures there， was a major hit that made it possible for Gable to command top dollar as a free agent in Hollywood.

While filming San Francisco，Gable forged a close friendship with co-star Spencer Tracy. Gable admired Tracy's dramatic versatility， while Tracy envied Gable's romantic allure. The friends would re-team for two more films， Test Pilot(1938) and Boom Town(1940)， with Gable taking top billing both times. The situation was so rough on Tracy's ego that the two never worked to- gether again.

Gable hated period pictures13，convinced he only looked good in modem roles. He tried to turn down Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)， another of his biggest hits. After the failure of Parnell ， in which he played a crusading Irish politician， he swore he'd stick to contemporary stories. As a result，he fought to get out of his most famous role， Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind (1939).

Rumor had it that Margaret Mitchell had created the character of Rhett Butler with Clark Gable in mind. This was the most arrant nonsense. When Miss Mitchell created the character of Rhett on her battered Underwood， Clark \"Billy\" Gable was an unknown extra in a sea of anonymous Hollywood hopefuls.

By the time David Selznick had bought the rights to Margaret Mitchell's bestseller， he was to find that only Clark could play Rhett Butler. The public would not be denied. If the motor- cycle-riding， cigar-chewing， hunting， loving， fighting， daring actor was not precisely the blockade-running14 rogue that Margaret Mitchell had created， the public saw them as one. A long chain of films， supported by the MGM publicity mill15 ， had done its work. Gable was Rhett and Rhett was Gable and that was that.

It's easy enough to understand why Gable was elected \"King\" of Hollywood in a poll of editors conducted by Ed Sullivan in 1938. Though his films carried far less social commentary than those of Cooper and Bogart， he was very much an expression of a nation's feelings during the Depression Decade. Gable elicited an immediate and direct response from his audience，though he played almost exclusively in highly irrelevant films--lightweight comedies and adventures， both historically and contemporary， that had little to do with the great questions of the day.

Despite his he-man16 image on-screen，Gable off-screen seemed to be in search of someone to mother him. His first wife， drama coach Josephine Dillon， was 17 years his senior; his second， socialite Rhea Davis， was also considerably older.

Gable indulged in\"17 three famous romances with leading ladies in the 1930s. His fling with Joan Crawford ended when Mayer threatened to destroy their careers. While making Call of the Wind with Loretta Young，they fell in love. Years later， Young's adopted daughter， Judy， would claim that she was their love child. When Gable started dating Carole Lombard， he knew he'd found the real thing.

Like many showbiz pairs， they looked too good together to be true. Tall，blonde and fiery-eyed，Carole Lombard epitomized 1930s glamour; Clark Gable， with his broad shoulders and devil's grin，seemed every inch18 his nickname--the king. But the queen of comedies， who swore freely and loved practical jokes19 and her rough-and-ready20 leading man were more than just Golden Age window dressing21 The love they shared for six years was that Hollywood rarity.

\"They had an ineffable quality in romance，the ability to have fun22 together，\" says actress Esther Williams，an MGM contract player like Gable， \"They were soulmates who thought life was delicious，and they made everyone's life delicious around them.\"

By any measure， they had plenty of savor--even before they found each other. When the 28-year-old Lombard caught Gable's eye at a Hollywood party in 1936，she was one of highest-paid actresses in America， pulling in23 $465，000 one year for three movies and three radio shows. Gable， the star of It Happened One Night and San Francisco， was a 35-year-old heartthrob24 so revered that \"Who do you think you are---Clark Gable?\" had be- come a standard putdown. Yet since Lombard's marriage to actor William Powell ended in 1933，serious romance had eluded her. And Gable was tiring of his second wife， a society belle named Rhea Davis who had no interest in duck shooting or fishing， his chief passions.（待續(xù)）

注釋

(1)for the most part：在很大程度上；大多數(shù)情況下。

(2)leave someone to one's own srervices:聽其自然，聽任某人自行其是，對(duì)某人不加干涉。

(3)stock company：固定在某一劇院輪換上演全套節(jié)目的劇團(tuán)。

(4)theatrical troupe：巡回演出團(tuán)。

(5)extra：臨時(shí)演員，群眾演員。

(6)among other things：除了別的以外(還)。

(7)jaw：(俚)談話，尤指辱罵性的話。

(8)fall for：通過(guò)反復(fù)試驗(yàn)找到，通過(guò)不斷摸索發(fā)現(xiàn)。

(9)knockinto：(把某種知識(shí))灌輸給某人。

(10)run-of-the-hill：一般性的，普通的，平庸的。

(11)stand around：stand about閑立著，閑動(dòng)著。

(12)over the hill：在衰退中，在走下坡路。

(13)period pictures：歷史片。

(14)blockade-running：偷越封鎖線。

(15)publicity mill：宣傳機(jī)構(gòu)。

(16)he-man：(口)富于男性魅力的人。

(17)indulge in:沉溺于，飽享，縱情享受。

(18)every inch：從頭到尾，完全，徹底。

(19)practical joke：惡作劇，耍弄?jiǎng)e人的玩笑。

(20)rough-and-ready：魯莽但尚頂事的。

(21)window dressing：櫥窗布置，店面裝飾；裝體面，擺闊氣，炫耀自己。

(22)have fun：開心，作樂(lè)，尋歡作樂(lè)。

(23)pull in：pull down(口)賺錢。

(24)hartthrob：(俚)情人。

克拉克·蓋博，1901年2月1日出生于俄亥俄州加的斯城。他早期的生活如他在影片中的角色一樣，到處奔波。他的父親是一位石油鉆井工，也是一位農(nóng)場(chǎng)主，他放手讓蓋博干他自己想干的事。他的母親在他出生后不久就死了。繼母對(duì)他很好，讓他享受到了慈母般的愛。

15歲那年，他離開了俄亥俄州的農(nóng)場(chǎng)，來(lái)到阿克倫城工作。在空余時(shí)間，他給一家劇團(tuán)做些幕后工作。繼母去世后，他離開劇團(tuán)，回到家里同父親一起在油田干活，因生活太苦，他又前往另一座城市，加入另一個(gè)巡回演出團(tuán)。

在《快樂(lè)寡婦》(1925)之類的影片中扮演臨時(shí)演員之后，蓋博到了紐約，在那兒，他與萊昂利爾·巴里莫爾成了朋友。幾年之后，巴里莫爾安排蓋博到米高梅影片公司去試鏡，結(jié)果慘敗而歸。蓋博又在華納兄弟影片公司試鏡扮演《小愷撒》中愛德華·G·羅賓遜的好友，但制片商達(dá)瑞樂(lè)·F·扎努克否定了他，說(shuō)：“他的耳朵太大了，看起來(lái)像一只大猩猩?！?/p>

再一次在米高梅影片公司試鏡之后(依然由巴里莫爾安排)，蓋博簽了片約，首次在《最容易的方法》中擔(dān)任一個(gè)小角色，扮演康斯坦斯·本特的姐夫。蓋博在一年之內(nèi)出了名，米高梅影片公司重新發(fā)行這部影片，將蓋博列為影片主角。

他第一個(gè)重要角色是在《自由靈魂》中，扮演一個(gè)反面角色，他用一些尖刻的辱罵，還有其他手段使趾高氣揚(yáng)的諾瑪·希阿若在他面前服服貼貼。這個(gè)角色使他逐漸出了名。女性影迷們覺得又看到一個(gè)新型英雄的形象，對(duì)他真是又愛又恨。盡管他為倔強(qiáng)且男子味十足的吉恩·哈樓而舍棄瑪麗·阿斯特，但在《紅色塵土》(1932)中，為她所做的可謂是如以往一樣盡其所能了。約20年后，《紅色塵土》重拍，片名為《蒙甘波》，他在該片中使得高傲、冷漠的格萊斯·凱利變得也是性感十足，這證明了他那經(jīng)久不衰的魅力。

蓋博成名之后，他開始拒絕演一些普通的角色。在他拒絕瓊·克諾弗德肥皂劇的角色之后，制片廠老總路易斯·B·邁爾將他調(diào)入名聲不大的哥倫比亞電影公司作為懲罰。在哥倫比亞電影公司，他演了《一夜風(fēng)流》(1934)，這使他獲得奧斯卡最佳男主角獎(jiǎng)。

最初，蓋博拒絕在《舊金山》(1936)中飾演布萊克·洛特姆，因他不愿在女主角珍妮·麥克唐納對(duì)著男主角唱歌時(shí)覺得無(wú)事可做?！暗绻阌幸桓鄙ぷ樱梢院退龑?duì)唱，以此來(lái)維護(hù)自己，這是一回事，”他向米高梅影片公司制片商歐文· C·塞爾伯格辯解道。“如果你沒有，那是另一回事。而我就沒有。”當(dāng)他了解到麥克唐納在等他接受這個(gè)角色而扣掉了自己的薪水時(shí)，他改變了主意?？紤]到蓋博名聲不再，1954年，米高梅影片公司拒絕與他續(xù)簽片約。令他們尷尬的是，《蒙甘波》，他最后的影片之一，竟然很賣座，使蓋博成為好萊塢片酬最高的自由電影人。

在拍攝《舊金山》的過(guò)程中，蓋博逐漸與女主角斯賓塞·特西成了朋友。蓋博贊賞特西的戲劇才藝，而特西則仰慕蓋博的浪漫魅力。這兩人將在兩部影片《飛行員考驗(yàn)》(1938)和《城市轟炸》(1940)中再次合作，這兩部影片都將蓋博之名署在演員表之首。這對(duì)以自我為中心的特西很不利，此后兩人再也沒有合作過(guò)。

蓋博討厭歷史片，他認(rèn)為他只有扮演現(xiàn)代角色，看起來(lái)才英俊些。他曾試圖拒絕演出《叛艦喋血記》(1935)，而這是他電影事業(yè)的另一個(gè)高峰。在影片《帕內(nèi)爾》中，他扮演一個(gè)改革的愛爾蘭政客，此片失敗了，他發(fā)誓以后非現(xiàn)代片不演。因此，他費(fèi)盡周折才獲得令他聲名大振的角色——《飄》(1939)中的瑞特·巴特勒。

有流言說(shuō)，瑪格麗特·米切爾在創(chuàng)造瑞特·巴特勒時(shí)，是因?yàn)樗X子中有克拉克·蓋博。這真是最十足的胡說(shuō)八道。當(dāng)米切爾小姐在她飽受戰(zhàn)亂的安德伍德創(chuàng)造瑞特這個(gè)角色時(shí)，克拉克·“比利”·蓋博只是無(wú)數(shù)不知名的好萊塢“候補(bǔ)”演員中的一個(gè)無(wú)名的臨時(shí)演員。

當(dāng)大衛(wèi)·塞爾茲尼克以高價(jià)買下瑪格麗特·米切爾的暢銷書的版權(quán)時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)只有克拉克才能演好瑞特·巴特勒。觀眾對(duì)此也都表示接受。就算一個(gè)騎著摩托車，嘴里嚼著煙頭，到處游獵，不斷戀愛，不斷打斗的大膽的演員并不恰恰就是瑪格麗特·米切爾筆下的偷越封鎖線的無(wú)賴，觀眾也認(rèn)為他們是一個(gè)人。在米高梅影片公司宣傳機(jī)構(gòu)的支持下，一連串的影片起了作用：蓋博就是瑞特，瑞特就是蓋博。就這樣。

不難理解為什么蓋博在1938年由沙利文發(fā)起的編輯投票中會(huì)當(dāng)選為好萊塢之“王”。雖然他的影片不如庫(kù)柏、伯格特的影片那樣，引起社會(huì)的廣泛評(píng)價(jià)，但在蕭條時(shí)期，他正是一個(gè)民族的感情的表現(xiàn)。盡管他在反差很大的影片——?dú)v史的或當(dāng)代的一些輕松喜劇或冒險(xiǎn)劇——中飾演一些勢(shì)利、冷傲的角色，但從觀眾的反應(yīng)中，他得到了迅即、直接的回答，不過(guò)這與當(dāng)今的主要問(wèn)題沒多大關(guān)系。

與他在熒幕上的富有男性魅力的形象相反，熒幕外的蓋博想找一位能照料他的人。他的第一任妻子，約瑟芬·迪倫，戲劇導(dǎo)師，比他大17歲；第二任妻子，社會(huì)名流瑞亞·黛維斯，也比他大許多。

30年代，蓋博曾與三位當(dāng)紅影星有過(guò)人人皆知的羅曼史。當(dāng)邁爾威脅說(shuō)要?dú)У羲麄兊碾娪笆聵I(yè)時(shí)，蓋博才終止了與瓊·克勞弗德的狂戀。在與洛蕾塔·楊合拍《風(fēng)的呼喊》時(shí)，他們彼此相戀了。多年以后，楊的養(yǎng)女，朱迪，說(shuō)她是他們倆愛情的結(jié)晶。當(dāng)蓋博與卡洛爾·朗伯德約會(huì)時(shí)，他知道他已找到了真愛。

如同娛樂(lè)界的很多情侶一樣，他們倆看起來(lái)太棒了，令人難以相信是真的?？鍫枺咛魝€(gè)子，白皙皮膚，金發(fā)碧眼，雙眼充滿激情，是30年代最具魅力的典型?？死恕どw博，闊肩，魔鬼似的咧開嘴笑，從頭到尾都與他的綽號(hào)——“國(guó)王”相符。喜劇中的王后，總是隨便發(fā)誓，并喜愛惡作劇，而她那魯莽但還頂用的丈夫也不僅僅只是《黃金時(shí)代》窗口擺飾。他們之間的愛持續(xù)了六年，這在好萊塢是極少見的。

“他們?cè)谝黄鹩幸环N無(wú)法表達(dá)的浪漫情懷，一種尋歡作樂(lè)的本事。”女演員埃斯特·威廉姆斯說(shuō)。她和蓋博一樣，是米高梅影片公司的簽約演員。“他們彼此情投意合，認(rèn)為生活很有味道，他們也使他們周圍的人感受到生活的趣味。”

無(wú)論怎么衡量，他們都有吸引力——甚至在他們彼此發(fā)現(xiàn)對(duì)方之前。1936年在好萊塢的一次聚會(huì)上，當(dāng)28歲的朗伯德闖入蓋博的視線時(shí)，她是美國(guó)薪水最高的女演員之一，她一年要從三部電影和三個(gè)電臺(tái)節(jié)目中賺46萬(wàn)5千美元。蓋博，《一夜風(fēng)流》和《舊金山》的明星，35歲的大眾情人，受到如此尊敬，以至于“你認(rèn)為你是誰(shuí)——克拉克·蓋博嗎?”這樣的問(wèn)話成了故意貶低他人的話。然而當(dāng)朗伯德與威廉．·鮑威爾的婚姻于1933年結(jié)束時(shí)，她失去了認(rèn)真戀愛的興趣。而蓋博也對(duì)他的第二任妻子——瑞亞·黛維斯感到厭煩，后者是社交界的美女，對(duì)打鴨子或釣魚——他主要的喜好——絲毫沒有興趣。