Clark Gable was the undisputed King of Hollywood. He had that smirk, the ears, and a screen presence that made everyone else look like they were just standing around. But off-camera? Honestly, the guy’s romantic life was a bit of a chaotic mess. While everyone remembers the tragic, silver-screen romance with Carole Lombard, she was actually just one chapter in a much longer, often weirder story. When you look at the wives of Clark Gable, you aren’t just looking at a list of starlets. You’re looking at a man who spent his entire life trying to figure out what he actually wanted—and usually failing to find it until it was almost too late.
He was married five times. Five. That’s a lot of weddings for a guy who often seemed like he’d rather be out hunting ducks or fixing a tractor than wearing a tuxedo. His wives ranged from acting coaches who were old enough to be his mother to high-society socialites and, eventually, the "female Clark Gable" herself.
The Early Years: Josephine Dillon and Maria Langham
Gable didn't start out as a heartthrob. He was a skinny kid with bad teeth and an even worse acting style. That’s where Josephine Dillon came in. She was his first wife, married in 1924, and she was basically his manager, coach, and financier all rolled into one. Josephine was 17 years older than him. Think about that for a second. In an era where image was everything, Gable’s first move was to marry the woman who literally taught him how to walk, talk, and lower the pitch of his voice. She paid for his new teeth. She groomed him. Then, the second he actually became a star? He left. It’s kinda brutal when you look at the facts, but Josephine always maintained a certain dignity about it, even if the power dynamic was clearly skewed from day one.
Then came Maria "Ria" Langham. If Josephine was the coach, Ria was the social ladder. Married in 1931, Ria was another older woman—about 17 years his senior again. See a pattern? Gable was looking for stability and status. Ria was a wealthy Texas socialite who knew how to navigate the high-society world that Gable, a former oil field worker, found intimidating. She helped refine his rough edges. But as his fame skyrocketed following It Happened One Night, the gap between them grew. He was the world's biggest sex symbol, and she was... well, she wasn't Carole Lombard.
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The One That Counted: Why Carole Lombard Changed Everything
You can’t talk about the wives of Clark Gable without pausing at wife number three. Carole Lombard was the polar opposite of the women who came before her. She was younger, she was foul-mouthed, she was hilarious, and she didn't take his "King of Hollywood" persona seriously at all. They met while filming No Man of Her Own in 1932, but they were both married at the time. It wasn't until the 1936 White Mayfair Ball that the sparks really flew.
Lombard famously sent him a pair of hams with his face on them. That was their vibe.
They married in 1939 during a break in the filming of Gone with the Wind. For a few years, Gable actually seemed happy. They lived on a ranch in Encino, raised chickens, and stayed away from the posh Hollywood party circuit. It was the most "real" Gable ever was. Then 1942 happened. Lombard was killed in a plane crash while returning from a war bond tour. Gable was never the same. He joined the Army Air Forces largely because he didn't care if he lived or died. He spent the rest of his life looking for her in every other woman he met. That’s not a romantic exaggeration; his subsequent marriages pretty much prove it.
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The Rebound and the Socialite: Lady Sylvia Ashley
By 1949, Gable was lonely and, frankly, drinking too much. Enter Lady Sylvia Ashley. She was the widow of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and had been married to a couple of British lords. On paper, she was glamorous. In reality, she was a disaster for a guy like Gable. She tried to "English up" his ranch, bringing in servants and redecorating the rustic home he had shared with Lombard. He hated it.
The marriage lasted about three years, but they were mostly miserable. He reportedly stayed in the guest house or went on long fishing trips just to get away from her. It was a classic "rebound" mistake, even though it happened years after Lombard's death. He was trying to fill a hole in his life with high-society glitter, but he had already outgrown that need back when he was with Ria Langham.
Finding Peace with Kay Williams
The final woman among the wives of Clark Gable was Kay Williams. They married in 1955. If you look at photos of Kay, the resemblance to Carole Lombard is actually a little haunting. She was a blonde, vivacious former model and actress who understood the industry but didn't let it run her life. Most importantly, she gave him a sense of domestic peace.
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Gable finally had the family life he’d skirted around for decades. Kay had children from a previous marriage whom Gable adored, and she eventually became pregnant with his only legitimate son, John Clark Gable. Tragically, Gable died of a heart attack in 1960, just four months before the baby was born. He died shortly after the grueling shoot of The Misfits, a movie where he insisted on doing many of his own stunts despite being in poor health.
Beyond the Marriages: The Secret Life of the King
It’s important to acknowledge that the official list of wives doesn't tell the whole story. While he was married to Ria, Gable had a very "hush-hush" affair with Loretta Young. This resulted in a daughter, Judy Lewis. The lengths the studio went to hide this are wild—Loretta "adopted" her own biological child to keep the scandal from breaking. Gable met Judy only once, when she was a teenager, and never publicly acknowledged her. It’s one of those darker spots on his legacy that shows the massive pressure of the studio system back then.
Actionable Insights for Classic Film Fans
If you're looking to understand the real man behind the "King" persona, looking at his marriages is a good start, but watching the transition in his acting is better. You can see the shift from the coached, stiff performer in his early 30s to the raw, grieving man in his later roles.
- Watch the transition: Compare Red Dust (1932) with The Misfits (1961). You can see the physical and emotional toll his life took on him.
- Visit the history: If you're ever in Los Angeles, the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale is where both Gable and Lombard are interred. He chose to be buried next to her, despite being married to Kay Williams at the time of his death. Kay, in a final act of grace, respected that wish.
- Read deeper: For a non-sanitized version of his life, Clark Gable: A Biography by Warren G. Harris is generally considered one of the more thorough accounts that avoids the fluff of old-school fan magazines.
Gable's life was a series of attempts to find a partner who could handle both the movie star and the man who liked to get his hands dirty. He found it once, lost it, and spent the rest of his years trying to get it back. It’s a reminder that even for the guy who had everything, the one thing he wanted most—a long, quiet life with the person he loved—was the one thing he couldn't quite hold onto.