Lombard was born into a wealthy family in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but grew up in Los Angeles, living with her single mother. At age 12, she was spotted by director Allan Dwan and made her screen debut in Ideal Crime (1921). Striving to become an actress, she signed with Fox Film Corporation at the age of 16, but at that time played mostly small roles. She was fired by the studio after she had a car accident that "awarded" her a scar on her face.
After breaking up with Fox Film Corporation, Carol Lombard played in 15 short comedies by Mack Sannett between 1927 and 1929, and then began appearing in feature films such as High Voltage and The Racketeer. After successfully appearing in The Arizona Kid (1930), she signed with Paramount Pictures.
Paramount Studio immediately began to offer Carol Lombard the main female roles, primarily in dramatic films. Her situation improved when she married William Powell in 1931, but the couple divorced two years later. The turning point in Lombard’s career came after participating in Howard Hawks’s groundbreaking vintage comedy Twentieth Century (1934). The actress found her niche in this genre and continued to appear in films such as Hands on the Table (1935) and My Man Godfrey (1936), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
At the same time, the love of Clark Gable and Carol Lombard was born. Seeking an Oscar, at the end of the decade, Lombard switched to more serious roles. Having lost faith in the dream of an Oscar, she returned to comedic roles, playing in the films "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" (1941) Alfred Hitchcock and "To be or not to be" (1942) Ernst Lubich. Clark Gable and Carol Lombard were considered one of the most beautiful couples in Hollywood.
Lombard’s career was suddenly interrupted by her tragic death at the age of 33 in a plane crash on Mount Potosi, Nevada, when she was returning from a tour in support of US troops. Today she is remembered as one of the best actresses in the era of vintage comedies, and she is one of the most famous stars of classic Hollywood.
early years
Actress Carol Lombard, as already mentioned, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on October 6, 1908 on Rockhill Street, 704. At birth, she was given the name Jane Alice Peters, she was the third child and only daughter of Frederick Christian Peters (1875- 1935) and Elizabeth Jane Bessie Peters (1876-1942). She had two older brothers, with each of whom she continued to communicate until the end of her life - Frederick Charles (1902-1979) and John Stewart (1906-1956). Parents of Lombard, both from rich families, provided their children with a comfortable and carefree childhood, but their relationship with each other was tense, so no one was particularly surprised when Elizabeth took the children in October 1914 and moved with them to Los Angeles. Although the couple did not officially divorce, they never lived together again. The constant financial support of the father allowed the family to not need anything, but their life was no longer as prosperous as in Indiana, when the parents were together.
First role
Young Carol Lombard loved to play sports and watch movies. In high school, she was engaged in tennis, volleyball and swimming, and also regularly received awards for her achievements in athletics. At the age of 12, this hobby unexpectedly turned for Lombard her first role on the screen. Playing baseball with friends, she attracted the attention of filmmaker Allan Dwan, who later recalled that he saw "... a pretty little hooligan who, fighting off other children, played baseball best of all." I needed a girl of her type for the next film. " With the support of her mother, Lombard joyfully played a small role in the melodrama The Perfect Crime (1921). Despite such a promising start, Carol Lombard’s further biography will be full of difficulties and trials, and will end with a real tragedy.
Carier start
The "Perfect Crime" did not gain wide popularity, but a brief experience prompted Lombard and her mother to think about a film career. She was often on trial, but was not successful. After a vivid performance at school, she was spotted by an employee of Charlie Chaplin, who invited her to audition for a role in the film "Gold Rush" (1925). She never got the role, but Hollywood producers took a closer look at her. In order to attract their attention, she changed her name to Carol (Jane was considered too boring). The aspiring actress took this name in honor of the girl with whom she played tennis in high school.
In October 1924, after experiencing numerous setbacks and disappointments, the 16-year-old Lombard signed a contract with Fox Film Corporation. How this happened is not clear: in her official biography it is written that the director of the studio met her at a dinner party, but later sources indicate that Lombard's mother contacted Luwella Parsons, a representative of a recruitment agency who arranged for the young actress to audition for the role. According to biographer Larry Swindell, the beauty of Lombard impressed Winfield Sheehan, the head of the studio, and he decided to sign a contract with her in the amount of $ 75 per week. Carol dropped out to start a full-fledged acting career. Having changed her surname, she became the very Carol Lombard who is so familiar to everyone.
Success
In March 1925, the Fox studio gave the actress a major role in the drama Marriage in Transit, where she played in tandem with Edmund Low. Her performance was well received by both viewers and critics. Despite this, the heads of the studio were not sure that Lombard was suitable for leading roles, and her one-year contract was not extended. Many believed that the trauma to her face in a car accident was the main reason for this decision. Fearing that a scar on her cheek, which went to her as a reminder of the accident, would ruin her career, the 17-year-old Lombard decided to lie under the knife of a plastic surgeon, which was rare in those days. Lombard learned to hide the rest of the scar with makeup and lighting.
Then her career quickly went uphill. She played in 15 short films from September 1927 to March 1929 and was happy that she was able to star in a full-fledged movie. She called these years a turning point in her career.
After the success of the next film with her participation, Paramount Pictures studio signed a contract with Carol Lombard for $ 350 per week (by 1936, this amount was gradually increasing to $ 3,500 per week). She starred in the Buddy Rogers comedy Security in Figures (1930), positively noted by film critics.
Top career
The year 1934 was a peak in the Lombard career. She began with Wesley Ruggles' musical drama "Bolero." George Raft and she demonstrated their dancing skills in this extravagantly staged performance by Maurice Ravel. Before filming, she was offered the main female role in the film "One Night," but she refused because of conflicts with its creators. "Bolero" was favorably received by the public and critics, and one of Carol Lombard's later films, the musical comedy "We," became a box office hit.
Then Lombard was recruited by director Howard Hawks, who invited her to play a major role in her iconic vintage comedy Twentieth Century, after which she became one of Hollywood's major stars. Photo of Carol Lombard at that time was decorated with all city posters.
The first Lombard film in 1936 was the film Love Before Breakfast, described by film critic Goering as The Taming of the Shrew, vintage version. In the movie “Princess” by William C. Howard, who became her second comedy with McMurry, she played an aspiring actress who wins a movie contract by disguising herself as a Swedish princess. The performance was considered satire on Greta Garbo and received mixed reviews from critics.
Outstanding comedian
Lombard's success strengthened when she was invited by Universal Studios to play in the vintage comedy My Man, Godfrey (1936). William Powell, who played the role of Godfrey, insisted that Carol be given the role of the main female character. Prior to this, Powell and Lombard had already managed to be a couple and even get a divorce, but Powell still believed that his ex-wife would ideally look in the role of Irina, the leading female character. The film was produced by Gregory Lacava, who personally knew Lombard and advised her to rely on her own eccentric character, playing a role in the film. She worked a lot on the performance, especially with the search for suitable facial expressions for Irina. "My Man, Godfrey" ended up being a box office hit. He received as many as six nominations at the 9th Academy Awards, including a nomination for the best actress, which was awarded to Lombard. Biographers call this role the best in her career.
Unjustified ambitions
Lombard all her life sought to win an Oscar and chose her next project from several possible scenarios, dreaming of playing the most successful role. The film "Vigilance at Night" (1940) directed by George Stevens showed Lombard as a young nurse who faces a number of personal difficulties. Despite the high rating, she did not receive the nomination she was counting on, since the gloomy mood of the picture depressed the audience, and the box office was bad. Despite the realization that she was most suited to comedic roles, Lombard starred in another drama - “They Knew What They Wanted” (1940), which was moderately successful.
Late career
Resigned to the fact that comedic roles are given to her better, Lombard for the first time in three years starred in the comedy, called "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" (1941). It was a real commercial success, as viewers were pleased with what movie critic Swindell called "belated good news that Carol was back in fun."
Clark Gable and Carol Lombard Love Story
That was almost a year before Lombard dedicated herself to the next film, as it took her time to focus on home and marriage. Clark Gable and Carol Lombard met on the set several years before the movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." They fell in love at first sight. Nevertheless, the relationship of Carol Lombard and Clark Gable was at first quite complicated, but ended up in a happy marriage. But this happiness was short because of one erroneous decision that the actress made at the end of her short life.
Fatal mistake
In the early 40s, the actress was at the peak of popularity, and touching photos of Carol Lombard and Clark Gable, the third wife of whom she became, were considered genuine proof that true love still lives in Hollywood. When the United States entered World War II at the end of 1941, Lombard went to her home state of Indiana to collect donations in support of the US military. The pawnshop was able to raise more than $ 2 million (today it is $ 33,276,018) in one evening. Initially, her team was supposed to return to Los Angeles by train, but Lombard sought to get home faster, and therefore decided to use the services of the airline. Her mother and tour assistants were afraid to fly and insisted that the actress follow her original plans and ride the train. The pawnshop offered to flip a coin, as a result, she won the argument and acted in her own way. The mother of the actress decided to fly with her.
Tragic death
In the morning hours of January 16, 1942, Lombard and her mother boarded a Transcontinental & Western Air Douglas DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport) plane flying to California. After refueling in Las Vegas, TWA Flight 3 took off at 19:07 and crashed into a Double Peak at a height of about 8,300 feet (2,530 m), located southwest of Las Vegas Airport. All 22 passengers, including Lombard, her mother and 15 US Army soldiers, instantly died. It was found that the cause of the accident was due to the pilot's inability to maneuver correctly between the mountains surrounding Las Vegas. As a precaution against the possibility of Japanese bombers entering American airspace off the Pacific coast, all safety beacons used to facilitate night flights were turned off, leaving the pilot and TWA flight crew without any visual warnings of approaching mountains. So the great actress became a victim of the negligence of the American authorities. The death of Carol Lombard has become a genuine national tragedy for America.