Biography
When Carole Lombard died at the age of 34 in a plane crash following a World War II war bond drive, the American film industry lost one of its most talented and intelligent actresses. Starting out in silent films as a
Mack Sennett bathing beauty, she later epitomized screwball comedy in
Twentieth Century (1934);
My Man Godfrey (1936), for which she was Oscar nominated as Irene Bullock, with ex-husband
William Powell as Godfrey; and
Nothing Sacred (1937), playing the not-so-doomed Hazel Flagg. But Lombard was also a capable dramatic actress whose talents can be seen in her subdued performance as a nurse in one of her final roles, in
Vigil in the Night (1940), as well as in
The Eagle and the Hawk (1933),
In Name Only (1939) and
They Knew What They Wanted (1940). Other fine appearances include teaming with
Fred MacMurray in several films, the best of which are
Hands Across the Table (1935) and
The Princess Comes Across (1936), in which Lombard does a humorously accurate
Greta Garbo takeoff. Her two final films contain two of her best performances: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1940) and the
Ernst Lubitsch war satire,
To Be or Not To Be (1942). She was married to
William Powell from 1931-33 and to
Clark Gable from 1939 til her death. ~ All Movie Guide