History Creator / CaroleLombard

Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actor during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood, renowned for her ditzy ScrewballComedy heroines and her playful personality.

Other classics followed: ''Film/HandsAcrossTheTable'' (1935, featuring a young Creator/FredMacMurray), ''Film/MyManGodfrey'' (1936, co-starring William Powell), ''Film/NothingSacred'' (1937, co-starring Creator/FredricMarch) -- the latter being her favourite film. Her daft sense of humour made her a favourite among colleagues and friends alike; she was the glamourous leading lady who [[LadySwearsALot loved swearing like a sailor]] -- they called her "the Profane Angel" -- who also loved hunting, playing sports, and hanging out with everyone, from the glamourous stars to the crew.

Late in 1936, though, Lombard and Gable became completely smitten and were soon inseparable. They became Hollywood’s most glamourous couple and got HappilyMarried on March 29th, 1939.

Carole's influence would continue to be felt beyond the grave, when her best friend Creator/LucilleBall would claim that Carole had appeared to her in a dream and convinced her to "give it a whirl" -- ''it'' being the then-new and untested medium of television. The result was ''Series/ILoveLucy'', which came to define the television SitCom even more profoundly than Carole's own work had defined the ScrewballComedy genre.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Her most remembered characters are often wrapped up in their own worlds.
* GaussianGirl: Invoked. Carole experienced a horrific car accident in 1926 (the windshield smashed and the glass landed on both her and her friend in the passenger seat) and had to have emergency surgery (without anesthetic), which left her with a few scars; a noticeable one was on her left cheek but manipulated lighting hid it most of the time and made her look softer on camera.

** Alfred Hitchcock wanted to cast her in more of his films in serious roles, feeling that she was a capable dramatic actor. However she died shortly after their only film together, ''Film/MrAndMrsSmith1941''.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Many of Lombard's protagonist characters are innocent and kind-hearted. Most notable is Irene in ''My Man Godfrey''.

* GaussianGirl: Invoked. Carole experienced a horrific car accident (the windshield smashed and the glass landed on both her and her friend in the passenger seat) in 1926 and had to have surgery without anaesthetic. She had a few scars; a noticeable one is on her left cheek but manipulated lighting hid it most of the time and made her look softer on camera.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Much of Lombard's protagonist characters are innocent and nice. Most notable is Irene in ''My Man Godfrey''.

* StageNames: She took the name "Carol Lombard" when she signed with Fox. After Paramount mistakenly billed her as "Carole" for one of her early pictures with them, she decided she liked it better.

* ''[[Film/MrAndMrsSmith1941 Mr. and Mrs. Smith]]'' (1941)

America's entrance into UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo sparked Lombard's patriotism, and she traveled the world to promote war bonds for the effort. After selling more than $2 million in bonds at one Indianapolis rally, Carole, along with her mother Bessie and Gable's friend and publicist Otto Winkler, boarded a flight to Calfornia on January 16, 1942. After stopping to refuel in Las Vegas, their DC-3 plane lost course and crashed into a nearby mountain, with none of the passengers surviving. Lombard was only 33 years old.

America's entrance into UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo sparked Lombard's patriotism, and she traveled the world to promote war bonds for the effort. After selling more than $2 million in bonds at one Indianapolis rally, Carole, along with her mother Bessie and Gable's friend and publicist Otto Winkler, boarded a flight to Calfornia on January 16, 1942. After stopping to refuel in Las Vegas, their DC-3 plane crashed into a nearby mountain, with none of the passengers surviving. Lombard was only 33 years old.

In the late '30s and early '40s, Lombard [[TomHanksSyndrome tried her hand at dramas]], but they failed with the public and critics. Due to these box offices duds, she returned to comedies; her two last were, respectively, Creator/AlfredHitchcock's only straight comedy, ''[[Film/MrAndMrsSmith1941 Mr. and Mrs. Smith]]'', and Creator/ErnstLubitsch's ''Film/ToBeOrNotToBe''.

Notoriously, Lombard was also known for [[ThePrankster her mischievous antics]] throughout her life and here are just ''some'' [[Funny/CaroleLombard outrageous examples]]: on her first and only movie with Creator/ClarkGable (''Film/{{No Man of Her Own|1932}}''), she [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clark_and_carole_clark_ham_present.jpg gave him a ham with a picture of him]], thinking him a stuffed shirt; she gave director Creator/WilliamAWellman a straitjacket as a gift during the shooting of ''Film/NothingSacred''; Hitchcock was known for his infamous remark about actors being cattle, so Carole [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lombard_and_montgomery_with_cattle.jpg brought cattle onto the set]], and called one Carole and the other Bob (Creator/RobertMontgomery being her co-star); always the attention-lover, she went to a party for a friend who had been released from a sanitarium, arrived in an ambulance, and shocked the guests as she was lifted into the room on a stretcher. Clark Gable, who was also a guest, thought the joke in poor taste.

America's entrance into UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo sparked Lombard's patriotism, and she traveled the world to collect war bonds for the effort. After selling more than $2 million war bonds in one night’s rally, Carole, her mother, Bessie, and a family friend/Gable's agent, Otto Winkler, boarded a DC-3 plane to Indiana on January 16, 1942. The plane crashed shortly after take-off; none of the passengers survived. Lombard was only 33 years old.

Carole's influence would continue to be felt beyond the grave, when her best friend Creator/LucilleBall would claim that Carole had appeared to her in a dream and convinced her to "give it a whirl" -- ''it'' being the new and untested medium of television. The result was ''Series/ILoveLucy'', which came to define the television SitCom even more profoundly than Carole's own work had defined the ScrewballComedy genre.

With the emergence of sound, Lombard transitioned easily, and signed a contract with Creator/{{Paramount}} in 1930. At this studio, she met and married her first husband, Creator/WilliamPowell. By 1933, they would divorce, but [[AmicablyDivorced continue to be good friends afterwards]]. She was also good friends with actor/decorator William Haines. When Haines was fired from MGM for refusing to hide his homosexuality, Lombard helped him transition to a successful decorating career by hiring him to decorate her home and having that promoted in film and decorating magazines.

During the early 1930s, Lombard worked in mediocre movies, playing variants on the brainless blonde. All that changed, however, with her breakout hit, ''Film/TwentiethCentury''. Alongside the respected actor, Creator/JohnBarrymore, she held her own, and the film not only solidified her star power, but cemented the ScrewballComedy genre. Subsequently, LIFE Magazine crowned her the "Screwball Comedy Queen."

Notoriously, Lombard was also known for [[ThePrankster her mischievous antics]] throughout her life and here are just ''[[UpToEleven some]]'' [[Funny/CaroleLombard outrageous examples]]: on her first and only movie with Creator/ClarkGable (''Film/{{No Man of Her Own|1932}}''), she [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clark_and_carole_clark_ham_present.jpg gave him a ham with a picture of him]], thinking him a stuffed shirt; she gave director Creator/WilliamAWellman a straitjacket as a gift during the shooting of ''Film/NothingSacred''; Hitchcock was known for his infamous remark about actors being cattle, so Carole [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lombard_and_montgomery_with_cattle.jpg brought cattle onto the set]], and called one Carole and the other Bob (Creator/RobertMontgomery being her co-star); always the attention-lover, she went to a party for a friend who had been released from a sanitarium, arrived in an ambulance, and shocked the guests as she was lifted into the room on a stretcher. Clark Gable, who was also a guest, thought the joke in poor taste.