I wanted to bring you this tidbit of information on Clark Gable’s love life because his 4th wife is often the “forgotten one.”
Why? Well, because it was troubled from the start and didn’t last long.
One Is The Loneliest Number
Although, she and Gable were married at the end of 1949 — 7 years after Gable’s third wife, Carole Lombard died in a plane crash, he was still grieving.
Gable had also returned from military service — flying aircraft over seas for WWII.
He’d seen a lot in the decade of the 1940s and it had changed him.
He wasn’t nearly as happy-go-lucky as he had been through the 30s. Gable was finding his way again both personally and professionally.
Many close friends say that at this stage in his life he was lonely and wanted company. In 1949 when they married, he would have been 48. He was tired of the kind of nightlife he used to enjoy before he married Lombard.
Who Was Sylvia Ashley?
Lady Sylvia Ashley (born Edith Louisa Sylvia Hawkes) (1904–1977) was a British-born model, chorus girl, actress and socialite who married iconic Hollywood actors Douglas Fairbanks and Clark Gable, alongside several other titled aristocrats.
Ashley came from a relatively modest background, but became part of British high society while young and working as a model and actress.
Before marrying Gable, she had already been married three times…
- Lord Ashley (Anthony Ashley) — married 1927; divorced 1934.
- Douglas Fairbanks Sr. — the famous American silent-film star. They married in 1936, and she became a stepmother to his son, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Fairbanks died in 1939. She married Fairbanks after his divorce from Mary Pickford. He died of a heart attack in 1939, leaving her the bulk of his estate.
- Lord Edward Stanley, 6th Baron Stanley of Alderley — married in 1944; divorced 1948 ←- with a catch. In 1945, Lord Stanley initiated divorce proceedings from Ashley. January 1947 — newspaper reports that Lady Ashley had “won” a divorce proceeding. 1948 — marriage finally dissolved.
- Then came Clark Gable, whom she married on December 20, 1949, in Solvang, California. This was the 4th marriage for both of them.
- After Gable, she married Prince Dimitri Jorjadze, a Georgian prince, hotel executive, and race-car driver (m.1954– 1977). This was Ashley’s 5th and final marriage which lasted until her death from cancer in Los Angeles at age 73.
The Gable/Ashley Marriage
Gable was still profoundly affected by the death of his third wife, Carole Lombard, in a 1942 plane crash. He and Lombard had been deeply in love, and Gable never entirely recovered from her death.
To some extent, Ashley was physically reminiscent of Lombard.
Many of his close friends believed that Gable was feeling particularly lonely at this time in his life.
It was a short and unhappy marriage with Ashley filing for divorce in 1951, alleging mental cruelty, and they were divorced in 1952.
But wait, there’s more…
What REALLY Went Wrong?
The first thing to know is that both sides ultimately accused the other of cruelty.
When Ashley filed for divorce in May 1951, alleging mental cruelty, Gable filed his own complaint charging that Ashley had caused him “grievous mental suffering and pain.”
It seems these were two very strong-willed, independent people who were not particularly suited for domesticity.
Gable was accustomed to being The King of Hollywood. He had money, enormous celebrity, a ranch, his career, his friends, and a life organized around his own habits.
One account says that both Gable and Ashley were accustomed to having their own way for years.
And Sylvia Ashley was no pushover. This was a woman who came from average beginnings and would end up marrying two lords, two movie stars and a prince.
At this point in time, she’d already been married to Lord Ashley, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and Lord Stanley of Alderley. She was sophisticated, wealthy, socially accomplished, and used to running her own affairs.
She seemed to assume she could come into Gable’s home expecting to make it their home. That seems to have been a major flashpoint.
Reportedly, Ashley began redecorating Gable’s home, dismissing his household staff, and making changes to the way the house was run. Gable just hated this.
One account says that after she finally moved out, Gable fired the staff she had hired, changed the locks, and began undoing her renovations.
An interesting side note…
The Grey Zone
Virginia Grey (March 22, 1917 – July 31, 2004 age 87 years), was an American actress who appeared in over 100 films and several radio and television shows from the 1930s to the early 1980s.
She was romantically involved with Clark Gable intermittently for a number of years, after his wife, Carole Lombard’s, untimely death.
She reportedly had hoped that, if Gable ever married again, it would be her.
His sudden marriage to Sylvia Ashley apparently devastated her.
When Ashley left, Grey was again linked romantically with Gable in the press.
***Observation —
As you can see from the picture above, Virginia Grey was very beautiful and probably quite sweet if Gable kept her in his life over a number of years.
I believe the reason he married Ashley over Grey was simply this – Ashley didn’t need him and Grey desperately did.
I hate to say it – but this is a pattern many men and women fall into.
Often times men want the ones that don’t need them… and sometimes they want the ones that don’t really want them either.***
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Below is a picture of Clark Gable and his fifth and final wife – Kay Williams (Spreckels)
