Carole Lombard [Updated]

Ft. Wayne, Indiana, has been marking the birthday of one of its most famous natives, actress Carole Lombard, who was born on this date exactly 100 years ago.

Her birthplace has been converted into a bed & breakfast.

The Washington Times has a nice piece about her life and career.

My guess as to where her career would have gone had she lived is she would have no doubt continued to star in screwball comedies, expanded her range in other types of films, and would have made the transition to television, provided Clark Gable would have let her (he rejected television appearances as he was of the old school about movie stars making appearances on the small screen). Think Lucille Ball, and you would have had Carole Lombard in a similar series.

This clip is rather poignant, for this newsreel has footage of Lombard's last appearance in Indianapolis before her fatal flight:



I don't know how people get away with posting entire films on YouTube and other file sharing sites, but somehow they do. This is the first part of one of Lombard's most famous films, My Man Godfrey, which she co-starred with ex-husband William Powell (link):



Update: UK's The Guardian has a look at her, but I don't feel Lombard has been neglected at all. She was at least the equal to the actresses mentioned in the article and probably better. Her acting style was extremely modern.

Angelina Jolie comparable to Lombard? Oh, please. Not even close.