Clark Gable and Loretta Young's Daughter
'A LITTLE GIRL...WHO DIDN'T EXIST'
Clark Gable plus
Loretta Young equals
Judy Lewis
WHEN Judy Lewis used to watch Clark Gable movies with her teen-age friends, she had no clue that Gable might be her father. "It never would have dawned on me," she said. "Why would I ever think such a thing?"
Yet many in Hollywood were thinking just that. Even her best friends had heard the rumor from their parents, but no one dared tell her. Jack Haley Jr., a pal from high school days, said: "Our whole group knew who her parents were - and we knew she did not know. But we thought her mother would tell her."
Her mother - Loretta Young - hadn't.
Young herself was the other half of the rumor - that Judy, told all her life that she had been adopted by the actress, was really Young's child by Gable.
In her recently published autobiography, "Uncommon Knowledge," Lewis says Young and Gable met in 1935 on the set of "Call of the Wild" and had an affair during which she was conceived. Young, 81, declines to confirm or deny her daughter's account. "This rumor is a product of (a) bygone time. As I have in the past, I have chosen not to give it any further credence," Young said in a statement from her Palm Springs, Calif., home.
"Do you have any idea how sad it makes me that she still feels she must state that her daughter . . . is a rumor?" Lewis said in a recent interview.
In the 1930s, every star's contract had a morals clause. Gable was married to someone else; Young was single and Catholic. Any suspicion of an affair, let alone a child born out of wedlock, would have meant canceled contracts and careers. Lewis said her parents elected to deny that they had ever had a relationship or a child. Gable backed out of the situation, leaving Young to make the decisions.
She grew up thinking she was adopted "in the home of my real mother, " Lewis said. Whenever the child asked why her biological mother had given her up, or who her father she was, Young was evasive, Lewis said.
Lewis writes that her nanny asked Young how to handle the girl' s questions about her father. Young responded, according to the book: "You tell her that her father is dead. That's what he is . . . dead."
Lewis, now 58 with grandchildren of her own, said that even having her own family didn't erase the pain unwittingly inflicted by a mother so remote and relentless in her attempt to keep her child's heritage a secret.
"I was literally fatherless. It was as if I never had a father, " she said. "I always felt half a person, never whole. That's one reason I had to write the book, to claim both my parents." Lewis said she interviewed former nannies, priests, doctors, relatives, family friends, childhood pals and anyone else who participated in a life so painful that she had blacked out huge chunks of it. Through intensive psychotherapy in the last few years, she said, she has been able to retrieve early memories and establish enough self-confidence to "claim my parents."
Lewis said Young had not spoken to her since 1986, when the actress heard that her daughter might write a book.
Lewis' book asserts that Young gave birth to her on Nov. 6, 1935, in a hide-out. At about 6 months, Lewis said, she was shipped to a Catholic orphanage in San Francisco, where she was cared for until she was almost 2.
"There are no photos of my first two years," Lewis said, "because no one cared enough to take any."
Soon she surfaced as Young's adopted daughter - the one with huge, standout ears like Gable's and an overbite like Young's.
Her ears were kept covered so diligently by hair brushing and bonnets that Lewis said she soon came to think of herself as deformed, rushing to cover her ears when her nanny forgot.By age 7, the ears had been fixed in a surgery that removed reminders of her lineage, but left memories of searing pain. The teeth were corrected soon after.
She recalls being cloistered in small rooms with a nursemaid in a huge colonial house. She rarely saw her busy mother, she said, which eventually made her wonder why she had been adopted. Lewis said she grew up trying to please her mother. As the emotional distance between them continued to grow, Lewis tried even harder, although it often meant denying herself.
Lewis writes that she did not attend the University of Southern California as she wanted to because her mother preferred she go to finishing school in New York. She did not study acting there as she wanted to because her mother preferred her to learn secretarial skills.
She did not marry the man of her choice, Russell Hughes, because her mother did not approve of him.
In her teens, Lewis said, a combination of her appearance, her mother's behavior and the rumors led her to begin to suspect that Young was her biological mother.
She had no inkling who her father was until the eve of her own wedding, at 23, when her fiance told her about the Gable rumors that had circulated for years.
Lewis was astonished, but said she was so frightened of losing the tenuous bond with her mother that she couldn't confront her. On Lewis' 25th birthday, Gable suffered a heart attack. Ten days later, on the first birthday of Lewis' own daughter, Gable died. Lewis wrote that finally, at 31, she confronted Young, and Young confirmed that Gable was her father. The two talked for hours, the first and last such conversation they ever had, Lewis said. "People may wonder, what am I complaining about? I had all the physical things anyone could want. The glamorous homes, the clothes, the movie-star mother," Lewis said.
"But all that glamour was meaningless to a little girl who felt she didn't exist. I don't know how else to phrase it. I was alive, but I felt I didn't really exist. I was starved for attention, recognition, love."
&s=1024x768&o=Win32&c=32&j=true&v=1.2)
Poor little rich girl....
Reply to this
Being rich doesn't always equal being happy Ileana, what a horrid thing to say about such a sad story.
Reply to this
You misread the intent of my comment, Jessie; it was compassion for a child deprived of a mother's love. Yet, Loretta Young, in her own way probably did love her daughter because Judy Lewis was raised in her mother's home, not with foster parents.
Reply to this
I had heard these rumors about Clark Gable and Loretta Young. My mother was a fan of Loretta but I guess Loretta Young was held up by people as a . She made great films and was a Hollywood beauty. I think people in those days would of disliked Loretta and would of boycotted her Tv series.
What she did was wrong and the truth always comes forth.
Reply to this
Gable should have acknowledged his own daughter when she was old enough for her to talk to him. It is a shame that Young and Gable cared more for their careers than their own child. This is just another example of how sick Hollywood is.
Reply to this
Years ago God was replaced by studio heads and these "STARS" were ordered to be who the big bosses wanted them to be and nothing more, Judy Lewis was decieved from the start and abused emotionally and that is all. Loretta Young was a wonderful actress but a deeply flawed woman who sold her child out for fame and fortune. Judy Lewis is a survivor of the cruelest cover up.
Reply to this
This has nothing to do with Hollywood. It has to do with the times. No one would admit to having an affair or getting pregnant. Between religion and false morals of the time, they didn't have a choice if they wanted to make a living.
Reply to this
You are exactly right. Even the faintest inkling of truth about the subject if it were put forth would have been the ends of two very successful careers. If it happened now they would survive to write a book and more than likely keep right on working. In 1935 there was a depression. Both Clark and Loretta made money for lots of folks who would otherwise quite possibly be standing in soup lines. It was a depression and the fans needed their stars portraying a quality existence that they themselves might not have. Goodness knows that the code system enforced just one year earlier made any borderline behavior evil to those who governed the 'new Hollywood'. So give Mom a break. Nobodies perfect and as religious as mom was, don't you think she struggled enough? We all dust off our skeletons at least once in life and if we learned anything it's how to forgive. I just hope Ms.Young's Daughter was able to do it before mom passed. I bet she was a dear soul in many many ways.
Reply to this
She looks so much like Loretta Young, how could anyone question her lineage. She may not have Clark Gable's ears anymore, but she sure has his eyes.
Reply to this
It's a shame that this happened to her, I don't think it was a matter of hiding the facts in order to make a living. She was probably afraid to tell her for fear that she would repeat it and thus her mother would lose her way of living.
Reply to this
I have loved Loretta Young's movies especially The Bishop's Wife. Judy Lewis is beautiful in her own right. I am glad that Ms. Young didn't abort even though she wasn't able to be the mother Judy wanted.
Reply to this
As a movie fan I especially love the older films from the depression era. So many of these actors felt very fortunate to have jobs. They didn't make millions for a picture they made a few thousand if they were good at their craft and were fortunate enough to land a job. It wouldn't be hard to understand that if a child were conceived under these circumstances that a compromise of keeping it under wraps, each for the others sake would be in order. No a child is not a business decision, but if you have any idea how many impoverished children of the depression era became business decisions at the other extreme...the heart can bounce back easier than the stomach sometimes.
I have no idea what happened in Ms. Young's home, but I can tell you from my own experience that I finally understood my own mothers behavior, not by how she treated me growing up, but by how she was treated growing up. She was raised in an alcoholic home. There are things that can be resolved in my childhood past without a word being spoken just because I know this.
It's about knowing the whole story. If Loretta Young was adamant about keeping Judy's parentage out of the public eye she must have had a damn good reason. Sometimes you have to listen to mom even if your not sure why.
Reply to this
We all think people with money should be happy and those who do not have assume it makes a difference. Well it doesn't and some of the happiest homes are those with family. I mean a mother, father and yes the crazy siblings.
Reply to this
Yes, money,power,stature, doesn't not excuse a person from alienating their own child and lying to them. This poor girl went through hell being Loretta's daughter. I can't help but feel her pain and loneliness from all that she endured. So very sad, that she was never given the opportunity to get to know her biological father. I just purchased Judy's book within the last 3 years. It was a great read, with such a tragic undertone. She was treated a a "secret possession"...... not acceptable to treat a child like this no matter who the mother is. Kudos to Judy for writing her story. My prayers are with her that her internal scars heal @ sometime in her life. It has to still resonate with her forever, no matter what amends were made to her.
Reply to this
It is a blessing and a curse that our society has changed so much since Ms. Lewis was conceived. In 1935 there would have been such a stigma if the public found out that Loretta Young, a young unmarried actress, was having an affair with a married box office idol AND became pregnant! How very sad that Ms. Young (who I have always been a fan of) had to go through so much deception to have her baby in secret. Nowadays, this sort of thing wouldn't even cause a blip on the radar screen because society's morals have relaxed so much. It breaks my heart that neither Ms. Young OR Mr. Gable really acknowledged this beautiful baby girl in ways that parents should. What a tragedy for all concerned. I wonder if Ms. Lewis has any sort of relationship with her half brother, who was born shortly after Clark Gable died? It might help to know that she does have a blood relative she could have a relationship with. She is a stunning woman, just like her parents
Reply to this
I wish i could tell Judy I'm so sorry for her painful and uncertain childhood.
Somehow you think being in the midst of glamour and fame gives a child certain advantages. It must have been very confusing. I have always looked up to Loretta Young; she was the epitome of how i hoped to look like someday - I'd practice smiling like her so my cheeks would stand out.
Well, you just never know what goes by the wayside on the way to trying to get what you want; something has to give and so often it hurts a child.
Reply to this
Children don't know, or really care, about money. They know time, and love. They are entitled to those two things, and they can't be purchased. There's never been a nanny the equivalent of a loving mother.
Reply to this
In 1935 women were shunned and looked down upon having a child out of wedlock. Being Catholic especially was difficult--the church told you will burn in hell for your sins. Loretta had to be tormented by what she felt she had to do BUT, she did "adopt" her own child and cared for her. Gable was a cad for not recognizing his own child.
Reply to this
I always loved Loretta Young, but this really makes me see her different. Denying her own child for so long, and Clark too. I pray they made it right with the Lord before leaving this earth, because no church can save you..Judy I hope your life has been a happy one and fulfilling...
Reply to this
Judy,your parents were wrong to deny you the knowledge of who you were. I think you need to forgive, and live your life to the fullest. People sometimes are selfish and make mistakes. That is what makes us human, we make mistakes.
Reply to this
I heard this story many years ago. How sad it must have been for you to be denied your father (and mother for a couple of years), but that was how the times were. You are definitely your father's daughter - you look just like him....how sad for him as well that he never had the enjoyment of seeing you grow up. From what I heard, he always wanted children too. Your mother kept this from you because of the shame it was in that generation....I am sure after all these years you understand that. I am glad you got married and had children of your own and I hope you continue to have a happy life.
Reply to this
All this just shows how shallow and cold some of these "stars" were and are -- totally different from their images. If Clark Gable had been the "strong" man he portrayed, he'd have had enough guts to claim his own child. Loretta Young was too busy swishing in the door (on her old 1950s show she made grand entrances) to care about Judy. If Judy reads this, more power to you, girl.
Reply to this
Haven't read Judy's book, but I intend to and soon. This touched my heart profoundly. Children are such a precious gift.
Reply to this
I am deployed about how Clark Cable and Loretta Young handled a child out of wed lock!! I understand back in the Y's it was unheard of, but what about later years both parents could of sat down with there daughter and explained the situation.. What kind of people are they!!!
Reply to this
I really feel sorry for Lewis, in that day and age choices were made for moral reason and not for the health and welfare of the child. Making a living is one thing but at what price, the well being of a child? I think both Loretta nd Clark were very selfish in their attitude and not wanting to risk their reputation by acknowledging their daughter. It seems like young Gable is carrying on his fathers views by not wanting to have any kind of relationship with her. He is missing out on something special, a sister. I had a half brother that I never got to meet because of family dynamics, by the time I found him, he was dead. I will always regret not having found him sooner. I do have a relationship with his wife and have met 2 of his 2 sons, but it is not the same. Judy just be thankful you have a family of your own and will love them and have their love in return. I am so sorry for your years of mental abuse by both parents. God bless you.
Reply to this
I was born in 1935 also.I grew up in show business so I understand Judy's life. I admired her famous parents. I understand why they did what they did to protect their careers. However, it is so sad Judy never got to know her famous father and was not close to her famous mother. Her book, "Uncommon Knowledge" is an excellent read. I pray you have peace over it all now. God bless you.
Reply to this
i felt very sad reading judys book, and now shes gone and hopefully she will find her parents in heaven and give them hell
Reply to this