The queen of screwball comedies married the king of Hollywood in 1939, the year he starred in Gone with the Wind. But their idyll was short lived: Lombard died in a plane crash on the way home from a trip to sell war bonds in January 1942, and Gable — the epitome of Hollywood’s idea of unimpeachable masculinity — had a physical and emotional breakdown. In his despair,the 41 year-old Gable joined the army to fight against Hitler — a huge Gable fan who apparently tried to capture the actor while he was flying combat missions over Germany.
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