As I sit here in bed watching one of the most enjoyable and poignant "screwball comedies" ever made called "My Man Godfrey" I'm reminded of a story about a random act of kindness told to me by my mother, actress Katherine Yorke.
It involved an exchange with her and the wonderful Carole Lombard.
When Mom was a young tom girl she cut her cheek rather deeply on a piece of barb wire while climbing under an old fence.
She was a very beautiful woman and early on learned to cover up the scar with a special wax made for those kind of blemishes. Mom was a movie contract player for MGM, Universal, Warner Bros and RKO. She was also Ingrid Bergman's double in several films. Katherine was always conscious of that scar but nobody could tell if you weren't looking very close. Ms. Lombard was introduced to Mom on a set one day. She was a "what you see is what you get and rather a potty mouth kind of gal." One of the first things she said after their introduction was, "Katherine how did you get that scar on your face?". Mom just broke down and started crying. I mean this was a big movie star saying this to her. Carole, realizing she choose the wrong words at the wrong time immediately apologized. Then said, "Katherine I have one just like it, look!". They became good friends after that rather emotional first encounter.
Mom was one of the last people to see her before her tragic accident. Mom was working on an film staring Ms.Lombard's husband Clark Gable and Lana Turner. Carole unexpectedly came in on the set that day as she was leaving to sell U.S. War bonds. She saw Ms.Turner sitting on Clark's lap in a romantic kind of way. They were on break. Carole looked around and saw Mom. She came over and said, "hello Katherine how you been?." They chatted for only a brief moment. Mom could see she was upset. After that Ms. Lombard turned around and walked out of the set not even saying hello to Clark. That was the last time Mom ever saw her. She told me Mr. Gable was a great guy (on and off the screen) and always had gals going after him. But Carole was the love of his life.
Disclaimer: This was relayed to me personally by my Mom. This was her story about Carole Lombard.
1 comments:
Carole was injured in a car accident in 1926 and as a result, had a scar on the left side of her face. She refused anesthesia because she was told that it might worsen the appearance of the scar.
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