America's First Female Casualty of WWII?

That's the claim for actress Carole Lombard, the blonde, wise-cracking wife of Clark Gable. She died the night of January 16, 1942 in an airplane crash near Las Vegas as she returned to LA from a War Bond rally, thus earning the title "first female casualty" of a war scarcely one month old. That may be disputed, but what's not is how well-liked Lombard was by her peers in Hollywood and her fans. People still make their way to Goodsprings, Nevada, to see the site where Lombard met her death. "Every single day of the week somebody will walk in from some part of the world and ask about the Carole Lombard story," said one resident. For more about this fascinating actress visit her excellent fan site and hear her thoughts on everything from sexism to Gable to paying taxes.

Somewhere I'll Find You

This 1942 MGM film was Clark Gable's last before his enlistment. A standard-issue Hollywood love drama with the War as backdrop, Somewhere I'll Find You is notable for pairing Gable again with rising star Lana Turner. During the filming Gable's wife comic actress Carole Lombard died in an airplane crash. Gable was distraught. That August, still unhappy, he enlisted as an Air Force private. The cameras clicked as Gable shaved off his trademark mustache with the observation "I'll probably be cooler anyway." Gable's next picture would be after the War was over.