Judy Lewis - daughter of Loretta Young & Clark Gable

[VeuveClicquotNJ]

Judy Lewis - the love child of legendary actors Loretta Young & Clark Gable, has died of cancer at the age of 75.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...able_dies.html

Lewis - who was conceived when her parents were filming "Call of the Wild", only met her famous father once. At the time Lewis's autobiography - Uncommon Knowledge - was published, Young still denied Gable's paternity. However, in an authorized biography published after Young's death in 2000, the actress finally acknowledged that Gable was the father of her daughter.




VCNJ~

[deanfan]

RIP Judy.

[VeuveClicquotNJ]

deanfan - thanks for posting those photos. It must have been apparent to anyone with half a brain-stem there was NO way Judy Lewis was adopted - she's the spitting image of Loretta and she's remarkably reminiscent of her father, too. Obviously, this was "common knowledge", but Hollywood (or at least the Young clan) closed ranks around this.

VCNJ~

[deanfan]

You're welcome. I agree, she looks a lot like her mom, so I doubt anybody believed the adoption story as Judy grew up looking like Loretta. Busted!

[cindyt]

I can see Clark Gable in her too.

[Ludigan]

When Judy first asked her mother if her father was Clark Gable, Loretta's reaction was to immediately throw up!

Actions, as they say, speak louder than words.

Apparently, Loretta had some strict religious virtues. She carried around a “swear jar” on set and demanded that every time someone cursed on set, he/she pay a quarter “for the nuns.”

Spencer Tracy’s (or Ethel Merman's) reply: “Here’s a twenty, sister. Go f**k yourself.”

[shipmatekate]

Well I sure see Clark there
RIP Judy

[Buttercup]

How horrible to be lied to by your own mother for all those years. Glad it finally was resolved. RIP Judy.

[radiojane]

That story always blew my mind.

It's so sad that all the people that can remember such a cool time in history are going at such a fast rate.

[1karenhb]

In spite of her messed up childhood it sounds like she had a good life. RIP Ms. Lewis.

[shipmatekate]

That story always blew my mind.

It's so sad that all the people that can remember such a cool time in history are going at such a fast rate.

We still have Mickey Rooney, Olivia DeHaviland, Joan Fontaine and.....and......

[VeuveClicquotNJ]

We still have Mickey Rooney, Olivia DeHaviland, Joan Fontaine and.....and......

Ernest Borgnine...Luise Rainer...Eva Marie Saint.

[shipmatekate]

Ernest Borgnine...Luise Rainer...Eva Marie Saint.

Luise Ranier??? Wow............

[deanfan]

Eli Wallach, Lauren Bacall, Angela Landsbury, Harry Morgan, Lizabeth Scott, Maureen O'Hara, Peggy Cummins, Doris Day, Glynis Johns, Esther Williams. Won't even write KD's name...Jerk!

[Bayou Queen]

Debbie Reynolds is still around.

My Dad told a story when I was a little girl that when he was young, and so was Loretta Young, that he had seen her on a train and she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. I always thought Hunter Tylo from The Bold and The Beautiful resembled her.

May Judy rest in peace.

[radiojane]

Okay I feel better

[1karenhb]

Luise Ranier??? Wow............

I didn't know she was still alive either and now that they have all been mentioned on this thread, they're doomed!

[homesgirl]

I once heard a story that Judy first heard Clark Gable was her father from her then boyfriend/ future husband. As I remember it, he innocently mentioned it because he thought it was "Common Knowlege." He didn't know he was dropping a bombshell on her.

[Desert Ghost]

I can't find the exact quote but after one celeb back then heard the story about Loretta Young's "adoption" said that all he knew was that after she made the movie with Clark Gable she turned up a little later with a baby with big ears.

[VeuveClicquotNJ]

NY Times obit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/ar...6.html?_r=1&hp

[FooFoo Shnickens]

Wow, she sure did look like her Daddy!

[shipmatekate]

Wow, she sure did look like her Daddy!

Especially the eyes!

[Jerseysucks]

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/12/01...c1_lnk2|116909

I thought Clark Gables big affair was with Carol Lombard or was that after Loretta Young. Sorry I don't remember
what year the movie bio Gable and Lombard came out with James Brolin what year(s) it took place and I'm too tired
to look it up on WIKI.
OK Young had the baby in 1935 and Gable started his affair with Lombard in 1936. OK I looked it up.

[Shejay]

I read her book - it was an excellent read... RIP Miss Lewis....

[pkstracy]

Have her book on what to read next list, yes she does look like Clark, and Loretta,Rest in peace Judy.

[theladyinquestion]

Luise Ranier??? Wow............

Yep, and she looks good for her age too... (last I saw her anyway).

[Murphee]

Eli Wallach, Lauren Bacall, Angela Landsbury, Harry Morgan, Lizabeth Scott, Maureen O'Hara, Peggy Cummins, Doris Day, Glynis Johns, Esther Williams. Won't even write KD's name...Jerk!

Were they all bonafide famous in the 30's? Nope....

[Jerseysucks]

Judy Lewis - the love child of legendary actors Loretta Young & Clark Gable, has died of cancer at the age of 75.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...able_dies.html

Lewis - who was conceived when her parents were filming "Call of the Wild", only met her famous father once. At the time Lewis's autobiography - Uncommon Knowledge - was published, Young still denied Gable's paternity. However, in an authorized biography published after Young's death in 2000, the actress finally acknowledged that Gable was the father of her daughter.




VCNJ~

If I read the article correctly, Young never acknowleged the father to be Clark Gable but what really bothered me was Young never admitted to be her biological mother.
That part really killed me. Sorry.

[NOVSTORM]

I actually met Judy in the late 60's. I knew who she was before I even spoke with her. In real life she looked more like Clark. She was really a nice person . I think like many adopted children felt like an outsider because of the kids Loretta had with the husband and the fact the LY would never tell her anything about her bio parents. People say that LY thought it was OK to have an affair with a married man but CG was seperated from that wife for many years and she would not give him a divorce. She was a devout RC and abortion was not in her vocabulary besides that she would have had to have a back street abortion !~ She never got over the fact that her mother in order to save her own repution made her believe that she was not her bio mother and her close friend (the one that introduced me to Judy) told me that she never really forgave her for it and also she said that her mother told CG not to come around so he stopped coming to see her but he had been there to see here and gave her gifts. She was one of Hollywoods best kept ,every one knows, secrets. I never did find out if LY 's husband knew about Judy , any idea?? I feel sorry for her and what she endured as a kid and as an adult by a woman so damn vain that she couldnt let her own child know that she was in fact her mother and let her grow up as an outsider. Her book is a good read BTW. I only met her that one time but my friend was a good friend of hers ,she has died too so no book coming from that direction but I bet she cold have written a tell it all book.!

[shipmatekate]

LY always creeped me out
I thought she was ugly.
And such a cold bitch.
I read Judys book and I was amazed at how well she handled all the crap life dealt her.

[deanfan]

Uh, some were. Nobody said the 30s.

[deanfan]

Tribute video made by her brothers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spqqb7ggHu8

[shipmatekate]

Tribute video made by her brothers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spqqb7ggHu8

Nice! Thank you!
I still think LY was a bitch cunt supreme

[Bayou Queen]

There is no doubt in my mind she was the biological daughter of LY and CG, but how was it confirmed for her? I am sure before Judy died she could have had a DNA test with some old hair or other personal items that were LY, and CG's.

How very sad for her.

[dia846]

Apparently Loretta Young finally told her daughter the truth in the last few years of Loretta's life. From things I've read later, it was pretty much an open secret in the Hollywood set, though.

I remember when I was a child, there were pictures of Loretta and her family in some mags, as at that time she was a huge TV star, and had had her own show. They idenitified the family members in the article, and mentioned that Judy was her adopted daughter. Even as a small child, I could see a huge resemblance to her mother and thinking how unusual that was that her "adopted" daughter looked more like her than the ones identified as her biological children.

Didn't know about the Clark Gable parentage until it was confirmed by Loretta at the end of her life.

I feel sad for Judy finally knowing that neither parent felt able or willing (due to the studios and the era they lived in) to be able to acknowledge her as theirs always. She seemed like a very lovely woman. It was the only child of his that Clark Gable would live to see (he died before his son's birth), and I've read he only saw her once. Sad for every one of them and all the time missed.

[deanfan]

Here is a clip of Judy talking about her parents. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kSrc...eature=related

[Murphee]

I actually met Judy in the late 60's. I knew who she was before I even spoke with her. In real life she looked more like Clark. She was really a nice person . I think like many adopted children felt like an outsider because of the kids Loretta had with the husband and the fact the LY would never tell her anything about her bio parents. People say that LY thought it was OK to have an affair with a married man but CG was seperated from that wife for many years and she would not give him a divorce. She was a devout RC and abortion was not in her vocabulary besides that she would have had to have a back street abortion !~ She never got over the fact that her mother in order to save her own repution made her believe that she was not her bio mother and her close friend (the one that introduced me to Judy) told me that she never really forgave her for it and also she said that her mother told CG not to come around so he stopped coming to see her but he had been there to see here and gave her gifts. She was one of Hollywoods best kept ,every one knows, secrets. I never did find out if LY 's husband knew about Judy , any idea?? I feel sorry for her and what she endured as a kid and as an adult by a woman so damn vain that she couldnt let her own child know that she was in fact her mother and let her grow up as an outsider. Her book is a good read BTW. I only met her that one time but my friend was a good friend of hers ,she has died too so no book coming from that direction but I bet she cold have written a tell it all book.!

Loretta seems to have been protecting her reputation until the very end. Sad that she couldn't realize how much Judy needed unconditional love and RECOGNITION. It's terrible to always feel you are an outsider; always wanting to be included but always feeling people are keeping their distance.

[microsonic66]

Something I read somewhere claimed Loretta always wore some disgusting body suit under those high fashion frocks she wore in her intros on that program. Truly, she was a class act.

[Bayou Queen]

Times were so different back then, not saying what Loretta did was right but does anyone remember the whole Ingrid Bergman scandal back in the day:

From Wikipedia :

Italian period with Rossellini: 1949â??1957



With husband Roberto Rossellini in 1951


Memorial plaque on the house in Stromboli where Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini lived during filming of "Stromboli" in 1949
Bergman strongly admired two films by Italian director Roberto Rossellini that she had seen in the United States. In 1949, Bergman wrote to Rossellini, expressing this admiration and suggesting that she make a film with him. This led to her being cast in his film Stromboli (1950). During production, Bergman fell in love with Rossellini, and they began an affair. Bergman became pregnant with their son, Renato Roberto Giusto Giuseppe ("Robin") Rossellini (born 2 February 1950).[12]:18
This affair caused a huge scandal in the United States, where it led to Bergman being denounced on the floor of the United States Senate. Ed Sullivan chose not to have her on his show, despite a poll indicating that the public wanted her to appear.[13] However, Steve Allen, whose show was equally popular, did have her on, later explaining "the danger of trying to judge artistic activity through the prism of one's personal life."[13] Spoto notes that Bergman had, by virtue of her roles and screen persona, placed herself "above all that". She had played a nun in The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) and a virgin saint in Joan of Arc (1948), and Bergman herself later acknowledged, "People saw me in Joan of Arc and declared me a saint. I'm not. I'm just a woman, another human being."[14]:300
As a result of the scandal, Bergman returned to Italy, leaving her husband and daughter (Pia), which led to a publicized divorce and custody battle for their daughter. Bergman and Rossellini were married on 24 May 1950. In addition to Renato, they had twin daughters (born 18 June 1952): Isabella Rossellini, who became an actress and model, and Isotta Ingrid Rossellini, who became a professor of Italian literature.

[AtlantaBlair]

Given all the baggage that Ms. Lewis had been born with, she rose above it all. Always seemed like a class act. I read her memorial book with her online obit, and several young women talked about how she had helped them, as a social worker, when they were pregnant and unwed.

[AtlantaBlair]

Tribute video made by her brothers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spqqb7ggHu8

Nice video.

[crazedfemale]

You know my mom talked about her when I was a kid. Last week we talked about Judy Lewis passing away. She said, you know I knew Judy Lewis and you met her when you were a kid. I said, when mom, she said she knew her when she was a teenager in California and she came to Texas in the 1960's and stopped by the house to say hi after all these years. I was about 2 years old so I can't really count that. Mom also said she saw her again in the early 1970's. I wish I had been at least 4, I probably would have remembered it.

[pumpkin76]

How selfish of Loretta Young to never tell her the truth till years later. I understand that would have ruined her career for having a child out of wedlock, but that was her daughter. She should have at least told her when he was in the hospital before he died, so she could have spent more time with him. She looked just like him, Clark Gable wearing a blonde wig.

[Arky67]

Celeste Holm, Joan Fontaine, Carol Channing.

[OMyStarz]

What I find most appalling is that her mother put her in an orphanage for 19 months until she ultimately adopted her.

19 months!!

How could she do that?

[Shejay]

I get the "feelin" that Loretta Young was Joan Crawford without the wire hangers... =) Poor Judy, shafted from the get go.

[shipmatekate]

i get the "feelin" that loretta young was joan crawford without the wire hangers... =) poor judy, shafted from the get go.

exactly!!!!

[deanfan]

Nice video.

You're welcome. The brother singing, Peter Lewis, was in the old 60s group Moby Grape.

[OMyStarz]

I get the "feelin" that Loretta Young was Joan Crawford without the wire hangers... =) Poor Judy, shafted from the get go.

Unfortunately, it sounds as if you're right.

[coconn04]

Judy died in a high end nursing home near Philadelphia. She had to have a lot of money to get in there. What was the source of this money? How did she get to Philadelphia from California?