While it is no big deal for today’s starlets to give birth out of wedlock, Hollywood in the ‘30s was not quite as forgiving. Take for example the case of Loretta Young, Clark Gable, and their lovechild, Judy Lewis.

Loretta Young was fresh off an affair with Man’s Castle co-star Spencer Tracy when she signed on to film The Call of the Wild with Clark Gable. Maybe it was the wilderness setting of Mount Baker, Washington or maybe it was just Gable’s intrigue with Tracy, but Gable and Young’s immediate connection soon turned into a full fledge affair. Clark was still married to Rhea Langham, but continued to date Young even after the filming was over.

By 1935, Young found herself pregnant. Because she was devout Catholic, Young knew she could not abort the baby, yet admitting that she was having a child out of wedlock would surely ruin her career. She postponed all film commitments, blaming an illness, and fled to England with her mother. However, after being hounded by the press thee, she returned to America. She hid away in her Venice Beach house until she gave birth to their daughter Judy on November 6, 1935. On November 18, Gable made the official announcement that he and his wife were separated then called Young requesting to see their child. She declined, saying the baby was out of town.

By the end of November, Young was back at work while a nurse tended to the baby. By January 1936, Young finally decided to let Gable visit his daughter. He found her sleeping in a bureau draw. Reportedly, he gave Young $400 and said “the least you can do is buy her a decent bed.” She then pushed Gable away, fearing that if they were seen together, people would make the connection.

Several months later, Judy was sent to the St. Elizabeth’s Infant Hospital in San Francisco, where she would remain for five months. After that, Young “adopted” her. In June 1937, Young told famed gossip columnist Louella Parsons that she had adopted two daughters, 3 year old Jane and 23 ½ month Judy. However, the Jane part was just a ruse – Young never adopted another child and weeks later, announced that Jane’s birth mother had changed her mind about the adoption.

Young’s story fooled very few in Hollywood, especially since young Judy had been gifted with her father’s famous ears. When Young married writer/producer Thomas Lewis in 1939, he adopted Judy, although the two never had a close relationship. Young and Gable would work together again on the set of 1950’s Key to the City. Judy met Gable, without realizing he was indeed her birth father. After the two talked for several hours and Gable departed her with a kiss on the forehead. The two would never meet again.

Judy needed a passport in 1956. While trying to sort out her birth documentation, Judy began to realize that Young was her birth mother. However, Judy did not confront her with this knowledge until she was engaged to be married two years later at the age of 23 and her fiancé confirmed what all of Hollywood already knew. Judy went on to see acting success as her mother’s career declined, which lead to a separation between the two. In 1994, Judy, who had quit acting to become a therapist, would write “Uncommon Knowledge,” which was about her life. Young was upset, but the two mended the fences before Young died in 2000. That year, “Forever Young,” Young’s authorized biography was published. In it, she finally admitted that Judy was a lovechild produced from a union with Gable and that she had gone to extreme lengths to cover up the scandal.

Still, the Gable family refused to recognize Judy as one of their own. Son John Clark Gable said “My father said he had no other children and my father’s word is good enough for me.” Judy never had a DNA test, saying that her mother’s word was enough for her.  (The image above is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 without a copyright notice.)

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Tags: Clark Gable, hollywood, Judy Lewis, Loretta Young

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