Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard (b. Fort Wayne, October 16, 1908 – d. Mount Potosi, Nevada, 1942) – Actress. Born Jan Alice Peters in Fort Wayne, Carole Lombard moved to Los Angeles with her mother and siblings in 1914 after the parents were divorced. While still in school, she took on roles in silent films and signed with Fox Film Corporation in 1925 after appearing in some low budget movies. Shortly after the advent of sound film, she switched to Paramount pictures in 1930s and soon thereafter took on major roles opposite John Barrymore, husband Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, and Jack Benny. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in My Man Godfrey. At the height of her career, she was killed in a plane crash while she was returning home to California from a war bond rally in Indiana. Although she was not well known for her musical abilities, Lombard did sing in some of her films, especially “Swing High, Swing Low” (Paramount, 1936). A member of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Lombard came in at #23 on American Film Institute’s list of 50 Greatest American Screen Legends in 1999.