Linked romantically to crooner Russ Columbo until his accidental death late in 1934.
Lombard was listed in the credits of Safety in Numbers (1930), her first Paramount release, as Carole (instead of Carol as in her previous billings). They decided that this would now be the official spelling and she went along with it. She legally changed her name to Carole Lombard in 1936. Only in her first film, A Perfect Crime (1921) did she use her real name, Jane Peters.
Measurements: 34 1/2B-24 1/2-34 (MGM costumer Adrian's book), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
One of her classmates at drama school was Sally Eilers.
Part of her honeymoon with Clark Gable was at the Willows Inn in Palm Springs. The Inn continues to operate to this day and anyone can stay in the same room, called "The Library Suite" today. The room remains largely unaltered since the Gables stayed there more than 60 years ago.
Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. [1999]
She was good friends with Gloria Swanson.
She was of English and German heritage.
She was offered the lead role in a proposed melodrama, "Smiler with a Knife," to be directed by a newcomer at RKO named Orson Welles. She turned it down, opting to return to screwball comedy in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941). Welles refused to make Smiler without her; instead, he began work on Citizen Kane (1941).
She was often doubled by her old school friend, Dixie Pantages. Dixie had an even more unusual background than Carole herself did: she was born in extreme poverty, but when her mother died, she was adopted by the wealthy Pantages family so that their own daughter, a childhood playmate of Dixie's, could have a sister. When that happened, her name changed legally from Dixie Nelson to Dixie Pantages as a result of the adoption becoming legal.
She was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the first woman killed in the line of duty in WWII. Roosevelt greatly admired her work for the war effort, and ironically she was returning from an engagement selling War Bonds when her plane crashed.
The Jack Benny radio show that followed her death was cancelled because Benny, a good friend and admirer, was grief-stricken. The time was filled with music instead.
The decision to take the plane which eventually killed Carole and her mother was decided literally by the flip of a coin, with Carole winning the toss. The plane they took was a military convoy which made many stops in order to pick up troops. After the first stop, an officer requested Carole, her mother and publicist to get off the plane to make room for more troops. Carole reportedly argued with him, stating the fact she had raised more than half a million dollars in war bonds and had the right to stay on. The officer finally conceded, and shortly after, the plane crashed.
The plane crash that killed her took place less than a month before the Oscars. Despite her mother's premonition of the disaster, she refused to take a train to Los Angeles. She was reputedly in a rush after getting wind of an alleged affair between her husband Clark Gable and Lana Turner who were filming Somewhere I'll Find You (1942) at the time.
Turned down the part of Ellie Andrews in It Happened One Night (1934). Claudette Colbert was then given the role and won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.
Twice turned down opportunities to play a newspaperwoman, in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and His Girl Friday (1940). The roles brought their respective actresses (Jean Arthur and Rosalind Russell) considerable attention.
Was a second-generation Bahá'í who formally declared her membership to the Bahá'í Faith in 1938.
Was called the "Queen of Screwball Comedy".
Was named #23 Actress, The American Film Institutes 50 Greatest Screen Legends