Growing up the child of a Hollywood legend was never going to be easy, and John Clark Gable has spent most of his life trying to avoid the limelight.
He was born three months after his father's death in November 1960, soon after the star finished filming The Misfits with Marilyn Monroe.
Gable had been the most sought-after leading man for more than 30 years, making 92 films including Gone With The Wind and earning the title "King of Hollywood". John inherited his father's screen idol looks. But despite starring in a film about a high-speed truck driver when he was in his thirties, he has decided at 41 to abandon hopes of an acting career for his first love - motor racing.
"My father is too hard an act to follow," he said. "I love bikes and motor racing and I have been successful in producing TV and movies. I have begun to write a biography of my father." Clark Gable also had a passion for speed. "My mother told me he raced sprint cars, which made the studios nervous," said John.
There is still a small chance, however, that the Gable name will one day be back in lights. "Many times I have been asked if I would play him in a film. I answer, 'It would have to be a very special movie'."
