Sometimes when you hear of a famous star's leaving an unborn child behind, and then that baby eventually becomes famous, and then there's a third generation, you begin to think of potential acting dynasties.
But, unfortunately, in all too many cases, second- and third-generation performers do not receive nearly as many accolades even though they may have talent, looks and personality.
It's just not like it used to be, when movies and television were good, and also very tragic that some third- and fourth-generation potentials never quite do stand a chance to be seen unless they may appear in biographic documentaries of their wonderful grandparents, who deserve to be remembered, too.
I've so far not heard any follow-up reporting about his death, but am guessing that he probably died from a drug overdose (if not, perhaps, suicide), considering his young age.
Too, when I was reading, last week, the comments, upon his death, by his mother and sister, something about their sentiments seemed to imply they weren't shocked by his death, or perhaps that they realized he was going through significant difficulties. So perhaps it was a matter of a substance-abuse struggle?
Historically, too, there seems to be, regarding show biz types, a longstanding inordinately high rate of celebrities who die, young, from either overdoses and/or suicide in hotel rooms - close to never from natural causes.
As far as Hollywood acting dynasties go, so far the Barrymores easily seem to have been the one that's fared most successfully - though things did jump a generation, big-deal wise, between John Barrymore (and one-time wife Dolores Costello [also herself a member of an acting dynasty]) and granddaughter Drew.
As cause of death wasn't yet known six months ago when this thread was created, I checked online just now and found the following in Clark III's Wikipedia article:
Gable died at age 30 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on February 22, 2019, after being found unresponsive earlier that morning. He had overdosed on "illicit fentanyl, oxycodone, and alprazolam".
There's probably a wide variety of reasons why some would-be Hollywood dynasties just do not seem to take off. Back in the day, they started on stage, like the Barrymore parents of John, Ethel and Lionel, or the grandfather and father of Tyrone Power, who was sometimes billed as Jr. and sometimes referred to as the III, and who also didn't live to see the birth of his son.
Then there's probably a list somewhere of Hollywood dynasties which succeed and build upon themselves, like the Fondas and the Cassidys.
A couple of the earliest, the Fairbanks and the Lockharts have a couple of very successful and legendary second generation stars, like Douglas Jr. or June. June starred with Kathleen and Gene in 1938's Christmas Carol, and also in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) along with Margaret O'Brien, who also has a many-decades-long career.
I didn't know until yesterday that news anchor Chris Wallace of ABC and NBC news fame is a son of CBS veteran Mike Wallace. Never thought of them in the same sentence before even though they share a same surname, but they reportedly weren't on speaking terms for years on end, which is probably why they starred on competing networks.
Reply by Forty-1212
on February 24, 2019 at 8:14 PM
This is tragic all the way around.
Sometimes when you hear of a famous star's leaving an unborn child behind, and then that baby eventually becomes famous, and then there's a third generation, you begin to think of potential acting dynasties.
But, unfortunately, in all too many cases, second- and third-generation performers do not receive nearly as many accolades even though they may have talent, looks and personality.
It's just not like it used to be, when movies and television were good, and also very tragic that some third- and fourth-generation potentials never quite do stand a chance to be seen unless they may appear in biographic documentaries of their wonderful grandparents, who deserve to be remembered, too.
Reply by genplant29
on February 26, 2019 at 1:05 PM
I've so far not heard any follow-up reporting about his death, but am guessing that he probably died from a drug overdose (if not, perhaps, suicide), considering his young age.
Too, when I was reading, last week, the comments, upon his death, by his mother and sister, something about their sentiments seemed to imply they weren't shocked by his death, or perhaps that they realized he was going through significant difficulties. So perhaps it was a matter of a substance-abuse struggle?
Historically, too, there seems to be, regarding show biz types, a longstanding inordinately high rate of celebrities who die, young, from either overdoses and/or suicide in hotel rooms - close to never from natural causes.
As far as Hollywood acting dynasties go, so far the Barrymores easily seem to have been the one that's fared most successfully - though things did jump a generation, big-deal wise, between John Barrymore (and one-time wife Dolores Costello [also herself a member of an acting dynasty]) and granddaughter Drew.
Reply by genplant29
on August 24, 2019 at 1:09 PM
As cause of death wasn't yet known six months ago when this thread was created, I checked online just now and found the following in Clark III's Wikipedia article:
Also here's an article about the autopsy findings: https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/autopsy-clark-gable-grandson-accidental-drug-overdose
Sad.
Reply by Forty-1212
on September 18, 2019 at 10:42 PM
Very sad.
There's probably a wide variety of reasons why some would-be Hollywood dynasties just do not seem to take off. Back in the day, they started on stage, like the Barrymore parents of John, Ethel and Lionel, or the grandfather and father of Tyrone Power, who was sometimes billed as Jr. and sometimes referred to as the III, and who also didn't live to see the birth of his son.
Then there's probably a list somewhere of Hollywood dynasties which succeed and build upon themselves, like the Fondas and the Cassidys.
A couple of the earliest, the Fairbanks and the Lockharts have a couple of very successful and legendary second generation stars, like Douglas Jr. or June. June starred with Kathleen and Gene in 1938's Christmas Carol, and also in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) along with Margaret O'Brien, who also has a many-decades-long career.
I didn't know until yesterday that news anchor Chris Wallace of ABC and NBC news fame is a son of CBS veteran Mike Wallace. Never thought of them in the same sentence before even though they share a same surname, but they reportedly weren't on speaking terms for years on end, which is probably why they starred on competing networks.