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Old 03-09-2012, 11:04 AM
Texas Star Texas Star is offline
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The posts about Mel Torme are certainly true. I met him n the old Buckhorn Gun Store in Dallas many years ago, and he was cordial and very knowledgeable. Seemed like a nice guy, not elitist at all.

Clark Gable hunted more than ducks. After filming, "Mogambo", he took Grace Kelly ((his co-star) on a private safari. I suppose they hunted some, but evidently were looking mainly for a chance to have private time alone. It caused a scandal, as neither was married, let alone to one another. Times have changed.

I was sort of glad to read that, as I sensed that they'd be good for one another as I watched the film. But in the movie, Gable wound up with the brunette. I think it was Ava Gardner or maybe some Italian actress. I think Gardner. But Grace Kelly was the standout. Or, maybe I just like blondes. But she had real quality.

I've heard that she had some issues with her father. Don't recall if they were at odds or if she was really close to him. Either way, she had a thing for older men. Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, and then she married Prince Ranier. Maybe she found that older men are more mature and know more and could show her more of the world.

Anyway, they seem to have enjoyed the safari, and it made headlines. Got a lot of free publicity from it.

Does anyone here know which safari rifles Gable had? I bet they were good ones.

Oh: he wasn't an actor (except in one movie about a safari that he made) but the celebrated columnist and author Robert Ruark was a hunting buff who made several safaris and at least one shikar to India, I believe. I saw a photo of him with a tiger rug. He was Playboy's Travel Editor and wrote a wonderful aticle there on choosing guns and other gear for African hunting. I think it was the Mar. or April, 1965 issue, if you want to check library files or old magazine stores. Ruark died later that year, alas. Look for his African-based novels at libraries and used book stores. He was the sole US journalist to tell the truth about African politics, I believe. His writing made his friend and white hunter Harry Selby a celebrity.

Last edited by Texas Star; 03-09-2012 at 11:16 AM.
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