What Happened When My Mom Met Clark Gable

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What Happened When My Mom Met Clark Gable

During the early 1950s, my grandfather was Clark Gable’s and Victor Mature’s translator for the filming of “Betrayed” in Sittard, a quaint town in southern Holland where my maternal family has roots since the early 1900s.
At that time my grandfather, Bep, (the grandkids called him Opa) was one of the very few in Sittard that was fluent in Dutch, English, German, French and Italian (linguistic skills that had been his passion and talent when he was a young boy and that later saved his life while he was a prisoner in the Nazi work camps during WWII.) When the film crew arrived in Sittard, by word of mouth, he became the translator on set.

After spending several weeks together, Opa often spoke of his beautiful family and eventually introduced my mom to both actors!
My mom, 5 years old at the time, recalled not understanding and caring who they were and was actually annoyed they she was being held by this stranger. (Which you can see by the unimpressed expression on her face.)

We all laugh about it now and treasure this photo as a priceless heirloom. ~shared by @eunifigi

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