Clark Gable, known as the King of Hollywood, had a reputation for living a self-destructive lifestyle, particularly when it came to smoking and drinking.

Despite this, he managed to live to the age of 59 before passing away from a heart attack on November 16, 1960, just ten days after suffering from a severe coronary thrombosis.

There was much speculation at the time that Gable’s physically demanding role in John Huston’s The Misfits may have contributed to his sudden death soon after filming was completed.

However, Kay Gable, his wife at the time, suggested that it was the “horrible tension” and “eternal waiting” on set that may have been the cause of his demise.

Speaking to Louella Parsons shortly after Gable’s death, Kay said that “it wasn’t the physical exertion that killed him [but] he waited around forever, for everybody.

He’d get so angry that he’d just go ahead and do anything to keep occupied.”

Marilyn Monroe, who co-starred with Gable in The Misfits, had become close to Kay during filming, and the two women referred to Gable as “our man.” Arthur Miller, Monroe’s husband at the time and the writer of the film’s screenplay, observed that “no hint of affront ever showed on his [Gable’s] face” despite the stress he was under.

Some have also blamed Gable’s crash diet before filming began for his poor health.

The actor had weighed about 190 pounds (86.2 kg) during his Gone with the Wind days, but had put on weight in his late 50s and weighed 230 pounds (104.3 kg) by the time of The Misfits.

In order to get in shape for the film, he dropped down to 195 pounds (88 kg).

However, it was Gable’s smoking and drinking habits that may have ultimately led to his untimely death.

He smoked three packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day for over thirty years, as well as cigars and at least two bowlfuls of pipe tobacco a day.

He had also been a heavy drinker, particularly of whisky, until the late 1950s.

Despite his unhealthy habits, Gable was considered an elite member of society, which tends to live healthier lives than those in lower social classes.

However, by today’s standards, his lifestyle would be seen as even more self-destructive than that of the average addict in 2010.

Gable’s death was a shock to Hollywood and to his fans around the world.

He had been one of the biggest stars of the 1930s and 1940s, winning an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1934 for It Happened One Night.

He also starred in other iconic films such as Mutiny on the Bounty, Gone with the Wind, and The Misfits.