She made her screen debut in A Perfect Crime (1921) at the age of 12 and the experience spurred her and her mother to seek further film work, eventually resulting in a movie career.

[13] According to biographer Larry Swindell, Lombard's beauty convinced studio head Winfield Sheehan to sign her to a $75-per-week contract,[14] and she abandoned her schooling to pursue the new career.

[18] Gehring[clarification needed] has suggested a facial scar resulting from a car crash was a factor in this decision, but that incident occurred nearly two years later on September 9, 1927.

On Santa Monica Boulevard, Cooper hit another car; the windshield shattered and shards of glass cut "Lombard's face from her nose and across her left cheek to her eye.

In October 1927, Lombard and her mother Bess sued Cooper for $35,000 in damages, citing in the lawsuit that "where she formerly was able to earn a salary of $300 monthly as a Sennett girl, she is now unable to obtain employment of any kind."

Kiriakou explains, "the nickname simultaneously drew audiences' focus away from her facial scars and worked harmoniously with the physicality and female sensuality that were emblematic of Lombard's performances" in Sennett's films.

She had prominent roles in Show Folks and Ned McCobb's Daughter (both 1928),[28] and reviewers observed that she made a "good impression" and was "worth watching".

[30] Her success in Raoul Walsh's picture Me, Gangster (also 1928), with June Collyer and Don Terry in his film debut, finally eased the pressure that her family had been exerting for her to succeed.

[31] In Howard Higgin's High Voltage (1929), Lombard's first sound film, she played a criminal in the custody of a deputy sheriff, both of whom are among bus passengers stranded in deep snow.

Other press outlets had reported on their relationship earlier that year; Screenland Magazine declared, "the Russ Columbo and Carole Lombard romance is one of Hollywood's most charming."

The year 1934 marked a high point in Lombard's career,[56] beginning with Wesley Ruggles's musical drama Bolero, where George Raft and she showcased their dancing skills in an extravagantly staged performance to Maurice Ravel's Boléro.

[66] The Los Angeles Times' critic felt that she was "entirely different" from her formerly cool, "calculated" persona, adding, "she vibrates with life and passion, abandon and diablerie".

[67] The next films in which Lombard appeared were Henry Hathaway's Now and Forever (1934), featuring Gary Cooper and the new child star Shirley Temple, and Lady by Choice (1934), which was a critical and commercial success.

[86] Producer David O. Selznick, impressed by her work in My Man Godfrey, was eager to make a comedy with the actress and hired Ben Hecht to write an original screenplay for her.

[87] Nothing Sacred, directed by William Wellman and co-starring Fredric March, satirized the journalism industry and "the gullible urban masses".

[95] The media took great interest in their partnership and frequently questioned if they would wed.[96] Gable was separated from his wife, Maria, but she did not want to grant him a divorce.

[101] Almost immediately, Lombard wanted to start a family, but her attempts failed; after two miscarriages and numerous trips to fertility specialists, she was unable to have children.

[109] At the 12th Academy Awards ceremony in February 1940, Lombard was quoted as comforting Gable after his loss as Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind, with the comment "Don't worry, Pappy.

Accepting that "my name doesn't sell tickets to serious pictures",[116] Lombard returned to comedy in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941), about a couple who learns that their marriage is invalid, with Robert Montgomery.

Through her agent, Lombard heard of Ernst Lubitsch's upcoming film: To Be or Not to Be (1942), a dark comedy that satirized the Nazi takeover of Poland.

[122] Lombard accepted the role of actress Maria Tura, despite it being a smaller part than she was used to, and was given top billing over the film's male lead Jack Benny.

Her party had been scheduled to return to Los Angeles by train, but Lombard was eager to reach home more quickly and wanted to travel by air.

[128] Although, there is no indication that this line existed and was removed posthumously, the film's script as filed with the Production Code Administration included the addendum:.

has been omitted.At the time of her death, Lombard had been scheduled to star in the film They All Kissed the Bride; when production started, she was replaced by Joan Crawford.

[citation needed] After officer training, Gable headed a six-man motion picture unit attached to a B-17 bomb group in England to film aerial gunners in combat, flying five missions himself.

[138] She was described by Photoplay columnist Hart Seymore as the "perfect example of a modern Career Girl", which was based on Lombard's capability to "live by the logical premise that women have equal rights with men.

[143] Carman concludes that Lombard's strategic business sense and easy-going nature were central to her independent star persona, and the control she maintained over her career was a challenge to the "paternalistic structure" of the studio system.

[144] Lombard was particularly noted for the zaniness of her performances,[145] described as a "natural prankster, a salty tongued straight-shooter, a feminist precursor and one of the few stars who was beloved by the technicians and studio functionaries who worked with her".

[147] Graham Greene praised the "heartbreaking and nostalgic melodies" of her faster-than-thought delivery, whereas The Independent wrote "Platinum blonde, with a heart-shaped face, delicate, impish features and a figure made to be swathed in silver lamé, Lombard wriggled expressively through such classics of hysteria as Twentieth Century and My Man Godfrey.

[150] Actresses who have portrayed her in films include Jill Clayburgh in Gable and Lombard (1976),[151] Sharon Gless in Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980), Denise Crosby in Malice in Wonderland (1985), Anastasia Hille in RKO 281 (1999) and Vanessa Gray in Lucy (2003).