Uncommon Knowledge

I'm a HUGE fan of Loretta Young & I found it surprising when she had a child with Clark Gable!😮 I read 'Forever Young' by Joan Wester Anderson (which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!🥰💖 And which is based on what Loretta Young, herself, said.) Judy Lewis writes like she still loved her mother but then, it was kinda hard to tell what was all true & false... since Judy Lewis was a bit upset that her mother wouldn't tell the world who's child she was, & so I don't exactly know whether Loretta Young was as harsh as Judy says she was... although she was still a loving mother. I truly enjoyed reading this book & I do recommend this book to all who wants to read Judy Lewis's side. I did learn some pretty cool facts about Loretta Young, too! A GREAT book overall!!!😄🤗😉

Over the last few decades of the 20th century, several children of the Kings and Queens of Hollywood have stepped forward and write stories of what it was truly like to grow up under a famous shadow. Some have revealed horror stories of horrid abuse, neglect and alienation.A person could be tempted to lump "Uncommon Knowledge" with the rest. But that would be doing Judy Lewis and her story a grave injustice. Unlike other Hollywood children, Judy Lewis entered the world in shadow circumstances that are still debated to this day. In 1935, a blue eyed, blonde baby girl was born to Gretchen Young and her married former lover. Gretchen was better known to the world as the film star Loretta Young and her former lover was the smoldering Clark Gable. Compelled to save her career and image at any cost and her strong Catholic faith barring abortion, the young mother chose to hide her pregnancy and child from the world.Judy Lewis was the baby girl. To the world, she was the adopted daughter and beloved daughter of Loretta Young. To the film world, she was Gable and Young's secret love child, the truth of her heritage stamped on her face. Lewis herself never knew the truth until adulthood. Written without the consent of her mother, Judy Lewis builds a strong case for her story. The photos scattered throughout the text show a young woman to an adult, her resemblance to Clark Gable radiating in every pore. Other photos reveal her close resemblance to the Young family.Like many other Hollywood children, Lewis was subjected to more nannies than time with her mother. And the complete silence from Young in regards to Judy's "adoption" and who she "truly" was left a heartwrenching void in Judy's life, one that even years of working as a family counseler can not erase.

Judy Lewis is a tower of strength. She was treated, in my opinion, like a second-class citizen in her own home by her own mother,stepfather and half-brothers.She should have been treated like a queen. She was the daughter of Clark Gable and this information was cruelly hidden from her. Instead, she was treated like an "intruder" and was "not one of us" according to her stepfather. Judy's "staged" adoption by her real mother, Loretta Young was supposedly caused by her mother's fear of the Catholic Church and the studio bosses who might have blackballed her for having an illigitimate child in 1935.It seems that Clark Gable had wanted the child and Loretta hid the infant from him at first. He finally saw the baby after he insisted. Years later, he visited his daughter,Judy, at her home when she was 15. Judy did not know he was her father and was awestruck as anybody would be to have Clark Gable in her living room. She had seen him in "Gone With The Wind". He sat and talked with her for a long time.At that time, Loretta was married to a man named Tom Lewis, who, like Judy, also didn't know Judy's father was Clark Gable. He thought Judy was adopted by Loretta from an orphanage. Loretta could have told Tom Lewis and Judy about Clark Gable and allowed Judy an opportunity to love and know her real father.Sadly, many of Judy's friends, whose parents were Hollywood stars, knew her real father was Clark Gable and Judy's highschool boyfriend knew it too, but they were afraid to say anything.Loretta finally confessed to Judy that Clark Gable was Judy's father after Judy was an adult, had years of psychotherapy and confronted her. But she still denied her daughter her birthright and the legitimacy she craved by refusing to acknowledge this publicly.

Judy Lewis did such a phenomenal job of writing this book. I could not put it down until I'd reached the last page. Unfortunately, it's a story of great sorrow. Loretta Young was always one of my most favorite actresses. Her life seemed shaped by her family history, by her devout Catholicism, the Hayes morality codes and her chosen career. Fear of being found out seems to have permeated her life to the point where when she was confronted by her daughter Judy regarding Judy's parentage, she actually became physically ill. Throughout the book Judy displays a deep devotion and love of her mother, but undoubtedly was terribly confused regarding Loretta's attitude towards her. Although Loretta was a devoted Catholic, knew all the Catholic rules and abided by them, she failed to show genuine Christian love. It broke my heart that Loretta failed to see how her husband Tom Lewis treated Judy, how Judy despised one of her caretakers and was terribly frightened of her, and how Mary Coney after 37 years of working for Loretta was turned out of the house when she was sick and dying. For all Loretta's charity work, she really needed to start her charity at home. I was glad to know that Judy and Loretta reconciled in 1997, three years prior to Loretta's death at 87. I have since often wondered how Loretta's two boys by Tom Lewis have faired in life and if they were treated similarly by their mother. Judy Lewis was a beautiful child, and is a beautiful woman. She had a terribly difficult childhood despite being the offspring of two wealthy and powerful Hollywood figures. She made her own way however, and succeeded in becoming a most lovely and talented woman without the help of her parents. I'd say this is the result of a determination on her part and perhaps the genes she inherited. I certainly wish she'd write more, her book was a wonderful read.

Having seen many of her films, I've long considered myself a fan of Loretta Young. I always found her to be a gracious and benevolent presence. Imagine how my curiousity was peaked when I read that Ms. Young was the mother of an illegitimate child with none other than the King of Hollywood himself, Clark Gable. Of course I was first intrigued by the idea of a secret "love child" hidden in plain view as the adopted child of a famous and beautiful movie star. But with each turn of a page I discovered that this was not Loretta Young's story, neither was it Clark Gable's. It was the story of Judy Lewis, the little girl with the big ears who grew up wondering why everyone stood whispering in corners when she entered a room. Ms. Lewis is both funny and tragic in telling the story of her life as Loretta Young's "adopted" child. I couldn't help but be moved by her vivid word pictures when she tells how she often felt alienated and cast off by her famous mother. But in telling her story she doesn't attack Ms. Young; it's very clear how much she continues to love her mother. She is frank, forthright, and endearing as she claims what was long overdue: her birthright as the daughter of Hollywood royalty. This book is a great read. I couldn't put it down!