“The rumors surfaced when Judy started resembling Clark Gable. After hearing those rumors, Judy confronted her adoptive mother, who admitted she was indeed her biological mother.
However, Judy, who died in 2011, never learnt her mother’s other secret. Gable and Young didn’t have an affair. He allegedly date-raped her. Judy was the result.
I found it so outlandish that I assumed it was just gossip until I learnt that Young confirmed almost all of it in her authorized biography.”
—prolix
Judy was 31 when she confronted Loretta about the rumors surround her parentage and learned the truth. Loretta publicly confirmed that Judy was the daughter of Clark Gable in her memoir, Forever Young: The Life, Loves, and Enduring Faith of a Hollywood Legend, which was published after she died.
In 2015, Linda Lewis, her daughter-in-law, told BuzzFeed News that watching Larry King Live is likely what prompted Loretta to ask her friend/biographer, Edward Funk, and Linda to explain what the term “date rape” meant.
Linda said, “I did the best I could to make her understand. You have to remember, this was a very proper lady….[She said,] ‘That’s what happened between me and Clark.'”