Judy Lewis (born Judith Young; November 6, 1935 – November 25, 2011) was an American actress, writer, producer, and therapist. She was the secret biological daughter of actors Loretta Young and Clark Gable.
Early life
Lewis was born on November 6, 1935, in Venice, California. She was conceived while her birth parents, Loretta Young and Clark Gable, were working on the film Call of the Wild. Gable was married at the time of Lewis's conception, and Young concealed her pregnancy to avoid scandal. Young was aware that if Twentieth Century Pictures became aware of her pregnancy, the company might pressure her to have an abortion; a devout Catholic, Young considered abortion a mortal sin. When Lewis was four years old, Young married radio producer Tom Lewis, and Judy took his last name. Young and Lewis went on to have two sons, Christopher Lewis and Peter Lewis. As an adult, Lewis spoke of the confusion, isolation and alienation she felt within her own family while growing up. syndicated series The Blue Angels entitled "Tiger Blood", as a girlfriend of a U.S. Navy officer, and "Angel on Trial". In the 1961–1962 television season, she appeared as Connie Masters in Outlaws. In 1975, she guest-starred on Three for the Road.
thumb|upright=1.1|Lewis (second in the center) with [[Warner Jones, Don Gordon and Dennis Cross, 1961]]
In 1985, Lewis shared a Writers Guild of America award for several episodes of CBS's Search For Tomorrow.
Lewis obtained bachelor's and master's degrees in clinical psychology from Antioch University in Los Angeles, became a licensed family and child counselor in 1992, and worked as a psychotherapist with a specialty in foster care and marriage therapy.
After Lewis became engaged to Joseph Tinney at age twenty-three, he told her it was common knowledge that Gable was her biological father. Lewis was stunned.
In 2015, Linda Lewis, the wife of Loretta Young's son Christopher, publicly stated that Young had said at age 85 that Judy was conceived in an act of date rape:
<blockquote>"Young loved to watch Larry King Live, which is most likely what prompted her to first ask her friend, frequent houseguest, and would-be biographer, Edward Funk, and then her daughter-in-law, Linda Lewis, to explain the term “date rape.” As Lewis recalled from her Jensen Beach, Florida, home this April, sitting next to her husband, Chris — Young's second born — and flanked by Young's Oscar and Golden Globe, it took tact to explain, in language that an 85-year-old could understand, what “date rape” meant. “I did the best I could to make her understand,” Lewis said. “You have to remember, this was a very proper lady.”<br><br>"When Lewis was finished describing the act, Young's response was a revelation: 'That's what happened between me and Clark.' "</blockquote>
The family remained silent about Young's claim until Young and Lewis were both deceased. According to Edward Funk, before learning of the concept of date rape, Young had believed it was a woman's job to fend off men's amorous advances. Thus, she had perceived her inability to thwart Gable's attack as a moral failing on her part.