Vidal 's mother , Nina Gore , was a socialite who made her Broadway theatre debut as an extra actress in '' Sign of the Leopard '' , in 1928 . In 1922 , Nina married Eugene Luther Vidal , Sr. , and thirteen years later , in 1935 , divorced him . Nina Gore Vidal then was married two more times ; to Hugh D. Auchincloss and to Robert Olds . She also had " a long off-and-on affair " with the actor Clark Gable . As Nina Gore Auchincloss , Vidal 's mother was an alternate delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention
1940 Democratic National Convention
1940 Democratic National Convention
Gore Vidal