PEOPLE NOWADAYS JOKE about Jennifer Lopez. They say she’s the “Serial Bride.” But she’s just a beginner at the Marriage Derby. Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr and the Gabor sisters had it down pat, acquiring husbands amid great ballyhoo. Men such as Claude Rains and George Brent generally accumulated spouses more quietly.
There’ve been many embarrassingly quick divorces. Some newlyweds didn’t get through the first night.
In the listings below, generally assume the marriage ended in divorce, unless otherwise noted.
HUSBANDS
Prince Aly Khan
The Indian-born Prince of Playboys lived 1911-60. His many affairs involved Kim Novak, Juliette Greco and Gene Tierney. He died in a car wreck. His wives:
1) Joan Guinness in about 1936-48; he stole her from Loel Guinness, British M.P. Aly and Joan had two sons.
2) Rita Hayworth (movie star) in 1948-53. They had a daughter Yasmin.
Lew Ayres
Hollywood actor was born in 1908. He was married to actresses Lola Lane (1931-33) and Ginger Rogers (1934-41).
John Barrymore
Famed actor lived 1882-1942. He had four unsuccessful marriages. One was to poetress Michael Strange and one to actress Dolores Costello (divorced in 1935).
Werner von Blomberg
This German general was a widower with grown children when he married Eva Gruhn on Feb. 12, 1938. The general’s downfall came quickly when she was revealed as a former prostitute. The general’s political enemies, Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler, greased the skids. The general stood by his new wife.
Humphrey Bogart
Hollywood legend lived 1899-1957.
1) Helen Menken (actress) in 1926-27.
2) Mary Philips (actress) in 1928-37.
3) Mayo Methot (actress) in 1938-44.
4) Lauren Bacall (actress) 1945-until he died in ‘57.
Ernest Borgnine
Hollywood actor was born in 1917. His five wives included at least two actresses: Katy Jurado in 1959-64 and Ethel Merman very briefly in 1964.
Marlon Brando
1) Anna Kashfi (actress), 1957-59; they had son Christian.
2) Movita Castenada (actress), 1960-68.
3) Tarita
George Brent
Hollywood actor lived 1904-79. He made 11 films with Bette Davis, who reportedly wanted to marry him.
1)
2) Ruth Chatterton in 1932-34.
3) Constance Worth in 1937.
4) Ann Sheridan in 1942-43.
5)
6)
Julius Caesar
He was dictator of Rome in 49-44 B.C.
1) Cornelia, 84 B.C.; she died in 68.
2) Pompeia; he divorced her.
3) Calpurnia, 59 B.C.-on; she warned him but he was murdered in 44 B.C.
Nicolas Cage
Hollywood leading man was born in 1964.
1)
2) Lisa Marie Presley in 2002 for 108 days.
3) Alice Kim; he was 40 when he married sushi waitress, 20, in 2004.
Louis Calhern
Hollywood character actor lived 1895-1956. His wives included Ilka Chase (1926-26), Julia Hoyt, Natalie Schaefer and Marianne Stewart.
Jack Carson
Popular supporting actor lived 1910-63. Actress Lola Albright was among his four wives (1952-58).
Johnny Carson
Tonight Show emcee died in 2005.
1) Jody -- (childhood sweetheart) in 1949-63. They had three sons.
2) Joanne Copeland in 1963-72.
3) Joanna Holland 19??-85.
4) Alexis Maas 1987-on. He was 62, she in her 30s, when they wed.
Charlie Chaplin
Film legend lived 1889-1977.
1) Mildred Harris in 1918-20; she was 16 and a film extra when they wed. Later, she was billed as “Chaplin’s First Wife” when she teamed with Phil Silvers in vaudeville.
2) Lolita MacMurray in 1924; they had Charles Jr. and Sidney. (She changed name to Lita Grey.)
3) Paulette Goddard in 1933-42; she was 19 when they wed.
4) Oona O’Neill in 1943; she was 18. Father Eugene, the playwright, strongly disapproved. She became the mother of Geraldine, later an actress, in 1944.
Bing Crosby
Crooner/actor lived 1903-77.
1) Dixie Lee in 1930; she was mother of four sons and died in 1952.
2) Kathryn Grant in 1957; she was 30 years younger than he. They had two sons and a daughter.
Tom Cruise
Hollywood leading man was born in 1962.
1) Mimi Rogers (actress).
2) Nicole Kidman (actress); they’re divorced.
Robert Cummings
Film and TV actor lived 1908-90. Married three times, he fathered seven children.
Tony Curtis
Leading man was born in 1925. His three marriages include those to Janet Leigh (actress) in 1951-62 (a much publicized marriage that produced Jamie Lee in 1957) and to Christine Kauffmann (actress) in 1963-67.
Richard Harding Davis
Famous war correspondent lived 1864-1916. He married at least twice. He divorced Cecil Clark, a Chicago socialite, to marry Ziegfeld dancer Bessie McCoy.
Sammy Davis Jr.
Many-talented entertainer lived 1925-90.
1)
2) May Britt (actress) in 1960-68.
3)
Paul Douglas
Pro football player-turned actor lived 1907-59.
1)
2)
3)
4) Virginia Field (actress).
5) Jan Sterling, his widow.
Clint Eastwood
Born in 1930, he became a TV star, then a Hollywood star. He’s had seven kids, some by wives. He’s had special affairs with Sandra Locke and Frances Fisher. Wives:
1) Maggie Johnson in 1953-80. She got $25 million divorce settlement in 1984.
2) Dina Ruiz.
Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Film legend lived 1883-1939.
1) Anna Beth Sully in 1907. (They had Douglas Jr. in 1909.)
2) Mary Pickford in 1920-36. (They separated in 1933.)
3) Lady Sylvia Ashley in 1936.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Film actor was born in 1909..
1) Joan Crawford (actress) in 1928-33.
2) Mary Lee Hartford in 1938. (She died in 1988.)
Mel Ferrer
Actor was born in 1917. Actress Audrey Hepburn was the fourth of his five wives.
Eddie Fisher
Singer was born in 1928.
1) Debbie Reynolds. After they had Carrie Fisher, he divorced her to marry:
2) Liz Taylor in 1959 amid great publicity; she divorced him in ‘64 to marry Richard Burton.
3) Connie Stevens, actress-singer; they divorced.
Errol Flynn
Hollywood leading man lived 1909-59. He was cavorting with Beverly Aadland, 16, when he died.
1) Lili Damita (Ziegfeld girl/actress) in 1935-42.
2) Nora Eddington in 1943-49.
3) Patrice Wymore (actress) in 1950-59.
Henry Fonda
Leading man lived 1905-82.
1) Margaret Sullavan (actress) in 1931-33. She committed suicide in ‘60.
2) Frances Seymour Brokaw in 1936-50. She committed suicide after having Jane and Peter.
3) Susan Blanchard in 1950-66. (He married her eight months after first wife’s death. In 1999 Susan used surname Blanchard when she wed widower Richard Widmark.)
4) Afdera Franchetti in 1947-61. They divorced.
5) Shirlee Adams from 1966 on. She’d been a stewardess and model.
Glenn Ford
Leading man was born in 1916 in Quebec and died in 2006 in Beverly Hills.
1) Eleanor Powell (dancer/actress) in 1943-59. She was six years his senior. They had son Peter.
2) Kathryn Hays (actress) in 1966-68.
3) Cynthia Howard (actress) in 1977-84. He was 32 years her senior..
Clark Gable
“The King” of Hollywood lived 1901-60.
1) Josephine Dillon (actress 14 years his senior) in 1924-30.
2) Rhea Langham (Texas socialite 17 years his senior) in 1931; they split in 1935.
3) Carole Lombard in 1939. She died in plane crash in 1942.
4) Lady Sylvia Ashley in 1947. This lasted a couple of years. (She lived 1904-77.)
5) Kay Spreckels in 1955. She was the mother of his only legitimate child, John Clark Gable, born just after the father’s death.
Hermann Goring
Adolf Hitler’s deputy and air force chief lived 1893-1946.
1) Baroness Karin von Folk-Kantzow; a Swede, in Munich in 1922; she'd been divorced before marrying Goring; she died of TB in 1931.
2) Emmy Sonnemann (actress) on April 10, 1935. They were still married when he committed suicide.
Kelsey Grammer
He’s been a TV favorite for many years.
1) Doreen Alderman in 1982-90.
2) Leigh-Anne Csuhany in 1992-93.
3) Camille Donatacci in 1997-.
Stewart Granger
London-born leading man lived 1913-93.
1) Elspeth March (actress) in 1939-49.
2) Jean Simmons (actress) in 1950-60.
3) unknown; divorced.
Cary Grant
Film icon lived 1904-86.
1) Virginia Cherrill (actress) in 1933-35.
2) Barbara Hutton (heiress) in 1942-45.
3) Betsy Drake (actress) in 1949-59.
4) Dian Cannon (actress) in 1965-68. She had his only child, a girl.
5) Barbara Harris in 1981 until his death.
Georg Friedrich Handel
This famous composer lived 1685-1759. Oddly, nothing is known about his private life, even if he was married or not.
Rex Harrison
British-born leading man lived 1908-90.
1) Marjorie Thomas in 1934-42.
2) Lilli Palmer (actress) in 1943-57.
3) Kay Kendall (actress) in 1957-59.
4) Rachel Roberts (actress) in 1962-71.
5) Elizabeth Harris in 1971. She’d divorced actor Richard Harris.
6) Mercia Tinker in 1978.
Dick Haymes
Foreign-born singer/actor had constant marital, financial and legal problems; five of his six marriages ended in divorce. Like Lew Ayres, he aroused public ire by not serving in the military during World War II.
1)
2) Joanne Dru (actress) 1941-49.
3) Nora Eddington (Errol Flynn’s non-actress ex).
4) Rita Hayworth in 1953-54.
5)
6)
Van Heflin
Low-key actor lived 1910-71.
1)
2) Frances Neal (bit player) in 1942-67
Henry VIII
He lived 1491-1547. As King of England, he had no end of marital woes.
1) Catherine of Aragon in 1509-(divorced). She was mother of Bloody Mary.
2) Anne Boleyn in 1533-36 (beheaded). She was mother of Elizabeth.
3) Jane Seymour in 1536-37 (died after childbirth).
4) Anne of Cleves in 1540-40 (annulled).
5) Kathryn Howard in 1540-42 (beheaded).
6) Katherine Parr in 1543-47 . She outlived him by a year.
Rock Hudson
He was born in 1925. Hollywood leading man was married to Nancy Gates in 1955-58. He died of AIDS in 1985.
Howard Hughes
Eccentric tycoon lived 1905-76. He had many liaisons, perhaps most notably with actress Terry Moore. Wives:
1) Ella Rice (Houston socialite) in the 1920s; she divorced him after three years.
2) Jean Peters (actress, 20 years his junior) in 1957-71.
Jack Johnson
Heavyweight champion lived 1878-1946.
1) Mary Austin (colored) left him in Cripple Creek, Colo.
2) Etta Terry Duryea (white) in 1909. She shot herself Sept. 11, 1912.
3) Lucille Cameron (white) in 1912-24. This brought prosecution/persecution under the Mann Act.
4) Irene Marie Pineau (white) in 1925.
Al Jolson
Legendary entertainer lived 1886-1950.
Third of four wives was actress Ruby Keeler in 1928-39.
Curt Jurgens
Suave German film actor’s five wives included Eva Bartok (1955-56).
John F. Kennedy
President lived 1917-63. The purported marriage listed first below remains controversial.
1) Durie Macolm in 1947; Palm Beach socialite had many husbands.
2) Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953-on.
Fernando Lamas
Film actor lived 1915-82.
1)
2)
3) Arlene Dahl (actress) in 1954-60 (although he’d been going with Lana Turner).
4) Esther Williams (actress) from 1967 until he died in 1982.
Burt Lancaster
Hollywood leading man was born in 1913. He married a fellow circus acrobat, June Ernst, while on a carnival tour in 1935. They separated “immediately.”
Alan Jay Lerner
Musician half of wonderful Lerner-Lowe team lived 1918-86. Actress Nancy Olson was the third of his eight wives. The eighth one, his widow, was British actress Liz Robertson. He left behind many debts and lawsuits, but some wonderful works: My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, etc.
Gordon MacRae
Singer-actor lived 1921-86.
1) Sheila Stephens (actress) in 1941-67.
2) unknown.
Tommy Manville
This nutty heir had more dollars than sense. He married 11 times, earning the nickname “Marrying Manville.”
One wife, actress Bonita Francine Edwards, wed him Nov. 18, 1941 in Bridgefield, Conn. That Dec. 9, she arrived in Reno to establish residency for divorce. She cited incompatibility.
One wife, Marie (Sunny) Ainsworth, wed him Aug. 25, 1943 in the New York Supreme Court in NYC. This lasted 7 hours and 45 minutes.
Songwriter Anita Frances Roddy-Eden married him July 10, 1952. On July 23, he announced a breakup. They’d argued about him leaving their suite at the Waldorf Astoria.
Gene Markey
Screenwriter and producer (1895-1980) wasn't famous, but he didn’t care; he married beautiful women, including Joan Bennett (1932-37), Hedy Lamarr (1939-40) and Myrna Loy (1946-50).
Dean Martin
Singer/actor was born in 1917. Six of his eight children were living in 2004.
1) Betty in 1940-49.
2) Jeannie in 1949-73, still alive at 77 in 2004.
3) Catherine in 1973-76.
Tony Martin
Singer/actor was born in 1912.
1) Alice Faye (singer/actress) in 1937-40.
2) Cyd Charisse (actress, dancer) from 1948-on
Kid McCoy
His real name was Norman Selby and he once claimed the light heavyweight boxing title. He was married eight to 10 times, although thrice to the same woman. Like Lana Turner, he’s known for the death of a non-spouse. He was convicted of manslaughter in 1924 for shooting the woman he was living with, Teresa Mors. He did eight years in San Quentin before paroled in 1932.
Burgess Meredith
Although born way back in 1908 he was still in movies in the 1990s (the Grouchy Old Men sequence).
1)
2)
3) Paulette Goddard (actress) in 1944-49.
4) divorced.
Arthur Miller
Noted playwright died Feb. 10, 2005 at age 89.
1) Mary Slattery. They had two children.
2) Marilyn Monroe (actress) in 1956-61.
3) Inge Morath (photographer) in 1962-on. They had one daughter.
Napoleon I
1) Mme. Josephine de Beauharnais. She was a widow when they wed March 9, 1796; he divorced her in 1809 because heir was lacking. (She was born Marie Josephine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie.)
2) Marie Louise in April 1810. She didn't go into exile with him.
Nero
He was emperor of Rome in 54-68 B.C.
1) Octavia; she was his step-sister. She died in 62 B.C. at about age 20.
2) Poppaea Sabina; she died when he beat her.
3) Statilia Messalina, who survived him.
Jack Nicholson
Leading man was born in 1937. Despite many romances, he apparently has been married only once, to actress Sandra Knight in 1962-67.
Aristotle Onassis
Shipping magnate lived 1906-75.
1) Tina Livenos; she was 17, he 40.
2) Jackie Kennedy.
John Payne
Hollywood leading man lived 1912-89. He wasn’t John Wayne, but he was popular.
1) Anne Shirley (actress) in 1942-43.
2) Gloria DeHaven (actress) in 1944-50.
3) Non-actress.
Jack Pickford
Film star lived 1896-1933.
1) Olive Thomas (actress) in 1917 until her death in 1920.
2) Marilyn Miller (actress) in 1922-27.
3) Mary Muhern (Ziegfeld girl) in 1930-32.
Dick Powell
Leading man/director/producer lived 1904-63.
1)
2) Joan Blondell (actress) in 1936-44.
3) June Allyson (actress) in 1945 until his death.
William Powell
The Thin Man lived 1892-1984.
1) Eileen Wilson (actress) in 1915-31.
2) Carole Lombard (actress) in 1931-33.
(He was engaged to actress Jean Harlow when she died in 1937.)
3) Diana “Mousie” Lewis (actress) 1940-until he died at 92.
Tyrone Power
Leading man lived 1913-58. His three wives included Annabella (1939-48) and Linda Christian (1949-55).
Edmund Purdom
British film star was born in 1924. His three wives included one named Alicia who sued for divorce in 1960. Purdom countersued, naming John F. Kennedy co-respondent. Purdom then was married to Linda Christian in 1962-63.
Claude Rains
Familiar character actor lived 1889-1967. He married six times but it wasn’t a case of rounding up the usual suspects. He apparently was married to only one actress, Isabel Jeans (in 1913-20), and she wasn’t exactly famous.
Ronald Reagan
Actor/politician lived 1911-2004.
1) Jane Wyman (actress) in 1940-48. They had daughter Maureen in 1941 and adopted son Michael in 1945.
2) Nancy Davis (actress) from 1952-on. They had daughter Patti in 1952 (she used stage name of Patti Davis) and son Ronald in 1958.
John Rolfe
He was planter in Virginia colony.
1) She died in Virginia about 1610.
2) Pocahontas in 1614-17. She died in England.
3) She died in Virginia about 1620.
Mickey Rooney
Born in 1920, he became famous as Judy Garland’s co-star, but they never married. He went bankrupt in 1962, his $12 million in earnings gone, much to alimony.
1) Ava Gardner (actress) in 1942-43.
2) Betty Jane Rase.
3) Martha Vickers (actress) in 1949-52.
4)
5) Barbara Ann Thomason. She was murdered 1966 by lover Milos Milosevic, who committed suicide.)
6)
7)
8) Jan Chamberlin in 1978, his longest, still going in 2005. She writes country-western songs.They sell insurance on TV.
Porfirio Rubirosa
Dominican Republic's playboy/diplomat had plenty of international relations. Born in 1909, he married the boss' daughter. Ultimately, he died in car crash in 1965. But despite his infamous track record, he and his last wife reportedly had lived happily for eight years.
1) Flor de Oro Trujillo in 1931-mid-‘30s; daughter of Dominican dictator was 17.
2) Danielle Darrieux (French movie star) in 1942-c.46.
3) Doris Duke (richest woman in world) in 1947-48.
4) Barbara Hutton (second richest woman) in 1953-c.53. (This lasted 73 days.)
5) Odile Rodin (French actress) in 1957. She was 19 when wed.
Albert Salmi
Longtime character actor was born in 1928 and committed suicide in 1990.
x) Peggy Ann Garner (actress) in 1956-63.
x) Roberta. (They were estranged when he shot and killed her in Seattle. He then killed himself.)
George Sanders
Veteran actor, who could play the perfect cad, was born in 1906, became bored, so he said, and committed suicide in 1972.
1)
2) Zsa Zsa Gabor (actress) in 1949-57.
3) Benita Hume in 1958-67. She died of cancer.
4) Magda Gabor in 1970 or ‘71; it was annulled two weeks later.
Randolph Scott
Cowboy actor lived 1898-1987.
1) Marion du Pont Somerville (heiress) in 1920s.
2) Patricia “Pat”; they’d been married 43 years when he died.
Peter Sellers
Goofy British-born film star lived 1925-80.
1) Anne Hayes (actress) in 1951-63.
2) Britt Eklund (actress) in 1964-68.
3)
4) Lynne Frederick (actress) from 1977 until his death.
Artie Shaw
Sorting out his personal life is like putting toothpaste back in the tube. The retired bandleader who was born Arthur Jacob Awshawsky turned 93 in 2003. His wives included Hollywood legends Ava Gardner (1945) and Lana Turner (1940-41), plus composer Jerome Kern’s daughter Betty, nurse Margaret Allen, actress Doris Dowling and Mrs. Kathleen Herwig, who really was Kathleen Winsor, author of the scandalous Forever Amber. All his wives are accounted for, but the sequence, or batting order, if you will, is unclear. One is tempted to think that Shaw finally found the woman he wanted when he married Keyes. Actually, they simply never applied for divorce.
1) Jane Karns, when he was 19; this was annulled.
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8) Actress Evelyn Keyes in 1957, and they’ve been married ever since (but separate many years).
Frank Sinatra
Legendary entertainer lived 1915-98.
1) Nancy Barbato in 1939-51. She had Nancy, Frank Jr. and Christina.
2) Ava Gardner (actress) in 1951-57.
3) Mia Farrow (actress) in 1966-68. He was 50, she 21, when they wed.
4) Barbara Marx (nee Blakely and widow of Zeppo) 1976-on.
Sylvester Stallone
“Rocky” was born in 1946.
1) Former theatre usher in 1974-85; they had two sons.
2) Brigitte Nielsen (actress) from about 1986. They were divorced in 1988.
Jimmy Stewart
Leading man lived 1908-97. He didn't marry until he was 41. He and wife Gloria had four children during their near-half-century marriage.
Leopold Stokowski
Symphony conductor lived 1882-1977.
1) Olga Samaroff (pianist) 19??-23; her real name was Lucy Hickenlooper.
2) Evangeline Johnson (Johnson & Johnson heiress) in 1926-?
3) Gloria Vanderbilt (heiress) in 1945, when she was 23. She divorced him in 1962.
Billy Bob Thornton
Popular film actor was born in 1955.
1) Melissa Lee Gatlin in 1978-80.
2) Toni Lawrence in 1986-88.
3) Cynda Williams in 1990-92.
4) Pietra Dawn Cherniak in 1993-97.
5) Angelina Jolie in 2000-03.
Franchot Tone
Uppity actor lived 1905-68. He made major headlines when he fought actor Tom Neal for Barbara Payton in a restaurant. He lost.
1) Joan Crawford (actress) in 1935-39.
2) Jean Wallace (actress) in 1941-48.
3) Barbara Payton (actress) in 1956-59.
Spencer Tracy
Longtime leading man lived 1900-67.
He married Louise Treadwell, a stage actress, in 1923, and technically she became his widow when he died. A Catholic, he scorned divorce. But beginning in 1942 he began a long relationship with actress Katharine Hepburn.
Rudolph Valentino
Hollywood’s legendary Latin lover lived 1895-1926.
1) Jean Acker (actress). She locked him out on wedding night Nov. 5, 1919.
2) Natasha Rambova, actress nee Winifred Shaunessy; he was arrested for bigamy. After two such misadventures, it’s no wonder he didn’t remarry. Besides that, he died.
Rudy Vallee
Singer/actor lived 1901-86.
1)
2) Actress Fay Webb.
3) Actress Jane Greer in 1943-44.
4) Eleanor Norris.
John Wayne
Hollywood legend lived 1907-79. He married three wives, all Latinos, and had seven children.
Orson Welles
Hollywood's supposed genius lived 1915-85.
1) Virginia Nicholson (Chicago socialite/actress) 1934-39.
2) Rita Hayworth (actress) in 1943-47.
3) Paoli Mori (actress) in 1956-?
Gene Wilder
Film actor was born in 1935.
1)
2)
3) Gilda Radner; she died in 1989.
4) Karen Webb (speech therapist) in 1991-.
Florenz Ziegfeld
The great showman of his era died in 1932.
1) Anna Held. (Some say they were wed in 1897, some in 1901; she divorced him in 1912.
2) Billie Burke (actress) from 1914-on.
WIVES
June Allyson
Popular and pert actress was born in 1917. In 2005 she was living with her third husband in Ojai, California.
1) Dick Powell. They had two kids before she became a widow in 1963.
2)
3) Dr. David Ashrow.
Julie Andrews
British-born leading lady of stage and screen was born in 1935.
1) Tony Walton (set designer).
2) Blake Edwards (director) in 1970.
Estelle Astaire
Brother Fred’s dancing partner quit show business to marry.
1) Lord Charles Cavendish, until his death before WWII.
2) After the war she married Kingman Douglass (1947 in Warrenton, Va., where they settled).
Mary Astor
Hollywood actress lived 1906-87. She’s best remembered as the double-dealing leading lady in The Maltese Falcon. The custody suit involving the daughter by her second marriage led to public disclosure of Miss Astor’s scandalously sexy diary in 1936.
1) Kenneth Hawks (director and brother of director Howard Hawks). Plane crash killed him in 1930.
2) She then married a doctor.
Lauren Bacall
Leading lady was born in 1924.
1) Humphrey Bogart (actor) 1945-until he died in ‘57.
2) Jason Robards Jr. (actor) in 1961-73.
Lucille Ball
TV queen lived 1911-89.
1) Desi Arnaz in 1941-60. They had two children.
2) Gary Morton (nightclub comedian) in 1961. (But has anyone ever seen him?)
Anne Bancroft
Actress, best remembered as “Mrs. Robinson,” died in 2005.
1) Martin May (builder); marriage lasted three years.
2) Mel Brooks (director) in 1964. They were still married when she died.
Brigitte Bardot
French star was born in 1934.
1) Roger Vadim (director) in 1952-57.
2) Jacques Charrier.
3) Gunther Sachs.
Nora Bayes
Flo Ziegfeld’s singer had five husbands, second of whom was Jack Norworth.
Constance Bennett
Leading lady lived 1904-65.
1) She married at 16; it was annulled.
2) steamship/railroad heir in 1926-29.
3) Gilbert Roland (actor) in 1941-44.
4)
5)
Joan Bennett
Constance’s sister lived 1910-90. A leading lady, too, she had four husbands.
1) She had a youthful marriage in about 1926-28.
2) Gene Markey (producer/writer) in 1932-37. He later married Hedy Lamarr.
3) Walter Wanger (producer) in 1940-65. He was jailed for shooting and wounding her agent.
4) David Wilde (critic).
Ingrid Bergman
Legendary star lived 1915-82.
1) Dr. Peter Lindstrom; they wed in 1937, had daughter Pia; Ingrid deserted family in 1949.
2) Roberto Rossellini (1950-annulled 1958). Both left their spouses to live together at first, igniting furor. Liaison/marriage produced a son and twin girls (including Isabella).
3) Lars Schmidt. They divorced in 1975.
Joan Blondell
Popular blonde film star lived 1909-79.
1) George Barnes (cameraman) in 1933-35.
2) Dick Powell (actor) in 1936-45.
3) Mike Todd (producer) in 1947-50.
Fanny Brice
Famed Ziegfeld entertainer lived 1891-1951.
1) Frank White, barber in Springfield, Mass.; she met him in 1911, they were together a few days but marriage lasted a year on paper.
2) Nicky Arnstein (a gangster, he went to prison. She divorced him in 1927, but still loved him. A soap opera, yes, and it was the basis for the film Funny Girl.)
3) Billy Rose in 1929. She divorced him in ‘36 so he could marry Eleanor Holm.
Diahann Carroll
Singer was enjoying divorced life in 2006.
1) Monte Kay, casting director
2) Freddie Glusmann, restaurateur
3) Robert DeLeon, editor
4) Vic Damone, singer; since divorced
Madeleine Carroll
Blonde leading lady of films lived 1906-87.
1)
2) Sterling Hayden (actor) in 1942-46
3) Henri Lavorel (French film producer).
4) Andrew Heiskell, 1950-65; he published Life magazine.
Cher
Singer/actress was born in 1946. Her mother reportedly was married 10 times, but it’s Cher’s record that follows:
1) Sonny Bono (entertainer) in 1964-74.
2) Gregg Allman (rocker) in 1975-77.
Linda Christian
Born in 1923, she was one of those “actresses” famous for being famous (or notorious), rather than for being in movies. She had many loves. Her husbands included Tyrone Power in 1949-55 and Edmund Purdom in 1962-63.
Ina Claire
Ziegfeld star and film actress lived 1892-1985.
1)
2) John Gilbert (actor) 1929-31.
3)
Joan Crawford
Hollywood great and “Mommie Dearest” lived 1904-77. Each of her four marriages lasted four years.
1) Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in 1929-33. He was five years his senior.
2) Franchot Tone (actor) in 1935-39. She dumped Clark Gable for him.
3) Phillip Terry (minor actor) in 1942-46.
4) Alfred Steele (president of Pepsi-Cola) in 1955-59. A heart attack killed him.
Arlene Dahl
Decorative leading lady was born in 1924.
1) Lex Barker (actor) in 1951-52.
2) Fernando Lamas (actor) in 1954-60.
3)
4)
5)
6)
Geena Davis
She’s had four husbands but the sequence is unclear. She was married to actor Jeff Goldblum in 1987-90, and later to director Renny Harlin. Her fourth husband is surgeon Reza Jarrahy. They had twins in 2004, when she was 48, he 33. Media offered no further details on how she did it.
Doris Day
Singer/actress was born in 1924.
1) She was 17 when she married a musician.
2) She married again, briefly, at age 22, but soon resumed her legendary virginity.
3) Marty Melcher in 1951; when he left her a widow in 1968 she thought she had the $22 million she’d earned. She didn’t.
Laraine Day
Leading lady was born in 1917. Her second marriage was one of Hollywood’s oddest. Leo, the guy who stole Babe Ruth’s wristwatch, had more enemies that she had fans. Moreover, she risked ruining her career.
1) Ray Hendricks (singer) in 1942-47.
2) Leo Durocher (baseball manager) in 1947-60.
3) TV producer Michael Grilikhes. They were still living near Hollywood in 2005.
Marlene Dietrich
Leading lady lived 1901-92. While living in Germany she married Rudolf Sieber, a studio functionary, in 1924. They had a daughter Maria in 1925. The whole family wound up in Hollywood, but Sieber drifted off to become a chicken farmer. He seems to have been unmissed.
Doris Duke
Heiress' collection of spouses included playboy Porfirio Rubirosa in 1947-48.
Deanna Durbin
Singer/actress was born in Canada in 1921.
1)
2)
3) Charles Henri David (French movie director); he died in 1999 after 48 years of their marriage.
Ann Dvorak
Actress who graced many B flicks lived 1912-79. The first of her three husbands was director Leslie Fenton (1932-46).
Alice Faye
Singer and film actress lived 1912-98.
1) Tony Martin (singer) in 1936-40.
2) Phil Harris in 1941 and apparently still wed and both alive as late as 1994.
Rhonda Fleming
Actress was born in 1922. Her husbands usually weren’t actors but that doesn't seemed to have helped.
1)
2)
3)
4) Hall Bartlett (producer/director) in 1966-71.
5)
Jane Fonda
Famed leading lady was born in 1937.
1) Roger Vadim (director) in 1965.
2) Tom Hayden in 1973-80. He became a politician.
3) Ted Turner in 1984. They’re divorced.
Joan Fontaine
Leading lady was born in 1917.
1) Brian Aherne (actor) in 1939-45.
2) William Dozier (producer) in 1946-51.
3) Collier Young (writer/producer) in 1952-61.
4)
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Celebrity actress was born in 1918, give or take a few years. She says she’s had nine husbands, which means she's perhaps a couple ahead of sister Eva. An unknown scriptwriter once provided a wonderful bit of Gabor-ish dialogue for Spring Byington in a Mr. Ed TV episode. Miss Byington was talking on a telephone to an unseen person, and her lines went something like this: “You’re getting married again, darling? Is he handsome? Oh, he has eight million dollars. What’s he do? You don’t know. Well, it’ll come out at the property settlement. Whatever you get, you deserve it. You’ve worked so hard at marriage . . . .”
1) Burham Belge (Turkish diplomat) in 1937.
2) Conrad Hilton. (Hotel magnate’s son Nicky married Liz Taylor.)
3) George Sanders, who later married Zsa Zsa’s sister Magda
4)
5)
6)
7) Michael O’Hara.
8) Filipe de Alba, but voided because divorce from O’Hara was questionable, and, too, because the marriage was doubtful: a sea captain performed it, but not in international waters.
9) Prince Frederick von Anhalt in 1986 (49 years after her first marriage).
Judy Garland
Singer/actress/entertainer lived 1922-69.
1) David Rose (orchestra leader) in 1941-45. He was Martha Raye’s ex-husband.
2) Vincente Minnelli (director) in 1945-51.
3) Sid Luft. They divorced in 1965.
4) Mark Herron (actor) in 1966-67. He was seven years her junior.
5) Mickey Deans (discotheque owner) in 1967. He was 11 years her junior.
Ava Gardner
Legendary leading lady lived 1922-90.
1) Mickey Rooney (actor) in 1942-43.
2) Artie Shaw (band leader) in 1945-47.
3) Frank Sinatra (entertainer) in 1951-57.
Peggy Ann Garner
Former child star lived 1931-84.
1) Richard Hayes (actor) in 1951-53
2) Albert Salmi (actor) in 1956-63.
3) Non-actor.
Paulette Goddard
Leading lady claimed she was born in 1911. But 1905 is more likely. When she died in 1990 she left $20 million to New York University, which she hadn’t attended.
1) Edward James (president of Southern States Lumber Company). They divorced in 1931.
2) Charlie Chaplin (actor) in 1936-42.
3) Burgess Meredith (actor) in 1944-49.
4) Erich Maria Remarque (author of All Quiet on the Western Front) from 1958 until he died in 1970.
Melanie Griffith
Hollywood leading lady was born in 1957.
1) Don Johnson (actor) in 1976-79.
2) Don Johnson in 1989.
Jean Harlow
Hollywood’s blonde bombshell lived 1911-37. She was engaged to actor William Powell when she died.
1) Charles F. McGrew 2nd, a young Chicago bond broker, in 1927-29.
2) Paul Bern (studio functionary) in July 1932. His death was ruled a suicide in September 1932.
3) Harold Rosson (studio functionary) in 1933-34.
June Haver
Glamorous blonde actress was born in 1926.. After a brief and unsuccessful marriage, her new fiance died, causing her to enter a convent. A year later she married Fred MacMurray. She died June 4, 2005.
1)
2) Fred MacMurray from 1954 till his death in ‘91.
June Havoc
Actress and kid sister of Gypsy Rose Lee was born in 1916.
1) at age 13.
2) at age 19.
3) director William Spier.
Rita Hayworth
Hollywood “Love Goddess” lived 1918-87. He had only two children.
1) Edward Judson in 1937-43; a businessman, he was 22 years her senior.
2) Orson Welles in ‘43, though she was engaged to Victor Mature; they had Rebecca.(she was 57 in 2003) but quickly divorced.
3) Prince Aly Khan in ‘49-51; they had Princess Jasmin in 1950; Aly died in car crash in 1960.
4) Dick Haymes (singer) in ‘53-55.
5) James Hill (producer) in 1957-61.
Audrey Hepburn
Leading lady lived 1929-1993.
1) Mel Ferrer (actor) in 1954-68.
2) Italian psychiatrist nine years her junior in 1969.
Katharine Hepburn
Leading lady married Ludlow Ogden Smith, a Philadelphia socialite, on Dec. 12, 1928. She left him Jan. 2, 1929. They divorced in 1934 and supposedly remained lifelong friends. Her main love interest was actor Spencer Tracy, who was married to someone else.
Libby Holman
Broadway’s foremost “torch singer” lived 1904-71, causing trouble wherever she went. Her only child, Christopher Reynolds, died climbing mountains in 1950. She committed suicide.
1) Zachary Smith Reynolds (heir to Reynolds tobacco fortune) in 1931-32; seven years her junior, he was shot and killed. Libby was held for a time, then released.
2) Ralph Holmes (actor) in 1939-45; he was 11 years her junior and committed suicide.
3) Louis Shanker, artist, in December 1960.
Barbara Hutton
Heiress had many husbands. Cary Grant was among those of the ‘40s. Among those in the ‘50s was Baron Gottfried von Cramm, the internationally famous tennis player the Nazis imprisoned as a homosexual. He was born in 1909 and died in a car wreck near Cairo in 1976.
1) “Prince” Alexis Mdivani, about 1932-35. (He died in car wreck in 1936.)
2) Count Haugwitz Hardenberg Reventlow, 1935- ; son Lance, who became well-known racing driver, was born in 1937.
3) Cary Grant (film star) in 1942-45.
4?) Gottfried Von Cramm.
Betty Hutton
Actress/singer was born in 1921. References say she was divorced five times. She says she was married only four times.
Jennifer Jones
Film star was born in 1919.
1) Robert Walker (actor) in 1939-45.
2) David O. Selznick (producer) in 1949; he died in 1965.
3) Norton Simon (industrialist) in 1971-.
Shirley Jones
Singer/actress was born in 1934. She married actor Jack Cassidy and starred in TV’s The Partridge Family with step-son David Cassidy. Her son Shaun Cassidy became an actor. After divorce, she married actor Marty Ingels.
Evelyn Keyes
Film actress is remembered as Scarlett O’Hara’s sister. She was born in 1919. Her husbands included directors Charles Vidor (1943-44) and John Huston (1946-50) and band leader Artie Shaw (from 1957-on, although they long ago separated). She lived with producer Mike Todd in 1953-56.
Aimee Semple McPherson
Famed evangelist lived 1890-1944. She was born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy and accumulated names, much like Mme. Schumann-Heink (below).
1) Robert Semple, missionary who died of malaria in China.
2) Harold McPherson, grocery clerk, married two years.
3) Dave Hutton, church singer.
But it was with Kenneth G. Ormiston that Sister Aimee had her notorious fling.
Hedy Lamarr
Leading lady was born in 1913.
1) Fritz Mandl (Austrian munitions manufacturer) about 1933-37.
2) Gene Markey (writer) in 1939-40.
3) John Loder (actor) in 1943-47.
4)
5)
6)
Angela Lansbury
Film and TV actress was born in London in 1925.
1) Richard Cromwell in 1945-46.
2) Peter Shaw from 1949-on.
Janet Leigh
Leading lady was born in 1927.
1) Early divorce.
2) Early divorce.
3) Tony Curtis (actor) in 1951-62. They had daughter Jamie Lee in 1958.
Julie London
Singer-turned actress lived 1926-92.
1) Jack Webb (actor) in 1945-53.
2) Bobby Troup, her co-star in TV’s Emergency.
Jennifer Lopez
Singer/actress has been labeled the modern “serial bride.”
1) Waiter Ojani Noa in 1997; this lasted little more than a year.
2) Dancer Chris Judd in 2001; this lasted nine months. (He made $2,222 an hour.)
3) Although she had been scheduled to marry actor Ben Affleck in September 2003, she married a singer named Anthony.
Myrna Loy
The perfect screen wife had less luck in real life, and she never married an actor–much less her frequent co-star, William Powell. She lived 1905-93.
1) Arthur Hornblow Jr. (producer) in 1936-42.
2) John Hertz Jr. (rental-car heir) in 1942-44.
3) Gene Markey (screenwriter, producer) in 1946-50.
4) Howland Sergeant in 1951-60. He was a deputy secretary of state under Dean Acheson.
Jeanette MacDonald
Hollywood legend lived 1901-65 and never once really married Nelson Eddy. In 1937 she married an actor who looked like him, though: Gene Raymond. They were still married when she died.
Marie MacDonald
Unsuccessful actress known as “The Body” kept her name in headlines through marriages and scandals. Some records say she had seven marriages (including remarriages), but other records say she had eight husbands. Born in 1923, she committed suicide in 1965.
Marilyn Miller
Broadway legend lived 1898-1936.
1) Frank Carter (singer died in car crash; jealous, Ziegfeld had fired him.)
2) Jack Pickford in 1922-27.
3) Chester O'Brien (chorus boy/stage manager) in October 1934.
Marilyn Monroe
Film legend lived 1926-62.
1) Jim Dougherty (aircraft plant worker) in about 1942.
2) Joe DiMaggio (baseball star) January 1954-October ‘54.
3) Arthur Miller (playwright) June 1956-Jan. 21, 1961.
Kim Novak
Hollywood leading lady was born in 1933. During her heyday in the ‘50s, she was linked to most of the world’s most eligible bachelors.
1) Richard Johnson (actor). They married briefly.
2) veterinarian in 1976.
Merle Oberon
Film star lived 1911-79.
1) Alexander Korda (director/producer) in 1939-45.
2) Lucien Ballard (cinematographer) in 1945-49.
3) Italian industrialist in 1957-73.
4) Robert Wolders, many years her junior.
Anny Ondra
Polish actress lived 1903-87.
1) Karel Lamac (director), she divorced him in 1933 to marry:
2) Max Schmeling (he’d been world’s heavyweight boxing champion in 1930-32).
Debra Paget
Decorative film star was born in 1933.
1) David Street (actor/singer) in 1958. Annulment came four months later.
2) Budd Boetticher (director) in 1960-61, but they separated after 22 days.
3) Ling-Chieh Kung (Texas oilman) in 1964-71.
Eleanor Parker
Leading lady was born in 1922. She had four husbands and four children.
Suzy Parker
Top model died in 2003 at 69. She was living with her third husband, Bradford Dillman.
Jean Peters
Hollywood actress was born in 1926.
1) Howard Hughes in 57-71; she and tycoon were secretly wed and soon separated.
2) Stanley Hough (TV executive).
Mary Pickford
Immensely popular actress lived 1893-1979.
1) Owen Moore (actor) in 1911-19. He’d become a drunk.
2) Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (actor) in 1920-36.
3) Buddy Rogers (actor, band leader) in 1937-on; he was 11 years her junior.
Jane Powell
Singer/actress was born in 1929.
1)
2)
3)
4) David Parlour (producer/writer) in 1978-81.
5) Dickie Moore (former actor) in 1988.
Jessie Reed
She was famous as the world’s highest-paid chorus girl.
1) Oliver Debrow, comedian. She divorced him after he was involved in a murder.
2) Louis Herzberg, 1918; a quick divorce ensued.
3) Dan Caswell (heir to Cleveland fortune). She divorced him.
4) William F. Young (Chicago advertising man).
5) Leonard Reno (WWI flyer and wealthy publisher’s son).
Debbie Reynolds
Entertainer was born in 1932.
1) Eddie Fisher (singer) in 1955-59. They had Carrie and Todd Fisher.
2) Owner of shoe store chain 1960-75; she became responsible for $2 million of his debts.
3) Real estate developer in 1984.
Ginger Rogers
Leading lady lived 1911-95.
1) Jack Pepper (vaudevillian) in 1928-31.
2) Lew Ayres (actor) in 1934-41.
3)
4) Jacques Bergerac (actor) in 1953-57.
5) William Marshall (actor/director) in 1961-62.
Jane Russell
1) Bob Waterfield (football star) in 1943-68. He was bigger in some ways than she was then.
2) Roger Barrett (actor) in 1968. He died less than three months later.
3) Real estate agent.
Lillian Russell
Undisputed Queen of show business lived 1861-1922, and is said to have had only one flaw. Poor Lillian. As old friend Marie Dressler observed: “She was none too clever about men.” And she never married longtime friend and escort Diamond Jim Brady.
1) Harry Braham (orchestra leader) in 1879-c80.
2) Edward Solomon (orchestra leader) in 1883-?(They had daughter Dorothy in 1884 but Lillian had marriage annulled after he was arrested for bigamy in London in late 1885.
3) Giovanni Perugini (opera tenor) briefly in 1894. This phony's real name was Jack Chatterton.
(Jesse Lewisohn was a longtime boyfriend in this interval. He ran off with Brady’s girlfriend.)
4) Alexander P. Moore (publisher of Pittsburgh Leader newspaper) on June 12, 1912. They were still married when she died.
Meg Ryan
Leading lady was born in 1961. She married actor Dennis Quaid in 1991.
Mme. Ernestine Schumann-Heink
Opera diva lived 1861-1936.
1) Ernest Heink.
2) Paul Schumann.
3) unknown.
Norma Shearer
Hollywood leading lady lived 1899-1971. Her marriage in 1927 to a studio bigwig assured career success. But after he died, her career faded.
1) Irving Thalberg in 1927. He died in 1936.
2) a ski instructor in 1942; he was 20 years her junior.
Ann Sheridan
Leading lady lived 1915-67.
1) Edward Norris (actor) in 1936-39.
2) George Brent (actor) in 1942-43.
3) Scott McKay (actor).
Sylvia Sidney
This major Broadway star, born in 1911, made bad decisions in Hollywood. She also picked the wrong husbands; she was thrice divorced.
1) Bennett A. Cerf (publisher) in 1935-36.
2) Luther Adler (actor) in 1938-46.
3)
Jean Simmons
Leading lady was born in 1929 in London. In 2004 she was living in California and still working.
1) Stewart Granger (actor) in 1950-60.
2) Richard Brooks (director) in 1960-1977.
Barbara Stanwyck
Brassy leading lady lived 1907-90.
1) Frank Fay; they divorced in 1935.
2) Robert Taylor (actor) in 1939-52.
Elizabeth Taylor
Born in 1932 in London, she’s been a worldwide celebrity longer than any other living commoner.
1) Nick Hilton, hotel heir.
2) Michael Wilding (actor) in 1952-57.
3) Mike Todd (killed in crash of his plane, “The Lucky Liz.”)
4) Eddie Fisher (singer); he was a friend of Todd who dumped wife Debbie Reynolds.
5) Richard Burton (actor) 1964-74. She left Fisher amid great scandal.
6) Richard Burton in 1975-76.
7) Sen. John Warner of Virginia in 1978-82.
8) Larry Fortensky (construction worker) in 1991-97. They met at Betty Ford Clinic.
Shirley Temple
Born in 1928, she became the most successful child star ever.
1) John Agar (actor) in 1945-49. She was 17 when wed.
2) Charles Black, TV executive in 1950-on.
Olive Thomas
Born Oliveretta Duffy in 1884, she became a major Broadway and Hollywood star. Her questionable death in 1920 was ruled suicide.
1) Bernard Krug Thomas (businessman) about 1900. She was about 16.
2) Jack Pickford (actor) in 1917. They were still married when she died.
Lana Turner
Hollywood leading lady (born 1920) married eight times to seven husbands and was divorced seven times. This doesn’t take into account her notorious affair with gangster Johnny Stompanato. It was ruled that Turner’s daughter Cheryl Crane killed Stompanato in 1958 in a justifiable homicide.
1) Artie Shaw (band leader) in 1940-41.
2) Stephen Crane (actor-turned-restaurateur).
3) Stephen Crane, weeks after first was annulled.
4) Bob Topping (rich playboy) in 1948-52. His brother owned half of the New York Yankees.
5) Lex Barker (actor) in 1953-57.
6) Fred May (businessman).
7) Robert Eaton (businessman).
8) Ronald Dante (nightclub performer).
Vivian Vance
Born between 1907 and ‘13, she became Lucille Ball’s TV sidekick. She married Philip Ober in what was billed as her first marriage. Some critics claimed she’d forgotten about two previous husbands. She died in 1979.
Gloria Vanderbilt
Heiress married four times.
1) Pat DiSicco. This slippery Hollywood agent specialized in getting beat up in bars; the couple split in 1945.
2) Leopold Stokowski (conductor); he was 42 years her senior. They married one day after she divorced No. 1 and they remained married 10 years.
3) Sidney Lumet (movie director).
4) Wyatt Emory Cooper (writer) in 1963. They had Anderson Cooper, the TV caster; dad died in 1968.
Bessiewallis “Wallis” Warfield
This American-born daughter of Teackle Warfield and the former Alice Montague got the king of England to abdicate. She died in 1986.
1) Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. in November 1916. They divorced in 1926.
2) Ernest Aldridge Simpson in 1928.
3) Duke of Windsor in 1937. They were still married when he died in 1972.
Esther Williams
Famed swimmer/actress was born in 1923.
1)
2)
3) Fernando Lamas (actor) in 1967 until his death in 1982.
Fay Wray
Actress was born in 1907. They dimmed the lights on the Empire State Building when she died in 2004.
1) John Monk Saunders. He wrote Wings, The Dawn Patrol, etc.; they had a daughter, Susan.
2) Robert Riskin. He wrote scripts for It Happened One Night, Lost Horizon and other Frank Capra films; they had daughter Victoria and son Robert Jr.
3) Sanford Rothenberg. He was Riskin’s doctor; not till 16 years after Riskin died did Wray wed the doctor. He died in 1991.
Jane Wyman
Actress was born in 1914.
1) Myron Futterman (dress manufacturer) in 1934-35.
2) Ronald Reagan (actor) in 1940-48. They had two children.
3) Freddie Karger (orchestra leader) in 1952 until divorced.
4) Freddie Karger in 1961-65.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
Britney Spears married Jason Allen Alexander early Saturday Jan. 3, 2004 in Las Vegas. They got an annulment Monday, 55 hours later. It was reported that the quasi-groom earned $560,000 for his 55-hour adventure ($10,200 a hour).
Rudolph Valentino might have topped that. He and Jean Acker didn’t last through the wedding night, although getting an actual divorce did take some time. About the same thing happened to Burt Lancaster, and, separately, to Texas hero Sam Houston. Katharine Hepburn didn’t fare much better.
Gloria Swanson and Wallace Beery married in March 1916 in Hollywood, but separated three weeks later. He said she wanted a fancy life, he wanted a simple life. She said she wanted a baby, he didn’t.
Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine were a volatile couple. George Brent had a quickie marriage in 1937. Others who had such brief matrimonial disasters include singer Guy Mitchell, who returned from an abbreviated honeymoon and unchivalrously proclaimed his bride a “boudoir washout.”
FAMOUS MARRIAGES
These weren’t necessarily long or short, happy or sad, for better or worse. But they did capture the public fancy:
■Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton--particularly the first time around.
■Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio.
■Vivian Leigh and Laurence Olivier.
■Halle Berry and David Justice the ballplayer.
■Howard Duff and Ida Lupino.
■Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.
■Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
■Buddy Rogers and Mary Pickford.
■John Barrymore and Dolores Costello.
■William Holden and Brenda Marshall.
■Bob Waterfield and Jane Russell.
■Sonny Bono and Cher.
■Dinah Shore and George Montgomery.
■Vic Damone and Pier Angeli.
■Melvyn Douglas and Helen Gahagan.
■Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
■Leo Durocher and Laraine Day.
■Lou Tellegen and Geraldine Farrar. (The divorce was ugly.).
■Jack Webb and Julie London. (They eventually divorced.)
■Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.(They eventually divorced.)
■Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett.
■Dick Powell and June Allyson.
■Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester.
■Phil Harris and Alice Faye.
■Fibber and Molly. (Jim and Marion Jordan)
■George Burns and Gracie Allen (wed Jan. 7, 1926).
■Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone.
■Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman.
■Larry Parks and Betty Garrett.
■Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard.
■John Agar and Shirley Temple, briefly.
■Vivian Blaine and Milton Rackmil, president of Universal Pictures and Decca Records. They've since divorced.
■Florenz Ziegfeld and Anna Held.
■Florenz Ziegfeld and Billie Burke.
■Elliott Roosevelt (son of FDR) and actress Faye Emerson.
LONG MARRIAGES
Not all celebrity marriages are temporary. Here are some that weren’t:
■Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, married 56 years when he died in 2005 at 87.
■Kirk and Anne Douglas celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2004.
■Alice Faye and Phil Harris, wed 1941; she died in 1998.
■Fred MacMurray and June Haver, 1954 till his death in 1991.
■Joel McCrea and Frances Dee were married from 1933 until he died in 1990.
■Alexis Smith and Craig Stevens, 1944 until her death in 1993.
■Virginia Mayo and Michael O’Shea, from 1947 until he died in 1973. She didn’t remarry.
■James and Gloria Stewart were married about 48 years.
■Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone.
■Bob Hope.
■Randolph and Pat Scott had been married 43 years when he died.
■Ralph Bellamy and Alice Murphy (although he often lost the girl in the movies).
■Eddie Cantor and Ida Tobias, from 1914 on. She was his childhood sweetheart
■Will Rogers and Betty Blake.
■Michael York and nonactress Pat York; wed in 1968, still in 1999.
■Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward since Jan. 29, 1958.
■Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine.
■Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn.
■Richard Widmark and screenwriter Jean Hazelwood had been married 55 years when she died in 1997. Two years later he wed Susan Blanchard, 74; she was Henry Fonda’s third wife.
■Fred Astaire and Phyllis Livingston Potter (nee Baker). She predeceased him by many years.
SECRET MARRIAGES
■Prince of Wales and Mrs. Maria Fitzherbert, a twice-married Catholic in 1785. He became Britain’s King George IV.
■John F. Kennedy and Durie Macolm in 1947.
KINKY MARRIAGES
■Cowboy actor Rod Cameron divorced his wife to marry her mother.
■Greer Garson married Richard Ney, who had played her son in Mrs. Miniver (1942). They were married in 1943-47. He was born in 1918. She was born in 1908
■Actress Gloria Grahame married her husband's son by a previous marriage, making her former husband her father-in-law. She had children by each marriage. Try to figure the relationships between everyone concerned. For starters, one child was also her son-in-law and her step-grandson.
■Prince Richard Metternich married his niece, permissible in some counties. Taking it another way, the famous Austrian chancellor, Klemens von Metternich, had a son Richard, who also became chancellor, and a daughter. The daughter married Count Moritz Sandor and had a daughter Pauline. Richard married Pauline. She was eight years his junior and often was termed “hideously ugly.”
EXPENSIVE DIVORCES
■ Harrison Ford, 61, spent $118 million to divorce Melissa Mathison, 53, in about 2003. They’d been married 20 years.
Other divorces in $100 million range:
■ Norman and Frances Lear in 1985.
■ Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving 1989.
■ Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in 2001.
■ Neil Diamond and Marcia Murphey in 1985
THEY NEVER MARRIED
Greta Garbo
Diamond Jim Brady
Clifton Webb (he always lived with his mother)
U.S. President James Buchanan
Lizabeth Scott
Queen Elizabeth I
No comments:
Post a Comment