Hollywood is a peculiar land of gossip and quick relationships, and it has been pretty much ever since its earliest days. It’s a difficult world for anyone to find true love in to say the least.
Old Hollywood actresses had many of the same problems as today’s celebrities, and many of the brightest names of the golden age of cinema took several tries at true love. Their beauty and fame attracted plenty of suitors, but far too many of them were golddiggers, abusers, or simply not the right match.
Like and subscribe to FactsVerse for more on the love lives of classic stars. In this video, you’ll learn all about the Old Hollywood actresses who had the most husbands.
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan played Blanche Devereaux in the famous sitcom The Golden Girls. As an Old Hollywood Actress She once joked that the only difference between herself and the character she portrayed on TV was that she wasn’t from Atlanta.
Rue McClanahan’s First Marriage
The first of Rue’s six marriages was to Tom Bish as an Old Hollywood Actress. She met him while trying to get her acting career started after landing a gig at the Erie Playhouse in Pennsylvania. In her memoir, she gives him the nickname “The Italian” They were married in 1958 and had a son named Mark but were divorced 17 months later.
Rue McClanahan’s Second Marriage
Her 2nd husband was Norman Hartweg. They married while her divorce from Tom was still being processed. They had been friends since college and remained so even after they separated.
Rue McClanahan’s Third Marriage
She co-starred with her 3rd husband, Peter DeMario, in an off-Broadway production of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Her son Mark was 13 at the time and clashed with his new stepfather. He told Rue that he’d move away to Oklahoma if she didn’t get a divorce. She ended that union after seven years of marriage in 1971.
Rue McClanahan’s Fourth Marriage
Rue’s 4th husband was realtor Gus Fisher. He also earned a nickname in her book; “The Greek.” They were married in 1996, and she admits she rushed into the relationship to avoid feelings of abandonment and loneliness. They were divorced within a year.
Rue McClanahan’s Fifth Marriage
Rue’s 5th husband was Tom Keel. They dated when she attended high school in Oklahoma but didn’t see each other for years until he visited her in LA one day. She felt as if she could trust him, and they were married a few months later in 1984. The 1986 divorce was messy and left Tom with a large settlement.
Rue McClanahan’s Sixth Marriage
Rue’s final marriage was to Morrow Wilson. They were together for 12 years until Rue died on June 3, 2010. Her book doesn’t give him a nickname but does say that she feels she married him for the right reasons. For his part, he said he never loved someone the way he loved her.
Lana Turner
Lana Turner earned her first role in the 1937 film. They Won’t Forget. That role led to other roles and a career that made her one of the most sought-after actresses in Old Hollywood by both producers and men. She once joked that her ‘goal was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out to be the other way around.”
Lana Turner’s First Marriage
The first of these husbands was Artie Shaw. They met on the set of Dancing Co-Ed, and she initially refused his advances. They were married in Vegas on February 13, 1940. Constant fighting led to a divorce after only four months and 11 days.
Lana Turner’s Second Marriage
Her second marriage was to Stephen Crane. They met at a Mocambo nightclub and got married on July 17, 1942. She became pregnant with her only child Cheryl in 1942 but had to get the marriage annulled because his divorce from his first wife was not yet finalized. Once it was, however, they were remarried in 1943 to give Cheryl a father. They were divorced once again in August of 1944, reportedly because she made up a story about having an affair with her Marriage Was a Private Affair co-star John Hodiak.
Lana Turner’s Third Marriage
Her 3rd marriage to Bob Topping in April of 1948 followed a rocky but passionate relationship with Tyrone Power. He wooed her with gifts and gave her a large wedding and extravagant 5-month honeymoon. He drank and gambled their money away, which led to many fights. They were divorced in 1952; as Lana’s mother would say, “you can’t afford to keep a millionaire.”
Lana Turner’s Fourth Marriage
Her next husband was Lex Barker, who she began dating in 1952. They were married in Italy in September of 1953. He became sexually abusive towards her daughter Cheryl, and Lana ordered him to leave. They were separated by 1957, and he died in 1973.
Lana Turner’s Fifth Marriage
She married Fred May in November 1960 and was reportedly closest to him. It’s unclear why they divorced in 1962, but they were friends until he died in 1964.
Lana Turner’s Sixth Marriage
She married Robert Eaton in 1965 but found him with another woman after returning from shooting abroad. They divorced in 1969.
Lana Turner’s Seventh Marriage
She married Ronald Dante in May of 1969. He made her feel young but also stole from her, leading to a divorce in 1972.
Like and subscribe to FactsVerse for more classic celebrity love stories. Keep watching to learn more about Old Hollywood actresses who had the most husbands, including a couple who married the same man twice.
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizbeth Taylor’s film career began when she acted in the 1944 movie National Velvet at the age of 12. She earned several film credits after that but is also known for a long string of relationships.
Elizabeth Taylor’s First Marriage
She married hotel heir Nicky Hilton at the age of 18 in 1950. The studio reportedly paid for and used the wedding as a way to promote her role in Father of the Bride. It was certainly a major event, with 600 guests and over 3,000 fans crowded around the church. The couple divorced a year later.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Second Marriage
Elizabeth married Michael Wilding in 1952. They had two children; Michael Jr. and Christopher. His jealousy over his wife’s growing career and celebrity status is reportedly what caused them to divorce in 1957.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Third Marriage
Elizabeth married producer Mike Todd in 1957 and had a daughter named Liza. He died suddenly in a plane crash the following year.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Fourth Marriage
Elizabeth married Eddie Fisher in Las Vegas in 1959. He’d been a close friend of Mike’s and helped her mourn his passing until a relationship grew. It was controversial because it caused him to leave his wife and her friend Debbie Reynolds. She divorced Eddie and made up with Debbie in 1964.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Fifth Marriage
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton met on the set of Cleopatra and were married in 1964. He adopted her daughter Liza and a German orphan named Maria, who she began the adoption process for while married to Eddie. They were divorced in 1974, remarried in Botswana in 1975, and divorced again a few months later.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Sixth Marriage
Elizabeth later looked outside of the world of Hollywood for love and married politician John Warner. They met in 1976 when he escorted her to a dinner at the British Embassy in Washington, DC. They were married within a year but split amicably in 1982.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Seventh Marriage
Elizabeth made an even more surprising choice for her final husband with Larry Fortensky, a construction worker who was 20 years younger than her. They checked into the Betty Ford Clinic at the same time and bonded while supporting each other’s recovery. They were married at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in 1991. Larry’s struggles with celebrity lead to another amicable divorce in 1996.
Jennifer O’Neil
Jennifer O’Neil was married nine times to 8 men and had three children.
She was first married at the age of 17 to Dean Rossiter in 1965. They had a daughter named Aimee, but she began to suffer mental health issues and went to a hospital for electroshock therapy. The couple divorced in 1971.
She married Joseph Roster in 1972. It was one of the most passionate of her relationships, but they were divorced in 1974.
She married Nick De Noia, her producer, and choreographer, in 1975. They were divorced in 1976, and he shockingly was found shot to death in April of 1987.
She married singer-songwriter, Jeff Barry, in 1978 and divorced him in 1979.
She married her manager John Lederer in 1979 despite knowing that he was a convicted felon. They had a son named Reis, but he was arrested for abusing her daughter Aimee and they were divorced in 1983
She married limo driver Richard A. Alan twice. The first time was in 1984. They divorced after he was caught with prostitutes in 1987 but got remarried in 1993, only for him to divorce her once again.
Her 5-year-old son was the best man at her wedding to Neil L. Bonin in December of 1992. The marriage was annulled after five months due to fraud.
She married producer Mervin Sidney Louque in 1996 and is still married to him today.
Zha Zha Gabor
Zha Zha Gabor once joked that she was a marvelous housekeeper because every time she left a man, she kept his house.
Her first marriage was a Turkish diplomat named Burhan Belge. They were married from 1937-1941.
Her next husband was Conrad Hilton. They were married in 1942 when he was 55 and she was in her mid-20s. She wrote in her memoir that he had raped her and she became pregnant with their daughter Francesca. They were divorced in 1947.
Zha Zha married actor George Sanders on April 1, 1949. They starred in the movie Death of a Scoundrel together after getting divorced in 1954. He took his own life in 1972, and Zha Zha was heartbroken, stating he was the major love of her life.
She had relationships with diplomat Porfirio Rubirosa and LA contractor Hal B. Hayes before marrying Herbert L. Hutner on November 5, 1962. They were divorced four years later.
She married Joshua S. Cosden Jr. in 1966, a man she told reporters she’d met only six weeks earlier at a party. They divorced the next year.
She married Jack Ryan, the designer of the Barbie Doll, in 1975. They were divorced in 1976.
Zha Zha Gabor’s Later Marriages
Days after ending her 6th marriage, she married Michael O’Hara, a lawyer from Beverly Hills, at the Las Vegas Hilton. They divorced as well
She attempted to marry Count Felipe de Alba on April 14, 1982. The marriage was invalidated because her divorce from Michael wasn’t finalized.
Her final husband was Prince Frederick von Anhalt, who she married in 1986. There was a 20-year age difference, and her sister Eva and mother Jolie boycotted the ceremony. Despite their misgivings, it proved to be Zha Zha’s most stable relationship. He bought a billboard to celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2011.
Which of these Old Hollywood actresses is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below. Like and subscribe to FactsVerse for more on the glitz, glamour, and gossip of the world of classic film and television.
