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Love and heartbreak collide in Hollywood’s most turbulent marriages. Join us as we explore the fascinating love lives of iconic celebrities known for their multiple divorces and annulments. From legendary actors like Mickey Rooney and Elizabeth Taylor to glamorous stars like Zsa Zsa Gabor, their rollercoaster relationships made headlines as much as their careers. Which celebrity’s love saga surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00I have been married seven times. To me, that's quite a number.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo. And today, we're counting down our picks for the iconic famous faces in
00:12history who've had the most divorces and annulments throughout their action-packed love lives.
00:18Now, when it comes to the... if Mary's was a giant slalom, I mean, I'm a bronze medal winner.
00:24You're a gold medal winner, right?
00:26Come here.
00:29Number 10. Mickey Rooney. From child star to prolific adult actor,
00:34who accumulated over 340 screen acting credits, Rooney also had a bountiful love life filled
00:40with drama. After all, he was divorced six times throughout his life, and it could have been more.
00:46I want you to know that I... I never give up.
00:52I continue to share my story with others.
00:55While estranged from his wife, Barbara Ann Thomason, she was murdered by her partner,
01:01Milos Milos, in 1966, who then took his own life. Rooney's final marriage was with Jan Chamberlain,
01:08who wedded in 1978. However, it was a tumultuous relationship, with the four-time Oscar nominee
01:14once being arrested for domestic abuse in 1997.
01:18And the list goes on. We'd be here all night.
01:20But we're very happy, my wife Jan and I.
01:23In 2012, Rooney and Chamberlain separated. Yet before another divorce could be instigated,
01:29he passed away in 2014, which sparked a will challenge as everything was left to Rooney's
01:35stepson. Passing of a screen legend. Mickey Rooney, whose long career began as a child actor
01:40back in Hollywood's golden age, has died at the age of 93. Number nine, Richard Pryor. One of the
01:46most influential comedians ever, Pryor successfully translated his comedy achievements to the screen.
01:53Yet his personal life was messy, which wasn't helped by his substance issues.
01:57How many times is that Richard Pryor and women? Oh, man.
02:04So he had a lot of women and a lot of wives and a lot of children. He's not alone
02:07in that
02:08entertainment world. Throughout his life, while Pryor married five women, he experienced six
02:13divorces. After all, he married and split with Finn Belain twice. His final wife, Jennifer Lee,
02:20was also previously married to him in 1981 until their divorce in 1982.
02:25What was life like for you guys in the 70s and 80s? You had to hang on fast.
02:31After Pryor's mobility problems from multiple sclerosis progressed,
02:36he and Lee reconciled, eventually getting secretly married in 2001.
02:41What the hell was that?
02:42Whim.
02:45Whim? Look, you just behave yourself, all right? I'm gonna get some witnesses in here.
02:52This caused tension within the family as Richard Pryor Jr. tried to get conservatorship over his
02:58father's estate. Following Pryor's death in 2005, Lee has claimed he had affairs with men,
03:05which his children have denied.
03:07She confirmed everything and then more, Charles, and it was kind of surprising how open she was,
03:11but she said Richard had no shame in this either, and he was actually very open
03:16about his bisexuality with friends.
03:18Number eight, Hedy Lamarr. Before she became a star on the silver screen,
03:23Lamarr had a rough start to marriage with Fritz Mandel in 1933. After all, not only was he critical
03:30of her being in 1933's erotic film Ecstasy, he was also a weapon manufacturer who had ties to far-right
03:37Italy and Germany.
03:38So she had no formal training in engineering or chemistry or anything like that. She was just
03:43naturally gifted.
03:46This is the amazing thing about Hedy Lamarr. She left school when she was 15 years old to become an
03:50actress.
03:51Lamarr would get divorced six times, the last coming in 1965, which was to her divorce lawyer,
03:58Louis J. Boyes. The actor, who left the industry in 1958, didn't remarry before passing away in 2000.
04:05You know I want to thank my God, but I want to be sure.
04:08Of what?
04:09I want to be sure that our happiness doesn't mean that somebody else will be unhappy.
04:13With her former husbands involving Mandel and military veteran Jean Markey,
04:18it's fitting that she and George Antile would invent a radio signal system for torpedoes,
04:24which would influence the creation of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
04:28It's sort of now known that it was the basis for sort of all GPS and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
04:32They used it once the patent had expired, so she didn't get paid.
04:37Number seven, Robert Evans.
04:39You've been married five times, is that right?
04:42Four times, four and a half.
04:44Four and a half?
04:45Let's just say I was married four times and an old one, so what do you count that?
04:51No, that's a half.
04:52One of the most successful studio executives and film producers, Evans rose to fame as the head
04:57of Paramount Pictures before branching out on his own.
04:59He produced several legendary films, such as 1974's Chinatown and 1976's Marathon Man.
05:06Yet Evans' career was tainted with a conviction for substance trafficking and allegations that
05:11he was responsible for Roy Radin's murder in 1983.
05:15He told police that Lanny Jacobs called him from California at around 11 p.m. Eastern time
05:21to say she was going to meet Radin for a drink.
05:23She then called back at 1.30 to say she'd had a fight with Radin
05:27and that he told her he planned to take Evans to the cleaners.
05:31Evans' marriages were often to actors and didn't last long.
05:35After all, his 1998 nuptial to Catherine Oxenberg was annulled after only nine days.
05:40Throughout his life, the producer was divorced six times and had one annulment.
05:46It's cheaper to be single and spend so much money on the lady you're with all day and night
05:53because by the time you wake up in the morning and you're married, you spend more.
05:56The last breakup, which was with Lady Victoria White, ended after a year of marriage in 2006.
06:02Evans remained unmarried until his passing in 2019.
06:06And I was pinching myself, could this be happening to me?
06:10Would you believe at this very moment, she was madly in love with another guy and I had no idea?
06:16Number 6, Larry King
06:17Why do you think there were so many failed marriages?
06:20You know, it's funny, when I think about it, I don't even think of them as failed.
06:23Beginning his broadcasting career in 1957, King would go on to be one of the most iconic TV hosts in
06:29history.
06:29Yet, while his career was celebrated for its longevity, his love life was something else.
06:34Following his first marriage ending in an annulment, King would divorce six times, including Aileen Aikens twice.
06:42First marriage was, everybody went to the army and I was deferred.
06:46I was, because of my eyesight.
06:48So, there was nothing to do, all the guys were gone, I met a girl, I married her.
06:51His final marriage was to Sean Southwick in 1997.
06:55However, in 2010, King filed for divorce from her, which was called off.
07:00Yet, in 2019, the relationship disintegrated again when King made another filing to split from Southwick.
07:07We never finalized our divorce.
07:09I, in my heart, didn't think it was really going to happen and I just, it never did.
07:13Yet, before the divorce could be finalized, the broadcaster passed away in 2021.
07:18Drama ensued when Southwick contested his will, which had left his estate to his children.
07:23The case was settled in 2024.
07:25Larry King, in his own handwriting.
07:28And the will is getting a lot of attention, not only for who Mr. King left money to, but also
07:34who was left out.
07:35Number five, Elizabeth Taylor.
07:37Alongside being one of Hollywood's biggest stars with two Oscar wins, Taylor's love life was just as famous.
07:43While it was mostly connected to Richard Burton, whom she married and divorced twice,
07:48nearly every one of her seven marriages was scandalous.
07:51Recently, it seems that older women are marrying younger men.
07:54In your case, that's the way it worked.
07:56Well, no, no, see, see, my men have stayed the same age.
08:01Firstly, there was the abusive Conrad Hilton Jr.
08:04Next was Michael Wilding, who was 20 years older.
08:08Taylor then married Mike Todd, who sadly died in a plane crash in 1958.
08:13She and Todd's friend, Eddie Fisher, then had an affair,
08:16as he was married to Debbie Reynolds, before they also tied the knot.
08:20I don't blame her for the break.
08:21I blame Eddie for the break.
08:23I left Debbie long before there was any magic between Elizabeth and myself.
08:30Taylor's final marriage was to Larry Fortensky in 1991, who met each other at rehab before splitting in 1996.
08:37By her passing in 2011, Taylor had been divorced seven times.
08:42She was 79 years old.
08:43We know this morning that her four children were by her side.
08:46She survived, of course, by 10 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren at Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
08:51They were all around their mother.
08:53Number four, Artie Shaw.
08:55You ever been married?
08:57Oh, my God.
09:02You hit jackpot, Ms. Kilgallen.
09:03I think you're driving to a city.
09:04Considering he reportedly described himself as a, quote,
09:08very difficult man, being legally tied to Shaw wasn't easy for women.
09:12The band leader and musician was well known for being a perfectionist when it came to his work,
09:17which bled into his personal life with disastrous consequences.
09:20By the time Shaw passed away in 2004, he'd been married eight times,
09:25resulting in six divorces and two annulments.
09:28So that I actually became Cinderella.
09:32But what was missing was the happy ending.
09:35Ava Gardner, Kathleen Windsor, and Lana Turner all spoke about Shaw being emotionally abusive.
09:41With the latter, Turner was only married to him for a few months,
09:44reportedly due to his descents into rages.
09:47Despite having been divorced since 1985,
09:50Evelyn Keyes, his final wife,
09:52was able to claim half of Shaw's estate following his death.
09:55Brush myself off, pull myself together, try again.
09:59I had several marriages, as you know, since you've read the book.
10:04Number three, Lana Turner.
10:06Since we mentioned Turner, one of the highest paid performers in her Hollywood heyday,
10:11she had a far more dramatic love life than anything she portrayed on screen.
10:15Including her dire marriage to Shaw, the actor was married eight times,
10:19twice to Joseph Stephen Crane, resulting in seven divorces and an annulment.
10:24Besides being the number one star in America,
10:27I mean, the good part, I mean, you just had romances with everybody.
10:31Let's get right to it.
10:32Not everybody.
10:32Oh, not everybody.
10:33Just the good-looking ones.
10:35One of her marriages was to Lex Barker,
10:37whom Turner's daughter, Cheryl Crane,
10:39alleged she suffered abuse from, causing their divorce.
10:42While they didn't marry,
10:44Turner got into an infamous relationship with gangster Johnny Stampanato,
10:47whom Cheryl killed when he attacked her mother.
10:50But consider this now, I assume you were not in the courtroom for this.
10:53No, I was not.
10:54You were 14 years old.
10:55Lana Turner's lover is dead at the hand of Lana Turner's daughter.
11:00Turner's final marriage was to Ronald Peller,
11:02aka Ronald Dante,
11:04which ended in 1972 when he stole thousands from her.
11:08Understandably, Turner avoided additional marriages until her passing in 1995.
11:12She was the sweater girl, the glamorous sex goddess who's 61 years,
11:16seven torrid marriages, countless affairs.
11:19Number two, Jennifer O'Neill.
11:21After rising to fame as a model, O'Neill transitioned her acclaim to acting,
11:26starring in hits like 1971's Summer of 42 and 1981's Scanners.
11:31Throughout her life so far, O'Neill has been married nine times,
11:35twice to Richard Allen Brown, resulting in seven divorces and one annulment.
11:40A lot of times when people are in transition or struggling with certain things,
11:46they don't know how they present themselves.
11:49One of the Brazilian-born star's weddings was to Chippendale choreographer Nick DiNoia,
11:54who would later come out as gay.
11:56Unfortunately, 11 years after their divorce,
11:58he was murdered by a business associate in 1983.
12:02A man who was his partner, and once he had disagreements with him,
12:05once he felt like he had to share the spotlight and share some of the finances,
12:09he had Nick DiNoia murdered.
12:12O'Neill's marriage to John Lederer was especially turbulent,
12:15as her daughter accused Lederer of abusing her.
12:18O'Neill eventually believed her daughter, prompting her to leave him.
12:22After becoming a born-again Christian,
12:24O'Neill has been married to Mervyn Sidney Luke Jr. since 1996.
12:28What was my best time, my favorite time?
12:30My favorite time is now.
12:31My favorite time is now, because all the fame and fortune,
12:34that's what surviving myself is about.
12:36Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
12:41Rue McClanahan, the Golden Girls star, was divorced five times during her life.
12:45Blanche, are you gonna marry Harry?
12:47Marry Harry, marry Harry.
12:49A little rhyme.
12:49Knock it off, are you?
12:54Yes, next week.
12:56Pamela Anderson, the Baywatch legend, has divorced four times,
12:59and had an annulment with famous exes.
13:02Pamela Anderson Lee filed for divorce from Tommy Lee,
13:05who was arraigned earlier the same day on felony charges.
13:08Billy Bob Thornton.
13:09It took five divorces for the legendary actor to settle down in 2014 with Connie Anglund.
13:14Our daughter is 11, and we did it for her, really,
13:18because after a while, it's like,
13:22why aren't my mommy and daddy married after 12 years?
13:25Rita Hayworth, the Golden Age legend, divorced five times,
13:29including one with Orson Welles.
13:31You're not that kind.
13:32Sure, if you need anything, you help yourself.
13:34I'm not what you think I am.
13:36I just try to be like that.
13:39Keep on trying.
13:40Jennifer Lopez.
13:41With her 2025 divorce from Ben Affleck,
13:44the legendary singer has collected four of them.
13:46It was such a hard time in your personal life.
13:49How did you manage to deal with that?
13:51Barely.
13:52Yeah?
13:53It was tough.
13:54It was a tough time.
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14:19Number one.
14:20Zsa Zsa Gabor.
14:21You've married eight times.
14:24Uh-huh.
14:24Well, because you see,
14:25I'm very impatient.
14:27Other women go to bed with a man.
14:28While the Hungarian-born actor
14:30had a successful film career,
14:32she became best known
14:33for her vibrant personality and love life.
14:36After all,
14:37Gabor famously stated,
14:38quote,
14:38I am a marvelous housekeeper.
14:40Every time I leave a man,
14:42I keep his house.
14:43He didn't treat you very well,
14:44though, did he?
14:45Yeah, he was wonderful,
14:46except he was too much for me.
14:48You see,
14:49I am a very sinful woman.
14:50Gabor was married nine times,
14:52resulting in seven divorces
14:54and an annulment from Felipe de Alba
14:56after a day,
14:57as she was still legally married
14:59to Michael O'Hara.
15:00One of her worst marriages
15:01was to Conrad Hilton,
15:02the founder of the famous hotel chain.
15:04On top of controlling her
15:06and trying to erase her Hungarian heritage,
15:09Gabor alleged that Hilton assaulted her,
15:11resulting in Gabor's only child,
15:13Francesca Hilton.
15:14In 1986,
15:16Gabor married her final husband,
15:18Frederick Prinz von Anhalt,
15:19until her passing in 2016.
15:22What was it like to sleep here
15:23and this bed is empty?
15:25It's very sad.
15:26I was crying because
15:29it's bad.
15:30It's a bad feeling.
15:31Do you know the secret
15:32to making a marriage last?
15:33Let us know in the comments.
15:35Let us know in the comments.
15:36Let us know in the comments.
15:41Thanks, Kristen.
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