# Which Celebrities Have Been Married The Most **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807 "2010-01-21T05:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/1 "2010-01-21T05:37:56Z")
They can be living or dead Zsa Zsa Gabor has been married 9 times I know Mickey Rooney was married 8 times [Artie Shaw](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artie_Shaw) was married 8 times Larry King has been married 8 times but only to 7 different women. So what other celebrities have been married a lot? By this I mean at least six marriages to different people? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/2 "2010-01-21T05:56:35Z")
Liz Taylor was married 8 times, to 7 different men. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/3 "2010-01-21T13:35:00Z")
Henry VIII to six wives he was wedded One died, one survived, two divorced\*, two beheaded. \*Actually, Henry never divorced any of his wives: he had two marriages annulled. As a good Catholic (and Henry thought himself so after he broke with the Pope), divorce was forbidden. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/4 "2010-01-25T19:16:28Z")
Phil Silvers believed that comic [Joe E. Ross](http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=1605&page=gr) had been married 11 times–but that’s obviously not confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/5 "2010-01-25T21:50:20Z")
I was shocked, simply shocked, to find out Claude Rains was married six times. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/6 "2010-01-25T21:50:24Z")
[Lana Turner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lana_Turner) has been married eight times to seven different men, not including her lover, Johnny Stompanto. Stompanto was stabbed by Turner’s daughter, which was later ruled self-defense. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/7 "2010-01-25T22:54:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Actually, Henry never divorced any of his wives: he had two marriages annulled. He had three annulled: those with Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Anne of Cleves. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/8 "2010-01-25T23:23:07Z")
I’ve found several celebs with 5 spouses, but few with more, except ones who’ve already been named. Celebs with 6 or more spouses: Tony Curtis Arlene Dahl Jerry Lee Lewis Norman Mailer Martha Raye Gloria Swanson Among those with 5 marriages to 5 different people: 1. Judy Garland 2. Joan Crawford 3. Kenny Rogers 4. Andre Previn 5. Richard Pryor (some of them, he married multiple times) 6. Tammy Wynette (she wasn’t really very good at standing by one man) 7. Martin Scorsese 8. Ginger Rogers In the cases of Martha Raye and Judy Garland, there’s even a chance that one of the husbands MAY have been straight. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/9 "2010-01-25T23:25:48Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > He had three annulled: those with Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Anne of Cleves. Huh? Anne Boleyn was executed, and Henry married his third wife less than two weeks later. Why would he bother annulling a marriage with a woman who was dead and posed no impediment to a subsequent marriage in the eyes of the law or (any) Church? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/10 "2010-01-25T23:30:24Z")
One to watch: Mel Harris of “thirtysomething” is 53, still alive, and has already been divorced 5 times. She’s still got time to shoot for Zsa Zsa numbers. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/11 "2010-01-26T01:33:22Z")
At the time of Anne Boleyn’s (and Catherine Howard’s) beheading, was Henry VIII still legally married to them? Or did he have the marriages annulled beforehand? ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/12 "2010-01-26T04:04:30Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Huh? Anne Boleyn was executed, and Henry married his third wife less than two weeks later. Why would he bother annulling a marriage with a woman who was dead and posed no impediment to a subsequent marriage in the eyes of the law or (any) Church? Because of the children, basically. He didn’t want Elizabeth (whose legitimacy was questioned and whose mother he roundly hated by the time he executed her) to be more important than any children of Jane Seymour’s. Elizabeth lost her title of ‘princess’ upon her mother’s death and remained ‘Lady Elizabeth, the king’s daughter’, and considered legally illegitimate, until the time she assumed the throne. Mary was in a similar situation - though somewhat better off, as she could claim royal ancestry on both sides and had very important relations on her mother’s side who could make Henry’s life difficult if she were very badly treated. There are other complicating factors, but I think that’s the main. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/13 "2010-01-26T04:56:31Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Huh? Anne Boleyn was executed, and Henry married his third wife less than two weeks later. Why would he bother annulling a marriage with a woman who was dead and posed no impediment to a subsequent marriage in the eyes of the law or (any) Church? As \*\*GythaOgg \*\*says, presumably to underscore the illegitimacy of Elizabeth, although it’s not entirely clear. As Antonia Fraser notes in her work _The Six Wives of Henry VIII_: > [@](#): > > But Anne Boleyn was not in fact to die as a Queen, that title for the sake of which she had kept the King in play for seven long years - and had incurred the hostility of nearly the whole country. Before the time came for her to die, a bizarre ritual had to take place: a \*second \*divorce was secured for the King. That is, Anne Boleyn’s marriage to Henry VIII was pronounced to be invalid by Archbishop Cranmer. She goes on to comment: > [@](#): > > It is not known for certain why this judicial farce was thought necessary. (The logic of it is another matter: for if Anne Boleyn had never been properly married to the King, she could hardly have committed adultery as his wife.)…it is reasonable to suppose that the King’s aim by this last-minute divorce was to brand Princess Elizabeth a bastard…that way, Elizabeth, like Mary, could not hope to challenge the position of the King’s children by any third marriage ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/14 "2010-01-26T05:02:55Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > In the cases of Martha Raye and Judy Garland, there’s even a chance that one of the husbands MAY have been straight. Which one was straight? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/15 "2010-01-26T10:32:39Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > 1. Tammy Wynette (she wasn’t really very good at standing by one man) Wynette’s last marriage to George Richey lasted from 1978 until her death in 1998. So she got one right. Another celebrity with six marriages was Boris Karloff. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/16 "2010-01-26T10:39:37Z")
Magda Gabor had six marriages, including marrying one of Zsa Zsa’s exes, actor George Sanders. That lasted a whole six weeks. Eva was the traditionalist: only five. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/17 "2010-01-26T16:39:05Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Which one was straight? 😃 Sid Luft. Mark Steyn wrote a very funny obituary of Sid Luft, in which he said, “Sid was just about the only friend of Judy who wasn’t also a Friend of Dorothy.” ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/18 "2010-01-28T00:54:02Z")
Some of the most-married stars are, bizarrely, found in Arabic-language cinema, or at least in Egyptian cinema. Tahiya Karioka, a famous actress and bellydancer, is usually attributed anywhere from 12 to 14 husbands. I’m not sure if she was legally married and divorced from all of them, or if they were considered her ‘husbands’ for reasons of propriety. One of her husbands, Rushdy Abaza, was himself married six times, and besides Tahiya his wives included the Lebanese singer Sabah (also married seven times) and Samia Gamal, another famous actress and dancer. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/19 "2010-01-28T17:36:42Z")
To remember the fates of Henry VIII’s wives, in order, my grandmother always liked this rhyme: “Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.” I forget who was the after-dinner celebrity speaker who got up at the end of a very long evening and said, “I feel a little like Elizabeth Taylor’s fifth husband on his wedding night: I know what’s expected of me, but I’m not sure I can make it interesting!” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807/20 "2010-01-28T22:23:34Z")
Gregg Allman has been married and divorced five or six times. I think it’s six. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-have-been-married-the-most/525807.md?page=2)