# Who Are Some Famous People Who Were Married But Never Had Children? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266 "2005-04-20T17:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/1 "2005-04-20T17:34:50Z")
Who are some famous people who were married (or in monogamous, committed heterosexual relationships) but never had children? The only one I can think of is George Washington, and he just barely qualifies, for although he never fathered children of his own, he was by all accounts a doting and loving stepfather to Martha’s children from her previous marriage. I’m sure there are scores of others, but my mind is blank. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/2 "2005-04-20T18:30:59Z")
Dr. Seuss, author of the famous children’s books, had no children of his own. None of the Brontë siblings (Emily, Branwell, Anne, or Charlotte) had any surviving offspring. Charlotte was the only one who married, and she died while pregnant. Her fetus perished with her. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/3 "2005-04-20T19:06:57Z")
Robert and Virginia Heinlein never had children. The reason is unknown. Looking at his later books, it is not unreasonable to conclude that this was a major regret on his part. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/4 "2005-04-20T19:30:01Z")
What about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (formerly King Edward VIII and Mrs Wallis Simpson)? ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/5 "2005-04-20T19:36:51Z")
Presidents Madison, Jackson and Polk had no children and Harding fathered no children with his wife. Jacksons did adopt a nephew of Mrs. Jackson. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/6 "2005-04-20T20:05:35Z")
I believe Jack Benny and George Burns’s marriages did not produce children, although I believe both adopted. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/7 "2005-04-20T22:15:33Z")
Queen Mary I of England ---
**Author:** ![ZeroGyro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47774/32.png) [@ZeroGyro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZeroGyro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/8 "2005-04-20T22:37:15Z")
He’s no president, but Jay Leno and his wife of 25 years haven’t had children. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/9 "2005-04-20T23:47:34Z")
> [@aahala](#): > > Presidents Madison, Jackson and Polk had no children and Harding fathered no children with his wife. Jacksons did adopt a nephew of Mrs. Jackson. When Madison married Dolley, she was a widow with a two-year-old son, whom Madison raised. Madison ended up spending a lot of money getting the kid out of trouble, since he turned into a problem gambler. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/10 "2005-04-21T03:19:59Z")
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (although they have two adopted children). ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/11 "2005-04-21T18:17:56Z")
Jackson Pollock and his wife Lee Krasner Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his wife Constanze Weber Salvadore Dali and his wife Gala ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/12 "2005-04-21T18:49:43Z")
Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson Gilda Radner and Gene Wilder Rose Wilder Lane (daughter of Laura Ingalls and Almonzo Wilder) had a son who died shortly after birth. That was Laura’s only direct descendent, but since one of her mother’s sisters married one of her father’s brothers and vice versa, there are some descendants with both Laura’s maternaland paternal family’s genes. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/13 "2005-04-21T20:15:08Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his wife Constanze Weber Uh, Mozart had two sons: Karl Thomas Mozart and Franz Xaver Wolfgang. Neither of them married or had children, so Mozart has no descendants, but he did have the two sons. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/14 "2005-04-21T20:38:24Z")
HP Lovecraft was married for 4 years, but never had childern with his wife. On the bright side, this means that most of his work is in the public domain because he doesn’t have an estate trying to live off his work. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/15 "2005-04-21T21:43:33Z")
Pat Buchanan and his wife of 34 years Napoleon and Josephine ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/16 "2005-04-22T00:48:06Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > Uh, Mozart had two sons: Karl Thomas Mozart and Franz Xaver Wolfgang. Neither of them married or had children, so Mozart has no descendants, but he did have the two sons. huh, i’ll be damned ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/17 "2005-04-22T02:48:04Z")
George Bernard Shaw did not have children. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/18 "2005-04-22T03:01:37Z")
Vladmir Lenin and his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya never had kids. Lenin had a mistress but as far as I know no children resulted there either. Jim Morrison got one of his wives pregnant but convinced her to have an abortion. There were paternity suits against him when he died but I don’t know if anyone has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be his offspring. Johnny Rotten and his wife never had children together, but she had a daughter from a previous fling and the daughter sometimes annoyed Rotten by calling him “Daddy.” ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/19 "2005-04-22T04:00:48Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > Dr. Seuss, author of the famous children’s books, had no children of his own. … Neither does Daniel Pinkwater, another childrens’s book author, though he has been married for a long time. It seems there’s a lot of children’s book authors without children - Maurice Sendak is a lifelong bachelor. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/20 "2005-04-22T20:51:01Z")
Robert Smith (singer of The Cure) and his wife Mary have been married twenty years, and have no children. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266.md?page=2)