There’s no doubt that divorce is much more common than it was in decades past. Marriage doesn’t seem to mean as much as it did when our parents and their parents vowed to stay together for life.
Much of what we learn comes from the media and when a popular movie star or other celebrity marries and divorces multiple times, it sends the message that marriage, for the long term, isn’t all that important and that divorce is no big deal.
The following is a list, in no particular order, of various celebrities and their marriages and divorces. While I found many liaisons, in addition to marriages, for the majority listed, I have focused on just marriages, current and prior, with a couple exceptions.
Jennifer Lopez and Cris Judd, 8 months; Ojani Noa, 13 months. She married Marc Anthony in 2004.
Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller; Billy Bob Thornton, 2 years. She was accused of being the “other woman” when the marriage between Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt collapsed.
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, 5 years.
Britney Spears and Jason Alexander, 2 days. She married Kevin Federline in 2004.
Cher and Sonny Bono, 10 years; Greg Allman, 9 days.
Drew Barrymore and Tom Green, 5 months; Jeremy Thomas, 19 days.
Brandy and Robert Smith, 2 years. After their divorce, Smith said that they had not been legally married.
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock) and Ike Turner, 18 years.
Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, 12 years. She made news with her much younger boyfriend; his much younger girlfriend didn’t cause as much news.
Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi, 2 years. She married Christopher Thomas Henchy in 2001.
Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman, 9 days more or less; they married in 1998, divorced in 1999. She married Dave Navarro in 2003.
Charlie Sheen and Donna Peele, 5 months; Denise Richards, they married in 2002, she filed for divorce in 2005.
Courtney Thorne-Smith and Andrew Conrad, 7 months.
Colin Farrell and Amelia Warner, 4 months.
Geena Davis and Richard Emmolo, 18 months; Chris MacDonald, 3 years; Jeff Goldblum, 3 years; Renny Harlin, 5 years. She married Rez Jarrahy in 2001.
Shannen Doherty and Ashley Hamilton, 6 months; Rick Salomon, 8 months.
Alyssa Milano and Cinjun Tate, 10 months.
Helen Hunt and Hank Azaria, 17 months.
William Shatner and Gloria Rand, 13 years; Marcy Lafferty, 23 years; Nerine Kidd (they were married in 1997; she drowned in their swimming pool in 1999). He married Elizabeth Martin in 2001.
Christie Brinkley and Francois Allaux, 8 years; Billy Joel, 9 years; Richard Taubman, 7 months. She married Peter Cook in 1996 and filed for divorce in 2006 after learning of his affair with a much younger woman.
Paula Abdul and Emilio Estevez, 2 years; Brad Beckerman, 17 months.
Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett, 21 months although the marriage was reportedly over almost immediately. She married Daniel Molder in 2002.
Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough, 6 years; Michael Jackson, 18 months; Nicholas Cage, 3-1/2 months.
Nicholas Cage and Patricia Arquette, 6 years; Lisa Marie Presley, 3-1/2 months. He married Alice Kim in 2004.
Catherine Oxenberg and Robert Evans, 9 days. She married Casper Van Dien in 1999.
Robert Evans and Sharon Hugueny; Camilla Sparv; Ali MacGraw; Phyllis George; Catherine Oxenberg, 1 week; Leslie Ann Woodward, 1 year.
Liza Minnelli and Peter Allen, 7 years; Jack Haley, Jr., 4 years; Mark Gero, 14 years; David Gest, 1 year.
Dennis Hopper and Michelle Phillips, 8 days.
Elizabeth Taylor and Nicky Hilton, 8 months; Michael Wilding; Mike Todd who died in a plane crash; Eddie Fisher; Richard Burton, 3 years; Richard Burton, 4 months; John Warner, 6 years; Larry Fortensky, 7 years.
Mia Farrow and Andre Previn, 9 years; Frank Sinatra, 2 years; her long term relationship with Woody Allen ended when his affair with their adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn was discovered. Allen and Previn married in 1997 and have 2 children.
Frank Sinatra and Nancy Barbato, 12 years; Ava Gardener, 6 years; Mia Farrow, 2 years. He was married to Barbara Marx from 1976 until his death in 1998.
Zsa Zsa Gabor and Burhan Belge, 4 years; Conrad Hilton, 5 years; George Sanders, 5 years; Herbert Hunter, 2 years; Joshua S. Cosden, Jr., 1 year; Jack Ryan, 1 year; Michael O’Hara, 5 years; Felipe de Alba, 1 day (she was still married to Michael O’Hara). She married current husband Frederick, Prinz von Anhalt in 1986.
Mickey Rooney and Ava Gardner, 1 year; Betty Jane Rase; Martha Vickers; Elaine Mahnken; Barbara Ann Thompson (she was murdered 8 years after their wedding), Marge Lane, 100 days; Carolyn Hockett, 5 years. He has been married to Jan Chamberlin since 1978.
Lana Turner and Artie Shaw, 1 year; Josef Steven Crane, twice, 1942-1943; 1943-1944; Henry J. Topping, Jr., 4 years; Lex Barker, 4 years — her daughter claimed he molested her; Fred May, 2 years; Robert Eaton, 4 years; Ronald Peller (aka Ronald Dante), 3 years.
Eva Gabor and Erik Drimmer, 3 years; Charles Isaacs, 7 years; Dr. John Williams, less than a year; Richard Brown, 13 years; Frank Jameson, 10 years.
Magda Gabor and Jan de Bichovsky, 9 years; William Rankin, 1 year; Sidney R. Warren, 1 year; Tony Gallucci, 11 years; George Sanders, 1 year; Tibor Heltai, 1 year.
George Sanders and Susan Larson, 9 years; Zsa Zsa Gabor, 5 years; Magda Gabor (Zsa Zsa’s sister), 1 year. He committed suicide in 1972.
Joan Collins and Maxwell Reed, 5 years; Anthony Newley, 8 years; Ronald Kass, 11 years; Peter Holm. She married Percy Gibson in 2002.
Ernest Borgnine and Rhoda Kemins, 11 years; Kathy Jurado, 2-1/2 years; Ethel Merman, 32 days; Donna Rancourt, 7 years. He married Tova Traesnaes in 1972, the same year he divorced Rancourt.
Rudolph Valentino and Jean Acker, 6 hours; Natacha Rambova — his divorce from Acker was not yet final and he was jailed for bigamy; he married Rambova again a year later. He was separated from Rambova when he had an affair with Pola Negri.
Robin Givens and Mike Tyson, 1 year; Svetozar Marinkovic, 1 day.
Katharine Hepburn and Ludlow Ogden Smith, 3 weeks. She and Spencer Tracy (married to Louise Treadwell in 1923) began an affair in 1941 which lasted until his death in 1967.
Heidi Klum and Ric Pipino. She married Seal (that’s the name he goes by) in 2005.
John Derek and Pati Behrs, 6 years; Ursula Andress, 9 years; Linda Evans, 8 years. He married Bo Derek in 1974 and they were still married when he died in 1998.
Donald Trump and Ivana Zelnicek, 15 years; Marla Maples, 6 years. He married Melania Knauss in 2005.
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, 9 years.
Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin, 7 years.
Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee.
Jerry Lee Lewis and Dorothy Barton, 20 months; Jane Mitcham, they married 23 days before his divorce from Barton was final — the marriage lasted 4 years; Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old second cousin. Reportedly, he hadn’t divorced Mitcham the first time he married Brown so he married her again after he legally divorced Mitcham. They were married for 13 years; Jaren Pate who drowned in a swimming pool; they were separated at the time; Shawn Michelle Stevens who died from a methadone overdose, a few weeks after their marriage; Kerry McCarver, 19 years.
Sylvester Stallone and Sasha Czack; Brigitte Nielsen. He is currently married to Jennifer Flavin.
Jane Fonda and Roger Vadim; Tom Hayden, twice; Ted Turner.
John Lennon and Cynthia Powell, 6 years. He was married to Yoko Ono when he was shot to death by a deranged fan.
Billy Bob Thornton and Melissa Lee Gatlin; Toni Lawrence, 2 years; Cynda Williams, 2 years; Pietra Dawn Cherniak, 4 years; Angelina Jolie, 2 years.
And finally, let’s end with this quote attributed to Zsa Zsa Gabor: “Getting divorced just because you don’t love a man is almost as silly as getting married just because you do.”