Famous People Who Married the Most Times
Marriage looks different for everyone. Some people find their person on the first try and stay together for decades.
Others go through the process multiple times, searching for something that feels right. Hollywood has seen its share of both, but certain celebrities stand out for how many times they walked down the aisle.
These aren’t cautionary tales or gossip fodder. They’re real people who kept trying to find love, despite the odds and the public scrutiny.
Some married the same person twice. Others collected marriages like frequent flyer miles.
What they all share is persistence—and maybe a bit of optimism that borders on delusion.
Elizabeth Taylor: Eight Marriages, Seven Husbands
Elizabeth Taylor married eight times before she died in 2011. She married Richard Burton twice, which brings her total number of husbands to seven.
Her first marriage happened when she was just 18 to hotel heir Conrad Hilton Jr. That one lasted less than a year. Burton was the one who got her twice.
They married in 1964, divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975, and divorced again in 1976. Something about that relationship kept pulling them back together, even when it clearly wasn’t working.
Taylor never seemed embarrassed about her romantic history. She owned it.
Her other husbands included Michael Wilding, Mike Todd, Eddie Fisher, John Warner, and Larry Fortensky. Each marriage seemed genuine at the time, even if it didn’t last.
Taylor approached marriage like she approached life—with full commitment and zero apologies.
Zsa Zsa Gabor: Nine Times Down the Aisle
Zsa Zsa Gabor married nine times. She spent her life moving from one husband to the next, starting at age 19 with Turkish diplomat Burhan Asaf Belge.
Her final marriage to Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt lasted from 1986 until her death in 2016—her longest by far. Between those bookends came a parade of husbands: Conrad Hilton, George Sanders, Herbert Hutner, Joshua Cosden Jr., Jack Ryan, Michael O’Hara, and Felipe de Alba.
The marriage to de Alba was annulled because Gabor’s divorce from O’Hara hadn’t been finalized yet. Gabor treated marriage like a hobby.
She joked about it, collected jewelry from it, and never pretended she was looking for it forever. Her attitude toward marriage was refreshingly honest, even if traditional romantics found it shocking.
Larry King: Eight Marriages to Seven Women
Larry King married eight times. Like Taylor, he married one person twice—Alene Akins, who became his third and fifth wife.
King’s first marriage to Freda Miller happened when he was just 18. That one lasted a year.
His second marriage was annulled the same year it happened. King married Akins first in 1961, divorced in 1963, then remarried her in 1967.
They divorced again in 1972. In between and after came Sharon Lepore, Mickey Sutphin, Julie Alexander, and Shawn Southwick.
His marriage to Southwick lasted 22 years before they filed for divorce in 2019. King admitted he wasn’t great at marriage.
He liked the idea of it more than the reality. But he kept trying anyway, which says something about either his optimism or his inability to learn from experience.
Mickey Rooney: Eight Marriages Over Seven Decades
Mickey Rooney married eight times between 1942 and 1978. His first wife was Ava Gardner, whom he married when she was 19 and he was 22.
That marriage lasted just over a year. His shortest marriage was to Martha Vickers—100 days from wedding to divorce filing.
The other wives were Betty Jane Rase, Barbara Ann Thomason, Marge Lane, Carolyn Hockett, and Jan Chamberlin. His final marriage to Jan Chamberlin lasted 34 years, ending only when Rooney died in 2014 at age 93.
That final marriage outlasted his previous seven combined. Rooney’s career spanned nine decades, and his romantic life was almost as long.
He kept looking for happiness in marriage long after most people would have given up. Whether he found it with Chamberlin or just got too old to start over again remains unclear.
Martin Scorsese: Five Marriages and Counting
Martin Scorsese has married five times. His first wife was Laraine Marie Brennan, whom he married in 1965.
After that came Julia Cameron, Isabella Rossellini, Barbara De Fina, and Helen Morris. He’s been with Morris since 1999, making this his longest marriage.
Scorsese’s marriages often overlapped with his most intense filmmaking periods. He directed some of his greatest films while dealing with relationship chaos.
The man knows how to compartmentalize, or maybe the marriages suffered because he couldn’t stop working. His track record isn’t quite as dramatic as some on this list, but five marriages still puts him in unusual territory.
Most people don’t get past two or three attempts.
Billy Bob Thornton: Six Marriages, Varied Lengths
Billy Bob Thornton married six times. His most famous marriage was probably to Angelina Jolie, complete with blood vials and intense public displays of affection.
That relationship burned hot and fast, lasting from 2000 to 2003. His other wives were Melissa Lee Gatlin, Toni Lawrence, Cynda Williams, Pietra Dawn Cherniak, and Connie Angland.
The marriage to Angland has lasted since 2014, making it his current longest. Each previous marriage ended for different reasons, but Thornton has been open about his struggles with relationships and commitment.
Thornton approaches marriage like he approaches acting—fully, intensely, and sometimes recklessly. When it works, it really works.
When it doesn’t, everyone knows about it.
Richard Pryor: Seven Marriages to Five Women
Richard Pryor married seven times to five different women. He married two women twice each—Jennifer Lee and Flynn Belaine.
His first marriage to Patricia Price lasted from 1960 to 1961. They remarried in 1969 and divorced again in 1971.
Pryor’s other wives were Shelley Bonus, Deborah McGuire, and Jennifer Lee (twice). His relationship with Lee was particularly complicated.
They first married in 1981, divorced in 1982, then remarried in 2001 and stayed together until Pryor died in 2005. The comedian’s personal life was as chaotic as his comedy was brilliant.
He struggled with addiction and mental health issues throughout his life, which clearly affected his relationships. But he kept trying to make marriage work, even when the evidence suggested he shouldn’t.
Lana Turner: Eight Times a Bride
Lana Turner married eight times between 1940 and 1969. Her husbands included bandleader Artie Shaw, actor Stephen Crane (twice), millionaire Bob Topping, actor Lex Barker, rancher Fred May, businessman Robert Eaton, and hypnotist Ronald Dante.
Turner’s marriage to Crane produced her only child, Cheryl. That marriage ended badly, they remarried briefly, then ended it again.
Her other marriages ranged from glamorous disasters to quiet failures. None of them lasted more than a few years.
Turner lived her life in the spotlight, and her marriages reflected that intensity. She fell hard and fast, married quickly, and moved on when things fell apart.
The pattern never changed, even when the outcomes stayed the same.
Ernest Borgnine: Five Marriages, One Very Famous One
Ernest Borgnine married five times. His most notable marriage was to Ethel Merman, which lasted just 32 days in 1964.
Merman reportedly refused to ever speak about the marriage afterward, calling it a mistake best forgotten. Borgnine’s other wives were Rhoda Kemins, Katy Jurado, Donna Rancourt, and Tova Traesnaes.
His final marriage to Tova lasted from 1973 until his death in 2012—almost 40 years. Whatever went wrong in his earlier marriages clearly got worked out by the time he married Tova.
The actor had a long career and an even longer romantic history. He proved that getting it wrong multiple times doesn’t mean you can’t eventually get it right.
Geraldo Rivera: Five Marriages and Multiple Careers
Geraldo Rivera married five times while juggling careers in law, journalism, and television. His wives were Linda Coblentz, Edith Vonnegut (daughter of writer Kurt Vonnegut), Sherryl Raymond, C.C. Dyer, and Erica Michelle Levy.
He’s been with Levy since 2003, making this marriage his most enduring. Rivera’s career took him from local news to national fame to tabloid journalism to conservative commentary.
His marriages mirrored that journey—starting conventional and getting more complicated as his career evolved. Each marriage lasted longer than the previous one, suggesting he learned something along the way.
Gloria Swanson: Six Marriages, Silent Film Era to Golden Age
Gloria Swanson married six times between 1916 and 1976. Her husbands spanned decades of Hollywood history: Wallace Beery, Herbert K. Somborn, Henri de la Falaise, Michael Farmer, William Davey, and William Dufty.
Her final marriage to Dufty lasted until her death in 1983. Swanson’s first marriage to actor Wallace Beery was brief and unhappy.
She claimed he assaulted her on their wedding night. Her subsequent marriages were attempts to find something better, though most ended in divorce.
Only her final marriage lasted. The silent film star lived through massive changes in Hollywood and in her personal life.
She kept searching for partnership even when the previous attempts failed spectacularly.
Stan Laurel: Eight Times a Groom
Stan Laurel married eight times to four women. He married Virginia Ruth Rogers four times, Lois Neilson twice, and Vera Ivanova Shuvalova and Ida Kitaeva Raphael once each.
His relationship with Rogers was particularly complicated—they kept remarrying despite clear incompatibility. Laurel’s personal life was messier than his on-screen comedy with Oliver Hardy.
He struggled with alcohol and relationship issues throughout his career. The constant marrying and divorcing suggest someone looking for stability but unable to maintain it.
His final marriage to Ida Kitaeva Raphael lasted from 1946 until his death in 1965. That marriage finally gave him the stability his earlier attempts never achieved.
Jennifer Lopez: Four Marriages and High-Profile Romance
Four times walking down the aisle for Jennifer Lopez, yet people talk less about vows and more about who she dates. First came Ojani Noa, then dancer Cris Judd followed by singer Marc Anthony sharing years together.
Ben Affleck appears twice on that list – not just once but after a long pause back again. Their first go was supposed to be forever until it wasn’t; later they tied it for real under summer skies in 2022.
Lopez dives headfirst into love, always under bright lights. With Anthony, ten years passed while raising two children together.
The world watched closely when she reunited with Affleck again. Only time will tell if this latest wedding lasts.
True, her history lacks the volume of some peers – yet four times married by 55 catches attention in today’s film world.
When Hope Lasts Beyond What’s Proven
Even after failing many times, these famous people never stopped trying. Prenups were signed, lawyers called in, property divided – yet they jumped back into love anyway.
A few finally landed relationships that lasted. The rest passed away while still looking.
Something in the way things repeat tells us about people. Next time feels like it could bend differently.
We tell ourselves last tries failed because of bad luck, or poor choices, or someone else falling short. Those famous names held tight to that hope harder than most.
Yet everyone carries a piece of that urge inside. Not everybody experiences marriage in the same manner.
For some, a few tries are needed before clarity arrives. A few go their whole lives without knowing yet still stay in motion.
Famous individuals walked that path too – only under constant lens.
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