People Of The Century

By Michele Orecklin Sunday, Dec. 26, 1999
    • MURDER INC.
    Crime and fame make a lethal cocktail. This century, the public drank it up.

    STANFORD WHITE MURDERED: In 1906, the country's foremost architect was killed by the husband of EVELYN NESBIT, with whom White had had an affair.
    SPAWNED: A vaudeville career for Nesbit; a subplot for Ragtime

    FATTY ARBUCKLE ACCUSED: In 1921, the comic was charged with, but never convicted of, the rape and murder of a starlet he met at an orgy
    SPAWNED: The Hays code, an attempt to clean up Hollywood's image by limiting sexual content in films

    CHERYL CRANE KILLS: In 1958, Lana Turner's 14-year-old daughter fatally stabbed her mother's mobster boyfriend
    SPAWNED: Theories suggesting Turner was the real killer; a renaissance in Turner's career

    O.J. SIMPSON ACQUITTED: The football star was charged, and found not guilty, in the 1994 murder of ex-wife Nicole and her acquaintance Ron Goldman
    SPAWNED: Best sellers by previously unknown writers; Marcia Clark's TV career; Johnnie Cochran's TV career

    Till Boredom Do Us Part
    Gloria Swanson and Hedy Lamarr each married six times; Ernest Borgnine and Martin Scorsese, five apiece. There's a word for this kind of person: amateur. Following is a list of those who took serial-vow taking seriously:

    Zsa Zsa Gabor
    OCCUPATION: Actress
    MARRIAGES: 9
    SHORTEST: 1 day
    LONGEST: 13 years and counting
    ODDEST MATE: Her divorce lawyer from a previous marriage

    Mickey Rooney
    OCCUPATION:}] Actor
    MARRIAGES: 8
    SHORTEST: 100 days
    LONGEST: 22 years and counting
    ODDEST MATE: AVA GARDNER, the renowned, and tall, beauty

    Elizabeth Taylor
    OCCUPATION: Actress
    MARRIAGES: 8
    SHORTEST: eight months
    LONGEST: 10 years
    ODDEST MATE: Larry Fortensky, a construction worker she met in rehab Martha Raye
    OCCUPATION: Actress
    MARRIAGES: 7
    SHORTEST: less than a year
    LONGEST: 11 years
    ODDEST MATE: Mark Harris, 32 years her junior, after a three-week courtship

    Larry King
    OCCUPATION: Talk-show host
    MARRIAGES: 7
    SHORTEST: less than a year
    LONGEST: seven years
    ODDEST MATE: Two marriages to the same former Playboy bunny

    Hello, Young Lover
    What happens when Men of a Certain Age are drawn to women of a teen age?

    CHARLIE CHAPLIN AND OONA O'NEILL
    He was 54; she was 18
    But: two of his previous brides were even younger

    JERRY LEE LEWIS AND MYRA GALE BROWN
    He was 22; she was 13
    But: they were second cousins, so they knew each other really well

    FRANK SINATRA AND MIA FARROW
    He was 50; she was 19
    But: his friends found it amusing. "I have scotch older than Mia Farrow," quipped Dean Martin

    ELVIS PRESLEY AND PRISCILLA BEAULIEU
    He was 24; she was 14
    But: they didn't have sex or get married for eight years

    WOODY ALLEN AND SOON YI PREVIN
    He was 56; she was 21 (although she has no birth certificate, and could have been younger)
    But: technically, he was not her father

    Feuds of the Century
    MARY MCCARTHY AND LILLIAN HELLMAN
    Best Punch: McCarthy on Hellman--"Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'"

    ORSON WELLES AND WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST
    Best Punch: Citizen Kane

    JOAN CRAWFORD AND BETTE DAVIS
    Best punch: Davis on Crawford--"She slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie."

    GEORGE STEINBRENNER AND BILLY MARTIN
    Best punch: the five times Steinbrenner fired Martin