Tuesday, Nov. 01, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor and Conrad "Nicky" Hilton

Length of marriage: 205 days

It was a match made in Hollywood heaven, which is why, of course, it could never last. Movie star Elizabeth Taylor and hotel magnate Conrad "Nicky" Hilton tied the knot on May 6, 1950, in a lavish ceremony that was the first, and perhaps the most traditional, of the starlet's eight weddings to seven husbands (she married Richard Burton twice). Taylor was only 18 when she said "I do" to 24-year-old Hilton, but after only 205 days of marriage — three months of which were spent cruising Europe on their honeymoon — it was obvious that their union lacked wedded bliss. In the divorce proceedings, Taylor charged Hilton with "extreme mental cruelty," telling the court that he had been "indifferent to me and used abusive language." While Taylor later admitted to LIFE magazine that her vision of marriage back then was "very naive," she refused Hilton's alimony and instead quickly moved on, putting her shortest marriage behind her.