A Closer Look at 10 Celebrities With a History of Divorce

Being a celebrity comes with some pretty outstanding perks, whether it’s a movie contract in the multi-millions, a sold-out concert tour, or international fame. However, the art of marriage seems to be one area where many celebrities seem to struggle.

In fact, an unknown author wrote a cheeky quote which sums up a lot of Hollywood marriages: “Celebrities treat marriage like a new iPhone. They show it off for a few weeks, and then the next model comes out.”

Of course, it goes without saying that celebrities face stressors that the rest of us don’t, from their extremely demanding schedules to media scrutiny and a lack of privacy. That’s why we aren’t here to judge. We’re just here to tell you about 10 celebrities who have been divorced quite a few times (even by Hollywood standards).

1. Elizabeth Taylor – Divorced 7 times

Elizabeth Taylor was a silver screen sensation, with cinematic accomplishments including iconic films such as “Giant,” “Butterfield 8,” and “Cleopatra.”

Her love life was complicated, and she was married eight times to seven different men. Two of her marriages were to actor Richard Burton, whom she married and divorced twice (marriages #5 and #6). She and Burton first wed in 1964 but dissolved their union a decade later. After one year, they married again. A year after that, they divorced a second time.

Although her marriage to Burton was her most famous, Taylor also married and divorced the following men:

Conrad “Nicky” Hilton, TWA director (married 8 months)
Michael Wilding, Actor (married five years)
Eddie Fisher, Singer (married five years)
John Warner, Senator (married six years)
Larry Fortensky, Construction worker (married five years)

Taylor did not remarry after her seventh divorce.

Note: Taylor’s third marriage was to director Mike Todd, but it did not end in divorce. Todd tragically died in a plane crash just one year after they wed.

2. Mickey Rooney – Divorced 7 times

Mickey Rooney certainly had “staying power” in Hollywood, launching his acting career as a child in the silent film era, and remaining consistently employed throughout his life. His marriages, however, didn’t last nearly as long.

Rooney’s first marriage was to the beautiful Ava Gardner in 1942. The actors divorced just nine months later, reportedly because 21-year-old Rooney refused to give up his bachelor lifestyle and Gardner realized she wasn’t really in love with him. Gardner cited “mental cruelty” as the reason for their split.
He married B.J. Baker in 1944 and divorced her in 1949. Baker was a singer, songwriter, and vocal contractor who worked as a backup singer on recordings by Elvis, Frank Sinatra, and The Righteous Brothers, among others.
He married model and actress Martha Vickers in 1949 and divorced her in 1951.
He married actress Elaine Devry in 1952, after meeting her at a Hollywood golf range while she was practicing her swing. They divorced in 1958 after both falling in love with other people. In 1967, Devry said: “Living with Mickey is no bed of roses. Six wives can’t all be wrong.”
Rooney met Barbara Ann Thomason at a nightclub in 1958, while he was still married to Devry. The two began having an affair. When Thomason discovered she was pregnant, she demanded Rooney leave Devry. They married in Mexico in 1958. Years later, in 1963, Thomason discovered that Rooney was cheating on her. She responded by having her own affair with Yugoslavian actor Milos Milosevic and filed for separation from Rooney in 1965. However, when Milosevic heard that Thomason and Rooney were considering reconciliation, he shot and killed Thomason before turning the gun on himself.
Rooney met Marge Lane, a close friend of Barbara Ann Thomason’s, while the two were mourning her death. They wed in 1966 but stayed married for only 100 days.
Rooney married actress, producer, and radio entertainer Carolyn Hockett at the Las Vegas County Courthouse Wedding Chapel in May 1969. He was 48 at the time, and she was 25. They divorced in 1975.
Rooney’s last marriage, to Jan Chamberlain, was his longest. The two met through Rooney’s son, Mickey Rooney, Jr., then a country musician. In 2011, Rooney made headlines after accusing Chamberlain’s son of elder abuse. They were separated at the time of his death in 2014.

In 1993, when People Magazine asked Rooney if he’d marry all of his wives again, he answered in the affirmative. “Absolutely. I loved every one of them,” he said.

3. Larry King – Divorced 6 times + 1 annulment

The “King of Talk” wed his high school sweetheart Freda Miller when he was 18 years old, but the marriage was annulled, reportedly at her parent’s request because they didn’t approve of the union. That failed marriage seemed to set the mood for King’s future romantic relationships, as the renowned journalist went on to divorce six times.

Here’s some background on King’s other wives:

He married Annette Kaye in 1961 but divorced the same year. Kaye did not tell King about their shared son, Larry Jr., until 1994 when she was dying of lung cancer. By that time, their son was in his 30s.
He married Alene Akins, a former Playboy Bunny, two times. Their first marriage, which lasted two years, was in 1961. King re-married her in 1967 and divorced her again in 1972.
He married Mickey Sutphin in 1963, in between his two marriages to Alene Akins. Their marriage was dissolved in 1967.
His second-longest marriage was to Share Lepore, a former math teacher and TV production assistant. They married in 1976 and divorced in 1983.
He married businesswoman Julie Alexander in 1989. They divorced in 1992. Alexander told “Inside Edition” in 2010 that she suspected King had cheated on her.
He married Shawn Southwick in 1997. This union was his longest. King filed for divorce in 2019, but the two were still legally married (albeit separated) at the time of King’s death in 2021.

Speaking of his many marriages, King said: “I got married a lot…But in my head, I’m not a marrying guy. When I grew up, nobody lived together. If you fell in love, you got married. And so, I married the ones that I loved. But what I loved at 20 is not what I loved at 30, and what I loved at 30 is not what I loved at 40.”

4. Pamela Anderson – Divorced 5 times

Who could forget the drama-filled marriage of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee? They married on a beach in Mexico after knowing each other for only four days, Anderson in a bikini and Lee in board shorts. Her own mother found out about the wedding only because People Magazine covered the story. Later on, Lee was sentenced to six months in jail for spousal abuse. The couple ultimately divorced in 1998 and a long custody battle ensued.

After Tommy Lee came Kid Rock. Anderson married the singer in Saint-Tropez, France, in July 2006. They filed for divorce in November 2006, just a few months after saying “I do.”
Like many celebrities on our list, Anderson married the same person twice. That person was Rick Salomon, the high-stakes poker player who is best known for his 2004 sex tape with Paris Hilton. The two were first married from 2007-2008, and again from 2014-2015.
Anderson married Dan Hayhurst on Christmas Eve in 2020, after meeting him while he was renovating her home on Vancouver Island, Canada. “He was working here, and I got stuck here during COVID and we stuck together,” Anderson told the British TV show “Loose Women.” However, the two divorced in 2022.

5. Billy Bob Thornton – Divorced 5 times

If you were around in the early 2000s, we would venture to guess that you remember Billy Bob Thornton’s marriage to Angelina Jolie, and all the weird things that came along with it. They wore a vial of each other’s blood around their necks, orchestrated public displays of affection that made everyone feel a bit icky, and got matching tattoos. Oh, and Thornton announced to everyone that he carried Jolie’s underwear around with him. It was all rather strange, to say the least.

But although his marriage to Jolie was his most famous union, she was actually his fourth wife.

Thornton also said “I do” to the following women (although we cannot confirm if he ever wore their blood around his neck):

Melissa Lee Gatlin, Unknown profession (married two years)
Toni Lawrence, Actress (married two years)
Cynda Williams, Actress (married two years)
Pietra Dawn Cherniak, Former Playboy model (married four years)

The actor is currently married to actress Connie Angland, whom he wed in 2014. They have one child together, Bella.

6. Danielle Steel – Divorced 5 times

Some might say it’s ironic that a best-selling author of romance novels has so many fizzled out romances under her belt, but that’s exactly the story of Danielle Steel.

Here are some facts about Steel’s love life:

She married her first husband, banker Claude-Eric Lazard, in 1965, when she was just 18 years old. That marriage lasted nine years (though they were separated for a decent chunk of time).
She married Danny Zugelder, a prisoner charged with robbery and sexual assault, at a prison in Vacaville, California, in 1975. Steel met him while volunteering for a prison rehabilitation program. Their marriage lasted three years. Interestingly, one of her best-selling books, “Passion’s Promise” was released one year after her wedding to Zugelder. The main character is a prison reform leader.
She married her third husband, William Toth, the day after her divorce from Zugelder was finalized. They were married for two years.
Almost immediately after her third divorce was finalized, Steel married wine merchant John Traina. That marriage lasted 17 years.
She married her fourth husband, Tom Perkins, the same year her marriage to Traina ended. That marriage lasted four years.

Steel is currently unmarried. She says of marriage: “I’m a great believer in making marriage work if you undertake the commitment, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way.”

7. James Cameron – Divorced 4 times

The “Titanic” director certainly knew how to make cinemagoers swoon with the amazing love story of Jack and Rose, but it seems his own love life hasn’t been so rosy.

His first marriage, to a woman by the name of Sharon Williams, took place from 1978 to 1984.
He married film and television producer Gale Ann Hurd in 1985, after meeting her while working together on the “Terminator” film. They divorced in 1989.
He married Kathryn Ann Bigelow, a filmmaker known for movies such as “Near Dark,” “Point Break,” “The Hurt Locker,” and “Zero Dark Thirty” in 1989. The two were divorced in 1991.
He married actress Linda Hamilton, known for her starring role as Sarah Connor in “The Terminator” and several of its sequels, in 1997. They divorced in 1999.
His current marriage is perhaps the most interesting one – he is married to Suzy Amis, who played Rose’s granddaughter Lizzie in “Titanic.” Linda Hamilton stated that while Cameron lived with her during the making of the iconic film, he had an affair with Amis. Cameron married Hamilton after the affair ended, but later went back to Amis.

Speaking on James’ relationship with Amis, Hamilton said: “It’s interesting because while he was making ‘Titanic,’ Suzy at that time was the gargoyle on the end of my bed, waiting to swoop in…Now I’m the gargoyle on her bed because for Jim, the one who doesn’t end up with him is always the one he wants. I’m the one who got away, and she has to live with that.”

8. Christie Brinkley – Divorced 4 times

Christie Brinkley was one of the most talked about models of the 1970s and 1980s, appearing on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers for three consecutive years in 1979, 1980, and 1981. It’s not exactly a surprise that she had a list of men ready to marry her, but unfortunately none of her marriages survived the test of time.

It was Brinkley’s third marriage, to singer Billy Joel, that was her most famous. The power couple were married in 1985 and divorced in 1994. The two have remained friendly through the years and share a daughter together, Alexa Ray Joel.

Her first marriage was to Francois Allaux, a French-American illustrator, artist, and retired professor. Their union spanned from 1973 to 1981.
Her second marriage was to real estate developer Richard Taubman, whom she married in 1994 and divorced in 1995.
In 1996, two years after she divorced Billy Joel, Brinkley married architect Peter Cook. Their union was dissolved in 2008.

Brinkley, 69, is not currently married.

9. Jennifer Lopez – Divorced 3 times + 2 broken engagements

The media has been obsessed with J. Lo’s romantic relationships since the early days of her stardom – and admittedly, there’s been a lot to talk about.

Here’s a breakdown of J. Lo’s marriages and engagements:

J. Lo married Ojani Noa in 1997, but their marriage ended in 1998. The two met while Ojani, a Cuban refugee, was an aspiring actor working as a dishwasher and waiter at Gloria Estefan’s Miami restaurant Lario’s on the Beach.
In 2001, J. Lo tied the knot with actor, dancer, and choreographer Cris Judd. The couple met in Spain in 2000, when Cris was hired to direct J. Lo’s music video “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.” However, their marriage ended in 2003, with Jennifer citing “irreconcilable differences.”
The songstress married fellow performer Marc Anthony in 2004. They separated in 2011 and officially divorced in 2014. The two share twins Max and Emme and have remained close friends and co-parents.
Let’s not forget that J. Lo was engaged to Ben Affleck in the early 2000s, after meeting him on the set of their movie “Gigli.” The love birds, who the media and fans dubbed “Bennifer,” were one of the most talked about celebrity couples of the time. However, their engagement was called off in 2004.
J. Lo’s two-year engagement to former baseball slugger Alex Rodriguez was called off in 2021, with the two vowing to remain friends.

J. Lo and Affleck rekindled their romance in Spring 2021, and Affleck proposed with a six-carat pink diamond from Harry Winston on April 2, 2022. They were wed at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas in July 2022.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes before divorce — Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were married for five years. (Shutterstock / Everett Collection)

10. Tom Cruise – Divorced 3 times

If ever there was a teen heartthrob of the 1980s and 1990s, Tom Cruise was it. After his breakout role in “Risky Business” and later roles in “Top Gun” and “Cocktail,” girls across the country hung posters of Cruise in their bedrooms and doodled “Mrs. Cruise” on every piece of paper they could find. In 1987, one lucky lady actually became his wife.

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers in 1987, after meeting her at a dinner party while working on “Top Gun.” The exact reason for their divorce in 1990 was not made public, although there was speculation that their differing religious beliefs may have been a factor. Rogers was a practicing Scientologist, but Cruise did not become heavily involved in the Church of Scientology until after they were divorced.
In 1990, the same year he divorced Rogers, Tom married actress Nicole Kidman. The Hollywood power couple would go on to adopt two children and star alongside each other in the movie “Eyes Wide Shut.” Their highly publicized divorce was finalized in 2001, amid rumors that Kidman’s refusal to join Tom in the Church of Scientology was the reason for the split.
Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch while proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes was one of the most talked about TV moments of all time. He married Holmes in 2006, but they announced their split five years later. They were divorced in 2012. Once again, Cruise’s involvement in the Church of Scientology is allegedly to blame, as Holmes reportedly felt intimidated by the church and its influence. The couple share a daughter together, Suri, but media reports suggest that Cruise does not have much of a relationship with her.