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Famous Non-LDS Men Married to
Latter-day Saint (Mormon) Wives
Below is a list of famous, notable men who were married to Latter-day Saint (Mormon) women. This list does not include men who themselves were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This list only includes non-LDS men who were clearly more famous than their LDS wives. (Modestly famous band leader, radio personality and TV host Ted Steele is not listed below, for example, because his wife, Latter-day Saint movie star Marie Windsor, was significantly more famous than he was.) This list does not include men who were not Church members when they married Latter-day Saint women, but who subsequently joined the Church. Mostly, the wives of the men listed here were active members of the Church, but some were not.
- Robert Redford - Academy Award-winning actor/director (married to Lola Van Wagenen, 12 September 1958 - 1985, divorced; 4 children)
- Rudolph Valentino - actor, top 1920s box office draw (married from 17 March 1923 until divorce on 19 January 1926 to Natacha Rambova, real name: Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy Hudnut, b. Salt Lake City, Utah; descendant of Heber C. Kimball)
- Howard Hughes - billionaire aviator, industrialist, sometime filmmaker (married to Terry Moore on yacht in 1949 and never officially divorced; no children that lived)
- Groucho Marx - film and television comedian, actor; Jewish (married to Eden Hartford; 17 July 1954 - 4 December 1969, divorced; no children)
- Isaac Asimov - leading science fiction writer; Jewish Humanist (married to Dr. Janet Opal Jeppson Asimov from 30 November 1973 until his death on 6 April 1992; no children)
- Larry King - nation's leading interviewer, CNN talk show host; agnostic Jew (married to Shawn Southwick; 5 September 1997 - present; 2 children)
- Rodney Dangerfield - comedian, actor; Jewish (married to Joan Child from 26 December 1993 until his death on 5 October 2004; no children)
- John Denver - popular folk singer, actor
- Howard Hawks - one of most acclaimed U.S. filmmakers of all time; lapsed Christian Scientist (married to Dee Hartford; 20 February 1953 - 1959, divorced; 1 child)
- Stanley Donen - acclaimed director (Singin' in the Rain, etc.); lapsed Reform Jew (married to Marion Marshall; 1952 - 1959; divorced; 2 children)
- Chris Dodd - U.S. Senator from Connecticut; Catholic (married to Jackie Clegg Dodd; 1 child)
- Mike Weir - pro golfer, won the Masters Tournament (married to Bricia; 2 children)
John D. Fitzgerald's novel Papa Married a Mormon
There is a very famous novel titled Papa Married a Mormon, written by John D. Fitzgerald. The novel tells the true story of the Mormon/Catholic family this writer grew up in. John D. Fitzgerald is one of the best known Western novelists of the 1800s. The author is also famous for his popular series of children's novels about "The Great Brain." In these semi-fictional books, John D. Fitzgerald chronicled the exploits of his older brother Tom Fitzgerald, the titular "Great Brain" character. Fitzgerald's books were adapted into a feature film titled "The Great Brain" (starring Jimmy Osmond in the title role) in 1978. Author John D. Fitzgerald seems to have favored his father's religious background. He never became active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But his older brother Tom ("the Great Brain") chose to be baptized as a Latter-day Saint, served a full-time mission for the Church, and remained active throughout his life.
Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin married to a Mormon wife in "Paint Your Wagon" (1969)
"Paint Your Wagon" was a relatively big-budget feature film musical released in 1969 by Paramount. It tells the story of two miners who marry a Mormon wife. Jean Seberg plays the woman, who is overtly identifed as a Mormon in the film's dialogue. The miners who marry her are played by Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin (At the time, Lee Marvin was a bigger box office draw than Eastwood, who was still early in his film career.) More information about "Paint Your Wagon" and its Latter-day Saint characters is available here and here.
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Web page created 26 July 2005. Last modified 18 November 2005.
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