Hollywood loves a sequel, and apparently that rule sometimes applies to weddings, too. Some famous people married twice, some returned to the altar five or six times, and a select few collected marriage certificates with the determination of an awards-season publicist collecting invitations.
Of course, a high marriage count does not automatically mean someone was careless, unlucky, or addicted to wedding cake. Divorce, widowhood, personal growth, changing careers, family pressure, and the extraordinary strain of public life can all reshape a relationship. Remarriage is not limited to celebrities, either: Pew Research Center has reported that roughly two-thirds of Americans who have divorced eventually remarry.
The list below counts documented legal marriages, including marriages later annulled. It focuses on actors, musicians, filmmakers, broadcasters, athletes, and other widely recognized public figures. The result is a lively tour through changing ideas about love, commitment, reinvention, and the enduring human belief that the next chapter may be the right one.
Why Famous Multiple Marriages Still Fascinate Us
Celebrity relationships unfold in public, so a wedding becomes more than a private promise. It can be a media event, a career storyline, a fashion spectacle, and, when things go wrong, a permanent part of pop-culture history. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton turned romance, divorce, and remarriage into an international saga; Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck later demonstrated that even a decades-old love story can receive a glossy reboot.
Yet the numbers are not merely tabloid trivia. They show how differently people respond to heartbreak. Some stars remarried former spouses. Others found their longest relationships after several divorces. A few decided that marriage simply did not suit them. Behind every count is a series of choices made by real people, often while millions of strangers offered unsolicited relationship counseling from supermarket checkout lines.
Research note: Marriage histories and biographical details were cross-checked through July 2026 using reporting and profiles from People, Biography.com, Parade, AARP, History, Pew Research Center, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, CBS News, PBS American Masters, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, TIME/LIFE, and Vanity Fair.
66 Celebrities and Public Figures Who Married More Than Once
Nine to Six Marriages: The Aisle-Walking Hall of Fame
- Zsa Zsa Gabor 9 marriages. The glamorous actor and socialite married nine times, including unions with hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and actor George Sanders.
- Elizabeth Taylor 8 marriages. Taylor married seven men and famously wed Richard Burton twice, making their stormy romance Hollywood’s ultimate marriage sequel.
- Larry King 8 marriages. The legendary broadcaster married seven women, returning to the altar twice with Alene Akins during his eventful personal life.
- Mickey Rooney 8 marriages. Rooney’s spouses included Ava Gardner, and his eighth marriage lasted longer than his first seven unions combined.
- Lana Turner 8 marriages. The classic film star married seven men, including musician Artie Shaw and actor Lex Barker, with one husband married twice.
- Jerry Lee Lewis 7 marriages. The rock-and-roll pioneer’s complicated marital history included his controversial union with Myra Gale Brown and a final marriage to Judith Brown.
- Richard Pryor 7 marriages. The groundbreaking comedian married five women, remarrying both Flynn Belaine and Jennifer Lee at different points in his life.
- Billy Bob Thornton 6 marriages. Thornton’s spouses included actor Angelina Jolie; his sixth marriage, to Connie Angland, followed a long relationship.
- Tony Curtis 6 marriages. The film star married six times, most famously to Janet Leigh, with whom he had daughters Kelly and Jamie Lee Curtis.
- Rue McClanahan 6 marriages. The Golden Girls favorite embraced the topic with humor, even titling her memoir My First Five Husbands.
These higher-count marriage histories are documented across major celebrity profiles and obituaries.
Five Marriages: Persistent Romantics and Famous Reinventions
- Martin Scorsese 5 marriages. The Oscar-winning filmmaker’s spouses included writer Julia Cameron and actor Isabella Rossellini; he married Helen Morris in 1999.
- James Cameron 5 marriages. Cameron’s former spouses include filmmakers Gale Anne Hurd and Kathryn Bigelow and actor Linda Hamilton.
- Nicolas Cage 5 marriages. Cage married Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie Presley, Alice Kim, Erika Koike, and Riko Shibata, proving his life rarely lacks plot twists.
- Kenny Rogers 5 marriages. The country legend said his final marriage to Wanda Miller brought lasting family stability after four earlier unions.
- Joan Collins 5 marriages. After four divorces, Collins married Percy Gibson in 2002 and often described the relationship as a late-life reward.
- Dennis Hopper 5 marriages. Hopper’s spouses included Michelle Phillips in a famously brief marriage and Victoria Duffy in his final union.
- Gary Oldman 5 marriages. Oldman married actors Lesley Manville and Uma Thurman before later unions, including his marriage to writer Gisele Schmidt.
- Clark Gable 5 marriages. Gable’s third wife, Carole Lombard, was widely considered the great love of his life before her death in 1942.
- Cary Grant 5 marriages. The screen icon married five times, with spouses including heiress Barbara Hutton, actor Dyan Cannon, and Barbara Harris.
- Rita Hayworth 5 marriages. Hayworth’s husbands included Orson Welles and Prince Aly Khan, making her private life nearly as dramatic as her films.
- Judy Garland 5 marriages. Garland married five men, including director Vincente Minnelli and producer Sid Luft, while navigating fame from childhood onward.
- George Foreman 5 marriages. The heavyweight champion married four times before beginning his long fifth marriage to Mary Joan Martelly in 1985.
- Pamela Anderson 5 legal marriages. Anderson married Tommy Lee, Kid Rock, Rick Salomon twice, and Dan Hayhurst; her Jon Peters ceremony was not legally completed.
- David Foster 5 marriages. The producer’s spouses have included Linda Thompson, Yolanda Hadid, and Katharine McPhee.
- Richard Burton 5 marriages. Burton married four women but held five weddings because he divorced and remarried Elizabeth Taylor.
Profiles of these five-time spouses consistently distinguish legal marriages from engagements and nonbinding ceremonies.
Four Marriages: Stars Who Kept Believing in Another Chapter
- Jennifer Lopez 4 marriages. Lopez married Ojani Noa, Cris Judd, Marc Anthony, and Ben Affleck, whose rekindled romance became a global headline.
- Liza Minnelli 4 marriages. Minnelli’s husbands were Peter Allen, Jack Haley Jr., Mark Gero, and David Gest.
- Geena Davis 4 marriages. Davis married Richard Emmolo, Jeff Goldblum, Renny Harlin, and Reza Jarrahy.
- Christie Brinkley 4 marriages. Brinkley’s best-known union was with Billy Joel, but she also married Jean-François Allaux, Richard Taubman, and Peter Cook.
- Lisa Marie Presley 4 marriages. Her husbands included Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage, alongside Danny Keough and Michael Lockwood.
- Frank Sinatra 4 marriages. Sinatra married Nancy Barbato, Ava Gardner, Mia Farrow, and Barbara Marx.
- Bette Davis 4 marriages. The formidable screen legend married Harmon Nelson, Arthur Farnsworth, William Grant Sherry, and Gary Merrill.
- Humphrey Bogart 4 marriages. His fourth marriage, to Lauren Bacall, became one of classic Hollywood’s most celebrated partnerships.
- John Cleese 4 marriages. The Monty Python star has repeatedly mined relationships, therapy, and divorce for sharply observant comedy.
- Kelsey Grammer 4 marriages. Grammer’s marital history includes dancer Leigh-Anne Csuhany, Camille Donatacci, and Kayte Walsh.
- Lee Majors 4 marriages. Majors was famously married to Farrah Fawcett before later marrying actor and model Faith Cross.
- Raquel Welch 4 marriages. Welch kept her first husband’s surname throughout a career that outlasted all four of her marriages.
- Billy Joel 4 marriages. Joel’s spouses include Christie Brinkley, chef Katie Lee, and Alexis Roderick.
- Melanie Griffith 4 marriages. Griffith married Don Johnson twice, with marriages to Steven Bauer and Antonio Banderas between and afterward.
- Barbara Walters 4 marriages. The television trailblazer married three men, wedding producer Merv Adelson twice.
The four-marriage group includes both repeat weddings to former spouses and four entirely different partners.
Three Marriages: From Movie Stars to Music Royalty
- Sean Penn 3 marriages. Penn married Madonna, Robin Wright, and Leila George.
- Tom Cruise 3 marriages. Cruise’s former wives are Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes.
- Angelina Jolie 3 marriages. Jolie married Jonny Lee Miller, Billy Bob Thornton, and Brad Pitt.
- Demi Moore 3 marriages. Moore’s husbands were Freddy Moore, Bruce Willis, and Ashton Kutcher.
- Drew Barrymore 3 marriages. Barrymore married Jeremy Thomas, Tom Green, and Will Kopelman.
- Halle Berry 3 marriages. Berry wed David Justice, Eric Benét, and Olivier Martinez.
- Kate Winslet 3 marriages. Winslet married Jim Threapleton, Sam Mendes, and Edward Abel Smith.
- Scarlett Johansson 3 marriages. Johansson’s spouses have been Ryan Reynolds, Romain Dauriac, and Colin Jost.
- Eva Longoria 3 marriages. Longoria married Tyler Christopher, Tony Parker, and José Bastón.
- Jane Fonda 3 marriages. Fonda’s husbands were Roger Vadim, Tom Hayden, and Ted Turner.
- Whoopi Goldberg 3 marriages. Goldberg later explained that independence suited her better than the institution of marriage.
- Janet Jackson 3 marriages. Jackson married James DeBarge, René Elizondo Jr., and Wissam Al Mana.
- Britney Spears 3 marriages. Her first wedding lasted 55 hours; later marriages were to Kevin Federline and Sam Asghari.
- Paul McCartney 3 marriages. McCartney married Linda Eastman, Heather Mills, and Nancy Shevell.
- Rod Stewart 3 marriages. Stewart wed Alana Hamilton, Rachel Hunter, and Penny Lancaster.
- Phil Collins 3 marriages. Collins married Andrea Bertorelli, Jill Tavelman, and Orianne Cevey.
- Harrison Ford 3 marriages. Ford married Mary Marquardt, Melissa Mathison, and Calista Flockhart.
- Charlie Sheen 3 marriages. Sheen’s former wives are Donna Peele, Denise Richards, and Brooke Mueller.
- David Hasselhoff 3 marriages. Hasselhoff married Catherine Hickland, Pamela Bach, and Hayley Roberts.
Modern profiles confirm the three-marriage histories of figures including Jolie, Cruise, Fonda, Goldberg, Jackson, Winslet, and Spears.
Two Marriages: A Second Trip Down the Aisle Still Counts
- Alec Baldwin 2 marriages. Baldwin married Kim Basinger before marrying Hilaria Thomas.
- Brad Pitt 2 marriages. Pitt’s marriages to Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie each became defining celebrity stories of their eras.
- Jennifer Aniston 2 marriages. Aniston married Brad Pitt and later actor-screenwriter Justin Theroux.
- Madonna 2 marriages. The pop icon married Sean Penn and filmmaker Guy Ritchie.
- Mariah Carey 2 marriages. Carey married music executive Tommy Mottola and later entertainer Nick Cannon.
- Lucille Ball 2 marriages. Ball’s first marriage to Desi Arnaz transformed television; she later married comedian Gary Morton.
- Robert De Niro 2 marriages. De Niro married actor Diahnne Abbott and later philanthropist Grace Hightower.
Second marriages can be just as culturally memorable as fifth ones, especially when both partners are famous.
What the Experiences of Frequently Married Famous People Can Teach Us
Looking across these 66 lives, the first lesson is that a marriage count tells us surprisingly little about the emotional weight of each relationship. One brief marriage may leave a deeper mark than a decade-long union. A widowhood is not the same experience as a divorce, and an annulment is not simply a divorce completed at high speed. Elizabeth Taylor lost Mike Todd suddenly in a plane crash; Clark Gable lost Carole Lombard the same way. Their later marriages cannot be understood without acknowledging grief, loneliness, and the desire to rebuild a life that changed overnight.
A second lesson is that people often repeat patterns until they recognize them. Some celebrities married partners from similar professional circles, moved quickly from one relationship into another, or returned to former spouses because familiarity felt safer than starting over. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor remarried because their connection remained powerful even after divorce. Richard Pryor also revisited earlier relationships. The experience suggests that strong chemistry can survive a breakup, but chemistry alone does not automatically repair the conditions that caused the breakup.
Third, later marriages sometimes benefited from better timing. Joan Collins, Martin Scorsese, George Foreman, Kenny Rogers, and others found long stretches of stability after several earlier unions. Age does not guarantee wisdombirthday candles are not licensed therapistsbut experience can clarify values. People may become more realistic about compatibility, money, parenting, privacy, work schedules, and the daily habits that matter after the wedding photos are stored away.
Fame adds another layer. Ordinary couples can argue in the kitchen; celebrity couples may argue while a production employs 200 people, paparazzi wait outside, and strangers analyze their facial expressions. Careers require travel, long separations, intimate performances with costars, and constant public commentary. That pressure does not excuse harmful behavior, but it helps explain why public relationships can become unusually fragile. A glamorous wedding cannot create private trust, and a large diamond has never successfully completed couples counseling.
There is also a practical experience shared by many remarried families: every new union may connect children, former spouses, property, financial obligations, and established routines. Remarriage often means building a blended family rather than beginning with an empty calendar. Pew Research Center has noted that many remarriages involve stepchildren and complex family structures, making communication and expectations especially important.
Finally, these stories challenge the idea that divorce automatically makes a life unsuccessful. Some people discovered that marriage was not right for them. Whoopi Goldberg has spoken openly about preferring independence, while other stars continued searching for partnership. The healthier takeaway is not “never give up” or “never remarry.” It is to understand why a relationship ended, take responsibility where appropriate, and avoid treating a new partner as a cure for old pain.
Repeated marriage can represent optimism, impulsiveness, resilience, social pressure, grief, or genuine personal changesometimes several at once. The famous names make the subject entertaining, but the underlying experiences are deeply ordinary. People fall in love, make imperfect decisions, learn slowly, and occasionally buy another wedding outfit. Celebrities simply do it with better lighting.
Conclusion
The stories of famous people who got married multiple times are not just a scoreboard of weddings and divorces. They reveal how love can be hopeful, complicated, repetitive, and transformative. From Zsa Zsa Gabor’s nine marriages to the many stars who tried matrimony twice, each history shows a different response to change. Some repeated old patterns; others found lasting companionship after several attempts. Either way, the aisle remained open, and optimism kept sending invitations.
Note: Totals include documented legal marriages and legally recognized unions later annulled. Engagements, unfiled ceremonies, and long-term partnerships without marriage are excluded. Counts reflect reliable information available through July 2026.
