In the eyes of hundreds of viewers, they swore eternal love, but they did not keep it, even so, these celebrities from the golden age of American cinema celebrated love in a big way
Shirley Temple and John Agar, a love drowned in Alcohol
During her childhood, Shirley Jane Temple was one of the most successful stars of the golden age of Hollywood. With her round face, always smiling, and her iconic golden curls, the girl earned the affection of the entire industry and, before she was 10 years old, she had already starred in around 30 films.
However, as she has with all child stars since then, she barely grew up, Shirley had to innovate in her career so as not to be left behind. And an "ideal" marriage became a vital part of this equation.
Although, over time, the nuptial union ended up being a dark passage in the history of this star: her partner's alcohol problems and her erratic behavior marked this first marriage in the actress's life.
At just 17 years old, Temple married sergeant and physical education instructor John Agar. She met him at 15, according to The Guardian, at a party through David O. Selznick, who was the actress' manager at the time.
The couple celebrated their union in 1945 in a ceremony with 500 guests that took place in a Methodist church in Los Angeles, California. Subsequently, there was a reception at the home of Temple's parents – who, according to her, did not agree with the union – which was attended by 700 guests.
To become a media couple, John was taken in by Temple's manager after the marriage and became an actor. They worked together on films such as Adventure in Baltimore, known under the title A Young Rebel in Latin America and which represented a major loss for Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO), and the John Ford and Henry Fonda hit Fort Apache.
However, this marriage did not bode well for Temple. From the beginning, as she recounted in her autobiography Child Star of Her, her husband began to have a violent attitude: already on the honeymoon he doubted if he was really Shirley's first partner and had an unpredictable character and was aggressive with her.
They had a daughter together, Linda Susan Agar, who was born in January 1948. However, the actress could not stand her husband anymore, nor his drinking problems and her violent behavior. In 1948, Temple filed for divorce from her, arguing that John had exercised "mental cruelty" on her.
She kept going. Finally, a media marriage was not necessary to give flight to her career, which later ventured into American politics. However, it is speculated that he held a grudge against her for the rest of her days.
Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio, the Shadow of Flowers
More than 30 years had passed since the day Marylin Monroe was found dead in the bedroom of her home in Brentwood, California, on August 5, 1962. Yet every week without fail, dozens of flowers arrived at her tombstone.
The sender? Joe DiMaggio. The man who loved her, according to the biographer of baseball player Dr. Rock Positano, more than any other. He loved her for her beauty, yes, like any other; but above all because of her sweetness, her innocence, and her perceptive intelligence. And her sudden passing left incurable pain in the athlete.
Joe and Marilyn were married in 1954 and, although the marriage lasted only nine months, once her blonde decided to separate from him because, as she argued, he exercised "mental cruelty" on her; the athlete did not stop worrying about his ex-wife.
Even though Marilyn had jumped into the next relationship and in 1961 ended with the writer Arthur Miller, Joe wanted to support her and removed her from the psychiatric clinic where she had been admitted for her "emotional fragility" to seek refuge in a training camp for her. the Yankees in Florida.
However, the relationship between the superstar and the athlete is full of extremely lurid episodes. Although, according to the athlete's biographer, everything had only one reason: the love and protection that Joe sought to provide the actress.
Finally, Marilyn's grave was left without flowers in 1999, when the baseball player died of lung cancer he suffered from. On her deathbed, Joe still carried in her mind the memory of that love of hers: "I'm finally going to be able to see Marilyn," she pronounced.
