9 Classic Hollywood Couples Who Hid Heartbreaking Stories

The Cleopatra co-stars became one of the first couples to be seen as frequent tabloid fodder with the media's hyper-focus on their tumultuous relationship.

They were both married to others when they began their initial affair, something that headlines were quick to pick up on, and the Vatican deemed them an “erotic vagrancy,” even attempting to ban them from re-entering the United States after wrapping the film.

After their two consecutive failed marriages to each other, Taylor described the men in her life as,“just there to hold the coat, to open the door. All the men after Richard were really just company.”

The endlessly devoted couple personified true marital bliss, up until Newman's death after the pair celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2008.

Sadly, now Woodward is battling the heartbreaking diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, and her health continues to decline.

Four years after meeting on the set of the 1932 flick, No Man Of Her Own, the leading man and lady began their romantic relationship and eventually married in 1939. Gable, who was the biggest star on the planet at the time, described his wife, saying, “You can trust that little screwball with your life or your hopes or your weaknesses, and she wouldn't even know how to think about letting you down.”

Sadly, just three years after their wedding, Lombard was killed when the airplane she was flying on her way back from rallying war bonds crashed into Mount Potosi in Nevada. Gable was devastated by the loss and, despite two more marriages, was interned by her side after his death in 1960.

The pair met when Bacall was only 19 and Bogart was 45 while on the set of To Have And Have Not. When director Howard Hawks also fell for the young actress, making threats of sending her to a lesser studio if she didn't return his affections, Bogart came to her rescue by confronting Hawks. 

Their marriage lasted just over 10 years before Bogart, a heavy smoker and drinker, succumbed to esophageal cancer at the age of 57.

The union came at a time when Monroe had grown especially frustrated with her career and, being perpetually typecast, refused to accept another musical comedy role. She eventually came to an agreement with the studio and was cast in The Seven Year Itch, which includea the iconic scene of her skirt flying through the air as she stands on a subway grate.

Unfortunately, DiMaggio's fiercely jealous nature on top of their already tense marriage and his aggressive reaction to the provocative promotional photos led the couple to divorce after only a year. However, following her death, DiMaggio made all of her funeral arrangements and had flowers delivered to her grave three times a week for 20 years. He never re-married.

Though their onscreen relationship remains one of the most time-honored portrayals of domestic bliss, their real-life marriage was already suffering from strain, and Ball even filed for divorce in 1944 before reconciling soon after.

The stress of their success and maintaining a studio and production company ultimately placed too much pressure on the pair, and Ball filed for divorce again in 1960, describing her life with Arnaz as "a nightmare."

As one of Hollywood's first "It" couples, the pair was notorious for their extravagant parties with their famous friends like Charlie Chaplin, Fairbank's best friend, at their mansion, Pickfair. Their constant filming schedules and being sent on tours as the unofficial ambassadors and mascots for America caused tension at home.

When news spread that Fairbanks had begun an affair while overseas, they separated and divorced in 1936.

The theatrical couple battled with their previous spouses in order to obtain divorces and wed in 1940. They remained together for 20 years, but Leigh's undiagnosed bipolar disorder led to bouts of depression that would cause her to lash out at Olivier without realizing what she was doing or even remembering it having happened.

In his autobiography, Olivier describes Leigh by saying, “Throughout her possession by that uncannily evil monster, manic depression, with its deadly ever-tightening spirals, she retained her own individual canniness – an ability to disguise her true mental condition from almost all except me, for whom she could hardly be expected to take the trouble.” He also required assurance from her new husband that she would be well taken care of.

Friends of the actors describe their love for each other as “blinding” as they remained by each other's side, despite Tracy's marriage to another woman. His Catholic faith prevented him from seeking a divorce and the couple kept their romance concealed.

When Tracy's health began to fail after years of alcoholism and smoking, Hepburn put her own career on hold in order to care for him. However, when he passed, she did not attend his funeral out of respect for his wife and family.

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