Cary Grant lost the love of multiple women due to a self-destructive trait born of abandonment issues from his childhood, or so he thought. He finally found love in his fifth wife and daughter.
Grant was born Archibald Leach, the son of an English tailor’s presser. His mother left when he was only 9, and for years he carried this pain with him until he was thirty, and he learned the truth.
His mother had been committed to an asylum by his dad. But by the time he got to know the truth, his trust in women had hit an all-time low, something that would impact his future relationships extensively.
A younger Cary Grant. Inset: Grant holding his daughter Jeniffer | Source: Getty Images
HIS MARRIAGES WERE DOOMED FROM THE START
He developed a habit of falling fast and obsessively in love. Still, his self-absorption, need to control his love interests and possessive behavior saw his best relationship nose-dive within no time.
Grant met and married Virginia Cherill, an actress, in 1934, then his second wife Barbara Hutton, Woolworths’ heiress, in 1943, and yet the marriages always took the same path. They were doomed to fail even before they began.
British-American actor Cary Grant (1904 – 1986) in a scene from the film ‘Indiscreet’, directed by Stanley Donen, 1958. | Source: Getty Images
The pattern would repeat itself in his third marriage to Betsy Drake. But by the time he was marrying his fourth wife, actress Dyan Cannon, he had begun working on himself, even seeking LSD therapy for his unhealthy traits. Barbara, his fifth wife, told Closer:
“He thought it was extremely helpful. It brought up a lot of parts of his life that he had buried, either consciously or not.”
HIS FOURTH WIFE – DYAN CANNON
Cannon and Grant’s marriage was short – it only lasted three years – but it was without a doubt the most tumultuous. She was only 28. He was 61. But despite the red flags even before they tied the knot, she ignored them and married him.
