Three Hollywood Stories of True Love

When you hear the phrase "love story," what do you think of? Romeo and Juliet? Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw? You and your morning coffee? Fiction and magical, caffeinated beverages aside, history and Hollywood are filled with tales of couples who shared a love for the ages. Love stories like these just might inspire you to opt for an antique wedding ring to capture some of the classic romance and style these couples enjoyed.

Olivier and Leigh

This may be one of the greatest love stories you've never heard. Vivien Leigh may have had a legendary on-screen romance with Clark Gable, but the real-life love was with fellow actor Laurence Olivier. They first met while filming Fire Over England in 1936, and began a scandalous affair while both were married to other people. For a short time, they lived together despite their respective spouses refusing to grant either a divorce.

After finally securing their divorces, Leigh and Olivier married in September 1940. For twenty years, Olivier and Leigh were Hollywood's golden couple, and their long-enduring passion is evidenced by the love letters they exchanged, which eventually came to light.

Sadly, passion wasn't enough to keep them together, and due in large part to Leigh's mental illness, they divorced in 1960. However, their love didn't end there.

On the night of July 8, 1967, Vivien Leigh succumbed to the tuberculosis that had plagued her since 1944. She was only 53 years old. Upon learning of her death, Olivier immediately went to her apartment and prayed over her body. He then helped Leigh's partner at that time, Jack Merivale, to make her funeral arrangements. When Vivien Leigh passed away, a photograph of Laurence Olivier sat on her nightstand.

DiMaggio and Monroe

Marilyn Monroe and baseball great Joe DiMaggio were married for less than a year, but their love lasted a lifetime. Monroe and DiMaggio began their relationship in 1952, and then married in 1954. During that entire time, they were under intense media scrutiny as Marilyn was one of Hollywood's biggest stars of the time. That, and DiMaggio's jealousy took a toll on their marriage, and the pair divorced in 1955, just nine months after they were married.

Six years later, upon divorcing her third husband, Arthur Miller, Monroe was admitted to a psychiatric clinic to be treated for depression. It was DiMaggio who helped her leave the facility, and then cared for her while she recuperated.

DiMaggio tried desperately to help Marilyn create some stability in her life. But on August 5, 1962, just a year and a half after her divorce from Miller was final, Marilyn Monroe passed away from an apparent drug overdose. DiMaggio once again took care of her, arranging her funeral.

Although he was only in his 40s at the time of her death, he never remarried. Instead, he arranged for half a dozen long-stemmed, red roses--Marilyn's favorite flower--to be delivered to her grave twice a week for the next 37 years, until his own death in 1999. His lawyer reported that DiMaggio's last words were, "I'll finally get to see Marilyn."

Taylor and Burton

Even without using their first names, we're betting you'll know exactly who we're talking about. Both larger than life, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton enjoyed a passionate, tempestuous, and scandalous relationship that continued off and on for two decades.

They first met on the set of Cleopatra in 1963, while both were married to other people. Once divorced, they married in 1964, and remained so for ten years. They split up, and both went on to new marriages until, another ten years later, they reunited and remarried, this time for just one year before divorcing a second time.

For the next eight years, they remained close friends, and while costarring in a stage production of Private Lives, even sparked rumors of one more possible reconciliation. Sadly, that never came to pass, and Richard Burton passed away in 1984. But their long and fascinating love story remains as alive as ever.

Shop our extensive collection of antique wedding rings, and find the one that's an expression of your true love.

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