Artie Shaw was famous for his many wives!

One of the top ten bands of the Big Band Era was clearly led by Artie Shaw. Artie, of course, is remembered for his fabulous music...."Stardust" and Begin The Beguine" are two of the greatest big band recordings of all time. At a recent lecture I gave on the Big Band Era, many in the audience were also very impressed with an important side of Artie's personal life, the fact that he was married eight times and the fame of his brides.

They included actresses Lana Turner (wife No. 3, 1940), Ava Gardner (No. 5, 1945), Evelyn Keyes (No. 8, 1957) and novelist Kathleen Winsor, author of the 1944 best-seller “Forever Amber” (No. 6, 1946).

Lana Turner and Artie Shaw

Here's the complete list (from Wiki); A self-proclaimed "very difficult man," Shaw was married eight times: Jane Cairns (1932–33; annulled); Margaret Allen (1934–37; divorced); actress Lana Turner (1940; annulled); Betty Kern (1942–43; divorced), the daughter of songwriter Jerome Kern; actress Ava Gardner (1945–46; divorced); Forever Amber author Kathleen Winsor (1946–48; annulled); actress Doris Dowling (1952–56; divorced); and actress Evelyn Keyes(1957–85; divorced).

He had one son, Steven Kern, with Betty Kern, and another son, Jonathan Shaw (a well-known tattoo artist who founded Fun City Tattoo), with Doris Dowling.The marriage to Keyes, best known for playing the middle of the three O’Hara sisters in “Gone With the Wind,” lasted the longest, until 1985, but they led separate lives for much of that time. “I like her very much and she likes me, but we’ve found it about impossible to live together,” he said in a 1973 interview.

Ava and Lana

Both Lana Turner and Ava Gardner later described Shaw as being extremely emotionally abusive. His controlling nature and incessant verbal abuse in fact drove Turner to have a nervous breakdown, soon after which she divorced him.

Note: With that many ex-wives, collecting alimony in most cases, it is not surprising that his theme song was "Nightmare!" When asked why he married so many times....his answer..."Because they asked me!"