Famous Couples |

Love Too Big for the Big Screen:Liz and Dick

June 28, 2013 Jennifer

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, were a couple for the ages. Having met on the set of Cleopatra, the two appropriately played Marc Antony and Cleopatra, two larger than life personalities with fame, charisma and power. The couple lived in the public eye and their love was notoriously one of passion! These two Hollywood stars lived through the golden age of cinema and would be known for their troubled but hopelessly devoted relationship.

Elizabeth Taylor has come to be known one of the most famous and widely admired dark haired on screen sirens. Her charm and va va voom held captive full movie theater audiences and had captured the attention of the press. Richard Burton had too been known as an actor both on screen and on stage. When the two met it was like the confrontation of two dueling forces, sparks flew and explosions abounded. When the two met they were married, but not to one another, confronting scorn from the media and traditional institutions for their adulterous beginning. Yet despite what others predicted about a short lived fling, their extramarital escapade led to a marriage which would last over ten years!

Antony And Cleopatra — Source: Sound on Sight

For years they appeared on screen together. From their first joint on screen debut and blockbuster “Cleopatra” to their all too real nightmarish portrayal of a troubled partnership in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” their mutual energy was explosive. But their chemistry and bond was effervescent, vibrant and alive. There was no doubt that these two gargantuan personalities were able to see beyond themselves and madly love one another.

Their romance littered the papers and was scattered across the tabloids. As one of the first widely publicized couples of the new era of information their love was lived out in the public eye. The volatile quarrels may have made headlines, but it was their ardent and passionate love story that has endured in our minds.

For more on Liz and Dick: Biography.com

The Country Songstress Who Tamed the Man in Black: June Carter and Johnny Cash

June 26, 2013 Jennifer

June Carter and Johnny Cash had a tumultuous start but have been one of the most enduring relationships in music history. The two complete opposites became the prefect compliments for one another, both romantically and musically.

Johnny Cash was known as the Man in Black, a riotous country singer who had a reputation as a womanizer and notorious drug abuser. His music was torn and sorrowful but full of soul. It was the abuse he was putting his body through which could have stunted his career. June Carter was the young and beautiful country songstress which saved his life. In 1956 when the two met and performed together the energy in the air was electric, but the timing was wrong. It wasn’t until years later that both were free of their previous marriages that June finally proposed an ultimatum. He dropped the drugs or dropped her. The two lived lakeside in a small cottage while June nursed John during his detoxification from amphetamines. She served as friend and counselor until Johnny Cash stopped right in the middle of a song on stage in London, Ontario and popped the question in 1968. Cash underwent a dramatic revival as a musician and performer putting the drug use behind him and his career and family at the forefront.

While the two had hit duets like “It Ain’t Me Babe” the two also reached individual success. June went on to winning numerous Grammy awards for albums Wildwood Flower and Press On and Best Female Country Vocal for “Keep on the Sunny Side.” Johnny Cash would have a long and celebrated career beginning with a gold record selling album Live from Folsom Prison and being named the youngest Inductee into Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 at the age of 48.

June Carter turned out to be an instrumental turning point in Johnny Cash’s life, without which he may never have escalated to such musical success. John was at June’s side until she passed away, her hand held in his in May of 2003, his death followed a few months later.

For more on these two country music legends read on at Bio.

Love of the Nation: Jackie and John F. Kennedy

June 23, 2013 Jennifer

Youthful, charismatic and striking Jackie O and John F. Kennedy would go on to become a couple representative of an entire nation. They were the embodiment of a young strong and capable nation, excelling and propelling towards the future. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy was not only beautiful but was idolized for her sense of poise, style and intelligence. John F. Kennedy, one of the youngest and most handsome American presidents, was also acknowledged for his ability to manage crisis and the resolve with which he was able to protect and to serve the country from 1961-1963.The two have since become one of the most recognizable historical figures of the United States.

Learn more about the Kennedy’s at WhiteHouse.gov

Beautifully Ferocious: David Bowie and Iman

June 21, 2013 Jennifer

No couple is more fierce or more beautifully ferocious than David Bowie and Iman. The two have had one of the most enduring marriages in celebrity history shining brightly and effortlessly along one another since 1992. The couple matches each other not only in style but accomplishments. Iman, the statuesque Somali-born supermodel is recognized as a pioneer for black supermodels in the fashion industry and David Bowie, a living musical legend creating and evolving since playing an integral role at the dawn of glam rock. Congratulations to the two who celebrated their 20 year anniversary last year and are going strong.

For more on David Bowie and Iman: Biography.com

Soulmates and Comrades: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

June 19, 2013 Jennifer

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera had a love story filled with erratic passion and a fire that could ignite a pool of water. Meeting in the halls of the Public Ministry of Education Frida captured the attention of the already famous artist Diego Rivera with her talent and her riotous personality. The two were wed in 1929 against the protests of her mother and with the warning to Diego from her father “Frida is a clever girl, but she is un demonio oculto- a concealed devil!” While the difference in age was an ample 20 years the two bonded on an intellectual level that was unshakable; serving as each other’s most trusted confidants and most honest artistic critics.

For more on the artists and their intertwined lives: The Smithsonian