In my research I have found information that has made me laugh, made me cry and just plain made me frustrated. There have been things that made me think, "Wow! That is really cool!" And there have been a few things that have just blown me away. I ran across a piece of information like that yesterday and it had to do with movie actor and Oscar winner Gig Young.
Gig Young was born Byron Ellsworth Bar in St Cloud Minnesotta to Emma Dingman and James Barr. Emma was the daughter of Clemence Crochetiere and Solomon Dingman and sister of George Dingman. George Dingman was the first husband of my Great-great Grandmother Almeda Lambert, which makes him the nephew of my "second" great grandmother according to Ancestry.com or more technically her husband's nephew but when your married it's really the same difference.
That was really something to find out, let me tell you. And it only got better from there. Gig was married five times which at that time really wasn't that unusual in Hollywood circles. He had married and divorced his first wife Sheila Stapler by 1949 in time to marry his second wife Sophie Rosenstein with whom he had been having an affair while married to Sheila. She was an acting coach for Warner Brothers who died of cervical cancer in 1952. He then married Elizabeth Montgomery - yes I DO mean Samantha from Bewitched - who divorced him after nearly seven years because he was an abusive alcoholic.
The next two marriages were ultimately the most interesting to me. In 1963 Gig married Elaine Williams who was a real estate agent to the stars until shortly before her death in 2006. They had one daughter - Gig's only child - Jennifer Young in April of 1964. After the divorce Gig filed papers saying he was not Jennifer's biological father and therefore was not financially responsible for her. Gig's fifth and final marriage was to German born actress Kim Schmidt who at age 21 was forty three years his junior. They were married September 27th, 1978 and remained so until their deaths on October 19th, 1978. That is where the marriage gets truly interesting. Gig Young shot Kim Schmidt-Young and then turned the gun on himself. No one knows why he did it and the whole situation remains a mystery to this day.
Like I said - this is one of those stories in your family that really blows your mind!
Gig Young was born Byron Ellsworth Bar in St Cloud Minnesotta to Emma Dingman and James Barr. Emma was the daughter of Clemence Crochetiere and Solomon Dingman and sister of George Dingman. George Dingman was the first husband of my Great-great Grandmother Almeda Lambert, which makes him the nephew of my "second" great grandmother according to Ancestry.com or more technically her husband's nephew but when your married it's really the same difference.
That was really something to find out, let me tell you. And it only got better from there. Gig was married five times which at that time really wasn't that unusual in Hollywood circles. He had married and divorced his first wife Sheila Stapler by 1949 in time to marry his second wife Sophie Rosenstein with whom he had been having an affair while married to Sheila. She was an acting coach for Warner Brothers who died of cervical cancer in 1952. He then married Elizabeth Montgomery - yes I DO mean Samantha from Bewitched - who divorced him after nearly seven years because he was an abusive alcoholic.
The next two marriages were ultimately the most interesting to me. In 1963 Gig married Elaine Williams who was a real estate agent to the stars until shortly before her death in 2006. They had one daughter - Gig's only child - Jennifer Young in April of 1964. After the divorce Gig filed papers saying he was not Jennifer's biological father and therefore was not financially responsible for her. Gig's fifth and final marriage was to German born actress Kim Schmidt who at age 21 was forty three years his junior. They were married September 27th, 1978 and remained so until their deaths on October 19th, 1978. That is where the marriage gets truly interesting. Gig Young shot Kim Schmidt-Young and then turned the gun on himself. No one knows why he did it and the whole situation remains a mystery to this day.
Like I said - this is one of those stories in your family that really blows your mind!