"I never got married because I didn't know that I could stay married," said the actor.
From Hollywood's "golden age," veteran actor Warren Beatty has had a six-decade acting career. Beatty became well-known during this time for his lively love life as well as his views on marriage. The actor recently turned 86 and completes 31 years of marriage with his wife and beloved partner Annette Bening. The renowned actor has had several highly papped relationships, including with Madonna, Natalie Wood, and Marilyn Monroe, with whom he spent one of her last days by the sea per CBS Sunday Morning. Up until the age of 54, when Annette Bening entered his life, he was a true ladies' man who had serious doubts about getting married.
In an exclusive interview in The Dick Cavett Show, many years back he revealed his opinion about marriage, "I have nothing against marriage. I never got married because I didn't know that I could stay married. Maybe we have to begin admitting what marriage really is. Maybe society needs to accept that we don't have to feel terribly guilty for more than one marriage. Maybe life can be made up of a series of marriages. I don't know what to think about marriage. I know that we have to come to terms with the family unit itself."
Years later when Beatty met Bening, his days as a Casanova came to an end. The honorable filmmaker spoke briefly about getting married to his one and only wife, vowing to wait until he was 54 before saying "I do," as per AARP. When Beatty placed his now wife of over thirty years as the love interest in his 1991 film Bugsy, they came into contact. The two met for lunch during the preparation stage of the film and that is when Beatty realized his life would never be the same again. Intriguingly, he later acknowledged the garlic chicken meal was delicious while recalling how quickly he had lost interest in it at that time.
In a word with the outlet the actor also confessed that he married late stating how it all happened. Talking about his relationship with Bening he told the news outlet back in 2016 how it has been going in the past 24 years and that he “sees a clear demarcation in his life – BA and AA, Before Annette and After Annette...” As he continued, “I waited a long time to be married.” He added, “When you don’t get married until you’re 54…well, as Arthur Miller said, ‘it comes with the territory'." He refers to a line in the playwright’s Death of a Salesman. “A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.”
Sharing her time with Beatty, The American Beauty actor shared, “There’s always a part of what he’s doing that’s private.” Bening added, “but we talk a lot about everything. Some people pay lip service to listen to others and they’re really not listening. He does. He loves actors, and while he’s shooting he’s always interested in what people are saying. He’s a terrific audience.
Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUY-BgQzE04&ab_channel=CreepingNormality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W57ZbwY5S4&ab_channel=CBSSundayMorning
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Frederick M. Brown
