19 Gay Men Who Were Once Married to Women

7. Cole Porter

Cole Porter was a well-known composer during the 1920s and 30s, considered one of the best songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. His greatest success however, was his 1948 musical, Kiss Me, Kate, as it won the first Tony Award for Best Musical. Porter spent much of his time in Paris, hosting lavish parties at his apartment, with “much gay and bisexual activity, Italian nobility, cross-dressing, international musicians and a large surplus of recreational drugs.” But, he himself had never admitted to being gay. In 1919, Porter married Linda Lee Thomas, a rich, Kentucky-born divorcée, and although she was aware of Porter’s homosexual tendencies the pair believed the marriage could be beneficial to the both of them. For Linda, it offered continued social status, and for Porter, it assured a respectable heterosexual front during a time when homosexuality was not accepted. Surprisingly, they were genuinely devoted to each other and remained married until her death in 1954.

8. Richard Cromwell

Actor Richard Cromwell is best remembered for his work in Jezebel (1938) and Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). Cromwell was married once, briefly from 1945-1946, to the British-born actress Angela Lansbury, when she was 19 and he was 35. Lansbury stated in a 1966 interview that her first marriage, “was a mistake” saying, “I was too young at 19, the marriage shouldn’t have happened.” Many articles based on interviews with Lansbury have stated that Cromwell was in fact gay.

9. Tony Richardson

Richardson was a British theater and film director whose career spanned five decades. He won the Academy Award in 1964 for Best Director for the film Tom Jones. Richardson was married to actress Vanessa Redgrave from 1962 to 1967 and the pair shared two daughters together. The late director later dated actress Jeanne Moreau and secretary Grizelda Grimond. Richardson was a known bisexual, but he never publicly acknowledged it until after he contracted HIV. He died of complications from AIDS in 1991.