And, Myra said later, she herself felt ready for marriage. I stopped in the middle of my reading to sip my Coca-Cola because I was so thirsty. [3][2] When Lewis arrived in London for a 37-date tour in May 1958, Brown revealed to a reporter at the airport that she was his wife. 1954). | Powered by Artimization. She was married to her cousin, rock star Jerry Lee Lewis. Lewis hadseven wives throughout his life, and Williams was his third. Last updated on Feb 15, 2015, 12.09. He won three Grammys and recorded with some of the industrys greatest stars. He had taken a friend of his to the courthouse. Lewis was on his way to international rock and roll stardom when he married Brown . Earthy colored wasnt happy with the book or the film, so she delivered her journal, The Spark That Survived, with subtleties of her wild union with Lewis and the life after him. . She is best known for her controversial marriage at the age of 13 to rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis, who is her first cousin once removed. Lewis had been married twice before. myra gale brown Photos. Elvis Presley, the biggest rock star in the world, was dating a 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, who would later become his wife. But they didnt, and I didnt, and the rest is history, I guess.. Because we have a daughter, Jerry and I remained in contact for many years, she wrote. Brown and his family. This was a one-night jam session at Sun Studios. [9], By 1970, Lewis' drug addiction, alcoholism, and infidelity took a toll on their marriage. That memory will never not be funny to me.". Lewis, who died Friday at age 87, weathered professional exile in 1958 after a reporter covering his arrival in London inquired about the young girl in his entourage who ultimately introduced herself as "Jerry's wife.". His earnings dropped overnight to virtually nothing. Though his rock career was forever marred by his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis eventually found success in country music. Lewis went on to marry four more times. Jerry Lee Lewis, 23, married Myra Gale Brown in 1957. ", "Myra Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis' 13-year-old bride, speaks out", "Jerry Lee Lewis Married His 13-Year-Old Cousin And Ruined His Career", "Jerry Lee Lewis' teenage bride speaks out: 'I was the adult and Jerry was the child', "Jerry Lee Lewis' Lawsuit Against Daughter Dismissed by Judge", "Cousin's ex becomes Jerry Lee Lewis' 7th wife", "The Tiny Spark That Survived: The Rock 'n' Roll Life of Star's Child Bride", "Jerry Lee Lewis' former teenage wife releases new book", "Cannes Review: Ethan Coen's 'Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Myra_Lewis_Williams&oldid=1138714619, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 05:24. The former U.S. president was married to his fifth cousin once removed, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. After several tour dates were canceled, Jerry and his new bride left the country. I guess I went through like a trial by fire. "He told him my parents found [his] marriage license," she said. Myra Lewis Williams told Fox News Digital her father was furious when he learned of the marriage. Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here. That Time Jerry Lee Lewis Married Myra Gale Brown, His 13-Year-Old Cousin. BANNER ELK, N.C. Few are left to tell the tale of the Million Dollar Quartet phenomena, but the woman formerly known as Myra Gale Brown knew them all-Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and . I guess if I had to do it all over again, Id have to do some things differently. The rebellious Louisiana-born piano player known as "The Killer" made his mark with hits such as "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On. In the end, she says, Jerry Lee Lewis downfall was a bigger issue than her age. They called it the devils music. Brown, Lewis cousin and the bass player in his band. You just stare and wonder, Oh my God, where am I? However, since his marriage a few years ago to my ex-sister-in-law, who wasnt an ex yet when they got together (yes, you read that correctly), Phoebe quit working for him and I havent seen him since. Williams, 78, said in 2016 that shes been right here the whole time but she apparently no longer had a relationship with her notorious ex-husband after 2015. Siblings . After just a few shows in England, the tour was canceled. ", Myra Lewis Williams was approached by a reporter in London during the middle of her husband's tour. I was like a deer caught in headlights. Infatuation with a child simply seemed to come with rock and roll territory. People didn't know it at the time that they wed, but although she was listed as a 20-year-old, legally Brown was actually only 13 (via Biography). Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. I could so easily have said, Im J.W. Brown. We did it fam!! Ronnie was born in 1956, about three years into Jerry and Janes marriage. Thats what this book basically is, this is what happened, this is how I handled it and here I am today, she said. . If I can survive life's worst tragedies and my own dumb-ass decisions, you can, too. Brown is a basketball player, and she used to be married to the brother of Lewis's third wife, Myra Gale Brown. He possibly based it on Latin myrra meaning "myrrh" (a fragrant resin obtained from a tree ). Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. On December 12, 1957, Lewis wed a woman named Myra Gale Brown (pictured above), who was also his cousin. There was no getting around it. She also described herself as the adult in the relationship with Lewis. Jerry Lee Lewis : They just want to see the new king of rock 'n 'roll. All rights reserved. You come out of the fire you make it. Williams and Lewis divorced in 1970. If anybody had told me anything, I could have prevented this thing. Lewis didn't seem to realize that this was offensive to most urban markets (and to other countries). [4] Lewis asserted that Brown was 15 years old and was his wife of two months. Myra Gale Brown : I don't know how to be a wife. She co-wrote the book Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis (1982), which was adapted into the film Great Balls of Fire! Myra and Jerrys daughter,Phoebe Lewis, 59, was born in 1963, about four years after Steven was born. Jerry Lee Lewis and Myra Lewis Williams with their newborn son Steve Allen Lewis on Feb. 28, 1959, in Ferriday, Louisiana. I dropped the bomb. My little brother was born because I begged my parents for a baby at ten years old.. Thats how the career took a gigantic nose dive when we arrived in London. Sam got Jerry to the airport and put him on a plane. Elvis had been drafted into the military, and Lewis was poised to take his place as rocks biggest name. Hulton Arcive/Getty ImagesJerry Lee Lewis and Myra Gale Brown shortly after their wedding in December 1957. (Indeed, Lewis had moved in with Myra's parents when he married her.) 6:00AM. Market data provided by Factset. Jerry Lee Lewis 1935 - 2022. She married her third husband, Richard Williams, in 1984, and joined his Century 21 office. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. .Once Mary Gale Brown and Lew divorced in 1970, Williams same she had been subject to each sort of physical and mental abuse possible,. Lewis and his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver, were married for 20 years and had a child. Myra Gale Brown (born on July 11, 1944) is an American creator. In 1957, Lewis infamously married his 13-year-old first cousin once removed, Myra Gale Brown. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Thats what this book basically is, this is what happened, this is how I handled it and here I am today, she said. Earlier in London, Myra, who was 13 years old and Lewis's third cousin, revealed their secret marriage. She has a career in real estate in Georgia since 1980 (under the name Myra Williams or Myra Lewis Williams). So whatever happened to her? "Jay" Brown. Williams alsorecalled how she "let the big ol cat out of the bag" about their marriage to the pressin Londonwithout realizing the backlash it would spark. RM 2AGA94W - Rock 'n' roll singer Jerry Lee Lewis, whose British tour was cancelled after he had been jeered on the stage of a London theatre, with his 13-year-old wife, Myra (l) and his sister, Frankie, 15, at London Airport. He proclaimed himself for ever a rock'n'roller, through his remaining decades of turmoil, lurid tragedy and . Copyright 2023 by Vizaca. Brown's family in the Coro Lake neighborhood in south Memphis. But when he and his entourage landed in London, the press was eager to . She had wanted to tell the story of a woman surviving difficult circumstances and inspire women to understand their own strengths,[18] so she published her memoir, The Spark That Survived, in 2016. "My generation was taught to hide under our desk when the bomb came, so you always had in the back of your mind that any minute, any day, life could come to an end. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. She said it is complicated. He is currently married to his seventh wife, Judith Brown, who was once married to Lewis' cousin Rusty. After her separation, Brown was momentarily hitched to the criminal investigator she had employed to trail Lewis and record his treacheries. Lewis and Myra were divorced in 1970. I went out and found us a house. The press in both London and Memphis soon discovered the truth about Myra's age and the date of their wedding, and the response was immediate. Shortly after his marriage to Judith Brown in 2012, Lewis fired his daughter Phoebe as his manager and took . (Photo by Tom Baffer/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images). In 1957, 22-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis married Myra Gale Brown. After reading about the third wife of Jerry Lee Lewis, Myra Gale Brown, check out Lori Maddox and Sable Starr, two teenage groupies who made a career out of chasing after rock stars. In 1970, Brown petitioned for legal separation on the grounds of infidelity and misuse; charging that she had been subject to each kind of physical and mental maltreatment possible. Their separation was settled on December 9, 1970. Second, she was his cousin, and the daughter of his bassist J.W. [4] After Lewis finalized his divorce from Mitcham, he remarried Brown on June 4, 1958. Phoebe Lewis-Loftin later became her father's manager and lived at his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi until 2012, when he married Judith Brown,[12] the ex-wife of his first cousin once removed, Rusty Brown (Myra Gale's brother). Everything We Know So Far. What's More, when Lewis' plane landed in New York, he found the scandal had crossed the ocean with him, cutting short a career that, at its peak, had seemed the only one capable of rivaling Elvis Presley's. (She filed for divorce in 1970, citing allegations of abuse and adultery.). [17] Brown was paid $100,000 for her story, but was resentful that she was not consulted for the script or casting of the film despite being promised. "Theyve lost a great entertainer, a very talented man. [5] The scandal over the marriage destroyed Lewis' promising rock and roll career,[8] although he subsequently found success in country music. Phoebe worked for him and when I visited her I would still see him, too. Thats exactly what it was.. She dwells in Duluth, Georgia with her better half Richard Williams. He also toldThe Guardianhow he copes with having lost a few of his kids and ex wives. Williams said her father marched down to Sun Records ready to confront Lewis. She is a writer, known for Great Balls of Fire! On December 12, 1957, Jerry married his third cousin, Myra Gale Brown. The challenges, however, brought them closer together, with Williams describing their following years together as"the happiest years of our marriage. In 1971, Lewis tied the knot with Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate but the two decided to end their marriage in 1982. Myra Gale Brown : All I ever wanted was a little pink house with a blue door. Earthy colored remarried in 1984 and is presently known as Myra Williams. ", Jerry Lee Lewis plays the piano for his 13-year-old bride at the Cafe de Paree. To Jerry Lee, the uproar was hard to understand: "I plumb married the girl, didn't I?" "I'm right here! On May 17, 2022, he shared a group photo with his dad and family. For her part, Williams said that she wasnt a fan of her first book and its movie adaptation because they were someone elses idea about how that part of her life story should be told, the Post said. The couple wed in 2012. When fans learned of this while Lewis was on tour overseas in 1958, it exploded into a . "If you think you know [my] story of being the 13 year old bride of my second cousin, you're in for a surprise," she teased. But I pulled through it. The last survivor of a generation that included fellow performers Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, died Friday morning at age 87.
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