...Welp, back from New Orleans, y'all... Hot as all get out down there... but we had a great time anyway. Lots of awesome food (...we ate 'till we didn't have right good sense...), and it generally appeared that the French Quarter was largely unaffected by Katrina - some businesses have not come back, tho - but it was quite crowded, which was encouraging.
So, as I noted in my last post, New Orleans was the spot where Ginger tied the knot for the first time to Jack Culpepper... which was the first of five fellows that were EXTREMELY fortunate enough to marry Ginger, yet even MORE extremely dunderheaded enough to lose her... it's just a major mystery to me why NONE of these dudes could get their act together.
Anyway, I actually went into the police headquarters in the French Quarter and asked about marriage records, since Ginger said the 'ceremony' was at the justice of the peace, and I assumed it was in the French Quarter (although it could have been in some other part of New Orleans.) When I told the fellow behind the counter I was looking for Ginger Rogers' marriage record, I bet y'all can guess what he said... "Was that when she married Fred?"
Anyway, they did not have records there, but did ultimately get me to the right source, which is the state capitol, Baton Rouge, where to go if the record is over 50 years old. So, I looked it up on their database, and sure enough, there was Edward Culpepper marrying Virginia McMath in March 1929 in Orleans Parish... so, of course, Huey rips off a check for $5.00 to obtain a copy of this document...why not?
And this led me to the new Gingerology poll...which of the five gooberheads that married (and subsequently lost) Ginger, was the LEAST Goobery? They all have their ups and downs (mainly downs), as I will break down as follows:
Hubby #1: Jack Culpepper
Pro - Was Ginger's first 'crush' - was also in show biz, so could have been a great help in her career
Con - Raving alcoholic who ended up keeping Ginger's career back, tried to jump out of a window and drag Ginger along
Hubby #2: Lew Ayres
Pro - Another major 'crush' for Ginger - pretty big name actor at the time
Con - Another lush who didn't really play the husband role well - partied all the time - Ginger hitting peak of popularity with Fred was more than he could take
Hubby #3: Jack Briggs
Pro - Unassuming 'bit' actor, war vet - 'genuine'
Con - Another one bit by the alcohol bug - could not handle the star that was Ginger
Hubby #4: Jacques Bergerac
Pro - Ginger was quite smitten with him - seemed to be an upbeat type, nice, true to Ginger
Con - Ended up running around on Ginger, which is totally inconceivable to Huey
Hubby #5: William Marshall
Pro - As a aspiring actor/director, Ginger had a sense of security he would be a 'rock' - gave the appearance of a 'family man'
Con - Ends up as a drunken sot like most of the others, was abusive to Ginger, effectively swore her off of movies (see "The Confession")
Well there you have it... Huey is bristling just having to write those little synopses about those clowns... but if anything, I have to hand THIS to each of them... they each DID win Ginger's heart, and that is something I am admittedly in awe of... but...they are STILL gooberheads, the whole bleedin' lot of them...
Vote early and often!
Keep It Gingery, y'all!
VKMfan
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2013 Alternate Oscars
3 days ago
Thats awesome that you were able to obtain a copy of their marriage certificate. Definitely an unique addition to a Ginger collection. I would have never thought to look into that sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteAs far as her husbands go, I cant decide which one was the lesser gooberhead. It seems like the more she depended on them, the stupider or more gooberheadish they were.
Im glad you had a good trip to New Orleans and great post!
Really?? You had to make it the LEAST gooberheady (love the phrase by the way). That's like six of one, half a dozen of the other. They are all idiots in their own special little ways (as you so nicely pointed out) :) But seeing as you are asking one to choose, I believe I might as well go with the one Ginger said she would have tried to reconcile with, which was Lew.
ReplyDeleteYes, let's be fair to Lew. Ginger didn't blame him, so why should we? Besides Ginger doesn't sound very steadily herself:
ReplyDelete"Also, to be absolutely candid, I found it quite interesting to be a single again." (page 261)
Ginger is very honest and I like that. Her friend Cary Grant tells us more, on page 217:
"She, whom I love, I would have free, even from me. I need space around me and I want that for you too."
Ginger calls this "his unselfishness" - I would call this just fear of bond. And I ask myself whether Ginger was really ready to be a wife. If she chose five times the wrong men, you can't blame it on the men alone. Maybe she was afraid to get 'Mr. Right' ...
Well, I can understand that - I need my independence too. Ginger's problem was, that she was dreaming of ideal marriage-clichés, although this was impossible. You can't be superstar and conventional wife at one time.
Hmm tough question. Im sure its hard for us because were all so pro-Ginger! But seriously it is a tough question. Ayers got jealous - like a real life "A Star is Born". Briggs started out a good guy but apparently went off to war and came back someone else (btw what is with that mustache he has in some pictures???), Bergerac....don't get me started. And Marshall...thats the one I think we all wish we could have been there and said "No Ginger stop!"
ReplyDeleteI often wonder how much of an influence Lela was on Ginger's marriages....or their failures. Spouse/mother-in-law relationships are always historically shaky, and add the pressure of being married to Ginger/Lela (because let's face it, they came as a package deal) I can imagine some resentments brewing.
ReplyDeleteThat does NOT excuse the husbands from being drunken louses, though!
Gingerella, Lela withdrew when her young daughter was going to marry Culpepper. She gave Ginger just a warning, but she was reasonable enough, not to interfere. Later it was Ginger who asked Lela if they could live together again. And Ginger says herself, Lela wasn't frenetic in that moment, but she did it for Ginger. Lela loved her independence herself and independent people avoid to touch their neighbors independence. Though she was a loving an true mother. I would thank God if I had such a mother!
ReplyDeleteCouples of creative artists need to be extremely honest. If you're somewhere in a creative process you can't interrupt, to follow your partner into a weekend vacation. Maybe she just has an idea for a new painting and as soon as this is done he has already begun to write a new book and needs to be alone. - Such a marriage is possible, if they both are honest: We can't be a normal couple and we wont, but we still love each other.
ReplyDeleteWhy not? I heard weekend marriages are quite happy ones. He works in Baltimore, she in San Francisco and over the weekend they meet in their little house in Oklahoma. If they really love each other, they're happy to see each other at least.
I changed my vote to Culpepper, because he was the worst. This means, my vote doesn't count, because I don't really mean it. I've just decided to keep out of this. It's Ginger's private affair. What do I know about Ayres? If he was partying all the time, he's not my man, because I hate parties. I'm afraid I was influenced by Ginger, when I voted for him. Well my philosophy is different from Ginger's.
ReplyDelete_____________________
Anyway, what can we rely on in life, if not on marriage? THE MAJOR & THE MINOR had caused an earthquake already and changed my film-likings quite a lot. Now ROBERTA causes a really heavy earthquake: Maybe this is my best film of all films ever. How could one dare to make another musical film after that divine masterpiece? - Please not another earthquake, I'm all confused!
FINAL POLL RESULTS:
ReplyDeleteLew Ayres: 13 votes
Jacques Bergerac: 1 vote
Remaining gooberheads: zip, nil, nada, zilch.
Thanks to all who voted, although in retrospect, this one was pretty much a slam dunk, it appears...