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Linda Christian Profile
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Photo gallery |
| (Blanca Rosa Welter) |
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| 13 November 23 | is born in Tampico, Mexico. Her father's a Dutch executive with Shell Oil; her mother is of German, Spanish, and French descent. Her sister will become Mexican actress Ariadne Welter. |
| 44 | is discovered for the movies after a fashion show in Beverly Hills |
| Late 46 | meets Tyrone Power for the first time in Acapulco, where he's making Captain from Castile, and she's filming Tarzan and the Mermaids / meets Power for the first time in the lobby of the Grand Hotel in Rome |
| declines the offer to run the Churubusco Studios in Mexico |
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| dates Turhan Bey while he's filming Adventures of Casanova but has been quite popular with Mexico's ex-president, Miguel Allemande |
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| 27 January 47 | marries Tyrone Power in Rome; an audience with Pope Pius XII follows |
| 49 | the marriage begins to disintegrate two-and-a-half years after the wedding |
| October 51 | her daughter Romina Francesca is born |
| December 52 | Ty asks her for his freedom in Nassau while she's pregnant |
| 53 | is supposed to do Mississippi Gambler opposite Power but loses her part to Piper Laurie |
| her co-star Richard Conte has some amorous ideas on the set of Slaves of Babylon |
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| is visiting her mother in Mexico City when the final break from Power comes |
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| 12 / 13 September 53 | her daughter Taryn Stephanie is born |
| Christmas 53 | invites her teenage chum Tita Purdom, wife of aspiring British actor Edmund Purdom, to a Christmas Eve party at the Powers' Bel Air mansion. She and Tita attended the same school in Haifa, Palestine. Soon after the party, Purdom moves into the Powers' guest house, while his wife and child remain at the garage apartment. |
| 54 | while Ty's at the studio, she and Purdom play a game of motorized follow-the-leader; their destinations are two hamburger joints in the area |
| the Powers and the Purdoms leave for a five-day Mexican vacation and make a foursome in excursions to Hollywood nightspots |
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| in order to marry her, Purdom asks for a divorce from Tita. After an argument she ends up in a Los Angeles rest home, suffering from a nervous breakdown. |
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| meets actor Edmund Purdom for the first time while filming Athena |
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| Late 54 | separates from Power |
| November 54 | the "perfect marriage" between Tyrone and her is finished |
| 55 | is supposed to do Solomon and Sheba opposite Power, but both refuse |
| 3 May 55 | divorces Tyrone Power in Santa Monica Superior Court, charging mental cruelty. Ty gives her an estimated $1,000,000 for his freedom. The "reasons" behind his generosity are sizzling. Linda has "an ace in the hole." She also receives custody of their two daughters for 10 months a year. The name of Purdom isn't mentioned. |
| Purdom proposes to her, but she has something more urgent on her mind |
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| June 55 | with her and Purdom it's now a matter of when and where |
| September 55 | rumors run rampant that Purdom has run out of money, and she has run out on him |
| October 55 | returns from Europe on the same plane as Purdom and announces they plan to be married in 14 or 15 months |
| December 55 | MGM is unhappy about the news concerning Purdom and the soon-to-be-ex Mrs. Tyrone Power |
| June 56 | she and Purdom garner plenty of space in the British press when she is asked why she hasn't returned $150,000 in gems from Bobby Schlesinger |
| 7 / 8 August 56 | divorces Power in London |
| Christmas 56 | Purdom can’t find her because she is off to St. Moritz, Switzerland, looking for a millionaire to support her in the style in which she has become accustomed |
| 57 | takes up with a Spanish marquis, Alfonso de Portago, who dies in an automobile accident the same year |
| December 57 | is spotted by Brazilian mining and metals millionaire Francisco “Baby” Pignatari at a Rome restaurant; he is in Rome to celebrate the divorce from his second wife. A few days after he meets Linda, the two are on an around-the-world trip with stopovers in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Cairo, Tokyo, Honolulu, Panama City, and Mexico City. |
| among the hundreds of girls bedded by Pignatari, she’s voted “the best lay of all time.” They were introduced by ex-Warner confidant Richard Gully. |
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| 58 | her sizzling love affair with Purdom fizzles into nothingness |
| 14 February 58 | her global tour with Pignatari ends in Rio on Valentine’s Day |
| 60 | is "Azalea Queen" at the Azalea Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina |
| publishes her memoirs, Linda: My Own Story, in New York |
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| 25 March 62 | marries Purdom in Mexico City |
| 63 | divorces Purdom |
| 64 | while filming The Moment of Truth, she falls for bullfighter Luis Dominguin. Back in Rome, she’s frequently visited at her terraced penthouse in Parioli by her bullfighter friends, who present her with the ears of the bulls they have slaughtered. |
| June 64 | her pet Chihuahua, jealous over the missing attention he receives over the bullfighters, jumps to his death from her terrace |
| c. 64 | makes her home in Spain for seven years |
| 65 | refuses to consent when her daughter Romina is offered a screen contract at age 14 |
| 02 | lives in Mexico |
| 22 July 11 | her daughter Romina announces her death at age 87 in Palm Desert, California, from colon cancer |
| Sources: "Linda Christian: Enchantress of the Screen" in Classic Images, "Noreen Nash: Encountering the Phantom from Space" by Paul Parla and Charles P. Mitchell, Screen World, Motion Picture, Made in Heaven by Victoria Houseman, Movieland, The Hollywood Reporter, Photoplay, Silver Screen, Hollywood Babylon II by Kenneth Anger, "The Man Hollywood Trusted" by Amy Fine Collins in Vanity Fair, Confidential | |
| Recommended Books: | |
| Links: Filmography | |