Jerry Lee Lewis’ Former Child Bride Myra Williams Is Telling All
Myra Williams, known as the former child bride of rocker Jerry Lee Lewis, is sharing her side of the story. She is opening up about their marriage in an episode of Investigation Discovery’s Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? Lewis was in the generation of midcentury performers such as Elvis Presley and Little Richard and was best known for his song “Great Balls of Fire.” He passed away in 2022, and while he has an incredible musical legacy, his personal life was very controversial.
Williams met Lewis after her father invited him to move to Memphis to start his music career. Williams’ father and Lewis were cousins, which makes their eventual marriage even more strange. Lewis was 21 years old and Williams was 13 when he moved in with her family. She said that he started showing up at her school, and at first, she thought he just wanted to be friends. Of course, it is not uncommon to be friendly with a younger member of the family, but then things took a turn.
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“I thought he was being nice to me,” she revealed. “I was idolizing Jerry and looking up to him… What I didn’t know was that he was falling in love with me… Jerry would kiss me. At first, I didn’t know what to think about that. I mean, it was nice, but I was confused. Jerry came back home one day and said, ‘Come outside, I want to show you something.’ He goes and pulls this paper out. I looked at it, and it said, ‘Marriage License.’ … I said, ‘You mean we’re married?’ And he said, ‘No, no, no. We’re not married. We’re gonna get married.’”
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Another day, she said he tricked her into thinking they were going to the movies, but they got married instead. She admitted that she doesn’t even remember the ceremony but her father found the marriage license and, of course, was very angry. He headed to Sun Records with a gun, where Lewis was recording music, but Williams’ mother called and warned producer Sam Phillips that he was coming there and he was armed. Phillips told Lewis to leave and he did.
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Williams said that her father eventually calmed down and she went to live with Lewis because married women couldn’t go to school in Tennessee at the time. While their relationship was tumultuous, Williams admitted, “I had to become the adult. Jerry did two things — he played music, and he loved me.” Lewis’ career was skyrocketing but their marriage would prove to be harmful to his career. The press found out about Williams, how old she was, and that Lewis was actually still legally married to his second wife, Jane Mitcham. His reputation was ruined.
Despite the controversy, they stayed married for a while and had a son named Stevie. Sadly, he drowned when he was just three years old. A year later, they had their daughter, Phoebe. Lewis aimed to get his career back by switching to country music and started working more again. However, this was the time when he began taking amphetamines and cheated on Williams. They divorced in 1970.
Learn the full story by watching Williams’ episode of Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? on Max.
Hollywood's Nastiest Feuds
November 2017
Between gossip and scandals Hollywood has a long history of it!
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