It is often said that Hollywood marriages differ from marriages of the common public. It’s evident that marriages between celebrities in the limelight tend to break more easily. Hollywood marriages can be very short and often accompanied by messy breakups and divorces. While this may not be true for all celebrity couples, many people are proof of this fact. There are actors who have been married multiple times and some have even married four or five times. One such celebrity was James Caan.
James Caan was an American actor who was best known for his role in ‘The Godfather‘. He received Academy Awards as well as Golden Globe nominations in his career and even won a Saturn Award. He also received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1978. Caan was married four times in his life and had five children from these marriages. If you want to know who his ex-wives are and where they are now, you are in the right place.
Related: ‘The Godfather’ Actor James Caan Passes Away At 82. Hollywood Pays Tribute To The Legend
James Caan’s First Marriage
Actor James Caan was first married to Dee Jay Mathis from 1961 to 1966. The couple dated for two years before tying the knot in front of friends and family. Dee Jay Mathis was also an actress before her marriage. She has worked in films such as ‘Frankie and Johnny‘ and ‘The Passy‘ which were released in the 1960s.
Caan was getting started in Broadway as well as movies during this time. Caan acted in films like ‘The Glory Guys‘ and ‘Lady in a Cage‘. The couple had a daughter named Tara Caan in 1964. But the two got separated and divorced in 1966 soon after the birth of their daughter. Both the mother and daughter have stayed out of the limelight since Mathis and Caan divorced.
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Actor’s Second Marriage To Sheila Ryan
The actor then got married for a second time. Caan married Sheila Marie Ryan in January 1976. Sheila was the ex-girlfriend of singer Elvis Presley, but the union did not last long as the couple got divorced just a year later in 1977. They had a son named Scott Caan who is also an actor. Scott Caan has appeared in films like ‘Gone in 60 Seconds‘, ‘Ocean’s Eleven‘, and ‘Varsity Blues‘.
Sheila Ryan was also an actress and a model. She was the cover model for Playboy magazine in October 1973. Ryan also acted in the TV show ‘Hunter‘ and movies like ‘Shelter from the Storm’, ‘Road House’, and ‘Lone Star Blue‘. During the last few years of her life, she struggled with cancer. Sheila Ryan ultimately died in September 2012 after a long battle with cancer.
Third Marriage Of James Caan
Ingrid Hajek was James Caan’s third wife. James Caan married Ingrid Hajek in September 1990. Hajek is a model and life coach. She has worked for many entertainment magazines and companies. She married Caan in California and had a son with him named Alexander James Caan in 1991. The couple divorced in 1994 after many struggles between the couple.
People speculated that one of the reasons for their failed marriage was Heidi Fleiss’ revelations about her affair with James Caan. Fleiss revealed in 1994 that she was in a relationship with Caan while he was married to Hajek in 1992. She claimed that she visited multiple sets where Caan used to film and spent time with him. Although Caan never divulged the truth of the affair, he and Hajek divorced soon after.
James Caan’s Last Marriage to Linda Stokes
James Caan’s fourth and final marriage was with costume designer and actress Linda Stokes. Caan and Stokes married in October 1995 and were together for almost two decades before divorcing in 2017. The couple had two sons named James Arthur Caan and Jacob Nicholas Caan. They were born in 1995 and 1998 respectively.
Caan and Stokes both tried to divorce each other twice, first in 2005 and then in 2009. During both instances, they filed for divorce but later reconciled. They finally divorced in 2017 retaining joint custody of their sons. Caan had been very vocal about the negative impact of the divorce. He complained about how he had to take up unwanted roles just to provide spousal and child support. This was his last marriage before he died on July 6, 2022, because of a heart attack.
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