Not every love story gets the happy ending that it deserves, and in the case of some real couples, their romances ended in ways nobody could’ve imagined.
The flight that never arrived
As a member of the Kennedy family, nobody was expecting John F. Kennedy Jr. to have a quiet wedding. But that’s exactly what happened. In September 1996, he married Carolyn Bessette on Cumberland Island, Georgia, although their marriage lasted less than three years.
Kennedy was flying Carolyn and her sister Lauren to Martha’s Vineyard on July 16, 1999, when their plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. All three on board died. Later, investigators concluded that Kennedy likely became disoriented while he was flying over dark water. He was only 38, and Carolyn was 33.
The secret wedding in Texas
Singer Selena Quintanilla’s relationship with bandmate Chris Pérez was your typical forbidden love story. Her father wasn’t thrilled when they started dating, and he even fired Chris from the band at one point. But they continued to see each other. The pair secretly married in Texas on April 2, 1992, and Selena’s father eventually came to accept their relationship.
Then tragedy struck. On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot by her former fan club president, Yolanda SaldÃvar, in Corpus Christi. SaldÃvar had been fired shortly before due to her stealing money from the fan club. Selena died a few hours later at the hospital. She was just 23. Chris was left without the woman he had been hoping to start a family with.
The final trip home
In March 1939, actors Clark Gable and Carole Lombard got married and cemented their position as Hollywood couple royalty. The pair met several years earlier. They eventually settled into their married life together on a ranch in Encino, California, and things were going pretty well.
Everything changed in January 1942. That was when Carole traveled to Indianapolis to help promote war bonds during World War II, but she never made it home. Her plane crashed into a mountain in Nevada on January 16, and all 22 people aboard died. Carole was only 33. She’d been married to Clark for less than three years.
The romance behind the cameras
It’s hard to imagine a time when Meryl Streep was relatively unknown, but it existed. She met John Cazale in 1976 while she was doing a New York theater production. The pair fell in love. They seemed to be destined for greatness together, until John developed lung cancer. The pair continued working together while he was seriously ill, however.
They worked together on 1978’s The Deer Hunter, and Meryl stayed by his side as his condition worsened. In March of the same year, John passed away at the age of 42. The pair never got the chance to marry.
The marriage built on laughter
Some of the greatest love stories began on a movie set. Take Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner’s relationship, for example, which began in 1981 during work on Hanky Panky. The pair fell for each other and married in France in September 1984. The two comedians had a talent for making the audience laugh, as well as each other.
But they never got to have the family they wanted. Gilda suffered from pregnancy complications and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1986. She was given treatment that initially seemed to work, but then the illness returned, and she died on May 20, 1989, aged 42.
The proposal in front of an audience
Musician Johnny Cash’s proposal to June Carter was one for the newspapers. He proposed during a performance in London, Ontario, on February 22, 1968, after all. Carter said yes, and eight days later, the pair got hitched. They stayed together for 35 years and had a son together.
On May 15, 2003, June died after complications from heart surgery, and by that time Johnny himself had been dealing with health problems. He passed away on September 12 of that same year, due to complications of diabetes. The pair had spent decades together, and then died a mere four months apart.
The daughter they never brought home
Actor Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Syme were expecting a daughter, named Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, together in December 1999. Sadly, she was stillborn only a few weeks before her due date. The loss hit the couple hard and helped lead to their separation. The pair remained close, though. They reunited in 2001.
On April 2, 2001, Jennifer was involved in a car accident in Los Angeles and died at the age of 28. Keanu helped to carry her coffin at the funeral. She was laid to rest next to their daughter, ending what was a terribly sad story.
The honeymoon that became a television show
The thing with Steve Irwin and Terri Raines was that they weren’t exactly a conventional couple, but they were definitely madly in love with each other. The pair met in 1991 at Steve’s family’s wildlife park in Queensland, Australia. They got married in Eugene, Oregon, the next year and spent their honeymoon filming crocodile relocations, naturally.
The same footage became part of Steve’s show The Crocodile Hunter, and the couple went on to have two children, Bindi and Robert. Everything changed on September 4, 2006. During filming, Steve was pierced in the chest by a stingray’s barb, and he died at age 44. The couple had spent 14 years together, but now, Terri was left widowed.
The photographer who married a Beatle
Paul McCartney met his future wife, Linda Eastman, in London in 1967. This was during the height of Beatlemania. The pair got married two years later, and Linda became a member of Paul’s band, Wings. The pair had three children together and also raised Linda’s daughter, Heather, from her previous marriage.
Everything seemed perfect. In fact, their relationship lasted nearly three decades, which was quite an achievement, given how much time Paul spent in the public eye. Linda was later unfortunately diagnosed with breast cancer, and she died at their ranch in Tucson, Arizona, on April 17, 1998. She was 56.
The accident on the beginner’s slope
Going for a skiing lesson seemed harmless enough, and that’s probably what actor Liam Neeson and his wife, Natasha Richardson, were thinking in March 2009. Richardson was visiting Quebec’s Mont Tremblant resort at the time. They’d been married since 1994 and had two sons together.
It was during that ski lesson, however, that Natasha fell and hit her head. She seemed to be unhurt at first and declined medical attention, although her condition soon worsened. Liam rushed from Toronto to be by her side. She died in New York on March 18 at the age of 45.
The couple who stayed together on the Titanic
Isidor and Ida Straus boarded the Titanic on its fateful voyage in April 1912. They’d been married for over four decades, with Isidor being a wealthy businessman who co-owned Macy’s. The pair were heading back to New York after they’d spent some time in Europe.
But then the ship hit an iceberg and began sinking. Isidor was offered a seat on a lifeboat because he was quite old, yet he refused special treatment, and Ida wouldn’t leave without him. The couple both died when the ship sank completely. While investigators did manage to recover Isidor’s body later on, Ida’s was never identified.
The daughter left behind
Michael Hutchence was the lead singer of alternative band INXS, and he began a relationship with British television presenter Paula Yates in the 1990s. The pair had a daughter together, named Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, in July 1996. But their family life was brutally cut short.
Michael died by s***ide on November 22, 1997, and Paula was left to raise their daughter alone. Tragedy struck once again three years later, as Paula died from an accidental h***in overdose on September 17, 2000. Tiger Lily became an orphan at only four years old.
The identical cause of death
Actress Brittany Murphy married her boyfriend, Simon Monjack, in May 2007, and the pair lived together in a Hollywood Hills house with Brittany’s mother. But then, on December 20, 2009, Brittany collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital. She was pronounced dead, with pneumonia listed as the cause. She was only 32.
A few months later, on May 23, 2010, Simon was found dead in the same house, and he’d also died from pneumonia. Brittany’s mother, Sharon Murphy, claimed that toxic mold in the house killed the pair, although this was dismissed by the Chief Coroner.
The singer’s final flight
Patsy Cline’s career was on the up and up when she married Charlie Dick in September 1957. She was just beginning to experience musical success as a country singer, and the pair had two children together, Julie and Randy.
Then, on March 3, 1963, Patsy performed at a benefit concert in Kansas City, Kansas. Poor weather delayed her return journey until March 5. She never made it back. Her small plane crashed near Camden, Tennessee, and killed everyone aboard. She was only 30 years old.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
14 historical relationships ruined by terrible timing
We’d like to believe the best romances fail due to intense drama or sudden upheaval, yet more often than not, the culprit is simply Father Time.
