Burt Bacharach’s Spouses – The 4 Women He Married

Burt Bacharach’s spouse, who was him until his dying breath at 94, Jane Hansen, was the fourth woman to marry the composer and stayed with him the longest.

Burt Bacharach likened the partnership with collaborator Hal David, with whom he created hits like “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Alfie,” to an unlikely marriage. He also collaborated with Carole Bayer Sager, his second spouse.

An in-depth profile in a British newspaper noted that the producer’s 2013 autobiography exposed a “crass and sexist” side of him, whose insensitivity was in direct contrast to his tender tunes.

Paula Stewart and her second husband Jack Carter arrive at the premier of “Goldfinger” at DeMille Theater, on December 22, 1964. | Source: Getty Images

Burt Bacharach’s First Wife Was Paula Stewart

Broadway actress Paula Stewart, born April 9, 1929, married Burt, her accompanist on “Nice to See You,” on December 22, 1953. He also scored and accompanied her nightclub act.

Her mother, Esther Morris, advised the starlet against the union, as she thought the smooth well-dressed musician was “really not marriage material.” Morris was proven right when the couple split in 1958. Stewart had one child with her second husband of nine years, director Jack Carter.

She was in over 35 Broadway productions and starred in films like “My Favorite Martian” and “Hogan’s Heroes.” The actress has a pilot license and an impressive property portfolio, counting Michael Douglas and Roger Moore among her tenants.

Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson arrive to the 48th Academy Awards on March 29, 1976, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, in Los Angeles, California. | Source: Getty Images

Burt’s 2nd Marriage Was with Angie Dickinson

The highly acclaimed actress of “Dressed to Kill” and “Policewoman,” Angie Dickinson, tied the knot with Burt in 1965. Dickinson was very close to their one child, Lea Nikki, who was born prematurely in 1966.

The composer and the “Rio Bravo” star’s union broke down after 15 years in 1981. He revealed in 2015 that they were friendly again, catching up over dinner a few times a year.

Nikki had a high-functioning form of autism, Asperger’s syndrome. She could not pursue a career in geology, which she studied at Cal Lutheran University, due to her poor eyesight. In January 2007, she died by suicide at 40.

Composers Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach poses backstage after winning “Best Original Song” during the 54th Academy Awards on March 29, 1982, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. | Source: Getty Images

Shortly after 2nd Divorce, He Married Carole Bayer Sager

As with his first union, Burt met his next spouse, singer-songwriter Sager, in the line of duty. The song Sager wrote as a teenager, “A Groovy Kind of Love,” was a hit for many artists, such as Sonny and Cher and Phil Collins.

The duo married the same year they won an Academy Award in 1982 for “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” shared with co-writers Peter Allen and Christopher Cross. “That What Friends Are For” was another successful collaboration of the married pair.

The couple donated their publishing royalties of the Grammy-winning hit to American Foundation for AIDS Research. They had had an adopted son, Christopher Elton Bacharach, during their romantic collab that ended in divorce in 1991. She has been married to Bob Daly since 1996.

Burt Bacharach and Jane Hansen during ASCAP Honors Jimmy Jam and Terry in Beverly Hills, California, on May 24, 1993. | Source: Getty Images

In 1993 Burt Bacharach Married Jane Hansen

After three divorces, the “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” musician finally meant it when he exchanged rings with Hansen in 1994. Burt Bacharach‘s final spouse was a former ski instructor 32 years younger than him.

He counseled that if a relationship is not working out, it is best to get out.

The couple kept a notably low profile in their 29 years of marriage which only ended with his death on February 8, 2008. They have two children, Oliver Bacharach and Raleigh Bacharach.

Jane Bacharach, Burt Bacharach, Raleigh Bacharach and Oliver Bacharach attend “What’s It All About? Bacharach Reimagined” opening night at Phebe’s, on December 5, 2013, in New York City. | Source: Getty Images

Burt on His 4 Marriages: ‘I Didn’t Mean to Hurt Anybody’

Burt conceded in a 2015 profile that the womanizing lifestyle he led, which earned him the nickname Playboy of the Western World from his peers, had a few casualties:

“I thought I was a good kid, and I didn’t mean to hurt anybody, but when you wind up being married four times, there are a lot of bodies strewn in your wake.”

Burt Bacharach (R) and wife Jane Hansen bow at the curtain call during the press night performance of “Close To You: Bacharach Reimagined” at The Criterion Theatre, on October 15, 2015, in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

Burt, then 87, shared the advice he would give his 22-year-old son, Oliver. He counseled that if a relationship is not working out, it is best to get out, whatever the “emotional damage it might cause,” as you only had one life. His advice for daughter Raleigh was not to get “knocked up” in college.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Anomama