Top 10 Hollywood red hot lovers

February 6, 10:37 AMLA Entertainment ExaminerJames Hamilton

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Lives and loves of electrifying Hollywood couples have been fodder for movie magazines and tabloid newspapers since the very beginnings of the movie industry.  Some of those red hot romances are tempestuous, even scandalous, while others make Romeo and Juliet pale by comparison.  With Valentine’s Day approaching, a list of the Top 10 hottest lovers in Hollywood history feels like a natural.

Number 1—Eyes of the world today are on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who use their celebrity for an amazing variety of charitable causes.  While their romantic chemistry is almost legendary, their love story also involves a houseful of children, some adopted and some of their own, to put their money where their hearts are.  Brad and Angelina share not only an electrifying attraction to each other, but also a commitment to use their celebrity to make the world a better place.

Number 2—Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton kept the headlines sizzling during the course of their two marriages to each other.  The whole world watched every move of their stormy but romantic relationship which captivated the imaginations of everyone.  While the relationship could not be sustained, it was one that remains a story of romance and passion that was larger than life while it lasted.  Elizabeth Taylor is another example of a star using her celebrity for a great humanitarian cause in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Number 3—Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall lit up the screen as well as the magazines and newspapers with their May/December romance.  They met on the set of To Have and Have Not when Bogart was in his forties and Bacall was only nineteen.  Complicated by the fact that Bogart was in an unhappy marriage, they kept their relationship as discreet as possible until they were finally free to marry.  They remained an electrifying couple until Bogart’s death.

Number 4—Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy were two more of Hollywood’s May/December romances.  The two were a contrast of style that worked both on screen and off.  Their movie roles together were usually ones where the sparks flew between an aggressive woman and an easy going but often chauvinistic male.  So popular were Tracy and Hepburn that they appeared in nine movies together commanding great box office and a devoted fan base.

Number 5—Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were both married to someone else when they first met on the set of No Man of Her Own.  It was not until later that the two began to click and, after divorcing their separate spouses, announced that they would marry.  Lombard, known for her quirky wit, complemented Gable’s man’s-man image.  Gable was devastated when Carole died in a plane crash while she was touring to sell war bonds during WWII.

Number 6—Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio brought together the worlds of film and sports in their brief but intense relationship.  There was an unmistakable chemistry between these to superstars of their separate worlds.  While their marriage did not last, DiMaggio demonstrated his continued passion for Marilyn after her tragic death by having red roses placed on her grave every day.

Number 7—Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini were a scandal in their day that even had the United States Senate in an uproar.  When the star of such films as Joan of Arc and The Bells of Saint Mary’s gave birth to a son, not by her husband but by Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, the moral indignation of the 1950s literally drove Bergman out of the country until her triumphful return in an Academy Award winning role as Anastasia.  What was a scandal when it began became a love story of dramatic proportions.

Number 8—Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti met and fell in love while he was still married in Italy, a country that, at the time, did not allow divorce.  Although Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce, it was not recognized in his home country and he and Loren were forced to annul their Mexican marriage.  Later the pair became French citizens, Ponti got his divorce, and they entered into a 50-year marriage that lasted until Ponti’s death in January of 2007.

Number 9—Stephanie Powers and William Holden fascinated the public during their romance which saw them actively supporting wildlife preservation.  After Holden’s death, Powers became the president of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation and director of the Mount Kenya Game Reserve in Africa. 

Number 10—Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks were arguably the first red hot couple in Hollywood.  During their honeymoon in 1920, they were mobbed by adoring fans in Europe and it is said that visiting heads of state to the White House often requested to visit the couple at their Pickfair Estate in Beverly Hills, California.  Pickford and Fairbanks began the tradition of Hollywood Royalty, and people stood up when they entered a room.

If you have other Hollywood romantic couples on your list, be sure to leave a comment in the comment box at the end of this article.