Tumultuous Couples a to z

Actresses Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres began dating in 1997, soon after DeGeneres publicly came out. They dated until 2000, when they had a reportedly tough breakup. Just after moving out of their shared home, Heche was picked up by police who found her wandering California's Central valley. Heche said she was looking for a spaceship to pick her up, and later released a memoir about living with her alter ego "Celestia." In 2001, Heche got married—to a cameraman.

Jennifer Lopez was married in 2002, when she met actor Ben Affleck on the set of box office bomb Gigli. Lopez got a divorce, and she and Ben Affleck got together. The famous duo earned the nickname "Bennifer" in the press, but in January 2004 they called it off. They blamed too much media attention for the breakup.

Musical duo Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston married in 1992, and had one daughter, Bobby Kristina. In 2003, Brown was arrested for misdemeanor battery, for allegedly hitting Houston and shouting epithets. That didn't stop the family from starring in their own reality show, Being Bobby Brown, in 2005. Two years later Houston and Brown divorced.

In July 2004, after three months of dating, Britney Spears got engaged to backup dancer Kevin Federline. They married in September, and had two sons together. Spears filed for divorce in November 2006. In 2007, Federline was awarded custody of their children, as well as $20,000 a month in child support, after Spears experienced a breakdown. She's since cleaned up her act and has increased visitation rights.

In November 1998, Baywatch actress and Playboy model Carmen Electra wed eccentric basketball star (and sometime cross-dresser) Dennis Rodman in Las Vegas. Rodman filed for an annullment nine days later, claiming he was drunk at the ceremony. The couple had an on-and-off relationship until they divorced the next year, and in the meantime both were arrested for a domestic disturbance.

Pop star Rihanna and rising star Chris Brown seemed like a golden couple. It all fell apart in February 2008, when Brown turned himself in for domestic violence charges. Leaked photos of a badly beaten Rihanna did major damage to Brown's career, and the relationship was over.

Hollywood's leading lady Elizabeth Taylor was married eight times—and two of them were to Richard Burton. The two fell in love on the set of the 1963 film Cleopatra, and though both were married at the time, by March 1964 they divorced their previous spouses and married each other. Their turbulent relationship kept them in the papers, and they divorced in 1974 and remarried in 1975, only to split again a year later.

Frida Kahlo first met Diego Rivera when she was an art student hoping to get advice on her career from the famous Mexican muralist. Although Rivera was married, a courtship ensued. They wed in 1929 (he was 42, she was 22) much to the disapproval of Frida's parents, who referred to the couple as "the elephant and the dove." With volatile tempers and countless infidelities, the marriage was notoriously tumultuous. The couple divorced in 1939 only to remarry a year later, though the second marriage was just as turbulent as the first. Both have long been recognized as important painters who achieved great international popularity during their lifetimes.

In 2002, four years after the death of his wife Linda, former Beatle Paul McCartney married model Heather Mills—without a prenuptial agreement. After having a baby, the couple separated in 2006. Mills talked to the press, and the divorce turned bitter. In 2008, Mills walked away with $50 million.

Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson met while filming romantic comedy You, Me and Dupree. Their six-month affair reportedly ended Hudson's marriage to rocker Chris Robinson, and they split in May 2007. In August Wilson, who has battled with addiction and depression in the past, attempted suicide. The relationship was on-and-off throughout 2009.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin met on set in 1990, and married in 1993. They divorced in 2002. They've since been battling about custody of their daughter, Ireland. In an infamous 2007 voicemail, Baldwin called his daughter a "thoughtless little pig." He later wrote a book detailing Basinger's efforts to keep their daughter from him.

Model and comedienne Lucille Ball met Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz in 1940 while filming Too Many Girls. They fell for one another instantly and eloped later that year. In 1951, they debuted the hit television series I Love Lucy, starring as the zany middle-class couple Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. With near-perfect timing and a genius for ad-libbing, the red-haired Ball cruised through 179 episodes. The duo also founded Desilu Productions in 1950, a successful independent television production company. Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1960, ending one of television's greatest marriages, though they remained friends until his death in 1986.

On June 25, 1956, playwright Arthur Miller married Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe. The unlikely couple faced a series of hardships, including Miller's investigation for communist sympathies, and Monroe's depression, miscarriages and drug use. They divorced in 1961.

Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson married Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee in 1995, just a few days after meeting. Things got tumultuous fast—a sex tape from the newlyweds' honeymoon was stolen from their home, and made the new couple infamous. They had two sons before Anderson filed for divorce—twice. Lee and Anderson reconciled and split up repeatedly before they broke up for good. Anderson later said she contracted Hepatitis C from sharing tattoo needles with Lee.

Prince Charles proposed to a young Lady Diana Spencer in February 1981, and the royal couple were married in July. The couple had two sons, William and Harry, but the relationship soon became troubled. Charles rekindled a romance with an old girlfriend, Camilla Parker-Bowles, who was also married. To the dismay of the royal family, Diana spoke to the press about Charles' infidelity, as well as her own self-destructive behavior. By the late 80s, Charles and Diana were effectively separated, and their divorce was made final in 1996.