MacLaine’s many men

last updated 8 January 2015

Shirley MacLaine has led a promiscuous life, said Chrissy Iley in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.). During her 28-year open marriage to businessman Steve Parker, which ended in 1982, the actress was rarely without a lover. She slept with many of her leading men, including Robert Mitchum and Yves Montand. And there were romances with world leaders like Canadian Premier Pierre Trudeau and Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. “I was never possessive with my husband or him with me,” says MacLaine, 79. “That’s why I had so many affairs.” She claims to have never had her heart broken, but her bed-hopping did result in other injuries. In her 50s she had a facelift, and ruptured her stitches during an especially intense orgasm. She grins widely at the memory. “He was a composer. He was bisexual, and I knew it, and he didn’t love me at all.” MacLaine also had a fling with actor Danny Kaye, who—Hollywood rumor has it—was also gay. “He was not. Or maybe a little, I don’t know.” Why was she so popular with bisexual men? “Well, they weren’t [gay] with me. Or maybe I was the man.” She laughs. “Maybe that’s what it was. Oh my god, I hadn’t thought of that.”