“Till death do us part” is the assurance of longevity in a marriage for most people.
But when it comes to Uma Thurman and Gary Oldman, these words held little truth. They got divorced
after less than two years. What went wrong? Was it Gary’s alcoholism and obsessive behavior?
Or was it the 12-year age gap and the fact that Uma was only 20 years old when they wed?
While Gary Oldman’s talent is undeniable, the actor’s scandalous personal life has always
undermined his reputation. He really knows how to hold down his career by
scoring big roles like Winston Churchill, Dracula , and Sirius Black in Harry Potter.
But he seems to be less skilled at holding down a marriage. He has been married nearly half a dozen
times. With six engagements, five marriages, and four divorces; one’s head would be spinning.
Oldman’s first wife was actress, Lesley Manville. The pair met during a play at
London’s Royal Court Theatre and married in 1987. They had a son together, Alfie,
but in 1989 the actor made a drastic decision — moving to America to pursue his dreams. It
seems like Hollywood was calling his name, and he chose to leave his wife and three-month-old son.
There may have been another reason for this decision, as in 18-year-old Uma Thurman.
There are several possible scenarios surrounding the actors’ meeting. Allegedly,
Sean Penn introduced Thurman to Oldman while the men were shooting State of Grace in 1989.
Another possibility would be Uma meeting Gary on set while dating the director of the film.
There doesn’t appear to be much backing for either of these theories.
In 2014, the State of Grace director cleared it all up,
somewhat unexpectedly. He said that Gary and Uma were dating WHILE they were filming State Of Grace
and got married right after the movie wrapped. Either way, it does look like there was a
cross-over between Gary’s marriage with Lesley and his relationship with Uma.
She said they met in England when she was 18, which means they met in 1988 or early
1989 – while he was still married. Could that be the real reason he left Lesley and his son?
It didn’t take long for wife number one to file for divorce because Oldman clearly wasn’t taking
his parental and spousal duties seriously. Manville never discussed the split but later
said he was not the perfect parent he would have people believe. “He plays a small part,
with the accent on the small, however much you might have read in the press about how
wonderful a father he is,” she revealed. The couple’s divorce was quick and was
finalized in 1990. Only a few months after that, the Pulp Fiction actress and Oldman were married.
Thurman loved her husband, helping him with his diet and trying to persuade him to lead
a healthier lifestyle. The actor wanted her to accept him as he was, with all his vices.
By 1992, Uma has had enough. She dumped the actor via a “Dear Gary” letter, saying he was impossible
to live with. Her final straw with Oldman was after an incident where he was arrested for
drunken driving. She later said that it takes a special kind of woman to put up with him. Ouch!
Their marriage and subsequent divorce coincided with a decline in the actress’s career.
She was careful to select her roles so she could earn respect for her skills and not her looks.
Her sultry role in Henry and June had people believing this was her real-life persona.
"We were deluged with phone calls and had to unlist our number.
People of various stripes kept trying to gain access to her through us.
Weird people have fallen in love with her image. One guy from Brooklyn kept writing letters for
a year. We kept ignoring them and letting them pile up. Finally, he sent a switchblade with a
note that said, 'Is this what you want me to do? Kill myself?'" shared Thurman's father, Bob.
This incident and trying to make her relationship with her husband work, prompted the Dangerous
Liaisons star to take a break from acting. "I preferred not to work if I was going to
be pigeonholed as the sexual flavor of the month. I have too much respect for acting," she said.
In retrospect, both actors appear to agree that their union was a mistake. In fact, that was the
exact term the actress used to describe their romance. “We met when I was 18. He was 12 years
older. It was a crazy love affair that ended, as it needed to. He was my first love. I had no prior
experience. It was a mistake. Teenage weddings are among the things that don’t count,” she said.
This doesn’t mean they completely detest one another, though. Uma still says that her ex is
a truly great actor. And Gary? Well, he can joke about the divorce now. The actor is known to be
overly forthcoming in interviews and spoke about his marriage to Uma a couple of times.
“Look, relationships are very, very hard. They just are. I mean, four times, I’m not proud to
say it. My second one was for 10 minutes. I don’t think it meant very much to either of us. What can
I say about marriage? I don’t know,” he said. Speaking about the divorce and responding to
Thurman’s thoughts on living with him, the Harry Potter actor revealed that it was no picnic living
with her either. But for very different reasons. “You try living with an angel,” he said.
Uma didn’t stay single for too long, meeting Ethan Hawke on the set of 1997's Gattaca
and marrying him a year later. The couple went on to have two children and seemed to
be one of the happiest Hollywood couples. In 2005, though, they went their separate ways.
There were rumors about infidelity on both sides of what the actress said in an interview, “Our
marriage failed. I should take full responsibility for the failure of my own marriage."
But Hawke quickly shut down the rumors. "Uma and I did not split up over anybody's infidelity.
We had many problems before I ever went to Montreal to film," he said.
The real reason behind their divorce was in fact that Ethan was too immature at the time,
and he felt that he wasn’t ready for that sort of commitment, especially while he
was coming to terms with his fame as well. The Kill Bill actress hasn’t married since,
but she welcomed her third child with French banker, Arpad Busson, in 2012.
As for Gary Oldman, it didn’t take long for him to move on to his next relationship either.
He met Isabella Rossellini during the filming of Immortal Beloved in 1993,
and in just a few weeks came talk of marriage. By the end of that year, they were engaged.
The marriage to Isabella never really happened, and the pair split in 1996,
but Oldman refused to give up on love. After the split, he moved on to his third marriage
and possibly his most tumultuous one with photographer, Donya Fiorentino . The pair
quickly fell for one another after meeting at an Alcoholics Anonymous gathering in 1996.
Within five months, they were married, and Donya was pregnant with their first son.
Two years later, they had their second son. In 2001, Gary was facing divorce number three.
For years, he avoided serious romantic liaisons for the sake of his sons,
but in 2008 came Mrs. Oldman number four. He married Alexandra Edenborough , an accomplished
vocalist, cellist, and songwriter. Alexandra was 20 years younger than Gary. At the time the actor
said, “I’m not proud this is my fourth marriage. But this is a good one. Hopefully, my last one.”
Sadly, she filed for divorce in 2015, and Gary cited the age difference as the cause
of the separation without further details. The then 59-year-old actor was still determined
to find love. And what do you know, just 2 years into his fourth divorce, he married Gisele
Schmidt . After several years of being together and discussing it, the actor decided to pop the
question. And as Oldman revealed, he did it while in character as the former English Prime Minister
Sir Winston Churchill. The couple lives with her and Oldman’s sons in Los Angeles. He now shuns
the red carpet and is rarely seen at parties. Even though Uma and Gary’s marriage was short
and seemingly insignificant to both, it is still something that the actor brings up to this day.
In an interview with Playboy, he spoke about the mistakes he made early on in his career,
especially with regard to being too open in interviews.
“Now, because of the internet and all that, people just go to the fucking morgue,
open the drawer, and write, ‘Son of welder, once married to Uma Thurman. I’m so tired of it. I
was so naïve. I should have just said, 'I don’t talk about family. Next question,'” he said.
Now, both Uma Thurman and Gary Oldman seem to agree that their whirlwind romance was just that
and nothing more. We hope that they learned from their experience, though. Since their divorce,
Gary was able to take control of his life and build a healthy marriage, a flourishing career,
and a wonderful family. Uma also built a beautiful family and successful career.
Let us know what you think the biggest reason behind this couple’s divorce was.
As always, this has been Rumour Juice.