October 8: On This Day in World History … briefly
His fifth marriage to Shawn Stephens lasted 77 days, from June to August 1983, ending with her death.
1984: Another scandal rocks Jerry Lee ‘The Killer’ Lewis
The death of the fifth wife of singer Jerry Lee Lewis was the topic of a major article published in the 1984 October edition of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine. Shawn Lewis (25) died in August 1983, apparently of a methadone overdose. The magazine revealed that bloodstained clothes were found on her body. Shawn’s mother was reported to have said that her daughter had called her the day before her death saying ‘she was going to leave the violent Lewis – nicknamed ‘The Killer’.
Lewis has been married seven times: His first marriage to Dorothy Barton lasted for 20 months, from February 1952 to October 1953. His second marriage to Jane Mitchum was of dubious validity because it occurred 23 days before his divorce from Barton was final. It lasted for four years from September 1953 to October 1957. The couple had two children, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr (1954–1973) and Ronnie Guy Lewis (born 1956).
His third marriage, to Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old first cousin once removed (his first cousin’s daughter), lasted for 13 years, from December 1957 to December 1970 – although the couple went through a second marriage ceremony because his divorce from Jane Mitchum was not complete before the first ceremony took place. They had two children together Steve Allen Lewis (1959–1962) and Phoebe Allen Lewis (born 1963).
His fourth marriage to Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate, lasted from October 1971 to June 8, 1982, and they had a daughter, Lori Lee Lewis (born 1972). Pate drowned in a swimming pool at the home of a friend with whom she was staying, several weeks before divorce proceedings could be finalised.
His fifth marriage to Shawn Stephens lasted 77 days from June to August 1983, ending with her death. Journalist Richard Ben Cramer alleged that Lewis abused her and may have been responsible for her death, but the allegations have never been verified. His sixth marriage to Kerrie McCarver lasted 21 years, from April 1984 to June 2005. They have one child, Jerry Lee Lewis III (born 1987). His seventh marriage to Judith Brown began March 9, 2012.
Lewis has had six children during his marriages. In 1962, his son Steve Allen Lewis drowned in a swimming pool accident when he was three and in 1973, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jr died at the age of 19 when he overturned the Jeep he was driving.
In 1993, Lewis moved to Ireland with his family in what was suggested (but denied) to be a move to avoid issues with the Internal Revenue Service. He lived in a rented house in Westminster Road, Foxrock, Dublin, and during his time there was sued by the German company Neue Constantin Film Production GmbH for failure to appear at a concert in Munich in 1993. Lewis returned to the US in 1997 after his tax issues had been resolved by Irish promoter Kieran Cavanagh.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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