She was also his third wife. A few years ago, Rolling Stone sent me to the Lewis Ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi. Didnt He, girl? Though they were no longer together, they remained amicable throughout the rest of Lewis marriages and still keep up with each other. All of Jerrys managers told him, Do not take Myra to England, because the British press was known to rip Americans apartthats where all the tabloid journalism started. "he press made me out to be a seductive Lolita, which was as far from the truth as it gets. Light wrote that the duo were "joking and giggling, poking and swatting each other, Jerry Lee even sneaking a kiss at one point". Myra Gale Brown Trending Things grew much worse when new information came back from the States: Myra was in fact 13, not 15. The press found out after Brown accidentally told a reporter that she was Lewis's wife. He said to their seven-year-old daughter, Phoebe, who was witnessing all this, Look, Phoebe, your mamas gone crazy. Tweets & replies. He kept playing shows, from 1956 to 2020. In 2016 she published her memoir, The Spark That Survived. American actor Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis and Winona Ryder as Myra Gale Brown in the film "Great Balls of Fire!", a 1989 biopic of the famous rock 'n' roll musician. Williams maintained it was a different time, and she would now discourage any 13-year-old girl from marriage and instead pursue going to college. She revealed she was Lewis' wife, which led to considerable tabloid commentary. But a great sonofabitch. In Great Balls of Fire, Myra told of a night toward the end when Jerry came home and woke her, demanding sex. Myra Gale Brown was with Jerry Lee Lewis on his 1958 tour of England, hoping to expand his fan base, when a British reporter asked who she was. She was also Jerry Lee's second cousin, as well as the daughter of Jay 'JW' Brown, the bass player in his band. Listen to Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast, The Spill. This week, Jerry Lee will release both Rock & Roll Time, a studio album of duets, and a memoir, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, written with Rick Bragg. Options, mindsetsthis world has gone so fast the last fifty years that you cant keep up with it. Youre fine. But I never felt fine. You see, Myra did not survive that marriage. That Time Jerry Lee Lewis Married Myra Gale Brown, His 13-Year-Old Cousin. Despite this, the pair remained married for four years, and had two sons together. You indeed know what he wants, and it isnt money. If I didnt, Id be a Christian! (Greil Marcus transcribed the full, remarkable conversation in his 1975 book, Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock n Roll Music. Myra Gale Brown today known as Myra Lewis William, was an American author. They also discovered she was actually 13. erry Lee Lewis was rock & rolls original prodigal son. [4] By the time they returned to Memphis, it had been discovered that Brown was not only Lewis' wife, she was also his first cousin once removed. In his 2002 review for Rolling Stone, Milo Miles wrote: Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is not an album, its a crime scene: Jerry Lee Lewis slaughters his rivals in a 13-song set that feels like one long convulsion.. In my little mind, I couldnt believe that they could not see that I was a grown woman. I got a mean streak. I gotta lay it open sometimes.. Newspapers called for a boycott of his concerts. He could be unmerciful and abusive. After 30 years of rock n roll movies, is it too much to ask Hollywood to make a biography that reaches for insight rather than nostalgia; a film with enough imagination and heart to add to a performers artistic legacy rather than belittle it? in 2004.. Steve tragically drowned at age 3, and Phoebe grew up to become her father's manager. Myra Gale Brown se narodila 11. ervence 1944 ve Vicksburgu v Mississippi, dcei Lois a J.W. Brown joined Lewis on his tour of England following their 1957 nuptials. The 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire, which starred Dennis Quaid as Lewis and a 17-year-old Winona Ryder as Myra, was based on Williams first book of the same name. Lewis got the call and headed home. Today the world remembers Jerry Lee Lewis as one of the greatest rock 'n' roll artists of all time. Jerry Lee would never accept her child as his, and no one would ever launch any legal proceeding to prove his parentage. Around the same time, Elvis Presley was involved with Priscilla Beaulieu, who was 14 when she met him. Myra Gale Brown (known today as Myra Lewis William) is an American author. It was different, it was the new kid on the block and the new kid arrived in a storm. The 'Great BallsOf Fire' singer started performing in the early 1950s, in his late teens. It bumped De Gaulle off the front page of the newspaper. A neighbor found Steven facedown in the Lewises swimming pool. In 1970, Brown filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery and abuse after hiring a private investigator to tail her husband. Jerry Lee Lewis knew how to inhabit that role. Her second book chronicled her experiences becoming a mother at age 14 and then again at 17 and losing their son Steve by accidental drowning in 1962. Myra Lewis Williams, as she's now known, made those comments to journalist Alan Light when he met up with her and Lewis for a 2010 story for Rolling Stone. He and Myra flew back to the United States, where he expected more sympathetic treatment. However, it was discovered that she was only 13, and that they had been married for five months. Today, Myra Williams, 78, reflects on the scandal and her late ex-husband. His managers had warned him about the British press and their delight in tearing down American superstars, but Lewis hadnt listened. But because he is never fully explained, Iago is a void a void incarnate. She was 13 at the time. 8 Myra Gale Brown Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE Collections Project #ShowUs Creative Insights Custom Content EDITORIAL VIDEO BBC Motion Gallery NBC News Archives MUSIC BLOG BROWSE PRICING VisualGPS INSIGHTS BOARDS CART SIGN IN Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO It barely scratched the Top 100. ), Lewis, though, wasnt planning on leaving rock & roll. The two were married in 2012. In the early 1960s, he went to Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury. Iago is one of most formidable and daunting characters in all theater, a mystery, and he is a void: Life has wronged him and he wants to wrong others. As of Friday afternoon, Williams had not released a public statement about Lewis death. Williams also covered their marriage in the 1982 book Great Balls of Fire, which was adapted into a 1989 film starring Dennis Quaid as Lewis and Winona Ryder as Williams. But they didnt, and I didnt, and the rest is history, I guess.". His England tour was canceled and by the time he returned to the United States, the press had learned Williams was the daughter of Lewis' cousin and bass player, J.W. Elvis and Jerry Lee had once been close. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Image: Getty. You cant go through a life like that and come out and be OK. Before Jerry Lee Lewis and Myra Gale Brown divorced in 1970, the couple had two children, one of whom died as a child and the other who manages his career today. Brown is a basketball player, and she used to be married to the brother of Lewis's third wife, Myra Gale Brown. [6][7] In addition, Lewis had not yet divorced his previous wife, Jane Mitcham. Jerry Lee held a defiant press conference at the London airport, boasting about his houses and cars and accusing the British of being just plain jealous, and the Lewises returned home to Memphis. Myra Gale Brown, however, hadnt been told of the story and failed to follow along with the fib. What was happening back then, rock n roll was coming on very, very strong. That little girl I used to be, she died. Priscilla lived with his grandmother for, what, seven or eight years? She was married to her cousin, rock star Jerry Lee Lewis. Myra Gale Brown was the daughter of J.W. It was to Judith Brown, who was the ex-wife of his cousin Rusty Brown, Myras younger brother. Others think he suspected Othello of having slept with his own wife. I plumb married the girl, didnt I? he told one reporter. I was serious-minded, I was like, We gotta take care of this and do this, and he was like, Wheres the piano? Thats what he is, thats what hes about. It didnt matter to me. There were so many stories told that were not necessarily the truth, or else it was the truth wearing a mask. If anybody had told me anything, I could have prevented this thing. Lock him up, said Elvis. Myra Gale Brown : I don't even know what hydrogen is. It also ruined Lewis' career. In 2014, Brown, then 70 and known as Myra Williams, gave an interview to music journalist Alan Light published in Cuepoint, in which she reflected on her shocking relationship with Lewis.. However, she indicated that his 2012 marriage to the ex-wife of her brother had put a strain on their relationship. [20] Now known as Myra Lewis Williams, she resides in Duluth, Georgia with her husband; they own a real estate company. Brown and Lewis had two children together: Steve Allen Lewis and Phoebe Allen Lewis. Then, when he fell from grace, he was untouchable in a different way, but he was dogged. They were looking for a place to stick the knife into rock & roll, she said. Remember, gossip is not gospel," Lewis wrote on Instagram in 2015. And they just werent ready for that. Little did they know what it was going to turn into.. Cramer didnt accuse the performer of murder, but he argued persuasively that the matter merited a more careful inquiry. Woody Harrelson Spreads Anti-Vax Conspiracies During SNL Monologue She later pursued a career in music and worked on the movie Benji: Off the Leash! The British press reacted with outrage. However, things became strained between the pair when Lewis began a relationship with his final wife, Judith Brown. Before Kurt and Courtney, Sid and Nancy, or John and Yoko, there was Jerry Lee Lewis and his thirteen-year-old bride, Myra Gale Brown. Surprisingly, the Country Music Hall of Fame which has been around since 1961 took a long time to induct him: He wasnt admitted until October 2022, the month of his death. Lewis has been married seven times; twice before eloping with Brown. Meanwhile, Williams wrote in an Instagram post in 2015 that she had keep in contact with Lewis over the years due to their shared daughter, Phoebe. In England, Lewis found himself playing in clubs and theaters to smaller audiences than expected, and among those who attended, some heckled him and tossed slurs his way. But they didnt, and I didnt, and the rest is history, I guess.. Rock & roll is mean and corrupting music, said Jerry Lee, who was raised deeply religious in Louisiana (his cousin was the televangelist Jimmy Swaggart). Despite Elvis success, Brown felt that the world just wasnt ready for rock and roll. He seemed wounded to the women he met, and sometimes they would go to bed with him because they were sympathetic to the wounded man. Feb 11, 2016. I was the one who let the big ol' cat out of the bag. She was also Jerry's cousin. "Judith, his seventh wife, was by his side when he passed away at his home in DeSoto County, Mississippi, south of Memphis," the statement read, per BBC. There was trouble from the start of Shawns marriage to the rock & roll legend, wrote Cramer. He followed her in his car and forced her off the road. In blistering heat, with nine dogs scurrying underfoot, I found that Myra was a bright, funny woman, with a very clear perspective on her notorious past, and she gave new insight into this pivotal moment in rock & roll history. Leave me, an Ill kill ya., Another time, according to Great Balls of Fire, he showed up unexpectedly at 3 a.m., at a time when he was supposed to be out of town, and he complained there was no food waiting for him on the stove. I find living is nice and calm this way.. One paper called for him to be deported. I find living is nice and calm this way. So when a reporter asked me, Who are you?, I was the one who let the big ol cat out of the bag. Lewis would voice Iagos lines seated at the piano, hed mix blues cadence with Shakespeares doleful lyricism. @rush it does seem incredible, but half of the states in the US still have no minimum age for marriage in 2022. Thirteen year old Myra Gale Brown sitting on Jerry Lee Lewis lap. Myra knew what he was doing, and she told him she would leave him. Phoebe Lewis-Loftin later became her father's manager and lived at his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi until 2012, when he married Judith Brown,[12] the ex-wife of his first cousin once removed, Rusty Brown (Myra Gale's brother). Jack Good, who had produced the TV show Shindig!, wanted to make a rock opera of Shakespeares Othello, and he had only one person in mind to play Iago: Jerry Lee Lewis. She is the co-author of the book Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis. She became a licensed broker in 1984, and is a recipient of the Million Dollar Life Time Award 2003. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. I could so easily have said, Im J.W. With cheerful impenitence, Jerry Lee is shown correcting an interviewer: Myra was one day shy of her 13th birthday on their wedding day so she was actually twelve. He was a coward, Jerry Lee told Bragg He hurt me. Check out our myra gale brown selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. On December 12, 1958, Myra Brown, 13, married Jerry Lee Lewis, 22, in Hernando, Mississippi (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) What allegedly fueled the fire was the press's discovery, after Lewis returned to Memphis, that Brown was the daughter of Lewis' cousin and bass player, JW Brown. [16][14] The book was originally released in October 1982 by William Morrow and Company. The officers asked Presley what he wanted them to do. [2], On December 12, 1957, at the age of 13, Myra Brown married Jerry Lee Lewis, then 22, in Hernando, Mississippi. When I visited her, Myra told the L.A. Times this year, I would still see him, too. Phoebe quit working for him and I havent seen him since. 2, In Loving Memories: The Jerry Lee Lewis Gospel Album, The SessionRecorded in London with Great Artists, By Request: More of the Greatest Live Show on Earth, She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left of Me), What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me), When He Walks on You (Like You Have Walked On Me), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Myra_Lewis_Williams&oldid=1138714619, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 05:24. The press made me out to be a seductive Lolita, which was as far from the truth as it gets. Learn How rich is She in this year and how She spends money? The singer, who has died aged 87, married seven times in total, his third wedding to Myra Gale Brown in 1958, his first cousin once removed, which massively damaged his career. (She filed for divorce in 1970, citing allegations of abuse and adultery.). My generation was taught to hide under our desk when the bomb came, so you always had in the back of your mind that any minute, any day, life could come to an end, Brown recalled in an interview. But they didnt, and I didnt, and the rest is history, I guess. Jerry Lee clearly had long enjoyed his reputation as some kind of archetypal modern outlaw, living out tragedy, violence, and dissolution as the fruits of his self-willed fall from grace. It was about being with somebody you couldnt keep: I just put in my last dime/Heard you whisper wed meet again/Another place, another time. He sang it. Lewis's daughter Phoebe had hired Brown to take care of her aging father when he was ill around ten years ago. The singer lived out rock's audacity in extreme fashion, making him one of the defining performers of his era. Jerry Lee Lewis may be a lot of things, but hes not a simple cartoon., Williams again addressed their scandalous relationship in her 2016 memoir, The Spark That Survived. While promoting the book, she took to Instagram to air some of the sordid details. They might go back to their fucked-up-ness after those moments, and though they perhaps transcend themselves by what they create for us, they also might not overcome the pain or anger or depression that gave them something to overcome in the first place. Lewis was shunned . And when Phoebe went on to manage Lewis, Brown would see him when she visited her daughter. They were looking for a place to stick the knife into rock & roll. In 1949, the family . That's exactly what it was," Williams told Light. The other chance that came his way was a thoroughly unlikely one. (Photo by Keith Hamshere . She co-wrote many books, such as Great Book Of Fire and The Spark That Survived, and earned people's love and popularity through her book. Jerry Lee Lewis, the rock and roll innovator whose career stumbled after his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown, is dead at the age of 87. Jerry Lee Lewis knew the person he was when he wasnt making music but it didnt save him, or those around him, from his worst impulses. She also said she felt their marriage was their own business and not for the world to judge. The police arrived, found the gun. He told his guards to call the police. Why do you think they call me the Killer? Two months later, Shawn was dead., Though it was eventually concluded that Shawn had died of an overdose of methadone, and that there was no indication at all of foul play, Cramer uncovered much overlooked (and withheld) evidence, including clear indications that there had been some sort of fight at the Lewis house the night of the young womans death. {RP18+MovieBasedGreat Balls Of Fire} Joined February 2012. 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