Norton Simon - Later Life

Later Life

In 1969, his son Robert Simon committed suicide. The following year, he and his wife Lucille Ellis were divorced. He married actress Jennifer Jones in 1971. He also retired from active involvement in his business in 1969. He accepted appointments to the University of California Board of Regents, the Carnegie Commission on the Future of Higher Education, the boards of Reed College, the Los Angeles Music Center, the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, and the Institute for Advanced Study.

In 1970, Simon opposed U.S. Senator George Murphy's bid for a second term in the Republican primary. Murphy won renomination rather handily but then lost the seat in the general election to the Democrat John V. Tunney, even as Ronald W. Reagan was winning a second term as governor.