William Wilkerson - Personal Life

Personal Life

If Wilkerson's business life was turbulent, his domestic life was no better. A stubborn, driven man, he let nothing stand in the way when it came to profits. He was an insufferable workaholic, and he paid for it with five failed marriages and poor health. Being married to the overbearing publisher drove several of his wives to alcoholism.

Above all, Wilkerson was a man riddled with paradoxes and contradictions. While he was the proprietor of some of Hollywood's finest restaurants, cafes and nightclubs, at home he usually dined on canned sardines on toast and deviled-egg sandwiches. And, despite five divorces, he remained a devout Roman Catholic his entire life.

Despite his high-profile profession, Wilkerson shunned the light of personal publicity. He was a private man, even a loner, and preferred the company of his beloved French poodles to any wife or friend.

His wives were:

• Helen Durkin - Date of Marriage: probably around 1913 or 1914 - Place of marriage: probably New York or Fort Lee, New Jersey. - Helen Durkin died in the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918.

• Edith Gwynn Goldenhorn - Date of Marriage: June 22, 1927 - Place of marriage: Los Angeles, CA. - Date of Divorce: August 7, 1935 - Place of Divorce: Cd. Juárez, Mexico

• Rita Ann Seward - Date of Marriage: September 30, 1935 - Place of marriage: Las Vegas - Date of Divorce: May 9, 1938 - Place of Divorce: Los Angeles, CA

• Estelle Jackson Brown - Date of Marriage: December 12, 1939 - Place of marriage: Las Vegas, NV - Date of Divorce: August 13, 1942 - Place of Divorce: Reno, NV

• Vivian DuBois - Date of Marriage: May 9, 1946 - Place of marriage: Las Vegas, NV - Date of Divorce: March 14, 1950 - Place of Divorce: Los Angeles, CA

• Beatrice Ruby Noble - Date of Marriage: February 23, 1951 - Place of marriage: Phoenix, AZ