It’s no secret that Stephen Hawking was a world-class genius who made lots of scientific discoveries. But not many people know Hawking was a bit of a dog when it came to women.
The guy apparently couldn’t crack the code to women, but that’s not for a lack of trying.
Hawking was married twice and allegedly cheated on them with multiple women. According to his mother Isobel, Hawking “liked pretty girls – only the pretty ones.”
Hawking had a pretty creepy obsession with Marylin Monroe, whom he referenced in his public speeches frequently. He’s on record saying if he had a time machine he’d go back to visit Monroe “in her prime.” For his 60th birthday, Hawking hired a Marilyn Monroe impersonator as scantily dressed women fawned over him the whole night. He also kept a portrait of Monroe in his bathroom, which is a pretty weird move.
He married his first wife in 1965 but divorced her in 1991. He married his nurse four years later but divorced in 2006 after he was accused of cheating on her. Hawking denied the allegations but only issued a very casual statement to back himself up.
His spokesperson gave his official statement, only saying, “He is far too busy. This is just a distraction which is really annoying. We don’t have any time for any of this. We have no interest in any of the gossip that is going on.”
And as soon as the divorce was finalized, Hawking and his first wife Jane began talking again. They eventually got back together and attended the premier of his film “The Theory of Everything,” which took place shortly thereafter. They eventually remarried and she took care of him as his health worsened.
Asked by the AP in 1997 how he handles being disabled, he answered, “I accept that there are some things I can’t do. But they are mostly things I don’t particularly want to do anyway. I seem to manage to do anything that I really want.”
I guess for somebody who doesn’t believe in a higher power, this behavior seems par for the course.