(10 April 1957 - 17 August 1958)
divorced
December 56 Edmund Purdom squires her to the Harwyn
February 57 the press reports: “Edmund Purdom says he plans to marry Alicia Darr, an ex-sweetie of Tyrone Power, whose most recent wife also made quite a few headlines with Purdom!...”
Early April 57
columnist Earl Wilson reveals: “Ed Purdom and Alicia Darr toasted their marriage at the Living Room, then smashed the expensive champagne glasses...”
6 April 57 she and Purdom obtain a marriage license in New York but don’t disclose their marriage plans
9 April 57 tagged an artist or art student, she marries Purdom in a civil ceremony at Hampshire House in New York. The press give his age as 29, and hers as 26. They will leave shortly for London and Florence, where he is making a television film series. It’s the first marriage for her and the second for him.
21 September 59 waits outside while her estranged husband visits a Via Veneta nightclub with Linda Christian and her friend French actor Pierre Brice. When Purdom emerges later with a young woman of Swiss or Swedish nationality, she starts “hurling insults at them.“ Purdom and the girl whirl off in a car. Mrs. Purdom waits for Linda Christian and gives her the same treatment.
Late September 59 the press cables from Rome: “What now has come to be known in Rome society circles as ‘the Purdom squabble’ began last week in Capri when Mrs. Purdom, whose stage name is Alicia Darr, filed a complaint with local police charging her husband with ‘concubinage, insult and assault.’ Early Friday, Mrs. Purdom attempted to attack her husband as he emerged from a Rome nightclub with an unidentified date.”
Early October 59 Norma Clark, American resident on the Italian Isle of Capri, formally charges her with housebreaking and slander. The charges result from a raid by Alicia on Mrs. Clarke’s villa on September 20. Alicia claims she “found what I had expected to find” and brought penal charges against Purdom and Mrs. Clark.
1960Purdom charges her with adultery
April 60 in Rome, she charges her estranged husband with non-support, defamation and battery, telling an Italian state prosecutor that Purdom beat and threatened to kill her
15 November 60
gets a peppered eye after an incident with Purdom and his new companion, Linda Christian, at the La Fontanella Restaurant in Rome. She claims Purdom and Linda threw the pepper after insulting her. Alicia goes to a hospital to have her eye treated and is released later.
February 61 columnist Walter Winchell headlines: “Europe hussing and so am I over the interview in a Milan magazine quoting Edmund Purdom’s estranged wife, Alicia, as stating she could have been America’s First Lady. She was quoted as saying she was engaged to JFK before he married Jacqueline. She blames Joe Kennedy for the break-up. As soon as she gets her divorce, she plans to marry Prince Markantonio Borghese...”
17 August 61 files for divorce from Purdom in Juarez, Mexico, and announces she’ll marry Singer sewing machine heir Alfred Corning Clarke of New York. She charges Purdom with incompatibility. Her attorney, Luis A. Trias, says Purdom refused to sign the usual waiver and this might delay the granting of the divorce approximately three weeks. Clark, reached by phone at his country home in Cooperstown, New York, confirms his plans to wed her in Cooperstown later this month.
24 November 61 is named principal beneficiary under the will of her late husband. She will get a lifetime income from two trust funds and up to $100,000 a year from the principal of one of the funds, if she desires. In Rome, Purdom is reported having labelled her marriage to Clark an adulterous act and grounds for him to obtain a Swiss divorce from her.
August 62 Kilgallen informs: “Multi-millionaire Alicia Purdom Clark is taking twist lessons from ‘Killer’ Joe Piro to get in shape for her entry on the café society scene in Paris. She leaves any day now for a long visit to the continent, and the twist is frightfully important among the chic people over there...”
August 63 Kilgallen reports: “The big gossip in Rome’s glitter circles stars the ‘togetherness’ of Roberto Rossellini and Alicia Purdom Clark, the one-time bit player and ex-wife of Edmund Purdom who inherited $10,000,000 or so when she was widowed by sewing machine heir Corning Clark a few days after their marriage. Roberto, certainly the liveliest old party on the continent, is seen everywhere with her, and it’s reported that Alicia is going to star in a picture masterminded by Ingrid Bergman’s former spouse....”
February 66 Winchell knows: “Very rich Alicia Purdom Clark and young movie actor James Fox amaze friends the way they ‘date’ each other in various world capitals. Truluv...”