S. J. Perelman married Laura West in 1929 when he was 25 and she only 18; the couple became a creative partnership — collaborating on Broadway and later signed together as contract screenwriters by Irving Thalberg at Metro‑Goldwyn‑Mayer in 1935 — yet the marriage was troubled virtually from the start. Contemporary accounts and later biographical notes record Perelman's ‘innumerable affairs,’ the best‑known being with social figure Leila Hadley, which left Laura increasingly sidelined despite continuing professional collaboration. The marriage nevertheless endured until Laura's death in 1970; Perelman did not remarry, but the relationship remained a public example of a seemingly solid Hollywood/Broadway creative union that was hollowed out by recurring infidelity and private discord.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1930s-1970s
S. J. Perelman's Open Infidelities Strained a High‑Profile Marriage to Laura West
S. J. Perelman and Laura West Perelman / 1930s-1970s
S. J. Perelman married Laura West in 1929 when he was 25 and she only 18; the couple became a creative partnership — collaborating on Broadway and later signed together as contract screenwriters by Irving Thalberg at Metro‑Goldwyn‑Mayer in 1935 — yet the marriage was troubled virtually from the start. Contemporary accounts and later biographical notes record Perelman's ‘innumerable affairs,’ the best‑known being with social figure Leila Hadley, which left Laura increasingly sidelined despite continuing professional collaboration. The marriage nevertheless endured until Laura's death in 1970; Perelman did not remarry, but the relationship remained a public example of a seemingly solid Hollywood/Broadway creative union that was hollowed out by recurring infidelity and private discord.
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