Who Are James Caan’s Ex-Wives? He Was Married 4 Times
Godfather and Elf actor James Caan died on July 6, 2022, leaving behind an incredible legacy of film acting behind. Now, we’re digging into James Caan’s wives and marriages. So, who are Caan’s four ex-wives? Here’s what we know about his failed marriages.
Is James Caan still married? He has 4 ex-wives
Some of the details regarding James Caan’s wives are fuzzy, but he reportedly had four ex-wives over the course of his lifetime. Closer Weekly explains he married his first wife, Dee Jay Mathis, in 1961. The couple dated for two years before tying the knot right around when Caan’s Broadway and film career started to take off. The couple then divorced in 1966, and not much is known about why they decided to part ways.
Caan’s second wife was Elvis Presley’s ex-girlfriend, Sheila Ryan. The two married on Jan. 12, 1976, and they divorced just over a year later in December 1977. Ryan died in September 2012 due to cancer. She was 59 years old.
Caan’s third wife was 29-year-old model Ingrid Hajek in 1990. At the time, he was 49 years old. After five years of marriage, the couple divorced in 1995.
Finally, Caan’s fourth wife was Linda Stokes. The actor and designer married Caan in 1996 and Caan filed for divorce in 2009. The couple cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the marriage ending. Stokes and Caan then got back together, but it didn’t last long. Caan filed for divorce two more times until finalizing the divorce in 2017.
He and Linda Stokes made major headlines with their contentious marriage
While James Caan’s wives all made headlines at some point, it was his relationship with Linda Stokes that got the most attention. After the couple endured 18 years of marriage, Caan and Stokes called it quits — and Stokes came after Caan for more spousal and child support.
The Daily Mail reported in 2016 that Caan, who was 76 at the time, was ordered to pay $400,000 in retroactive payments to Stokes. He was also ordered to pay $3,124 per month in child support until their son turned 18 years old. As for the spousal support, it was ruled that Caan had to pay Stokes $5,000 per month until she chose to remarry or one of them died.
The divorce proceedings also revealed that Caan felt he had to take bad film roles just to make enough money to support Stokes. “I am no longer willing to take parts in films and/or television shows which detract from the 50 years I have spent building my reputation,” he allegedly said, according to court documents.
Who are James Caan’s kids?
Given how much money James Caan gave to his wife, Linda Stokes, for their kids, how many kids does James Caan have altogether?
In total, the actor had five kids. Caan had a daughter, Tara Caan, born on Nov. 5, 1964, during his first marriage. The actor is the father of Scott Caan from his second marriage. Scott was born on Aug. 23, 1976. Caan then went on to have his third child, Alexander James Caan, born on April 10, 1991. Finally, Caan and Linda Stokes had two children together — James Arthur Caan and Jacob Nicholas Caan.
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