Cary Grant & Dyan Cannon

Their engagement began much like a screwball comedy: The dashing leading man was so nervous about popping the question to the stunning ingenue that he crashed his car while parking in her garage. One year and many less-clumsy proposals later, Cary Grant, 61, and Dyan Cannon, 27, eloped on July 22, 1965, in Las Vegas' Dunes Hotel.

Their affair to remember began four years earlier when Grant spotted Cannon on the short-lived TV adventure "Malibu Run." In true Hollywood fashion he was on the phone with her agent by the end of the program. "I was enchanted by Cary," Cannon said. "I was charmed in the true sense of the word."

But the days after their wedding were anything but. Following the ceremony, they flew to Grant's hometown of Bristol, England, to tell his mother that he had wed for the fourth time. While successfully eluding the press in the States, the newlyweds were not as lucky in the U.K. The Royal Hotel was swarming with reporters and at three in the morning, the duo fled out a back window.

Shortly after their honeymoon, Cannon learned she was pregnant—she gave birth to their daughter Jennifer on Feb. 26, 1966. A beaming Grant claimed she was his best production yet, but Cannon, who had fallen for her husband's debonair public persona, was beginning to see his much harsher private side. His violent temper and controlling nature terrified her, and she realized that life with the world's most charming movie star might not have a happy ending.

Shortly after their honeymoon, Cannon learned she was pregnant—she gave birth to their daughter Jennifer on Feb. 26, 1966. A beaming Grant claimed she was his best production yet, but Cannon, who had fallen for her husband's debonair public persona, was beginning to see his much harsher private side. His violent temper and controlling nature terrified her, and she realized that life with the world's most charming movie star might not have a happy ending.

The couple had been married for barely two years when Cannon filed for divorce. In a packed courtroom she testified that Grant frequently criticized her and even went so far as to lock her in her room. (In a fit of anger Grant once told a friend, "I'm going to break her like a pony.") . The judge agreed they should go their separate ways but granted Grant and Cannon co-starring roles in Jennifer's life.As for Grant, the two managed to forge a friendship before he died, and many decades later Cannon fondly recalls, "I can still smell his aftershave."