The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Who was Dionne Warwick married to?

Hello! Dionne was married to Wiiliam Elliot in 1966. They subsequently divorced and then remarried I think in the early 70's William is the father to their two sons David and Damon. It was a great love story. As major artists of their time their careers seemed to be in conflict and their personal lives and they paid the price. When you are on the 'roll' to becoming a major star is seems that your personal life and your relationships can be thrown onto the back of the back burner.

Dionne Warwick married actor and drummer William David Elliott 1934-1983 ("[11] ") (CBS's Bridget Loves Bernie-1972–73) in 1966; they divorced in May 1967. They reconciled and were remarried in Milan, Italy, in August 1967, according to Time. Warwick has stated in many interviews that "It was a case of can't do with, can't do without, so I married him again." On January 18, 1969, while living in East Orange, New Jersey, Warwick gave birth to her first son, David Elliott. In 1973, her second son Damon Elliott was born. On May 30, 1975, the couple separated and Warwick was granted a divorce in December 1975 in Los Angeles. The court denied Elliott's request for $2000 a month in support pending a community property trial and for $5000, when Elliott insisted he was making $500 a month in comparison to Warwick making $100,000 a month. Dionne stated in "Don't Make Me Over: Dionne Warwick", a 2002 Biography Channel interview, "I was the breadwinner. The male ego is a fragile thing. It's hard when the woman is the breadwinner. All my life, the only man, who ever took care of me financially was my father. I have always taken care of myself."

I don't know where the information is coming from that this was a "great love story"; it was not a rosy relationship to say the least. Yes, Warwick loved Bill Elliott but it's debatable whether Elliott ever loved her in the same way or just loved "Dionne Warwick, the famous singer." Elliott was reportedly unfaithful to their marriage from the get go. Warwick has also hinted to the press that there was emotional abuse during the marriage. Regarding rumors that there was physical abuse in her marriage, she stated to the Associated Press in 1976 that the abuse in her marriage was never physical. Their divorce was very contentious and Warwick was warned by the presiding judge that any further outbursts from her would result in a contempt citation. It was extremely difficult for her to hear the "garbage" Elliott and his attorneys were presenting to make the case for Elliott receiving a huge alimony settlement. She told David Nathan in a 1977 interview in Blues and Soul Magazine that she was glad that chapter of her life was over. She intimated that as a result of her relationship with Elliott she felt ugly and unwanted and she didn't like herself and that once Bill Elliott was out of the picture, she found her identity again. I can attest to the fact that Bill Elliott's spending habits were every bit as extravagant as Warwick's and he was spending Warwick's hard earned money like water. She purchased a Rolls Royce auto for Elliott in 1970 and Elliott received the Rolls as part of the divorce settlement (he requested it and could be seen driving around in the Rolls in Beverly Hills after the divorce with various young women in tow). Elliott faded from her life and although he was the father of David and Damon Elliott, the boys were not as close to their father. He was an absent father many times. When Bill Elliott died in 1983, in Los Angeles, Warwick paid to have his body flown to his hometown of Baltimore, where she paid for his funeral. Warwick attended the funeral with their boys but left the church immediately after the service. Warwick has no illusions that this was a "great love story" and would probably laugh knowingly to hear her marriage described as such.

Our Dionne may have had an unfortunate marriage, but I don't exactly feel sorry for her. Relationship issues are intensely personal, but I feel okay discussing it since she wrote about it in her book. She pursued and married Bill despite his reputation as a womanizer. She left Bill and got a "Mexican divorce" (the first time) without him even knowing about it--without knowing all of the circumstances, that seems like a very selfish thing to do! It also seems, from piecing together various tidbits I've read over the years, that Bill was not the only one who was unfaithful, based on the timing of the few romantic relationships she has discussed with the press. And, of course, after her divorce she knowingly dated a married man (Gianni Russo) for years and years. And then, of course, are the unfounded lesbian rumors on the internet, so who really knows what's going on inside of Dionne's heart. All of this suggests to me that she has an unconventional approach to relationships, marriage, and fidelity, to say the least, and it's hard to think of her as anybody's victim. By her own admission, she's a woman who does exactly what she wants to do.

I should add that Dionne was never sexier and prettier than after the divorce. Those late 70s/early 80s pictures of her are marvelous. Of course, her voice was at its peak then as well. Maybe the divorce really did her some good!

Face, yes it is very true that Warwick pursued Elliott and very intently. She had to have him. He was a drummer and they met in 1965. It is also true that she was very aware that he was pursued by other women and playing the field but she had to have him anyway. You also hit on something here about Dionne that I've always known about her and that she can be very headstrong and selfish; almost like "damn the consequences, it's what I want" type of thing. She knew exactly what she was getting into when she married Elloitt. Dionne was in a very intense relationship with Timmy Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles and I am not exactly talking out of school here to say that this was going on very shortly after her quickie divorce from Elliott if not before. You also mentioned Gianni Russo. That was the strangest relationship and even her boys have acknowledged that Russo and Warwick were strange bedfellows. Russo was not kind to Warwick and only she knows why their relationship lasted from 1978 until 1990; she will not discuss their relationship nor will allow him to be discussed in her presence. The lesbian rumors are just that...Warwick is and always has been hetrosexual. I heard years ago that Marlene Dietrich was crushing on Warwick and that may be true but if that feeling was there it was not returned by Warwick. Warwick was 22 when they met in Paris in 1963 and Dietrich was well over 60. Warwick has some very strong narcissistic tendencies but who in the entertainment business doesn't? One wonderful thing about Warwick though is that she is a fiercely loyal, generous, trusting and devoted friend. If you are her friend, you have to do a lot to get on her bad side. She doesn't hate easily at all and will give everyone the benefit of a doubt many times over...if she doesn't like you, you've done something really bad to her. She even forgave Bacharach for tanking her career for a number of years...she was much more forgiving than Bacharach was to her and I believe her comeback in 1979 really took him by surprise and he was publicaly bitter about her success in later years until they reunited. All in all, she is much more fascinating a person than her book and her reputation reveals. She truly is a paradoxical creature.

I can recall a story demonstrating Dionne and Bill Elliott's stormy and volatile relationship. 1969, Dee Dee Warwick's career looked as though it was about to catch fire and she was being interviewed by a major Hartford newspaper. Dee Dee arranged for the visit to occur at her parent's home in East Orange, New Jersey. Dionne and Bill were visiting for Christmas along with their infant son David and Dionne's mom was out with David doing some Christmas shopping. The Warrick home in East Orange was a quaint two-storey Colonial tastefully decorated with beautiful antiques. On her best behavior, Dee Dee was serving tea in the dining room to the reporter and they were chit-chatting when there was a thunderous slam upstairs and Dionne began screaming at Bill. Doors were slamming, things were breaking, epithets of the most base nature were flying (Dionne is known to favor the f-word) and Dionne and Bill brought their verbal shouting match downstairs. Dee Dee apologized to the reporter and went into the kitchen to settle things down between Dionne and Bill, who were still screaming at each other. She got them settled down enough and told Dionne that the interview was going on and asked Dionne why she was always trying to grab attention away from her. Dionne, apparently shamed, shut up and Dee Dee went back to the interview. The quiet lasted only a few minutes though. Soon Bill and Dionne were hurling insults at each other again. Dee Dee slammed her fists down on the table, apologized to the reporter and remarked that those two "epithet deleted" were going to tear the house down and needed to get the hell away from each other for good. When the shouting match between Bill and Dionne continued, Dee Dee escorted the reporter out of the house, apologizing profusely for the base behavior of her elegant and refined sister and brother-in-law and arranged to continue the interview away from the Warrick home. Unfortunately for Dee Dee, the interview was never completed. Dee Dee gave Dionne and Bill a piece of her mind and then some. Dee Dee always felt that Dionne was trying to steal the limelight away from her...although they loved each other very much, Dee Dee resented Dionne's fame and fortune. Dionne always supported Dee Dee and was heartsick that her addictions to cocaine and heroin continued throughout much of her lifetime.

Stormy and volatile, indeed. Sometimes the people who love the hardest also fight the hardest, huh? Dionne strikes me as a woman of enormous passions, both good and bad. She has often referred to herself as "crazy," and stories like this and others (for example, abandoning her new house and everything in it because of a snake sighting!) show that the only thing restrained about her is her singing style! I often think that genius like hers comes with heightened sensitivity to the world around us, and that's why so many gifted and famous musicians fall prey so easily to the dark side of fame and fortune. Dionne seems to have remained relatively level-headed through the years, despite her admitted eccentricities and indulgences. She is demanding of everyone around her, takes what she wants when she wants it, earns and spends money like crazy, and doesn't take shit from anybody. Gotta love her for it. She reminds me in many ways of a female Sinatra, who was one of her mentors: same birthday, same home state, similar career ups and downs, similar vocal changes, volatile and self-defeating love life, narcissism, extreme generosity, strong work ethic, and timeless music. No, she never reached Sinatra's level of fame and fortune, but the similarities are still striking to me.

By the way, speaking of interviews, do you have any information about the interview Dionne writes about in her book that hurt her so much? She writes about how she invited the reporter into her parents' home and out to the clubs with her friends, but that the resulting article was very unflattering. I'd love to know what he wrote, only to get a more "real" (if not balanced) picture of Dionne than the canned stuff we normally get from her.

Dee Dee slammed her fists down on the table, apologized to the reporter and remarked that those two "epithet deleted" were going to tear the house down and needed to get the hell away from each other for good. When the shouting match between Bill and Dionne continued, Dee Dee escorted the reporter out of the house, apologizing profusely for the base behavior of her elegant and refined sister and brother-in-law and arranged to continue the interview away from the Warrick home.

The story of Dionne and Bill's argument was told a little differently by Darlene Love's book. The house was not Dionne's parents but Dionne's home that she maintained in New Jersey. Dee Dee was giving an interview at the time but Darlene was at the house as well. According to Darlene she had never
seen Bill and Dionne argue and was surprised that the two of them went at it. Darlene concluded that Dionne never discussed the incident and Darlene never brought it up again.

Also I think the upset journalist Dionne was speaking about was the person/writer ( his name escapes me) article or notes which was taken and used in book from years later called the Ultra-Lounge: The Lexicon of Easy Listening by Dylan James. The reporter in the 60's spent time with Dionne interview her at home in Jersey, her parents house for dinner, on tour it even mentioned her romantic relationships with Bill Elliott and Sacha Distel.

BachtoBacharach wrote: ↑Fri Jan 04, 2013 5:50 pm Dionne always supported Dee Dee and was heartsick that her addictions to cocaine and heroin continued throughout much of her lifetime.

I am the creator of the site about Dee Dee Warwick. Sometimes I see messages about her drug addiction. Through research, I did not find a single witness to her drug addiction. But I found a witness from Los Angeles who personally saw Dionne smoking a joint and muttering to herself. Dee Dee was seen drunk a couple of times in Las Vegas.

Did you know that Dee Dee had congenital diabetes and she gave herself insulin injections?

On the contrary, people who saw and spoke to her always talked about her kindness and responsiveness. She helped a girl in Los Angeles get a job as a waiter at a golf club because she was in bad company. There's a lot we don't know about Dee Dee...