David Gest
Encyclopedia : D : DA : DAV : David Gest
David Alan Gest (born May 11, 1953, Los Angeles, California) is an American television producer and concert promoter who is now perhaps best known for his brief marriage to entertainer Liza Minnelli from 2002 to 2003. Gest and Minnelli were married on March 16, 2002 and separated less than a year and a half later in July 2003. In October 2003, he sued her for $10 million, claiming that she had been violent and physically abusive during their marriage, behavior the affidavit blamed on Minnelli's persistent alcoholism. Minnelli denied the accusations, claiming Gest was simply after money.
Gest currently resides in Memphis, Tennessee, but he grew up in Southern California and counted Michael Jackson and his brothers as childhood friends. Gest is known as an avid collector of Hollywood and Broadway entertainment memorabilia. His collection of items belonging to Minnelli's mother, Judy Garland, is said to be one of the most extensive in the world. A rhinestone-studded glove from Gest's collection once worn by Michael Jackson recently appeared on eBay with a reserve price of $250,000.[link].
Although speculation and rumors about Gest's sexual orientation have persisted in the entertainment industry for years, he has always maintained publicly that he is straight. Gest widely circulated the story that he and Ruth Warrick had been romantically involved. Miss Warrick, a busy film and soap opera actress, died in 2005 at the age of 89.
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.