Jerry Lee Lewis' teenage bride speaks out: 'I was the adult and Jerry was the child' (2024)

When Myra Williams looks back on her life — her marriage to her cousin, singer Jerry Lee Lewis, in 1957 when she was just 13 years old, their good and bad times together, the two children they had, the permanent damage that their relationship inflicted on Lewis’ career and legacy — she sometimes wonders whether it was all a dream.

“But it happened,” the 78-year-old author and former real estate agent told The Times by telephone from her home in Atlanta, one day after Lewis’ death. “It did. It all happened to me.”

Everything “gigantic,” she said, occurred in her teenage years, cataloguing the milestones: married at 13; a mother at 14; losing her firstborn child when she was 17; giving birth to her second child at 19.

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“Yes, it was turbulent as a teenager to be a wife and mother,” Williams said. “But in going through it, I’ve found my strength. And there’s almost nothing that can knock me off my block at this point.”

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In the hours after Lewis died at age 87, obituaries of the rock legend flooded the internet, each featuring a transitional paragraph noting that Lewis’ star fell as quickly as it rose when his marriage to Williams became public during a tour of Britain a year after his debut album featuring the smash hit “Great Balls of Fire” rocketed to No. 2 on the pop charts.

“I was the bad thing in his life,” said Williams, describing how people saw her. “It was because of our marriage that his career hit the pavement. You know, you were judged for everything you did back then.”

Jerry Lee Lewis' teenage bride speaks out: 'I was the adult and Jerry was the child' (2)

Jerry Lee Lewis and Myra Lewis with their firstborn, Steve Allen Lewis.

(Associated Press)

And that judgment was swift and fierce. Radio stations stopped playing Lewis’ music. His label, Sun Records, stopped promoting him, and offers to perform evaporated. It was a lot for a young girl to shoulder, Williams said, adding that the misconception that plagued her then holds true to this day.

“I was called the child bride, but I was the adult and Jerry was the child,” Williams said. “When I look back on it, how can you defend yourself when you’re 13 years old? I mean there’s no excuse good enough for that to be OK.”

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Williams said that she nonetheless took on all the responsibilities that came with her new role. “And I didn’t miss a beat. I took care of everything.”

She bought the couple’s home when Lewis was on the road, and also the car Lewis wanted. He told her to find a red Cadillac convertible, Williams remembered, and she did.

“I mean, I didn’t even have a driver’s license,” she said. “I did all the work and made all the decisions and did all the running and taking care of business and that kind of stuff.”

Williams even managed the finances, she said.

“One time I went to the bank with a big sack of money to deposit it ... and the teller said to me, ‘Myra, there’s a policeman sitting there outside in his car and he followed you here. So when you get ready to leave, I’ll drive you home,’” she said.

The Cadillac stayed in the bank parking lot that day.

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Williams said drugs caused irreparable damage to her marriage. Before Lewis began using drugs, she said, he was silly, playful and kind. The couple would have pillow fights, crack jokes and pull goofy pranks, like holding on to the doorknob from the other side of the door to stop each other from getting in. When the drugs became a permanent fixture, she said, Lewis changed.

“His personality just became mean. And nasty. It was like a whole different man. Just bad, you know?” she said.

Williams and Lewis divorced in 1970, with Williams filing on the grounds of adultery and abuse. But they stayed in touch over the years because of the bond they shared through their daughter, Phoebe Allen Lewis. The couple’s son, Steve Allen Lewis, drowned at the age of 3.

Williams married briefly after that — an 18-month romance that she described as “an absolute fiasco and stupid.” She has been married to her current husband, Richard Williams, for going on 39 years. The couple own a real estate company in Atlanta but have both retired from day-to-day business.

“We just putter around, you know. We don’t have to do anything,” she said, adding that their office manager takes care of almost everything and they just stop by the office every once in a while to chat. “We just live a real simple life of sleeping late and watching ‘I Love Lucy.’”

Jerry Lee Lewis' teenage bride speaks out: 'I was the adult and Jerry was the child' (4)

Myra Williams.

(Courtesy photo)

Williams did her best to hold back tears when talking about Lewis’ death, which occurred a few weeks after the death of her father, J.W. Brown, a musician in his own right and Lewis’ cousin. It was Brown who went to Natchez, Miss., where Lewis was living as an unknown musician and brought him to Memphis, Tenn., to record with Sam Phillips at Sun Records, Williams said. He also invited Lewis to live in his home with his family, which is how Lewis and Williams fell in love.

When Brown heard the young couple had eloped, “he got his gun,” Williams said. “That was not a happy moment. Daddy felt very betrayed by that. I was his 13-year-old little girl.”

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Brown went after Lewis, but Lewis was gone.

“The minute Daddy left the house, my mother called Sam Phillips and said, ‘Oh my God, you’re not gonna believe what’s happened, Sam,’” Williams said. “Mom said, ‘Jerry and Myra have gotten married. And Jay [J.W.] has his pistol. He’s on his way to Sun Records. You better get Jerry out of there.’”

Phillips “ran Jerry off” and told him to get on a plane. He said, “I don’t care where you go, just go,” Williams said.

Lewis was gone for three or four days, during which time Phillips sat Brown down and did his best to calm him, Williams said.

“Sam Phillips was a real talker, let’s put it that way. He could convince you that whatever you were seeing wasn’t there,” Williams said.

Brown came to accept the marriage after that, Williams said.

“There was just no choice. I mean, killing Jerry was not an option. It was his first thought, but it wasn’t an option,” she said.

When Lewis came back, Brown shook his hand and said, “You better be good to my girl.”

Williams stopped speaking with Lewis after he married her former sister-in-law, Judith Brown, in 2012. It was a hurt that cut deep, Williams said. Judith had been a friend and part of the family. (Brown was the former wife of Williams’ younger brother.)

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Williams doesn’t recall the last time she spoke with Lewis, but said she tried to contact him about two years ago. She had asked Phoebe whether it would be OK if she called Lewis, and when she did, “I didn’t know what I was gonna say to him or tell him, and I made the call and he came to the phone, and I couldn’t talk. I hung up the phone.”

If Williams could give advice to her 13-year-old self, she said she had no idea what it might be.

“I wouldn’t go back and change it if I could,” she said. Then she stopped and thought for a second and began to laugh. “I might tweak it a little. I would tweak it a lot. I would tweak the hell out of it. I would be smarter.”

“But how smart can you be when you’re 14 years old?” she asked. “You’re a stupid kid at that age. You’re just not ready for it. You’re not ready for prime time.”

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Jerry Lee Lewis' teenage bride speaks out: 'I was the adult and Jerry was the child' (2024)

FAQs

Did Jerry Lee Lewis and his 13 year old cousin have children? ›

His third marriage was to 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown, his first cousin once removed, on December 12, 1957. His divorce from Jane Mitcham was not finalized before the ceremony took place, so he remarried Brown on June 4, 1958. They had two children: Steve Allen Lewis (1959–1962) and Phoebe Allen Lewis (b. 1963).

What is the age difference between Jerry Lee Lewis and his wife? ›

On December 12, 1957, at the age of 13, Myra Brown married Jerry Lee Lewis, then 22, in Hernando, Mississippi.

What happened when Jerry Lee Lewis married his cousin? ›

The marriage left her mother in tears and her father threatening to kill the singer, and later caused an international uproar when it became public during a tour of England that sent Lewis's career into a nosedive just as he was climbing up the music charts with hits like “Whole Lotta Shakin'” and “Great Balls of Fire. ...

How old was Jerry Lee Lewis when he married Judith Brown? ›

Finally, Judith Brown was 62 when she married Lewis, 76.

What happened to Jerry Lee Lewis's 13 year old wife? ›

"I was married at 13 and divorced at 26," said Williams. "Half of my life was spent with Jerry." Williams not only went on to become a successful real estate agent, but she also found love. In 1984, she married her current husband, Richard Williams.

What singer married a 13 year old? ›

As mentioned above, Jerry Lee Lewis's career as a rock and roll musician got a serious hit after the news of his marriage with Myra Brown surfaced in the media. Lewis changed his path and started his journey in country music.

What was Jerry Lee Lewis's net worth when he died? ›

Lewis filed for bankruptcy in 1988. His petition listed over $3 million in debts, including $2 million in Internal Revenue Service debt, tens of thousands in attorney fees, and medical bills. At the time of his death, his net worth was estimated to be between $10 million and $15.4 million.

Did Jerry Lewis have any daughters? ›

What happened to Jerry Lee Lewis' children? ›

The couple had one child, Jerry Lee III. Another son by a previous marriage, Steve Allen Lewis, 3, drowned in a swimming pool in 1962, and son Jerry Lee Jr. died in a traffic accident at 19 in 1973.

Was Jerry Lee Lewis related to Elvis? ›

Jerry Lee Lewis is Elvis Presley's third cousin five times removed's husband's first cousin four times removed!

How many wives did Jerry Lee Lewis have in his lifetime? ›

He is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, who recorded over forty albums during a career that spanned seven decades. Lewis is survived by Judith Coghlan Lewis, his seventh wife. He also had six children.

What famous person married his cousin? ›

Albert Einstein married his cousin.

It was Einstein's second marriage. They were married until Elsa died in 1936, according to The Guardian. Though Einstein had open affairs, he did write to her rigorously when he toured and lectured, the outlet reported.

How old was Jerry Lewis when he married his 13 year old wife? ›

Lewis was 22 and Williams was 13, and the press came down hard on him when it was revealed that she was also his second cousin and that Lewis was still married to his second wife, Jane Mitchum, when they wed.

Did Jerry Lewis' son attend his funeral? ›

Only two of Jerry Lewis' sons attended his funeral

It offered his loved ones an opportunity to say goodbye for the last time, with his fans doing the same thing from afar. Unfortunately, the service wasn't without its drama.

How old was Winona Ryder in Great Balls of Fire? ›

It's not great for a 21-year-old to be macking on a 12-year-old, but the fact that the film casts Dennis Quaid, then 35 but looking raddled thanks to a bad peroxide job, opposite Winona Ryder, then 18 but looking much younger, makes it seem even worse.

How old was Myra Lewis when she gave birth? ›

Everything “gigantic,” she said, occurred in her teenage years, cataloguing the milestones: married at 13; a mother at 14; losing her firstborn child when she was 17; giving birth to her second child at 19. “Yes, it was turbulent as a teenager to be a wife and mother,” Williams said.

Who were the cousins of Jerry Lee Lewis? ›

Growing up in Quitman, a small town in the piney woods of northeast Texas, author J. D. Davis was exposed early on to the famous trio from north Louisiana—cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, and Mickey Gilley. Lewis and Swaggart are double first cousins. Lewis and Gilley are first cousins.

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