She Was Beautiful, He Was Handsome. What Went Wrong?

PR King
6 min readOct 26, 2024

They seemed to have everything, until she shot him

The cover photo of Claudine Longet’s album
The cover of Claudine Longet’s album

Let’s return to the old days before the internet and social media. Travel back to the 1970s when celebrities’ lives weren’t reported on moment by moment. When scandals were covered up.

Though Claudine Longet probably wasn’t a household name, like Farrah-Fawcett or Cher, she was married to a man who was a celebrity, Andy Williams, who, along with his brothers, were well-known singers in Hollywood.

Andy wasn’t the star he would become that day in 1960 when he stopped to help a petite young woman whose car had broken down on the side of the road in Las Vegas. Claudine Longet, a Parisienne, was eighteen with big hazel eyes and a little girl voice. She’d come to Vegas to dance in one of the shows. Williams not only helped her get her car started, he asked her out. It was love at first sight and the two married in 1961. Soon after, Williams’ song “Moon River” propelled him to stardom.

In 1962, Williams got his own TV variety show which soon became a prime-time staple. Claudine had her singing career, made records, and appeared on the “Andy Williams Show” with her husband. His Christmas specials became annual traditions. She appeared in TV shows and in a few movies. They seemed to have everything, including three children. But the…

--

--

PR King
PR King

Written by PR King

Florida stories, history fan, avid reader, geeky Boomer, Sagittarian with a Capricorn moon, Chromebook convert, military brat, sober 30+