Editing David Merrick (section)

== Personal life ==
Merrick was married six times to five women.

His first marriage was to fellow native-St. Louisan Leonore Beck. They married January 16, 1938,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |page=47 |oclc=28800530}}</ref> and divorced on January 11, 1963.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=252 |oclc=28800530}}</ref>

His second wife, Jeanne Gibson, was a Kentucky-born Broadway press agent.  They met at the Savoy Hotel in London, where Gibson was working as the hotel’s press consultant.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=189 |oclc=28800530}}</ref> She became pregnant in 1962, while Merrick was still married to Beck.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=244 |oclc=28800530}}</ref> Their daughter, Cecilia Ann Merrick, was born January 1963.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=251 |oclc=28800530}}</ref> Gibson and Merrick were married from spring 1963 until October 1966.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Boston Globe 08 Oct 1968, page 2 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/434557758/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>

He married Etan Aronson (February 24, 1944 - July 26, 2023),<ref>{{Cite web |title=ETAN MERRICK Obituary (2023) - New York, NY - New York Times |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/etan-merrick-obituary?id=52592573 |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=Legacy.com}}</ref> a Swedish model and former flight attendant, twice. They first married in September 1969, and divorced in Mexico three weeks later,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=399 |oclc=28800530}}</ref> but the divorce was not finalized in America until 1976.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arizona Daily Sun 04 Sep 1983, page 8 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/515886905/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> Together, they had a daughter, Marguerita Merrick (born September 1972).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=437 |oclc=28800530}}</ref>

On July 1, 1982, Merrick married actor Karen Prunczik,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=460 |oclc=28800530}}</ref> who originated the role of Anytime Annie and filled in for a week playing the lead character Peggy Sawyer in Merrick’s ''42nd Street''. They divorced in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Karen Prunczik – Broadway Cast & Staff {{!}} IBDB |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karen-prunczik-77625#broadway |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref>

Merrick and Aronson married for the second time on Tuesday, August 30, 1983 in Greenwich, Connecticut.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arizona Daily Sun 04 Sep 1983, page 8 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/515886905/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> In the late 1980s, they adopted two children, Olivia Merrick (born May 1988) and Carl Christian Merrick (born July 1987),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=482 |oclc=28800530}}</ref> although in 1994 Merrick petitioned the court to cancel the adoption.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Newsday (Suffolk Edition) 25 Mar 1994, page 8 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/725421227/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> Merrick and Aronson divorced again in October 1999, after lengthy divorce proceedings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Daily News 27 Oct 1999, page 32 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/408123036/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>

Merrick met Natalie Lloyd (born Natalie Ting Teresa in Shanghai in 1954) in the late 1980s when she was working as a receptionist in the office of William Goodstein, Merrick’s lawyer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kissel |first=Howard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28800530 |title=David Merrick, the abominable showman : the unauthorized biography |date=1993 |isbn=1-55783-172-6 |location=New York |pages=484 |oclc=28800530}}</ref> They started living together almost immediately, while Merrick was still married to Aronson. Merrick and Lloyd married November 1999, less than six months before Merrick’s death on April 25, 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Omaha World-Herald 26 Apr 2000, page 2 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/892832164/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>