Editing Busby Berkeley (section)

== Personal life ==
[[File:Busby Berkeley being carried into his manslaughter trial on a stretcher.jpg|thumb|Berkeley being carried into his trial on a stretcher, September 1935]]
In 1937, Berkley purchased the Guasti Villa, located at 3500 W. Adams Boulevard,  in the [[West Adams, Los Angeles|West Adams]] district of Los Angeles. <ref name=Guasti >{{cite web |title=Guasti Villa, West Adams |url=https://calisphere.org/item/67ad3e3733c386ae346e63ff6ceb9b29/ |website=Calisphere.org |publisher=University of California |access-date=8 July 2024 |quote=In 1910, leading vintner Secondo Guasti commissioned Hudson & Munsell Architects to design the mansion in the Beaux Arts and Italian styles. In 1937, the home was purchased by Busby Berkeley, who turned the basement wine cellar into a film editing studio. Then in 1944, the Los Angeles Physicians Aid Association acquired the property as a retirement home. }}</ref> Built in 1910, Berkley owned the home until 1944.<ref name=Guasti /> Because of the association with Berkley, the home is now [[Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument]] No. 478.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guasti Villa - Busby Berkley Estate |url=https://hpla.lacity.org/report/d8b08ce7-78ea-42a9-9bd6-cfe0d9ed5879 |website=LACity.org |publisher=Historic Places Los Angeles |access-date=8 July 2024 |quote=The property meets the criteria for HCM designation because it is identified with 'a historic personage,' as the home of well-known film director-choreographer Busby Berkeley.}}</ref>

Berkeley was married six times.<ref name="nytimes obit">Hanley, Robert (1976). "Busby Berkeley, the Dance Director, Dies", in the ''New York Times'', March 15, 1976, p. 33</ref> His wives included actresses [[Merna Kennedy]], [[Esther Muir]], the starlet Claire James, and Etta Dunn, who survived him. He was involved in an [[alienation of affections]] lawsuit in 1938 involving [[Carole Landis]], and he was engaged to Lorraine Stein.<ref name="Fleming 49">Fleming, E.J. (2005). ''Carole Landis: A Tragic Life in Hollywood''. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-2200-5}}, p. 49</ref>

Berkeley drank heavily, often having martinis in his daily bath.

In September 1935, Berkeley was responsible for an automobile crash in which two people were killed and five seriously injured.<ref name="time">[https://time.com/archive/6896387/people-sep-30-1935/ People, Sep. 30, 1935], from ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine</ref> Badly cut and bruised, he was brought to court on a stretcher,<ref>[https://archive.today/20120715042224/http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/dlib/lat/display.cfm?ms=uclalat_1387_b3_11744-1&searchType=subject&subjectID=213460 Choreographer and film director Busby Berkeley being carried into his manslaughter trial on a stretcher], a ''Los Angeles Times'' photo from the website of the UCLA [[Charles E. Young Research Library]]</ref> where ''Time'' magazine reported he heard testimony that made him wince:
<blockquote>
'Witnesses testified that motorist Berkeley sped down [[California State Route 1|Roosevelt Highway]] in Los Angeles County one night, changed lanes, crashing headlong into one car, sideswiped another. Some witnesses said they smelled liquor on him'.<ref name="time" />
</blockquote>
The first two trials for second degree murder ended with hung juries; he was acquitted in a third.

After his mother died and his career began to slow, he attempted suicide, slitting his wrists and taking an overdose of sleeping pills in July 1946.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42539658/1583-alvito-way-18jul1946-busby/|title=1583 Alvito Way 18Jul1946 Busby Berkeley Suicide Attempt p1|date=July 18, 1946|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=February 25, 2020|pages=2}}</ref> He was admitted to a hospital for an extended stay, an experience which severely affected his mental state.<ref>Spivak, Jeffrey, ''Buzz, The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley'' (University Press of Kentucky, 2010), p. 221.</ref>

Berkeley died from natural causes on March 14, 1976, in Palm Springs, California at the age of 80.<ref>Johns, Howard, (2004). ''Palm Springs Confidential: Playground of the Stars''. Fort Lee, New Jersey: Barricade Books. {{ISBN|1-56980-297-1}}</ref>  He is buried in the [[Desert Memorial Park]] in Cathedral City, California.<ref name=PSCemDis /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Patricia|title=Laid to Rest in California: a guide to the cemeteries and grave sites of the rich and famous |chapter=Chapter 8: East L.A. and the Desert |pages=240–2 |year=2006|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|location=Guilford, CT|isbn=978-0-7627-4101-4|last2=Brooks |first2=Jonathan |oclc= 70284362}}</ref>