August 17, 1968
By RAMON VILLALOBOS
Looking lean and hungry and with apparently a heavy loss of sleep, Maria Mia Farrow, wife of Frank Sinatra, flew from New York to the border to obtain a Chihuahua “quickie” divorce Friday.
Surrounded by three burly bodyguards who claimed they were attorneys, the young actress was whisked through the noonday divorce proceedings which lasted less than 30 minutes.
Judge Lorenzo Holguin Cisneros of the 1st Civil Court accepted her divorce petition presented by Miss Farrow’s Juarez attorney Carlos Anaya Montanez and Juarez divorce consultant Ronnie Delgadillo.
In her petition the frail looking daughter of actress Maureen O’Sullivan charged her millionaire crooner husband with cruelty and incompatibility. She also petitioned the court to restore her maiden name. The court accepted the charges.
Modestly dressed in a par of oversized slacks and wearing a green print blouse, Miss Farrow looked as though she were exceedingly nervous during the proceedings. When she was taken to the Municipal Palace to officially register her petition, she could hardly hold the clerk’s pen and nervously signed the official book. Her hands were trembling as she scrawled her signature.
A battery of Juarez newsmen and photographers who had been alerted of her presence, greeted the shy Miss Farrow at the Municipal Palace. The three bodyguards shoved newsmen from her path leading to the courtroom and stood in front of her to prevent pictures being taken. They also stopped reporters from interviewing her and did not let her speak a word.
In her petition, Miss Farrow informed the court that she married the 52-year-old Sinatra July, 1966, in Las Vegas. She was 21 at the time. She charged that her life has been unbearable with her husband. It said both agreed to separate August of this year and agreed to the divorce.
Although she flew from New York she gave her legal residence as Cathedral City, Calif. She also charged that in the tow-year marriage, which raised the eyebrows of the entertainment world, there were no children.
“We haven’t lived as man and wife since December, 1967,” her petition read.
Miss Farrow did not utter a word during the court proceedings. She just nodded to questions put to her by the court clerk, Rodolfo Silva.
After her divorce was granted she was rushed to an awaiting automobile outside the courtroom and whisked to El Paso. Her Juarez attorney said she was flying to Hollywood.
The young actress’ mother, Miss O’Sullivan, gained film prominence in her parts as “Jane” in the Tarzan pictures. Her father was the late John Farrow, who also was a well known movie director and producer.
Prior to his marriage to Miss Farrow, Sinatra held a worldwide romance with actress Ava Gardner. The slender crooner separated from his first wife, Nance in 1951.
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