Beattie—was there a real-life romance, what happened?
It’s not uncommon for Hollywood actors to fall in love on set. But when it comes to the relationship between Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, the off-camera drama was just as compelling as their on-screen performances.
Beatty and Christie, both legends in their own right, had a high-profile but tumultuous relationship that spanned from 1967 to 1974. During that time, Beatty publicly referred to Christie as his wife even though they never married, and she gave up a string of roles to be close to him.
The couple first met at the 1966 Royal Command performance of the film, ‘Born Free.’ Beatty was reportedly smitten with Christie from the moment he saw her shake hands with the Queen. Despite their undeniable chemistry, friends warned Christie of Beatty’s womanizing ways. The director John Schlesinger even urged her to break up with Beatty, whom he said ‘gets through women like a businessman through a dozen oysters.’
Despite the warnings, the couple co-starred in three films together: ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller,’ ‘Shampoo,’ and ‘Heaven Can Wait’ (the latter two were completed after their breakup). Christie later said that her romance with Beatty is one that profoundly changed her for the better.
‘He gave me a political perspective, which I am very grateful for. I loved the way, say, that he would go to baseball matches and stand up in the interval and talk about getting rid of guns,’ she told The Guardian in 2007. ‘He would be this little tiny figure in this big baseball stadium, and I would be looking down at him, I thought he was wonderfully courageous for doing that.’
Beatty dedicated his 1981 political labor of love, ‘Reds’ – ‘To Jules.’ Despite their tumultuous relationship, Christie remains one of Beatty’s many former loves that have remained friendly. He told People in 2016, ‘When she and her husband come to Los Angeles, they stay in our guest house. We’re very close and she’s a remarkable person.’
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