Shirley MacLaine says sleeping with other people is 'basis for a long-lasting marriage' (even though she ended up divorced)

By Mike Larkin For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:04 EST, 17 March 2016 | Updated: 20:45 EST, 17 March 2016

She had the most unconventional of relationships with her husband Steve Parker.

But Shirley MacLaine has opened up to say sleeping with other people is the 'basis for a long-lasting marriage' - even though they ended up getting a divorce.

The Hollywood legend was married to Steve, who she described as 'the love of my life,' and they got divorced in 1982. They managed to remain on good terms even after she discovered the film producer had been transferring huge sums of her money into a girlfriend's bank account.

Scroll down for video 

Marriage counsellor: Shirley MacLaine said sleeping with other people is the key to a successful marriage

Marriage counsellor: Shirley MacLaine said sleeping with other people is the key to a successful marriage

Setting an example: The Hollywood star slept with a slew of famous lovers before her marriage to Steve Parker ended in divorce in 1982

Setting an example: The Hollywood star slept with a slew of famous lovers before her marriage to Steve Parker ended in divorce in 1982

Speaking about their open marriage in an Sirius XM Town Hall interview with Jess Cagle, the eccentric Terms Of Endearment star said: 'I think that's the basis for a long-lasting marriage, if you really want to do such a thing.

'I would say better to stay friends and we don't have enough time to talk about the sexuality of all. I was very open about all of that and so was he.'

While still married the 81-year-old had affairs with a slew of her high profile lovers, including Hollywood hardman Robert Mitchum, singer and actor Yves Montand, funnyman Danny Kaye and former Australian foreign minister Andrew Peacock.,

But the Downton Abbey star does not believe this affected her relationship with her husband, saying: I guess you would say (we) "practiced an open marriage" in 1954, which was another lifetime.

Brutally honest: The actress did not hold back in her interview with Sirius XM's Jess Cagle

Brutally honest: The actress did not hold back in her interview with Sirius XM's Jess Cagle

Intercontinental love affair: The duo found it easy to dabble with other partners as she worked in American and he lived in Japan

Intercontinental love affair: The duo found it easy to dabble with other partners as she worked in American and he lived in Japan

'No one understood it. We did. He lived in Japan basically. I lived in America working, and this and that. We'd meet up, always great friends, traveled sometimes together.'

The diehard Democrat, who is has an estimated net worth of $50 million, was just eighteen years old and working in the chorus of a Broadway show when she first met her husband.

She previously said: 'As soon as Steve walked in and sat down, I knew my life was to take a new course.'

The Oscar-winner, whose brother is renowned Lothario Warren Beatty, had daughter Sachi Parker. The 59-year-actress later wrote an unflattering tell-all book about her upbringing which her mother labelled 'virtually all fiction.'

Domestic bliss: Shirley and Steve, pre-moustache, reading a script at home in 1955

Domestic bliss: Shirley and Steve, pre-moustache, reading a script at home in 1955

The youngster was sent to Japan to live with her father at the age of just two, and would visit her mother during the summer and at holidays. 

Nowadays she finds solace in four-legged friends rather than in the arms of a lover.

Shirley, who claims to have had encounters with alien lifeforms, said: 'I'm having a relationship now, that is teaching me about possessiveness with intimacy and it's with my three dogs. I adore my dogs.

'And I've had to get a dog nanny/food lady for the dogs because I've been working so much.'

New age spiritualist Shirley joked her pooches are now more fond of their carer than her, saying they are 'totally indiscreet,' adding, 'I'm really learning what people will do for food.'

Happy family: But Shirley's daughter Sachi Parker would later write an unflattering memoir about her unconventional uprbinging

Happy family: But Shirley's daughter Sachi Parker would later write an unflattering memoir about her unconventional uprbinging

Comments (18)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now