Kenneth Weate was dragged to the limelight following his short-lived marriage to multitalented singer and actress, Helen Reddy. He became the first of her three husbands in 1961 and they remained together for only five years before they parted ways with a child between them.
A very private person, Kenneth was born in 1927 in North Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia. His parents were Mr. Claude Gifford Weate who was aged 25 when Kenneth was born and Mrs. Eunice Gladys Jessie Wheeler was 23 years old when she bore him.
Details About Kenneth Weate You Should Know About
1. Kenneth’s Relationship And Marriage To Helen Reddy
Kenneth and Helen meet in 1960 when Helen was barely 19 years old. He was a family friend and way older than Helen at the time. When they met, Helen was working in cubs and restaurants in Australia, singing and performing. Kenneth was also a musician and singer and he earned money through his art.
A year after they met and started dating, they got married. Helen later revealed that her decision to marry Kenneth was a means to defy her parent’s plan for her. Helen’s parents wanted her to join them in their show-business but she didn’t want a part of it. In order to escape that life, she opted to marry Kenneth.
The marriage, as a result of the initial intent perhaps, did not last for long. About 4 years into the marriage, the couple had broken up. This was however about the same time Helen bore a child for Kenneth. They had their baby girl named Traci Donat in 1964. Two years after this, they divorced and went their separate ways.
Helen took full custody of her child with Kenneth and they moved out of Australia to Los Angeles where Helen began to build a bigger career for herself.
2. A Brief Introduction Of His Wife
Helen Maxine Reddy was an Australian-American singer, songwriter, author, actress, and activist. She was born into a family of entertainers in Melbourne, Victoria. As a result of this, she began her career in entertainment at the age of 4 and rose to stardom with a lot of hit songs.
She is widely recognized for her singles such; ‘One Way Ticket’, I believe In Music’, ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him. During her time as a renowned singer and entertainer, she earned wide international recognition and even made it to the top charts abroad. She also wrote the book ‘I Am Woman’, as well as featured in a couple of TV shows and movies.
3. His Ex-wife Remarried Months After Their Divorce
Few months after her divorce from Kenneth Weate, Helen Reddy found love again. She met her second husband, Jeff Wald at a party organized by her close friend. Jeff gatecrashed the party which had an entrance fee of $5 dollars as he did not pay for his entrance.
On meeting with Jeff, Helen fell in love at first sight and the rest became a beautiful story. A couple of months after this chanced meeting, Helen was walking down the aisle once again. By 1972, she had her second child for Jeff. The boy was named Jordan Sommers. Jeff also adopted her first daughter, Traci, whom she had with Kenneth Weate.
The marriage between her and Jeff was beautiful as Jeff worked as her manager. He was also known as a producer recognized for movies and TV series such as ‘Switched At Birth’, The Roseanne Show, and ‘The Contender’. Jeff also had outside film acknowledgments for being the founder of some companies. One of such companies is ‘WorkMarket’ an enterprise software platform that enables the management of freelancers by companies.
4. Helen’s Divorce From Her Second Husband
Helen and Jeff’s marriage lasted for about 15 years and they called it quits. By 1981, the couple were incessant fights and had to separate. Jeff moved to Beverly Hills treatment facility to get over his addiction to Cocaine.
Reddy filed for divorce from Wald at this time but retracted it. A year later, she separated from him again and filed for another divorce which was finalized in 1983. They had a huge battle for custody of their son in a series of court cases.
However, in 1987, Jeff Wald moved on with his life and even remarried. He got married to a woman known as Candy Clark and the marriage lasted for just 2 years.
5. About His Wife’s Third Husband
Kenneth Weate’s ex-wife got married a third time. Helen yet again got married following the end of her marriage to Jeff Wald.
Helen married the drummer of her band who went by the name Ruth Milton. He is recognized as the singing star’s last husband whose marriage to her lasted for about 12 years (1983-1995). From the look of things, Ruth and Helen got married just after her divorce from Jeff.
The couple was seen a couple of times out at events and red carpet functions but this time around, their marriage was kept under wraps. Not much is known about what happened in their over-a-decade-long marriage but it eventually still ended in a divorce.
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6. His Ex-wife Died Years After Being Diagnosed With Dementia
10 years after divorce from her third husband, Helen remained unmarried and in the company of her family. She was then diagnosed with Dementia and was moved into the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s center. Here she was being watched over and her family and friends cared and catered to her needs. She was also diagnosed with and suffered from Addison’s disease.
However, 5 years down the line, on the 29th of August 2020, she passed away in Los Angeles. She was 78 years old and had her family with her at the time of her death.
7. How Kenneth Weate Died
A few years after his divorce from Reddy Helen, the former musician and first ex-husband of the renowned singer passed away. Weate died on the 11th of April 1970 at Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Australia. He was 42 years old at the time of his death.