Famed American conductor and composer, Leonard Bernstein was married to actress Felicia Montealegre for decades.
People born within 1910 and early 1990s witnessed the works of legendary Leonard Bernstein.
He was a composer, pianist, music educator, author, humanitarian, and the first American conductor to receive international acclaim.
Leonard Bernstein revolutionized the role of a conductor not only in the world at large, due to his passionate involvement with social justice issues and his belief that through music peace and understanding could be achieved, but also with his approach to musical interpretation and performance, as demonstrated in the relationships he forged with his musicians.
Leonard got his big break in 1943 when he filled in for Bruno Walter during a Carnegie Hall performance. After wowing the audience, and making the cover of the local paper, Leonard’s career flourished.
His best-known works are the musicals On the Town (1944; filmed 1949), Wonderful Town (1953; filmed 1958), Candide (1956), and the very popular West Side Story (1957; filmed 1961), written in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Robbins.
Leonard graduated from Harvard University in 1939, and later joined the New York Philharmonic, according to his official website.
When he was not composing and conducting, Bernstein enjoyed skiing, playing tennis, and engaging in all manner of word games, especially cutthroat anagrams.
Sadly, he passed away on October 14, 1990, in The Dakota, New York, United States at age 72.
A new Netflix movie, titled Maestro, is set to be released about the the composer. Bradley Cooper is starring as Leonard Bernstein in the film, Maestro, which is set to stream on Netflix following its theatrical release on November 22.
The movie chronicles the life of the legendary composer, who was married to actor Felicia Montealegre. In addition to leading the cast, Bradley serves as a producer and co-writer for the film. The Silver Linings Playbook star previously explained that he was grateful for the chance to bring Maestro to life after years of work.
“It’s been four and a half years in the making and I feel very grateful,” he said during an appearance on the Smartless podcast. “I just did all this research about this incredible family, the Bernsteins, and Felicia Montealegre, [Leonard’s] wife.” Bradley went on to explain that the music in the Maestro adds to its magic, comparing it to his work on the Oscar-winning movie, A Star Is Born.
Now, Leonard’s life will be the focus of Maestro, but the film will also dive deep into his relationship with his wife, Felicia. So, who was his wife, and why did they divorce? Read on for more.
SOURCE: GETTY
Who was Leonard Bernstein’s wife?
When the conductor was 33 years old, he was married to Felicia Montealegre. His wife was three years younger than him, making her 30, at the time of their marriage.
Leonard and Montealegre met in 1946 at a party given by Claudio Arrau. Their first engagement was broken off, and she subsequently had a several-year relationship with Broadway and Hollywood actor Richard Hart.
According to Daily Mail, the couple tied the knot on September 9, 1951.
Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre stayed as husband and wife for 25 years.
During their union, the pair welcomed three children namely Jamie, Alexander, and Nina.
The Bernstein family lived in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut, maintaining a close-knit atmosphere surrounded by extended family and friends.
While still married, Leonard became involved in an extramarital affair with both women and men with the latter being more.
In the movie Maestro, Carey Mulligan stars as the Chilean actor, who had a complex relationship with her composer husband.
SOURCE: GETTY
Who was Felicia Montealegre?
Felicia Montealegre Bernstein was an actress and social activist. As an actress, Montealegre was famous for her performances in televised dramas at beginning of the Golden Age of Television, and in theatrical roles on and off Broadway.
By 1949, her acting career was blossoming. She appeared in a slate of shows on NBC and CBS and later appeared in Broadway productions of A Doll’s House, Forgotten Melody, High Tor, Torch for a Dark Journey, and The Wings of the Dove.
Outside of entertainment, Felicia was an advocate for social justice. She founded an anti-war organization in 1967, and later held a fundraiser to support The Panther 21.
According to her biography, Felicia was born on March 3, 1922, in San José, Costa Rica, but was raised in Chile before moving to New York City in 1944.
Her parents were Clemencia Cristina Montealegre Carazo, and Roy Elwood Cohn, a United States mining executive then stationed in Costa Rica.
On her mother’s side she was a relative of actress Madeleine Stowe, their common ancestor being Mariano Montealegre Bustamante, Vice Head of State of Costa Rica.
She was not an only child as she had two sisters, Nancy Alessandri and Madeline Lecaros.
Educated in Chile, she was raised Catholic, and later converted to Judaism, when marrying Leonard Bernstein.
In 1944, Montealegre established herself in New York, where she took piano lessons from her Chilean compatriot Claudio Arrau.
SOURCE: GETTY
What caused Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre’s divorce?
Despite being married to Felicia Montealegre, Leonard Bernstein was allegedly involved in numerous affairs. In her 2018 memoir, Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein, Jamie Bernstein explained that Felicia was aware of Leonard’s gay romances but ignored the transgressions. Jamie revealed that her mother wrote Leonard a letter the year they got married, in which Jamie told him “I am willing to accept you as you are,” per the New York Post.
In 1976, Leonard left Felicia for his lover, Tom Cothran. However, the following year Felicia was diagnosed with lung cancer and Leonard returned to care for the actor until her death in 1978, aged 58. After Felicia’s death, Leonard made a “Slow creep toward overt gayness,” according to his daughter.