affair with John Gilbert while they were married. Her second husband was broker Jack R. Peine, who she married on December 8, 1934. In August 1934, Lee, Peine, and chauffeur George Morrison had been sued for $110,000 by Italian opera singer and voice teacher Emilio Staine, who claimed he had been struck by their car when crossing a street in Santa Monica, California. By July 2, 1935, the two had divorced. Lee claimed Peine was a drunk, a gambler, and a cheater. Shortly into their marriage, with Lee looking for a house for the two, Peine took off to Mexico and didn't return for a month. In 1935, Lee began a relationship with car salesman Reid Russell. In 1936, Lee was living in California with her son James Jr, novelist Gouverneur Morris, and his wife Ruth. Lee became engaged to Russell and planned to marry him once he obtained a divorce. On September 25, 1936, Russell's dead body was discovered outside on the hammock by Kirkwood Jr., and a scandal that would ultimately end Lee's career ensued. Her third husband was broker John E. Murphy. According to author Sean Egan in the James Kirkwood biography Ponies & Rainbows (2011), Murphy's will left Lee at the financial mercy of his second wife, who consequently became the manipulative character Aunt Claire in P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, written by Lee's son, James Kirkwood, Jr. Reid Russell Scandal Lila Lee began a relationship with car salesman Reid Russell in 1935. On September 25, 1936, Reid Russell's dead body was discovered outside on the hammock by Kirkwood Jr. (Ruth Morris would later claim it was she who discovered Russell's body). He had been shot in the head with a .32 caliber one or two days prior. The bullet had penetrated Russell's head and passed through; neither it nor its empty shell were ever found. The gun found in his hand was one he kept in his bureau drawer at home. Following the discovery of Russell's body, his death was investigated and treated as a suicide, and Mr. and Mrs. Morris both said that he was suicidal and had made suicidal remarks after losing his job. Lee would later confirm he had threatened suicide on multiple occasions and that he talked about it incessantly. On November 11, the Los Angeles Times reported that a woman had made a telephone threat towards Russell's mother, Victoria, urging