Myra Gale Brown

Myra Gale Lewis Williams ( Brown; born July 11, 1944) is an American author, best known for her controversial marriage at the age of 13 to rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis, who was her first cousin once removed and was 22 at the time. She co-wrote the book Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis (1982), which was adapted into the film Great Balls of Fire! (1989). In 2016 she published her memoir, The Spark That Survived. Life and career Myra Gale Brown was born on July 11, 1944, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the daughter of Lois (née Neal) and J. W. "Jay" Brown. The Browns later had a son, Rusty Brown (b. 1954). In 1949, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when J. W. Brown took a job with Memphis Gas, Light and Water, where he worked as a lineman. When J. W. Brown was injured on the job, he decided to start a band. He sought out his cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, who was also an unknown musician at the time. J. W. Brown played electric bass, and Lewis played piano and sang. They went on to make rock and roll history, recording hit singles on Sun Records. In 1956, Lewis moved in with J. W. Brown and his family. On December 12, 1957, at the age of 13, Myra Brown married Jerry Lee Lewis, then 22, in Hernando, Mississippi. When Lewis arrived in London for a 37-date tour in May 1958, Brown revealed to a reporter at the airport that she was his wife. Lewis asserted that Brown was 15 years old and was his wife of two months. However, it was discovered that she was only 13, and that they had been married for five months. This caused an uproar and after a few dates the tour was cancelled. By the time they returned to Memphis, it had been discovered that Brown was not only Lewis' wife, she was also his first cousin once removed. In addition, Lewis had not yet divorced his previous wife, Jane Mitcham. After Lewis finalized his divorce from Mitcham, he remarried Brown on June 4, 1958. The scandal over the marriage destroyed Lewis' promising rock and roll career, although he subsequently found success in country music. By 1970, Lewis' drug addiction, alcoholism, and infidelity had taken a toll on their marriage. Brown filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery and abuse, stating that she had been "subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable." Their divorce was finalized on December 9, 1970. They had two children, Steve Allen Lewis (1959–1962), who drowned at age three, and daughter Phoebe Allen Lewis (b. 1963).