Ginger Rogers Goes Home to Mother

Spectators and fans gathered in Los Angeles Superior Court when Ginger Rogers appeared to ask for a divorce from her second husband, actor-director Lew Ayres. The divorce made the front page of the Los Angeles Times the next day -- the detailed account describing her clothes (black wool dress suit, black shoes and hat, black gloves) and a partial transcript of her testimony, in which she described how her husband “continually criticized me, my friends and my work.” Particularly noted was Rogers’ description of how her husband told her to leave their home. The lead sentence of the story read: “Imagine any man remarking to the nimble-footed Ginger Rogers: ‘Get out and go on home to your mother!’ ”