Susan Sarandon's grandmother got married at 13?!

Armed with a handful of questions about Susan’s maternal grandmother, Anita, and one small, wrinkled photo, Susan’s visits her mother with questions focused on where, who, why.

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[carolmurphy]

She says that her grandfather was six years older than her grandmother. Check that math again. If her grandfather was 21 and her grandmother was 13 (not 15, as the marriage registry shows), then he was eight years older than her. That's a significant difference at that age! She was just a child herself, who had lost her own mother at age 9, and pregnant by a 21 year-old man. Likely not choice in the matter, she was married and had the baby three months later, and another child relatively quickly. No wonder she ran away! Babies having babies is rarely a happy situation.

[TheLovelyTraveler]

Yes, child marriage used to be more common, that doesn't mean it wasn't predatory or harmful. A lot of things that used to be acceptable were harmful. That poor little girl.

[gagee]

And no one mentions how much the mother and daughter look alike, wow! Twins!

[traceyholt]

Susan's grandmother Anita Evelyn Rigali was born 9 Mar 1907. She married 1 February 1921, New York, to Joseph Vincent Criscione, born 25 November 1901. Her son Robert was born 12th May 1921, conceived abt Aug 1920, when she was 13 years 5 months old. She was married at 13 years 11 months and gave birth to her first child at 14 years 2 months. Susan's mother was born 15th April 1923, when Anita was 16 years and 1 month old. Joseph was 18 years 9 months when Anita got pregnant, 19 years 3 months when they got married and 19 years 6 months when Robert was born. They would have lied about his age on the wedding certificate as 21 years was considered an adult. If both were under age, both parents would have had to have given consent. So Joseph was 5 years 4 months older than Anita. STILL huge when considering a 13 1/2 year old with an 18 1/2 year old.

[raycope]

I have always loved Susan Sarandon, and was constantly amazed at her skills as an actor, but I would dearly have loved to have sat in a quiet corner of a pub, over a pint or two, with her lovely mum, and listened to her stories of when she was younger.
What a grand lady she is.

[jiovanna]

I'm shocked that Susan Sarandons mother is still alive since Susan is now in her early 70's.

I can't believe I'm saying Susan Sarandon is in her 70s because I'm so used her being in her 40's when I was a kid.

She is legit one of the greatest actresses ever...the top 5 or 10 of all time.

Legendary & iconic National Treasure 🐏 Goat
She is what you call a REAL Star and pop Culture phenomenon.

She had been an actor since the early 1970's.

What extraordinary lady.

[cmtippens]

It's always easy to condemn someone's actions until you know more of the story.

[BB-skhf]

Susan's poor mother is still so traumatised by the loss, after all those years 💔

[anthonymaccherone]

My paternal grandparents had an arranged marriage. They had never met until the day they were married. My grandmother was 12 and my grandfather was 16. After the ceremony they went home with their families and the next day my grandfather sailed from Italy to NYC. Two years later my grandmother followed. They were together for fourteen years before they had the first of their five children.

[yeahme]

My grandmother "was given" to my grandfather when she was 13 and he was thirty. He was a coal miner who rented a room in her parent's house. He had a good job. He was from Austria.

[SN-szkw]

Wasn’t so unusual. I had an aunt who married at 14. For some it was a nightmare, for my aunt, not so much. She professed lifelong love for my uncle.

[dicedrice]

Anita may have been looking for security. Not a lot of assistance services in those days.

She was only 13 so if her dad was sick or elderly, unfortunately getting married was her best option for a stable and secure life.

[giovanni]

My Great x 2 grandma got married at 13 to a 19 year old. It was a shotgun wedding as were several others in the ancestral crowd,

[christywhite]

I can’t believe how beautiful she looks! How she looks at 25 years younger!

[GodsOath_com]

Many prairie girls in the US got married at 13 as well. Pioneering was a hard life

[mariascudder]

My GG Grandmother, born in 1860, married in 1875 at the age of 15, she had her first baby in 1876, then this baby grew up and married in 1898, my Grandmothher was born in 1899...that was life back then..

[TanyaSwartzbaugh]

My mom lied about her age on her first marriage license too. She was 15, he was 21. And my father lied about how many times he had been married on one of his marriage licenses too.

[pattistuber]

Back then it was common to get married young. There was an elderly couple in our church who married when she was 14 and he was 19. They were both raised with more responsibility at younger age and I think school stopped earlier. They were groomed to work hard as farmers and raise larger families. They had 6 children and a plethora of grandchildren and great grands. They were loving people. They lived to be married for 72 years. She died before him. He lived to be 103 years old! He worked hard most all of his life. He was a sweet old man.

[sallyolivarez]

I never understood my mother or grandmother until I did ancestry and discovered my mom and her 5 siblings were put into an ophange in South Carolina. I have the newspaper that shows my grandmother had 2 babies 2 and 1 along with my older uncle riding in the back of a truck in Darlington South Carolina when a drunk logging truck driver hit the truck when this happened the 2 girls were decaptated one in her arms. She had 3 more girls and then when my mom was 2 she disappeared until my mom was 12 married to a Navy Officer. The cover of book is not always as it looks.

[marthapetty]

My grandmother was 13 yrs old when she married my grandfather who was 24 at that time. There were married for many many many years.