13 Apr 2009

Going separate ways

It's official, and it's all over the Internet today:

MEL Gibson's wife, Robyn, has filed for divorce from the Aussie actor after 28 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

Robyn Gibson lodged divorce documents in the Los Angeles Superior Court, the Associated Press reports.

Robyn Gibson has requested joint custody of the couple's youngest son, Tom, who turns 10 tomorrow. The couple's six other children are over the age of 18.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25331608-661,00.html
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Entertainment/2009/04/13/9100141.html
http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1609146/story.jhtml
...and so on, and on, and on!

Not much you can add to that. It's been a long haul, but the couple have been separated for the last couple of years. One imagines, Mel's beliefs (being a staunch Catholic, which Robyn isn't, and holding some pretty whacked-out idea regarding the Jewish race, which Robyn doesn't share) would drive a wedge between them.

I've always been fascinated by Robyn Gibson, because she's a South Australian lass, like self. In fact, she was the friend of the daughter of the guy who used to do a lot of printing for me, about 30 years ago! I used to get "Mel Gibson stories" from my printer, back in the Days of Yore when very few people outside South Australia knew who the hell Mel Gibson was!

This is the second time recently that Robyn has been in the news, and it was sad last time, too:

THE family of Hollywood star Mel Gibson has made a sad journey to Adelaide - to farewell the father of his wife, Robyn Moore.
Bill Moore, 85, died peacefully on October 10, at Ashford Hospital.
The funeral was held at the Mawson Chapel, Centennial Park yesterday.
It is believed Gibson, 51, did not make the journey from the US with his wife and children for the service.
Bill is survived by his wife Nancye, children Susan, Robyn and Michael, and 12 grandchildren -- including Gibson and Moore's seven children -- and one great grandchild.
Gibson met Robyn, a dental nurse, in Adelaide in the late 1970s, soon after filming the first instalment of Mad Max.
The pair were housemates, who became best friends, then eventually lovers. They dated for six years, then married in 1980.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22591253-5006023,00.html

Now, let's go back to happier days, when the world (and certainly mel, Robyn and Aricia!) were all a hell of a lot younger...