From Kenneth Weate to Milton Ruth: inside Helen Reddy's 3 marriages
Helen Reddy was married and divorced three times during her lifetime to singer Kenneth Weate, talent manager Jeff Wald, and drummer Milton Ruth. Her almost two-decade marriage to Jeff Wald, who later became her manager, was instrumental to her rise in America after leaving her native Australia in the mid-1960s.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Helen Reddy did not have a husband at the time of her death on September 29, 2020.
- The Australian-born singer welcomed two children, including her daughter Traci Wald Donat and her son Jordan Sommers Wald, who are both in show business.
- Helen Reddy's ex-husbands, Jeff Wald and Kenneth Weate, passed away in November 2021 and April 1970, respectively.
Helen Reddy's profile summary
Full name | Helen Maxine Lamond Reddy |
Date of birth | October 25, 1941 |
Place of birth | Richmond, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Date of death | September 29, 2020 |
Age at death | 78 years old |
Spouses | Kenneth Claude Weate (1961-1966) Jeff Wald (1966-1983) Milton Robert Ruth (1981-1995) |
Children | Traci Wald Donat, Jordan Sommers Wald |
Parents | Max Reddy, Stella Lamond |
Profession | Singer, actress, TV host |
Inside Helen Reddy's three marriages
The 'I Am Woman' hitmaker did not find lasting love in her marriages and decided to remain single during her later years. After divorcing her third husband in 1995, Reddy chose to focus on being a mother and grandmother.
Source: Original
Kenneth Claude Weate (1961-1966)
Helen Reddy was 19 years old when she married Kenneth Claude Weate, an older Aussie musician, in 1961. The marriage was an act of rebellion against her parents, who wanted her to follow in their footsteps as a performer, according to her memoir The Woman I Am.
Her mother, Stella Lamond, was an Aussie singer, actress, and dancer, while her father, Max Reddy, was a writer, producer, and actor. Helen and Weate welcomed one daughter, Traci Wald Donat, in January 1963 before separating. The singer called their marriage "a very brief, very tempestuous affair" in a 1973 New York Times interview.
Helen Reddy's first husband passed away in April 1970 in his early 40s, per his obituary. The Melbourne native was buried at the Fawkner Memorial Park in Fawkner, Victoria, Australia.
Jeff Wald (1966-1983)
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Reddy met talent agent Jeff Wald at a New York City party in 1966. The Australian actress had moved to the Big Apple to pursue music but was struggling to find work.
It was love at first sight, and she reportedly married him three days later in Las Vegas after converting to Judaism. She told the New York Times in 1973 that they did it for taxation and travelling purposes, and wanted Wald to have custody of her daughter Traci, if anything happened to her.
The couple welcomed son Jordan Sommers Wald in December 1972. Wald became Helen's manager and was partly responsible for her breakthrough in the early 1970s with the hits I Don't Know How to Love Him and I Am Woman. Jeff Wald later became known for managing the careers of stars like Sylvester Stallone, Donna Summer, George Carlin, and Chicago.
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Helen Reddy and Jeff Wald's marriage was affected by Wald's substance abuse before they eventually divorced in 1983. The couple seemed to maintain a cordial relationship post-divorce. Wald described her as a strong woman in an August 2020 interview with The Guardian.
The record executives said, 'How can you let your wife do that women's lib? It'll end her career!' I don't 'let her' do anything. I didn't marry somebody that you gotta 'let'. I've been attracted to strong women my whole life.
Jeff Wald got sober after overdosing in 1986 and going to the Betty Ford Centre. The New York native later married Candy Clark (1987-1988) and Deborah Benson Wald (1990-2021). He passed away on November 12, 2021, at the age of 77 in Los Angeles.
Milton Robert Ruth (1983-1995)
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Helen Reddy's third husband, Milton Ruth, was an Australian-born drummer. The singer married him in June 1983 before settling her child custody battle with Jeff Wald.
Milton performed on Reddy's 1990 album Feeling So Young and served as the producer. The iconic '70s singer filed for divorce in November 1995 after 12 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.
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Where are Helen Reddy's children today?
Reddy loved her two children, Traci Wald Donat and Jordan Sommers Wald. She raised them with Jeff Wald, who adopted her daughter after her first husband's death. The children followed in their footsteps and joined show business.
Helen Reddy's daughter, Traci, became a video and commercial director and producer. She welcomed a daughter called Lily Donat with her husband, Lucas Donat, to whom she has been married since 1984. Lily is also a musician.
Son Jordan became a producer and writer with credits in Easy 4U2 Say (2016), The Perfect Host (2010), and Jack Frost (1998), per his IMDb. He has been married to Yasmina Sommers since 2007.
Source: Getty Images
Helen Reddy's death
The Delta Dawn hitmaker passed away on September 29, 2020, in Los Angeles at the age of 78. Helen Reddy suffered from Addison's disease and dementia in her later years and was a resident at the Motion Picture and Television Fund's Samuel Goldwyn Centre for Behavioural Health.
Her ex-husband, Jeff Wald, shared a heartfelt statement on X (Twitter), saying she was under excellent care. Reddy's children, Traci and Jordan, posted the tribute:
She was a wonderful mother, grandmother and a truly formidable woman. Our hearts are broken. But we take comfort in the knowledge that her voice will live on forever.
Source: Getty Images
Conclusion
Helen Reddy's former spouses, Kenneth Weate, Jeff Wald, and Milton Robert Ruth, made crucial contributions to her life and career in Australia and the US. The I Am Woman hitmaker defined the 1970s and 1980s with her contribution to the women's liberation movement through music.
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Source: Briefly News
