Who Was O.J. Simpson's First Wife?

We all know O.J. Simpson's late ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson...but who was his first wife?

Transcript

00:00I am not an easy guy to live with, I'm moody at times, I'm told, but rarely."

00:08The late O.J. Simpson married his high school sweetheart, Marguerite Whitley, in 1967, several

00:14decades before he tied the knot with Nicole Brown.

00:17The two divorced in 1979, with O.J. revealing in an interview with People that his rise

00:22to fame was a contributing factor to the end of their relationship.

00:25O.J. told the magazine,

00:27"[The price of fame was our biggest problem.

00:29My wife is a private person, yet we can't walk down the street without causing a commotion."

00:34O.J. and Marguerite first began dating when they were in high school.

00:38O.J. was supposed to hook her up with his friend Al Cowlings, later the driver of the

00:42infamous white Ford Bronco.

00:44But O.J. ended up wooing her himself.

00:46I was a little wild before I met her, and she's settling me down.

00:50I probably wouldn't be anywhere that I'm at today if it wasn't for her."

00:54O.J. and Marguerite were young when they married.

00:57They were 19 and 18, respectively.

00:59Throughout their marriage, which lasted about 12 years, the couple welcomed three children

01:03together, Arnell, Jason, and Erin, who died in a drowning accident when she was nearly

01:08two years old.

01:09O.J. reportedly met Nicole Brown at a Beverly Hills nightclub while he was still married

01:13to Marguerite.

01:14I got a little mischief in me.

01:17Not long after, the two divorced in 1979.

01:20I think it's good to kind of get out on your own and do your own little thing.

01:24Marguerite has lived largely out of the spotlight since divorcing O.J. in the late 70s, but

01:28she gave a high-profile interview during the Trial of the Century.

01:32In a 1995-2020 interview with Barbara Walters, Marguerite revealed that O.J. was never violent

01:37towards her during their marriage, denying that he had ever even lifted his hand to her.

01:42She told Walters,

01:43"...if he did, he would have got a frying pan upside his head.

01:46There was just no way that I would allow that to happen to me."

01:49During the trial, a police officer testified that he responded to a domestic violence call

01:54at O.J.'s residence while he was married to Marguerite.

01:57She denied these allegations in her 2020 interview, explaining that it was the first time she

02:01had ever heard of it.

02:03Marguerite also staunchly believed that O.J. was innocent of the murder of Nicole Brown,

02:07telling Walters,

02:08"...he's just not like that.

02:10It's not something that O.J. would do."