9 Marriages in all
A run down of her many marriages -- She married Husband No. 1, Warner Bros. co-founder Sam Warner, at age 18; the man dubbed "The Father of Talking Pictures" was 20 years older than his bride and died two years later of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 40. She had one daughter, Lita Warner (born in 1926), by this marriage. Husband No. 2 was cinematographer J. Peverell Marley and they divorced about a year later. She was also widowed by Husband No. 3, actor Ray Hallam (1905-1931), who married her in 1931 and died that same year at age 26. Husband No. 4 and 5 was Theodore Hayes, former boxing trainer to prizefighter Jack Dempsey. They married in December of 1931 but it was annulled when it was found he was a bigamist; they remarried in 1933 but divorced two years later after having one son, Edward Alvin Hayes (born in 1934). Marriages to Husband No. 6, British actor Henry Mollison, No. 7, Warner Gilmore, and No. 8, Frank Mancuso, ended in divorce.
Adolph Hitler's favorite actress. She also enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the Soviet Union, due in part to her film The Godless Girl (1929).
Among the rich and famous who owned Lina Basquette Great Danes were Raymond Burr, Mike Nichols and the Crown Prince of Iraq.
Basquette attempted suicide in 1930, following the widow's custody battle with her late husband's brothers. In the litigation she lost custody of her daughter, Lita, to the Warner family. Lena did not see her daughter again for more than thirty years. The actress obtained $40,000 from a life insurance policy, a car, and $85 a week from one of Warner's trust funds.
During a standstill in her career in America, she was invited to Germany to appear in films for the Third Reich. She turned down the offer.
Outside affairs with the rich-and-famous included fighter Jack Dempsey, singer Nelson Eddy and operatic baritone Lawrence Tibbett.
She was a half sister of Marge Champion.
Well after her movie career ended, she became one of the leading United States dog show judges.