In 1942, when he was 20 years old, he met his neighbor, Norma Jeane Baker. She was 16 years-old and they married in Los Angeles. After the wedding, he joined the navy. They separated in 1946. He told the Sun-Journal in 1997, that he was in love with a small town girl, not an actress. Until Monroe died in 1962, he followed the career of his ex-wife.