Carol Kikumura Was Rod Taylor's 3rd And Final Wife- All We Know

The former actress, model, and dancer Carol Kikumura became famous after she married the Australian-born actor Rod Taylor. She was the third and last wife of the talented star.

Carol Kikumura began her career as a model before she later ventured into acting. She is only known for her role in Hawaiian Eye (1959). She seems to have appeared in just a few movies, unlike her husband who has appeared in over 50 feature films. He gained fame after he starred in The Time Machine (1960).

The actress and her husband were married for 35 years before he died in 2015 at the age of 84.

Who is Carol Kikumura?

The actress was born Gaaimi Yaemi Kikumura on May 17 1942 in San Francisco, California, the USA to her Japanese parents. She only became famous after she married Rod Taylor so details about her life before she married him remain a mystery. However, her husband, Rod Taylor was born on January 11, 1930, in Lidcombe New South Wales, Australia.

Rod Taylor attended the University of New South Wales.

How Carol Kikumura met her husband

Kikumura was working as an actor and a dancer in the early 1960s when she met her husband in Hollywood. She was an extra on his TV series Hong Kong at that time.

The couple dated for a while before Kikumura moved to Las Vegas where she opened a needlepoint shop. They lost contact eventually but didn’t seem to forget each other.

Carol Kikumura’s husband married two women before reconnecting with her

Rod Taylor married his first wife Peggy Williams, a model in 1951. The two first met while Taylor was working at Mark Foy. After three years they divorced after allegations of domestic violence. The actor later revealed the marriage did not work due to the fact that they were both too young. The divorce was finalized in 1954.

Taylor seemed to have a thing for models and actresses as he was later linked to a Swedish actress Anita Ekberg. There were reports that the two were engaged briefly in the early1960s. That relationship ended and he moved on to date yet another model named Pat Sheehan in the late 1960s.

In the year 1963, Rod Taylor married for the second time to model Mary Hilem. The wedding took place at Westwood community Methodist church. Taylor was 33 years old while his bride was 27 at the time. The wedding ceremony was graced by only 30 guests. Among the wedding guests were: Pilar Wayne, Louis Jordan, Jane Fonda, Barron Hilton, and a few other famous people.

In December 1964, things became rocky for the couple and they got separated twice before they patched things up and got back again. The actor and his wife welcome their first child Felicia in August 1964. Unfortunately, the coming of their daughter did not make things any easier as their divorce was finalized in 1969.

Rod Taylor’s ex-wife Mary later married a Chicago real estate developer and humanitarian Arthur Rubloff. After Rubloff passed, she married Lewis Schott again before she died in March 2009 at the age of 74.

Carol Kikimura married Rod Taylor in 1960

Kikumura revealed during an interview that she never forgot Taylor even after they lost contact. She decided to reach out to him in 1971 after she saw him on his new TV series The Bearcats. She called CBS and left a message for the actor.

Taylor later called her back and she flew from Las Vegas to Hollywood to see him. The couple went back to the same restaurant where they had gone on their first date.

Carol Kikumura revealed they played tennis, painted, and cooked most of the time they were together. The couple got back together in 1971 and supposedly dated for almost nine years before marrying in 1980.

The former actress, unfortunately, lost her husband of nearly 35 years on January 7, 2015. Rod Taylor died of a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Taylor died just when he had four days to clock 85.

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Does she have children?

There is no information regarding the former actress’ children. It is not known if she had children or not but she was a stepmother to the daughter of her husband.

Taylor’s daughter, Felicia grew up with her mother after her parents divorced. Her stepfather Rubloff adopted her before he died. Felicia Taylor was a business news anchor on WNBC-TV in New York. She was also the co-host of retirement living TV’s Daily Café. She is said to be a retired anchor-correspondent for CNN International’s World Business Today.

Carol Kikumura is currently 81 years old. She has stayed away from the spotlight ever since she lost her husband.

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