Cher -- The Dark Lady

"I walked away from home when I was sixteen. I ran away when I was about four."

Cherilyn Sarkisian was born poor on May 20 1946 in El Centro, California, to Georgia Holt and John Sarkisian. John was an Armenian farmer in Reno and Georgia was a struggling actress. Georgia had instantly regretted the marriage and was pregnant with Cher (Cherilyn). Georgia and John had an on-again off-again relationship resulting in marriage and divorce three times to each other.

Family life was non-existent for Cher as her mother, Georgia, went on to marry eight times. Cher only met her real father at the age of eleven and spent most of her childhood in foster homes and at one point in an orphanage while her mother, Georgia, perused her dreams.

At the early age of sixteen Cher (1963) left high school and home to take acting lessons in Los Angeles where she met Sony Bono at Aldo's coffee Shop on Hollywood Boulevard. He was 28 years old and did percussion at the Phil Spector's gold Star studios.

Cher began backup harmonizing for the Ronettes, Glen Cambell and the Righteous Brothers. Vocally challenged, Sonny Bono, sang with Cher and performed at bowling alleys and skating rinks with little hope of fame. Cher's first recordings were released under Bonnie Jo Mason and Cherilyn but failed to reach an audience.

This soon changed when Bono penned the words "I Got You Babe" and it went on to be their gold hit in 1965. In a bathroom in Tijuana the two exchanged rings and their own vows of marriage without a minister. They were officially married in 1969 before the birth of their daughter, Chastity, named after their movie Chastity (1969).

Cher's first movies Wild on the Beach (1965) and Good Times (1967) were not the greatest. The newly found duo team lost their wealth to debts, the IRS and struggled to support their daughter. The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour was an instant smash hit with their risqué banter and with Cher's exotic looks and her pop radio come back with the song Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves which became a number one song. Bono's control over Cher led to backstage turbulence and in 1974 they finally divorced.

Cher went on to host her own variety show whose first guests were Bette Midler and Elton John. On June 30, 1975, Cher married Gregg Allman for a total of 10 days till she filed for divorce due to his addictions to alcohol and drugs. This short marriage left Cher pregnant with Allman's son, Elijah. Elijah was 16 when he played guitar to Cher's stage performances in 1992.

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