Mickey Rourke Threatened Suicide If Otis Didn't Marry Him

11 October 2011

Mickey Rourke threatened to commit suicide if ex-wife Carre Otis didn't accept his marriage proposal - because he couldn't live without her.

Otis and The Wrestler star had a tumultuous relationship and many were surprised when she agreed to become his wife in 1992, but now, in her memoir, Beauty, Disrupted, the actress admits she only wed Rourke because she was terrified he would kill himself right before her very eyes if she turned down the offer.

In an excerpt, obtained by the New York Post, she writes, "I left Mickey in Miami (Florida) to pursue his new boxing career... But I wasn't really surprised to get a call. I gave in. Just like that... On June 25, 1992, a limo picked me up in Los Angeles and drove me north up the coast to Big Sur. Sure enough, there he was, sitting on the hood of a tricked-out '69 Road Runner hot rod.

"'Otis... I... I don't know what to say. I love you. I miss you. I need you. I... I want you.' He was stammering.

"'Mickey, you really f**king hurt me. I don't even know why I'm here. Other than that I love you, too. But love... it shouldn't hurt like this.' I was emotional. My lip was trembling. I was trying not to cry. Before I knew what he was doing, he got down on one knee. 'Marry me, Carre,' he said.

"'Jesus, Mickey. Wait. I haven't seen you in months!' I was starting to feel panicked. 'I need time, some time to think about this.'

"'No. You answer me now,' he said firmly. Standing up, he went to the back of the car and opened the trunk. 'I can't live without you,' he said again, pulling out a long sword wrapped in beautiful Japanese cloth. 'What's that?' I asked.

"'It's a hari-kari knife,' he replied, unwrapping it. The long metal sword caught the afternoon light. Mickey stared into my eyes. 'Answer me or I will die.'

"Was he serious? I wasn't sure. I was terrified. I waited a beat. I recognised his standard my-way-or-the-highway ultimatum in all this, but it was tinged with a threat of a different kind this time.