The actress and producer’s path to peace wasn’t without its share of heartbreak and high-profile romances. From whispers of Hollywood flings to deeply personal turning points, her journey is captured in over 30 revealing images.
For decades, Victoria Principal’s private life was anything but private — splashed across tabloid covers, whispered about on red carpets, and dissected in gossip columns coast to coast. Now, as she quietly enjoys a peaceful life, over 30 stunning and intimate photographs reveal the tumultuous journey that brought her here.
Frank Sinatra
One of the earliest bombshells? A 1983 cover story that hinted at a hush-hush romance with none other than Frank Sinatra. The piece hinted that Principal had fun in Hollywood and that among her elite suitors was the Chairman of the Board himself. Though details remain hazy, the allure of the mystery only adds to the legend.
Bernie Cornfeld
But not all of Principal’s affairs were shrouded in charm. In a 1981 newspaper article, the actress was said to be drawn to “famous, fast-living men.” One such man was financier Bernie Cornfeld — a tycoon whose lavish lifestyle came with a dark, terrifying twist.
Their relationship came to a chilling halt after Cornfeld allegedly attempted to strangle her. The incident wasn’t just scandalous — it was nearly deadly. Principal walked away, but the trauma would linger.
Christopher Skinner
Principal later seemed to find stability — or so it appeared — in the arms of actor Christopher Skinner. As noted in a 1981 magazine article, the two tied the knot, but just 20 months later, it was over.
With Skinner, then 24 years old, the actress found the marriage too confining, because their connection felt suffocating. However, not everything was negative in their relationship with Principal, explaining:
“Christopher gave me a sense of myself, peace and stability. We married just before the incredible upsurge in [sic] Dallas’ popularity. It was good for the first year and more, but he finally realized he wanted a more traditional marriage with a lady more available at home. It’s no secret that I have a career.”
Harry Glassman
Her next romance would become one of her most public — and most controversial. When Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Harry Glassman, then 39, entered the picture, he was in the midst of a messy divorce. At the same time, Principal was still going through an “emotional divorce” from another famous flame: Andy Gibb.
Glassman’s estranged wife, Jane Rubins, stirred headlines by claiming that he had purchased a lavish diamond ring — not for her, but for Principal. The actress shut down the accusations in court, stating under oath that she “swore on a Bible” that Glassman had not given her the ring.
Instead, she later bought one herself — a stunning 3.89-carat diamond — explaining, “It was my 33rd birthday and I felt the numbers should be appropriate.” But even diamonds couldn’t shield the relationship from turmoil.
Despite the lawsuits, the attention from paparazzi built Glassman’s discomfort with being famous by association. “One of the things about the relationship with Victoria I’ve grown to resent is the lack of privacy,” he explained.
However, Principal remained enchanted. “With Harry, I feel completely fulfilled,” she said. “I’m just wild about Harry.” She also grew close to his children, Andrew, then 15, and Brooke, then 13, admiring their upbringing:
“You can’t have two parents turn out two wonderful children like that unless they are very nice people.”
Eventually, the couple married, and for a while, it seemed she had finally found her match. The actress previously gushed, “But if I were going to get married, the only man in the world I would get married to is Harry.”
But the fairytale was fleeting. In 2002, Beverly Hills police were called to the couple’s multimillion-dollar home after Principal was reportedly left with injuries to her lip, eye, neck, and cheek — the result of Glassman allegedly roughing her up.
He was arrested and charged with “corporal injury,” spending several hours in custody before posting bail. The charges were later dropped, and the couple insisted their marriage was solid, but the damage had been done.
Glassman would go on to publicly accuse his wife of being the true cause of the incident, blaming it on her alleged “abuse of alcohol. I have never physically abused my wife. My arrest was a consequence of her abuse of alcohol that resulted in her detention in the Cedars-Sinai emergency room for psychiatric evaluation,” he said. In 2006, after nearly 21 years together, the marriage came to an end.
Lance Rentzel
Principal’s past also includes a brief romance with former National Football League wide receiver Lance Rentzel. The relationship was short-lived, but it added yet another layer to her checkered history with troubled men.
Andy Gibb
Perhaps her most tragic love story was with Andy Gibb — a romance that began when she was 31 and he was 23. They met on “The John Davidson Show,” where the actress surprised him, because Gibb admitted to watching “Dallas” just to catch a glimpse of her.
Their chemistry was immediate, and soon, they were living and working together. The actress would later reflect, “I did some of my best work because of Andy.” They even recorded a duet, “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” with Gibb acting as her vocal coach. But behind the music and the glamor, things were falling apart.
About the pair’s relationship, producer Brad Lachman noted, “If something wasn’t going well between them, he was devastated.” However, the couple broke up in the spring of 1982, after being together for 13 months.
The actress was adamant that their “breakup was preceded and precipitated by Andy’s use of drugs.” She explained how she did all she could to help him. However, push came to shove with Principal explaining, “I said for him to choose between me and the problem,” she recalled, referencing his crippling substance abuse.
She stood by him until the end but refused to sacrifice her own life for his addiction. The star said she was adamant about staying clear of substance abuse, and it’s one of the things that she’d end a relationship for.
The media believed that the pair breaking up was what led Gibb to addiction, but it was the other way around. The actress noted, “To come forward and say what really happened would have been a terrible breach of our relationship,” she explained. “Andy is eternally dear to me.”
But for Gibb, the pain ran deep. He admitted, “I just fell apart and didn’t care about anything. I started to do cocaine around the clock — about $1,000 a day.” At one point, he spiraled, locking himself in his bedroom and staying awake for two weeks straight. And though producers begged him to return to work, calling him and sending cars to pick him up, he refused.
Gibb turned the blame on Principal, stating, “I really think the major reason I fell from stardom was my affair with Victoria.” Despite their breakup, by 1983, his albums could still be found scattered in the actress’s home.
Tragically, Gibb died on March 10, 1988. In 2023, Principal honored his memory with a moving tribute — an Instagram video showing his initials “A” and “G,” drawn in the sand, with red roses nearby as the tide gently swept them away.
Victoria Principal
Now in her later years, Victoria Principal has traded the Hollywood lights for sunshine and serenity. Since 2012, she has lived on a peaceful ranch outside Los Angeles, where she rescues and rehabilitates animals — her lifelong passion
Animals have been a constant in the actress’s life, as seen in her January 2020 Facebook post. In it, she shared a black-and-white childhood photo of herself with a dog, writing, “I don’t remember my life without animals. From a very early age I would find abandoned animals and bring them home.”
After decades of drama, trauma, and tabloid chaos, she seems to have finally found peace — not in the arms of a man, but in the companionship of animals.