How A '70s Supermodel Sparked One Of Warren Beatty's Most Scandalous Romances

Beyond Warren Beatty's indisputable skill in front of and behind the camera lay his seemingly insatiable desire for women. The renowned actor and filmmaker paved his way to stardom in Hollywood with the help of his good looks and talent, all while bedding several babes along the way. It's even been rumored that Beatty slept with nearly 13,000 women, as written by Peter Biskind in his Beatty biography, "Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America." That rumor has since been debunked by Beatty himself as an impossible feat. That being said, it's safe to say that Beatty didn't make waste of his bachelor years before settling down with actor Annette Bening in 1992.

Between Beatty's failed romances with Diane Keaton, Cher, Joan Collins, and Madonna (to name a few), pioneer supermodel Pat Cleveland couldn't resist falling into a six-year situationship with the Hollywood stud. Cleveland made waves in the modeling world as one of the first prominent African-American models, appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and more throughout the '70s. She detailed her steamy entanglement with Beatty in her memoir, "Walking with the Muses." After Cleveland married her first husband, she kept Beatty at bay and stopped answering his messages. She figured that she owed Beatty an explanation and paid him a visit with "the noblest of intentions" (via Page Six). However, she details, "[He] was irresistible . . . I succumbed. We had sex — great sex — with him still ignorant of my altered marital status."

Post love-making, Pat Cleveland told Warren Beatty the truth, that she was married and that their years-long romance needed to come to an official end. Beatty replied, "you were supposed to marry me . . . Divorce him. Marry me!" (via Page Six). Cleveland notes in "Walking with the Muses" that despite his pleas, she held her ground, writing, "Walking away from Warren that day was one of the toughest things I've ever had to do." 

While walking away from Beatty would probably prove difficult for anyone, it struck Cleveland even harder, as he was her childhood crush turned real-life lover. Cleveland was 11 years old when she first saw Beatty grace the silver screen. As fate would have it, Cleveland's pre-teen fantasies came true years later. 

While Beatty's fling with singer Carly Simon was one of the messiest celebrity affairs of the 1970s, it wasn't his only only one during the decade. His relationship with Cleveland began back in 1975 when they met at a gallery exhibition. Seeing Beatty in the flesh in his prime seemed to make everyone thirsty, and Cleveland certainly wasn't immune to this. Andy Warhol inspired Cleveland to make a move, telling her, "You must have him" (via Page Six). before she walked over and introduced herself. Soon after they met, Beatty sent flowers to Cleveland's modeling agency with the note, "Please call me. Warren." The rest is history. This story alone is proof of Beatty's undeniable charisma, so undeniable, in fact, that walking away from him still stings for Cleveland, even after all these years.