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This is an article from You, a South African magazine. Thanks to Aruana of the CrowePeople mailing list for typing it in.

MEG AND DENNIS - IT'S ALL OVER

Her affair with Australian star Russell Crowe was the final straw. And she will probably lose her son in an ugly custody battle ......

By Caroline Graham

For nine years they were one of Tinseltown's best-loved couples and no matter how tough things got they always seemed to keep the romance in their marriage alive.

Not even alcoholism and cocaine addiction could split them up. When tall, dark and handsome Dennis Quaid went public with his addictions Meg Ryan, the bubbly blonde whose movies have made her America's sweetheart, was at his side.

She stuck by him through thick and thin and when their son Jack was born in 1992 their future together seemed assured.

But Meg's affair with Australian star Russell Crowe (36) ruined it all.

In a furious phone call to London, where Meg and Russell were filming the thriller Proof of Life, Dennis told her she was a bad wife and mother and that he was filing for divorce immediately.

He also said he would take whatever legal action was necessary to keep their son Jack and prevent him from staying with her.

Two weeks ago, fearful of her young son's emotional state and not wanting him caught up in a tug of love, Meg reluctantly agreed to her husband's demands.

With a heavy heart she drove Jack to the airport, kissed him goodbye and put him on a plane to Los Angeles. Dennis met him 12 hours later and took him home to the R34 million mansion the couple used to share.

Meg doesn't know if she'll ever see him again and may soon have to choose between her new lover and her son.

Since parting from Jack she's been so distressed she's found it hard to concentrate in front of the cameras. Costars at Pinewood Studios say she's spent most of her time in tears, sometimes with Russell but often white-faced and alone.

In their new movie Russell plays a hostage negotiator who falls for the wife of the man he's trying to free. Meg plays the wife.

Russell's come a long way since his humble beginnings in the Australian soap Neighbours. His film credits include: The Quick and the Dead (Sharon Stone got him the part), The Insider (for which he received an Oscar nomination) and Gladiator. He's also member of the popular group 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.

He's now paid about R105 million a movie. Meg and Dennis met on the set of the 1987 sci-fi movie Innerspace and again when they starred together in the mystery DOA. They got engaged a year later and Meg swore their marriage would be for ever.

She remembered how her mom left home when she was just 15 and was determined not to make anyone suffer in the same way.

"I felt rejected and abandoned," she said. "It was a motivator for my career. I'll never do the same to my family."

But even though she's dumped Dennis and caused her son pain not everyone thinks she's behaved badly. Some of her friends and especially her mom believe it was inevitable given the emotional nightmare she was put through by Dennis.

"I disapproved of their marriage because of this drug-taking and drinking," says Susan Jordan, who left Meg's maths teacher dad Harry Hyra and their other children Peggy, Andrew and Annie to become a failed actress when she was the same age as Meg is now.

"I always thought he was a weak character and wondered why it was taking Meg so long to acknowledge his faults. He was childish, immature. She was ambitious. He flitted from one thing to another like a child.

"Everyone else was so surprised when Meg's affair became public, but I wasn't. When it was announced they were making a movie together it was obvious Meg would either hate Russell and have him kicked off the set because he was everything Dennis wasn't, or she'd end up having a passionate affair with him. That was five months ago."

Susan says Meg's willingness to be seen in public with him means she isn't ashamed of her actions, no matter how miserable and guilty she feels about her son. "She's running all over London with Russell and she's having her picture taken," she says. "To me this isn't a woman who's ashamed of what she's doing. I get the impression she's relieved the lie is over. I know Meg and know she'll have tried hard to save the marriage. But who really knows when it was all over?"

Meg and Susan have had a strange and troubled relationship. A few years ago, when Susan had a mastectomy after getting breast cancer, Meg refused to help her.

Susan believes this was because they're so much alike - stubborn, manipulative and unforgiving. But because they're so similar she believes she knows Meg would have been really troubled about being unfaithful.

"Like me she felt trapped and lonely and had to break free. She's her mother's daughter. She stayed in her marriage because it was about protecting her image. But she must have been horribly unhappy.

"She's made the decision she doesn't want to live a lie any more and I respect that.

"It was clear her marriage was going nowhere. She's one of the biggest stars in the world while her husband has a less successful career and often stays at home. Dennis wasn't a man. She was the adult in the relationship and that can be a lonely thing."

The image of a tearful child being torn between its parents is one Susan knows only too well. Her decision to leave home enraged teenaged Meg, who has often spoken of her devastation at seeing her mom drive away. Of the four kids she was the only one to run after Susan, pleading: "Mom, I want to come with you."

But she's not at all sure her daughter's at last found true happiness.

"I think Russell is exciting and is giving her something that was clearly lacking in her marriage," Susan says. "But who knows if it'll last? I hope Meg finds the happiness she's looking for, but I suspect the worst and worry about Jack.

"I know she adores her son. I just hope he doesn't become another victim."

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