Remember Actress Debbi Morgan? She Broke Her Family's Circle of Abuse When She Married Her 4th Husband

Debbi Morgan, the author, film, and TV actress best known as Angie Baxter-Hubbard in “All My Children,” was surrounded by abusive men most of her life.

The lady, whose performance in the previously mentioned show made her the first African-American person to win the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, wrote about her life in a memoir titled “The Monkey On My Back.”

Apart from very interesting aspects of her life and career, Morgan wrote about the cycle of domestic abuse that trapped her family and hunted her when she grew up.

MOST OF HER FAMILY SUFFERED ABUSE

In her book, she pointed out that her grandmother, mother, and aunts were married to abusive men, and if things were not negative enough, all her uncles (except for one) were also abusive to their partners. She wrote about how the curse affected her:

“So, when I kept attracting these same kinds of men into my life, I’m not consciously thinking that that’s what I’m doing.”

The "All My Children" star, who acted alongside Darnell Williams and starred in "The Young and the Restless," believes that parents are their children's first role models and children are quick to emulate what they see.

SHE LIKED VIOLENT MEN

The actress pointed out that she was attracted to violent men because she considered they would protect her. However, as years passed by, she learned that “they were the person that I needed to be protected from.”

The star who also featured in "The Hurricane" and "Love & Basketball" detailed that it all started with a teenage boyfriend who hurt her physically and emotionally.

Then, she endured “severe emotional abuse” by three of her four husbands, Charles Weldon, Charles Dutton, and Donn Thompson.

A LIFE OF FEAR

One of the most striking things Morgan wrote about Dutton in her book was that she found his quiet danger very attractive. She also said that her split from him was like suddenly having her right arm cut off.

She further revealed that she knew her then-husband had spent a lot of time in prison, “and it might sound crazy, but there was something that was sort of seductive to me about that.”

Then, for decades, she lived in fear and made most of her choices out of fear. She further reiterated that nothing could be good when you’re making choices that stem from being afraid.

Even though Dutton was not physically abusive, it was the relationship that brought her to her knees. At her interview with Oprah in 2015, she was in a happy marriage and ready to celebrate her 6th wedding anniversary.

BREAKING THE FAMILY CURSE

At the end of her relationship with Dutton, Morgan had hit rock bottom. Thankfully, she managed to end her family’s cycle of abuse that spanned three generations as she found true love with businessman Jeffrey Winston.

The couple tied the knot in 2009 and have been living a good, happy life together ever since. For the first time, Morgan says she feels so free in her marriage.

In June 2021, the couple celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary, and Morgan took to Instagram to share a picture of what seemed like a beach.

In her caption, she revealed that Winston, her husband, had surprised her for their anniversary while filming in Puerto Rico.