You're not wrong, either on the facts of the marriage nor of its seeming incongruity. Here's a little more information.
Bill Harrah, who was born in 1911, was married to singer Bobbie Gentry, 33 years his junior, in 1969. The union -- one of Harrah's seven marriages and Gentry's (to date) three -- lasted a mere few weeks.
Born Roberta Streeter in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, Gentry began playing piano, singing, and composing her own songs at a young age. When her parents divorced, she moved to California to be raised by her grandparents and eventually settled in Las Vegas. Her talent caught the attention of Bob Hope, who encouraged her to take a role in the long-running Les Folies Bergeres revue. Gentry then returned to the California club circuit for awhile, where she was performing when her 1967 composition "Ode to Bille Joe" became an international hit.
Numerous global TV appearances and a few more commercial successes followed, including a 1969 cover of Bacharach and David's "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," which reached #1 in the U.K. charts. This was the same year in which Gentry married Bill Harrah, but our understanding was that her burgeoning career conflicted with the demands of being a wife and the relationship quickly disintegrated.
We didn't read anything about how the couple met, but he was already a high-profile Nevada casino owner who'd recently divorced and she was at the zenith of her pop stardom and a regular fixture in Vegas Strip showrooms. In fact, even after their marriage had ended, Gentry signed a million-dollar contract to headline in her own $150,000 nightclub revue in Las Vegas, for which she produced, choreographed, designed, and wrote all the music.
By the late '70s however, Gentry had tired of performing. Another failed marriage followed, plus a move back to L.A. where, we understand, she continues to live a low-profile life with her third husband.
Bill Harrah, meanwhile, who'd tied the knot with Gentry just 5 months after divorcing his first wife Scherry, was married again five months after they divorced. Another four wives were to follow before he eventually died at the age of 66 during an operation to repair an aortic aneurysm.
