Atila Altaunbay, Grace Jones’ Ex-Husband Is No Longer Alive

Atila Altaunbay became famous for his unpredictable marriage with the Popular Jamaican model and songwriter, Grace Jones. Altaunbay’s family never accepted his marriage to Jones who was, in fact, double his age. Following his wedding, Atila even had to cut off his tie from the family.

Unfortunately, his marriage to Grace never turned out to be a fruitful one as they separated on a sour note in the mid-2000s. What about Atila’s life after his divorce from Jones? Is Atila still alive?

Atila Altaunbay Was Born And Raised in Turkey

He was born in 1976 to a Muslim parents. His father and mother were from Turkey. The details about his birth and upbringing are private as none of his parents belong to the media industry.

Since Altaunbay was the youngest child of his family, he was raised full of the values and norms of the Muslim community. After completing schooling in Turkey, Atila moved to Belgium for further education.

Atila Worked As A Bodyguard For Grace Jones

Altaunbey got into his first job as a bodyguard for his future wife Grace when they first met in Belgium. In her memoir, “I’ll Never Write My Memoirs’, the actress shared that Atila was very looking which caught her attention instantly.

He was a very loyal worker for the model which made them bond together quite well. Along with working for Jones, Atila was also a very good friend of her. Gradually, they fell in love and started dating early around 1995.

Atila Altaunbay’s Family Was Against His Marriage to Grace

As we mentioned earlier, Altaunbay comes from a Muslim family. The family tradition believes that all the males of the family should marry according to their age. But as Atila’s elder brother was still unmarried, his family was against him marrying this soon.

But Altaunbay proved his love for Jones, by going against his family and agreeing to marry her.

They married in 1996

Following several inconveniences in their relationship, Grace and Atila finally got married on 24th February 1996. They exchanged rings in a discreet ceremony which was held in a residence located in the Presbyterian Ministry Area of Rio De Janeiro by Rev. Rubens Pires.

The wedding ceremony was very private with the presence of only 5o guests. The husband-wife went to the gym to complete their workout and later went to New York for a Honeymoon.

Altaunbay and Jones Had To Re-do Their Vows

As the ex-duo married in a rush to keep the media’s attention away from it, they later realized that they went against the norms of the church. It was later proved that the priest they used during their ceremony was gay.

Hence, they had to re-marry. Their 2nd wedding was conducted by Grace’s father in their house located in Syracuse.

They Wanted To Keep Their Marriage Private

As we mentioned earlier, Atila was not allowed to marry Grace by his family. He could not ever return to his home to his parents as they cut all ties with him after disobeying the norms of the family.

Due to such problems, the former couple tried their best to keep their relationship private. According to Jones’s book, their private relationship was leaked during a press meeting held in Brazil and they never wanted any attention to their relationship.

Did They Have Any Children Together?

No, Altaunbay and his ex-wife, Grace did not give birth to any children. The reason behind their not having any children is not clear. But it might be their personal choice to not have babies.

Although she has no children with Atila, Jones has a son, Paulo Goude with her ex-partner who was born in 1979. She gave birth to him with a French director and photographer, Jean-Paul Goude whom she was working with around the 1970s. They co-parented Paulo.

Atila Altaunbay and Jones’ Huge Age Difference and Their Tumultuous Marriage

Altaunbey was just 21 years old when he married then-48-year-old model Grace. They had a whopping 28 years of age difference which might have been a reason that they slowly started having marital problems.

Along with this, Atila also has a very reserved personality which is opposite to his wife. The media attention Grace gained through her profession started to feel bitter to Atila, resulting in some serious clash between them.

Did Atila Try To Kill His Wife?

In one of their serious altercations, Altaunbay nearly attacked her with a knife when they were arguing in the kitchen. This was the incident that took a huge turn in their relationship.

Grace later opened up about how territorial and negative Atila could be at times.

Altaunbay and Jones Separated Without Getting Officially Divorced

Following the threatening abuse, Grace grew apart from her husband. They eventually separated in 2004. Despite the separation, they never officially divorced each other. According to her biography, Jones said that she could not divorce him because she could not find him anywhere. She wrote,

“I can’t find him to get the divorce sorted.”

Did Atila and Grace Married Anyone Else?

No, both Atila and Jones did not marry anyone else after separating from each other. The model who is 75 years old today, shared in her 2015 memoir that Atila was the only man she married.

Similar to her, Atila also lived a single life with no signs of having any public romantic involvement after his former controversial marriage.

Grace Was Also Intimate With Yet Another Bodyguard, Dolph Lundgren

Before Atila, Jones had been in a romantic intimate relationship with one of her previous bodyguards. She dated an actor Dolph Lundgren in the 1980s.

Lundgren was a student in Australia where he met Grace. They met in a club, and she hired him as a bodyguard. They dated for nearly 4 years.

Atila Altaunbay Settled Down As A Social Worker

Before working as a bodyguard, Atila worked as a pizza delivery boy for a living. Side-by-side, he also joined singing classes and also used to sing at wedding ceremonies. Later, Altaunbay was featured in several stage plays. His very first screen appearance was in the movie, Mind Games.

After divorcing the actress, Atila started working for some charity organizations. He was a part of a non-profit organization, Helping Hands Belgium to work for needy people. He lived a lowkey life as a philanthropist and was rarely seen on the Facebook page of the organization.

He used to reside in Antwerp, Belgium until his demise.

Atila Altaunbay Is No Longer Alive Today

In October of 2021, Atila passed away at the young age of 45. The news about his death was first circulated by the Facebook page of The Helping Hands Belgium which wrote;

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our esteemed President, brother, and comrade.”

The cause of Altaunbay’s death is not out yet. His funeral was conducted at the Antwerpen Mehmet Akif Mosque in the presence of his family and loved ones.