Assault, home invasion and THREE MARRIAGES! The turbulent life of Top Gun star Kelly McGillis

Kelly McGillis became a major Hollywood player following her role as Charlotte 'Charlie' Blackwood in the original ‘Top Gun’ movie, released back in 1986. Fans hoping for reunion between Kelly and Tom Cruise in new sequel 'Top Gun: Maverick' will be disappointed as she is not in the follow-up fighter pilot film. But Kelly has had a life full of ups and downs that could be the plot of a blockbuster...

Kelly McGillis was born on July 8, 1957, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, Virginia and Ronald, raised her and her two younger sisters in a Californian household, where she also attended Orange County based Newport Harbor High School. Later on she studied in the prestigious Juilliard School.

Her acting skills were such that Kelly landed some major and important roles at the start of her career. She appeared in crime drama ‘Witness’ opposite Harrison Ford, ‘The Accused’ along with Jodie Foster, and of course, ‘Top Gun’, sharing credits with Tom Cruise. This role became her most significant one, launching her as a global star.

Away from the bright lights of Hollywood, Kelly was dealing with a personal trauma. In 1982, Kelly was raped by two men in her New York apartment. One assailant, Leroy Johnson, who was only 15 years old at the time of the attack, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Before the terrible incident the film star was married to Boyd Black, another Juilliard student, with whom she was married from 1979 to 1981. This was the first of three marriages in her life.

In 1989, Kelly tied the knot again, this time to Fred Tillman. The actress and her ex-husband share two daughters, Kelsey and Sonora. They divorced in 2002.

During her marriage to Tillman, the actress went through another terrible event. Their 110-foot $1.5 million schooner was destroyed by a fire in 1996, in Dania, Florida. Tillman had brought the boat to Florida with the intention of selling it.

In 2009, Kelly McGillis came out as a lesbian. She had a relationship with sales executive Melanie Lies, whom she met while the latter was working as a bartender at the actress’ bar Kelly's Caribbean Bar Grill & Brewery in Florida. Kelly and Leis got married in 2010, but they agreed a dissolution of their marriage the following year.

Kelly’s Hollywood career was eventually put aside, as she decided to pursue new endeavours. The actress got a job at Bridgerton, a New Jersey-based Seabrook House Drug Alcohol Rehab Center, where she helped people struggling with substance abuse issues.

In 2016 the actress was left bruised and scratched following a home invasion, where a woman broke into her house in North Carolina. At the time, the actress revealed that due to that attack and some previous ones, she felt the need to carry a gun for protection.

'Top Gun' fans were hoping Kelly would be back as Charlie in the 2022 sequel. However, the 64-year-old actress quickly ruled herself out of the action flick. Kelly - who has been diagnosed with alpha one antitrypsin disorder, which causes damage to the lungs and liver - said: "I'm old and I'm fat and I look age-appropriate for what my age is, and that is not what that whole scene is about. But ... I'd much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and who and what I am at my age as opposed to placing a value on all that other stuff."