when jacob and nellie's daughter dies, she reveals that she only married him for what he could do for her career. she also refuses to grant him a divorce even though she knows he is seeing another woman, rebecca weiler. when jacob writes a play that a producer wants to make, jacob says that the star of the show needs to be flora mitchum, the african american girlfriend of roscoe haines. the producer reluctantly agrees, and jacob tells him that he can own 100% of the show if he agrees to cast nellie in one of his hollywood productions. when nellie finds out about this, she grants jacob a divorce as she wants to be in hollywood pictures. jacob marries rebecca immediately.