Paul Simon's marriage to Carrie Fisher left him 'exhausted'

Paul Simon was "exhausted" by his marriage to Carrie Fisher.

The 82-year-old singer tied the knot with the late actress in 1983 but they split after less than a year of marriage, though they continued to date on and off for some times afterwards, and he admitted they had very different attitudes to showbiz and fame.

In an old interview featured in new documentary 'In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon', Paul said: “In the middle of the reunion tour [with Art Garfunkel], I got married. I married Carrie Fisher.

“Carrie was much more showbusiness oriented. I went along with that — that’s the world that she grew up with; she was used to it. She was used to a lot of press and things like that.

"It wasn’t intimidating or anything. She knew how to manipulate it and make it work for her. She was really good at it, and I wasn’t.”

And he also reflected on how "exhausting" their marriage is, admitting the institution is "hard", particularly in the glare of the public eye.

He said: “I mean, what was I thinking? Certainly not thinking about life, you know, that you actually like have to stop.

"Marriage is very… it’s a hard thing to do. You have to concentrate on — not everything can happen at once, not everything is a media event. All types of mistakes on top of mistakes on top of mistakes.

“I realised I could become exhausted by — I could exhaust myself from emotional upheaval.”

'Saturday Night Live' creator Lorne Michaels was best man at the couple's wedding and he recalled how "complicated" their "whirlwind" relationship was.

He said: “For the engagement, we went to Greece. Paul chartered a boat. I was seasick for three days — at the rail praying for death. Other than that, it was a really fun time, and for the honeymoon, we went up to Egypt, went up the Nile.

“There were lots of things that were remarkable about the time, but also it was two people at career peaks, and that’s always complicated. All of it was kind of a whirlwind. Carrie was in a complete fame bubble because of Star Wars.”

The 'Star Wars' actress - who died in 2016 - also appeared in old footage, in which she agreed their marriage was the "wrong thing to do".

She explained: “Well, because I think, if you look at me, at the most, you can think I’m an interesting girlfriend. But a wife? I think you’re going to be disappointed.

"Poor Paul. He had to put up with a lot with me.

"I think ultimately, I fell into the heading 'good anecdote, bad reality.' I was really good for material, but when it came to day-to-day living, I was a little more than he could take.“