Maybe, but just as likely is the possibility that he loved her and wanted desperately to make her happy. She, on the other hand, might just be a shallow woman who realized she could trade up to a movie star and was willing to break her husband’s heart in the process. It’s not about low self-esteem on his part then. He just gave her everything and she tossed it away to be seen with a dopey movie star. The husband then felt worthless and killed himself. That’s at least as plausible as what you said.
According to one article, he was taking hormone medication and went off of it abruptly. That may have been a factor as well.