The stars who lived happily every after
MARION McMULLEN celebrates Valentine’s Day with a look at Hollywood couples whose love has stood the test of time
FEW relationships survive the glare of the Hollywood spotlight and the clash of egos. Tinseltown is paved with broken hearts, but for some power couples falling in love is for keeps.
It was a second marriage for both Ronald Reagan and actress Nancy Davis when they tied the knot in Las Vegas at the Little Brown Church in the Valley in 1952 with Oscarwinning actor William Holden as their best man.
The future US president and his First Lady were together 52 years and Nancy said: “What can you say about a man who on Mother’s Day sends flowers to his mother-in-law with a note thanking her for making him the happiest man on Earth?”
He tried to ease her mind after he was the target of an assassination attempt in 1981 saying: “Honey, I forgot to duck,” and joked with the nurse at the hospital saying: “Does Nancy know about us?”
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward met in his agent’s office in 1953 and their marriage lasted 50 years until his death in 2008. He said he fell in love at first sight and his first thought was “Jeez, what an extraordinarily pretty girl”.
It took Joanne a little longer to fall for the blue-eyed charmer, but they later worked together in a Broadway production of romantic drama Picnic and again on 1957 film The Long, Hot Summer.
They married in Las Vegas the following year and made their home away from the glare of Hollywood in Connecticut. They had three daughters together.
Paul would go on to make his directing debut in 1968 film Rachel, Rachel starring Joanne.
She once said: “Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that’s a real treat.”
Double Oscar winner Denzel Washington and his actress wife Paulettea will celebrate 38 years of marriage in June.
The couple, who have four children, met when they had small roles in 1977 TV movie Wilma, about runner Wilma Rudolph. They married five years later.
Their son, Tenet star John David was born in 1984, daughter Katia three years later and twins Malcolm and Olivia in 1991.
Denzel once joked: “The secret to a happy marriage? Do whatever your wife tells you ‘Yes, dear’. And breathe”.
On a more serious note, he said: “She puts up with me. I think also in a way the travelling helps.
“We’re able to travel together and also be apart sometimes. Not everyone gets to live like that.”
Comedy star Mel Brooks and The Graduate’s Anne Bancroft were together for 41 years before she sadly passed away in 2005.
They met when Anne made her first appearance on Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall. Mel later bribed a woman who working on the show to tell him which restaurant Anne was planning to go to so he could accidentally bump into her there.
They eventually married in 1964 at New York City Hall with a passerby acting as their witness.
Mel later called his wife Obi-Wan Kenobi for encouraging and supporting him and once said: “I’m married to a beautiful and talented woman who can lift your spirits just by looking at you.”
She used to say: “When he comes home at night and I hear his key in the lock, I say to myself ‘Oh, good. The party’s about to begin.”
Tom Hanks and his actress wife Rita Wilson will be celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary this year.
They met in 1981 on the set of
American TV sitcom Bosom Buddies and worked together again in 1985 film Volunteers.
Tom converted to the Greek Orthodox Church before their marriage and the Forrest Gump and Philadelphia Oscar-winning star once said: “It’s just as hard staying happily married as it is doing movies.”’
Rita has said the secret to a good relationship is “you’ve got to want to be married to the person you’re married to”.
Footloose actor Kevin Bacon and Born On The Fourth Of July’s Kyra Sedgwick will be celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary in September. The couple, who have two children, met while starring in 1988 movie Lemon Sky and they have worked together in films like Pyrates, Murder In The First, The Woodsman, Cavedweller and Loverboy.
Kevin says the secret to a successful marriage is to “keep your fights clean and your sex dirty”.
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have been together for 38 years, but have never tied the knot.
They are Hollywood’s longest lasting unmarried couple and have been together since Valentine’s Day, 1983. They have one son, actor Wyatt Russell, and have appeared in several films including Swing Shift and Overboard in the 1980s.
Goldie once explained her relationship with Kurt saying: “We’ve both been married. I’ve been married twice, it didn’t work. He was married once, that didn’t work.
“And, you know, we were at a time when we had kids and thought ‘Well, you know, what actually would it do to get married.
“I like being independent. I like being his girlfriend. I like that notion. I think it’s sexy.”
Kurt simply says: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”