TED DANSON
THE ACTOR TALKS ABOUT THE LOVES OF HIS LIFE AND HIS SECRET TO STAYING YOUNG
The Cheers star shares life lessons.
Ted Danson’s turning 70 in December, and he already knows how he’ll celebrate. “Getting all my kids together — that’s what matters,” he told Closer at the Oceana and Walden Woods Project’s Rock Under the Stars with Don Henley and Friends event on July 17. “I really love my children.”
More than ever, spending time with family — Ted and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, have a blended brood of four — is a priority for the actor. “The older you get, the more gratitude comes into play,” he shares. “My key word these days is ‘gratitude.’ ”
He’s also grateful for his long and successful career. “I love acting. I love being around creative people,” says Ted, who hit it big with Cheers in 1982 and has worked steadily ever since. (He’ll return to Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm in October.) “You have to love what you do,” adds the star, who remains equally as fulfilled at home.
“I’m madly in love with Mary,”
Ted raves about his better half, whom he married in 1995. “She’s a remarkable human being and [being with her] feels like heaven on earth. If I were to die, I could say I know what it’s like to be loved and to love.”
The best part? His happy union with Mary, 64, comes with some sweet perks. “She writes music and goes to Nashville [often],” he reports, “so I get to follow her; I go wherever she goes.” It’s a full and rewarding life they’ve built together, but Ted and Mary have a secret weapon to ensure they’re able to enjoy it all. “Naps,” Ted reveals with a smile. “Major naps!”
— Ron Kelly, with reporting by Amanda
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