“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, While loving someone deeply gives you courage.” — Lao Tzu
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, 33 years
Hanks and Wilson married in 1988, as Hanks puts it – for “all the right reasons… Our connection is as concrete as me sitting here. Not that marriage doesn’t come close to being hell in a handbasket sometimes. But we both know that no matter what, we’ll be with each other — and we’ll get through it.”
Mark and Marilou Hamill, 42 Years
Mark Hamill and his future wife, Marilou, met in 1981 at a dentist’s office where he was a patient and she was a dental hygienist. Although crude, Mark remembers their first introduction – “She came into the waiting room in jeans, white coat, breasts like melons, looking like a Vargas painting… “I said, ‘They let you dress like that at work?’ She said, ‘Yeah. Next.’” It may have been a rough introduction but that’s all it took to start a life of 42 years.
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, 32 Years
Kevin and Kyra, married in 1988, and parents of daughter Sosie – a fellow actress, and Travis – a musician, have been married for 32 years. Bacon has mentioned that “Her partnership is invaluable… I found someone I was meant to be with,” regarding his lovely wife. “Kyra and I believe in each other as actors, as directors and as talent. She’s never been anything other than supportive of me,” Bacon told People magazine. “She doesn’t have a competitive bone in her body when it comes to me. She takes my successes as hers. I’m the same way.”
“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever.” — Alfred Lord Tennyson
Ron and Cheryl Howard, 45 Years
Regarding his 45-year marriage to wife Cheryl, Ron had the following – “People say, ‘How’d you do it?’ There’s no technique. There’s no tactic other than communication is really important. You have to learn to communicate and have difficult conversations in constructive ways,” said Howard. “Beyond that, there’s an element of luck because people either grow together or they don’t and I don’t think you can force that.” Finishing, he said of his wife, “She’s unbelievably supportive and always has been,” Howard says of his wife. “Our compatibility has endured through all kinds of experiences.”
“Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born: you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.” — E.E. Cummings, You are My Sun, My Moon, and All My Stars
Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis, 36 Years
Then 25-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis was skimming the latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine. She took a second to tell her friend, Debra Hill, that “I’m going to marry that man,” pointing to Christopher Guest. She called his agent the next day to leave her number… he never called back. Fast forward a few months where they were both dining at a West Hollywood restaurant. When they made eye contact, He waved to me as if to say, “I’m the guy you called.” I waved back: “I’m the woman who called you.” A few minutes later, he got up to leave. Standing 20 feet away, he shrugged his shoulders and put up his hand as if to say, “I’ll see ya.” As he left, I looked down at my plate.” Despite this awkward encounter, he called the next day, and the pair had their first date four days later. They married only a few months after Curtis made her self-fulling prophecy in 1984.
Don Gummer and Meryl Streep, 42 Years
From tragedy came love. See, Meryl Streep was mourning the loss of her boyfriend, John Cazale, who had died of lung cancer in 1978. After being kicked out of the former pair’s apartment, her brother had arrived to help her move, however, his friend, Dom Gummer was also along for the ride. Amazingly, Gummer and Streep would marry sis months later. Regarding his influence on her life, expressed during her 2012 Academy Award speech for Julie and Julia, she had the following to say – “First, I’m going to thank Don because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech they play him out with the music, and I want him to know that everything I value most in our lives, you’ve given me.”
“Love is the expansion of two natures in such fashion that each include the other, each is enriched by the other.” – Felix Adler
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, 23 Years
Despite Will and Jada being one of the best examples of a healthy relationship in Hollywood, they’ve proven that even they are susceptible to the pressures of fame after 23 years of marriage. After the pair came to a special agreement, rumors had been swirling about a separation between the two and Jada’s relationship with August Aimes, but this couple prevailed and came out on the other side with their family and marriage in-tact.
Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, 28 Years
With 28 years under his belt, Warren Beatty is still completely in-love with his wife, Annette Bening after marrying in 1992. “I became a devoted husband and father 25 years ago, and I have to say they have been the most enthralling years of my life, with our four fantastic kids,” referring to Stephen Ira, Benjamin, Isabel, and Ella. When the two met during the filming of Bugsy, Warren had promised Bening that he wasn’t go to hit on her during filming. However, upon the completion of principal photography, Beatty tried once more, asked her out, and the rest? History.
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Dwayne Johnson and Lauren Hashian, 13 Years
After dealing with the fallout of his first divorce, “The Rock” had noted the following… “I wasn’t fearful of getting married again, there was just some hesitancy. But Lauren was incredibly patient: ‘I love you, you love me, we have this amazing life together — no presh.” But you could say things were meant to be as he continued to reflect… “Within 30 seconds, I thought, ‘Wow, this girl’s stunning…”At the time, I was going through my breakup with Dany and she [Hashian] was just coming off a big breakup, too… “Ironically, when you’re not looking for something, the power of the universe kind of takes over.” The duo married in 2019.
“I can conquer the world with one hand, as long as you’re holding the other.” — Unknown
Jason Jensen and Rebecca Claire Ely, 17 years
Jason Jensen and Rebecca Claire Ely met in a coffee shop in the antique district of downtown Glendale, AZ. He recalls having been “set up”, and hasn’t regretted it. “I’ve had some good luck and some bad luck in my life. We all have. But I’ve had guardian angels watching over me through it all pulling me out of the fire. My wife is one of those. She’s my inspiration, she makes me a better person, even though it rubs me the wrong way sometimes. Especially those times because that’s how you grow. Love is patience as you grow. I don’t want to imagine where I’d be without her, and each day is a brighter one because she’s in it.” When asked about the “secret” for a healthy marriage, he says, “There are no secrets. That’s the secret. Open communication. And teaching and learning from each other how to do that. No judgement. No pressure. Just patience. Just listen.” Even after being together 20 years, they still txt each other half a dozen times a day when they’re apart.
Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan, 32 Years
Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan met on the set of Family Ties, and they began dating in 1987. At the time they met, however, Pollan was seeing someone else. Fox told Oprah about their meeting, “It wasn’t that I wasn’t attracted to her – the guy she was dating was just bigger than me.” Today, both Pollan and Fox are heavily involved in funding for Parkinson’s disease research.
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, 11 Years
With a marriage lasting over a decade now, Calista Flockhart mentions “Harrison and I laugh a lot, and humor is everything to me.” In fact, she spilled a drink on the actor way back when in order to meet him. Nonetheless, it seems Ford has been loving his relationship with his woman for a long time. Taken in 2003, “Romantic love is one of the most exciting and fulfilling kinds of love, and I think there is a potential for it at any stage of your life. I was not surprised that I was able to fall in love, and I wasn’t surprised that I did.”
“Love is sharing your popcorn.” – Charles Schultz
Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack, 33 Years
Way back in 1983, Tom Selleck was filming Lassiter in London, spending his free-time going back to the theatre in which the musical Cats was playing. But why? “I was fascinated by this one kitten on stage. She looked good in a leotard but she had so much personality,” talking about Jillie Joan Mack, his now-wife, who had played Rumpleteazer. Upon the finale of the performance, Selleck and Mack would eventually get dinner a few nights later. As Selleck moved back to Hawaii to film Magnum P.I., Mack would soon follow, moving there as well to be with Tom. They married in 1987.
Denzel and Pauletta Washington, 37 Years
“I don’t know if it’s show business that has a monopoly on divorce, it’s just that you hear about it,” said Denzel. “I just think that you have to work at it. Not give up on each other. It’s a commitment. It’s not all the honeymoon, it doesn’t last forever, so you work at it. And hopefully you’re good friends first, that might help!” He continued, ‘I grew up in athletics, but my wife’s family had a great education. My wife was a child prodigy. I married up! Her family had a love and a closeness that I didn’t have. I came from a broken home and I said I have to have that.” Denzel and Pauletta married in 1983 and have been soaring ever since.
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, 38 Years
Through all of the substance abuse and reality TV debauchery, it can be easy to forget that Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne have been going strong for nearly 40 years now! The couple met in the early ’70s when Sharon was just 17 years old and her father, Don Arden, was managing Black Sabbath. Sharon eventually became his manager when Ozzy became a solo act and they were married in 1982.
Happy 17th, my Love. You are my Moon and Stars.
