***Celebrity Marriages that Work

By America’s #1 Love and Marriage Experts.

Who says celebrity marriages don’t last? We guess you might say, “They’d be wrong!”

We have conducted an endless search of data sources to find out the success rate of celebrity marriages. And before you ask, we excluded politicians, political pundits, and those who spin the news! We were only interested in the success rates of famous celebrities, particularly those who live and reside in or near Hollywood or New York City. And the truth is, we might have missed a few. We only hope those celebrities will let us know if we omitted them so they can be added to this marriage honor role.

Clearly, we do not pretend to have included every successful celebrity marriage in Hollywood and New York. We only included those whose successful marriages seemed compelling and whose union would be easily recognized by the average person on the street.

Here is the list of “celebrity marriages” we came up, their wedding dates and the number of years each couple has been married:

Kirk Douglas and Anna Buydens – May 29, 1954 – 58 years
Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller – September 14, 1954 – 58 years
Larry and Maj Hagman – December 18, 1954 – 57 years
James Garner and Lois Clarke – August 17, 1956 – 56 years
Alan and Arleen Alda – March 15, 1957– 55 years
Paula Prentiss and Richard Benjamin – October 26, 1961 – 51 years
Bill and Camille Cosby – January 25, 1964 – 48 years
Ron and Cheryl Howard – June 7, 1975 – 37 years
Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel – November 7, 1977– 34 years
Meryl Streep & Don Gummer – September 30, 1978 – 33 years
Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas – May 21, 1980 – 32 years
Samuel and Latanya Jackson – August 3, 1980 – 32 years (together for 42 years)
Dustin and Lisa Hoffman – October 12, 1980 – 32 years
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne – July 4, 1982 – 30 years
Denzel and Pauletta Washington – June 25, 1983 – 29 years
Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon – April 29, 1983 – 29 years
Jamie Lee Curtis & Christopher Guest – December 18, 1984 – 27 years
D.L. and LaDonna Hughley – February 22, 1986 – 26 years
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson – April 30, 1988 – 24 years
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick – September 4, 1988 – 24 years
Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan – July 16, 1988 – 24 years
Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates – March 5, 1989 – 23 years
John Travolta and Kelly Preston – September 12, 1991 – 21 years
Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw – October 12, 1991– 21 years
Bruce and Kris Jenner – April 21, 1991 – 21 years
Clint Black and Lisa Hartman – October 20, 1991 – 21 years
Warren Beatty and Annette Bening – March 12, 1992 – 20 years
Sting of the “Police” and Trudie Styler – August 20, 1992 – 20 years (together for 30 years)
Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis – October, 1993 – 19 years
David E. Kelley and Michele Pfeiffer – November 13, 1993 – 18 years
Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa – May 1, 1996 – 16 years
Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith – May 14, 1996 – 16 years
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill – October 6, 1996 – 16 years
Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker – May 19, 1997 – 15 Years
William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman – September 6, 1997– 15 years

The truth is, as long-time marriage researchers, we are growing weary of those who say, “Marriage is old-fashioned,” “Marriage isn’t important anymore,” or “Marriage among celebrities doesn’t last.”

Marriage has been around for over 3000 years. Some say 5000 years! The fact of the matter is this – it is the most important “glue” of social order that exists in the world today. And this notion has been true over the millennia. Those who say otherwise have a political agenda, are ignorant, or have no clue about “how the world turns.” What they say does not match reality.

We are pleased to report that successful marriage is alive and well in Hollywood and New York City and amongst other well-known celebrities across the American continent.

Now you ask, “Why are so many celebrity marriages working?” The answer is as clear as it has been for the 30+ years of our research on successful marriages in 47 countries and among those who have lived and worked on ALL seven of the world’s continents.

So what are the “secrets” of Building a Love that Lasts? Here they are in a nutshell.

Successful marriage, love, and relationships all require simple acts. Simple gestures. Simple conversations. Success in love and marriage depends upon an accumulation of the doing the simple things to form the foundation for building a love that lasts.

The seven key ingredients that define a successful marriage are easy to understand, yet difficult for many couples to practice in their relationship.

• Togetherness: Two become one without losing the individual identities of each other. In successful marriage it is not you and me, it is WE!

• Truthfulness: Couples talk about anything and everything. In successful marriage there are no sacred cows and no secrets.

• Respect: Couples understand that you do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Successful love and marriage is about mutual love and respect.

• Fitness: Successfully married couples understand that taking care of only their health is not sufficient. They must also promote the health of their spouse. To live until “death do us part” requires a mutual concern about good health.

• Joint Finances: It is not YOUR money or MY money. In successful marriages, it is OUR money.

• Tactile Communication: Touching each other multiple times per day is the norm. In successful marriage touching says, “I love you so much I simply must touch you. ” Suprisingly, touch does not HAVE to include sex.

• Surprise: Love is characterized by the notions of variety and spice. Successful marriage is exciting, never boring, and full of unpredictable things. Don’t always do that which is predictable. Upend expectancies. Variety is the spice of life!

These celebrity marriages know how to “Build a Love that Lasts.” The secrets of successful marriage apply to them and they can apply to your marriage. A successful marriage is not mysterious or difficult to understand. Many celebrities have learned these lessons well.

In love and marriage the simple things matter.

By Dr. Charles D. Schmitz and Dr. Elizabeth A. Schmitz

For marriage advice and hundreds of practical tips, get the Doctor’s best-selling and multiple-award winning book Building a Love that Lasts : The Seven Surprising Secrets of Successful Marriage (Jossey-Bass/Wiley) Available wherever books are sold.
Winner of the INDIE Book Awards GOLD Medal for Best Relationship Book
Winner of the Mom’s Choice Awards GOLD Medal for Most Outstanding Relationships and Marriage Book