It’s not uncommon for celebrities in perfect couples to divorce as quickly as they got married. Some, like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, managed to hold things together for a while before the crash happened. There are also those like the Britney Spears and Jason Alexander union that lasted 55 hours, Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman who were married for 9 days, and Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries for 72 days. Despite what these guys tell us about the world of celebrities and romance, there are plenty of celebrities who have married and been together for a very long period of time, with only death separating them. Here are some of the longest celebrity marriages and relationships.
Longest celebrity marriages and relationships
1. Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara
Married: September 14, 1954 – May 23, 2015
Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were a comedy duo famous in the 1960s and 1970s for their show, The Ed Sullivan Show. The two were married for over sixty years until death separated them in 2015 from the death of Anne.
Their love story didn’t start with laughter but tears. They first met in the 1950s when Meara was still a struggling actress who walked out of an agent’s office who beat her up while crying. To comfort her, Stiller who was dating a very tall woman took her out for a cup of coffee and that’s how their love began.
Their union was blessed with two children, Ben Stiller and Amy Stiller.
2. Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens
Married: May 29, 1954
While Kirk is an American actor who made his best days in the 1980s, his wife Anne Buydens is a producer and actress. Before the couple met, Douglas was first married to American actress Diana Douglas from 1943 to 1951.
Kirk and Anne met in Paris when they were both working on Lust For Life with Kirk as the actor while Anne was in charge of public relations. The following year the couple married and had two sons; Peter Douglas and Eric Douglas died in 2004.
3. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee
Married: 1948 – February 4, 2005
Davis and Dee also share what has been one of Hollywood’s longest celebrity marriages. Actors and civil rights activists, they were together for 57 years until Ossie’s death in 2005.
They met in 1946 in New York when Davis starred in a play called Jeb while she was a stand-in for another role. They married two years later. Their union was blessed with three children – Guy, Nora and Hasna.
4. James Garner and Lois Clarke
Married: August 17, 1956 – July 19, 2014
American actor, producer and voice artist, James Garner has a unique love affair with the woman he was married to for nearly 60 years before her death in 2014.
The two met in 1956 and just 14 days later they became man and wife. Clarke was previously married with a daughter, and while she was Jewish he was Methodist, so their marriage was contested by their families, but they moved on. 14 years after their union, they separated for three months before finally returning until the death of the actor in 2014.
5. Bob and Ginny Newhart
Married: January 12, 1963
Legendary comedian and actor Bob Newhart met his wife, Virginia Quinn – the daughter of American film actor Bill Quinn – through Buddy Hackett who put them on a date.
They married on January 12, 1963. Their union has four children: Robert, Timothy, Jennifer and Courtney.
6. Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft
Married from August 5, 1964 to June 6, 2005
Although Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft enjoyed one of the longest celebrity marriages, they had both been married and divorced before getting married in 1964 and remained together until Anne’s death in 2005.
It was during the rehearsal of the Perry Como Variety Show that the couple met in 1961 and three years later they married. Their union was blessed with a son, Max Brooks.
7. Don and Barbara Rickles
Married: March 14, 1965 – April 6, 2017
When he was in his twenties, American stand-up comedian, actor, and author, Don Rickles had some romantic issues. However, when he was 30, he met Barbara Sklar through his agent. In no time he fell in love with her, then at 39 he married her; it was in 1965.
They remained together until the comedian’s death in 2017. They were blessed with Mindy and Larry Rickles as children.
8. Johnny Cash and June Carter
Married: May 1, 1968 – May 15, 2003
Country music royalty, Johnny Cash and June Carter had one of the most incredible romances. Nevertheless, before their union, Carter married twice and cash once. The first time they met was in 1956 before she married for the second time.
12 years later, the couple married and remained together until their death in June 2003. Only four months after her, Johnny Cash also died. They had one son together, John Carter Cash.
9. Ron and Cheryl Howard
Married: June 7, 1975 – Present
Oscar-winning director and actor RonHoward and actress Cheryl Alley married in 1975 after meeting when they were still teenagers. Due to how early they met, Ron didn’t believe their union was going to work, but it did.
Their marriage is blessed with four children – Bryce Dallas Howard, Paige Howard, Reed Howard and Jocelyn Howard.
10. Jeff Bridges and Susan Geston Bridges
Married: June 5, 1977 – Present
When he was in his twenties, American singer and actor Jeff Bridges was terrified of marriage, thinking it was a big step toward death. For this reason, he made every effort to resist it.
However, when he met Susan Geston in 1975 while shooting for Rancho Deluxe, he just knew he was going to marry her. Even though Susan had a broken nose and black eyes from an accident, he still fell in love with her and asked her out but she refused him. They met again and it started their journey together.
They have three children – Isabelle Annie, Jessica Lily and Haley Roselouise.
11. Meryl Streep and Don Gummer
Married: September 30, 1978
Streep is one of those very few people who are successful at almost everything they do. Very successful in her professional life, her personal life with her sculptor husband, Don Gummer is also very successful. In 1978 she lost her partner of three years, John Cazale to lung cancer.
After Cazale’s death, she left the shared house and rented an apartment from her brother’s friend, Don Gummer. Only six months later, to the shock of many, they were married. More than 4 decades later, they share four children together – Henry, Mamie, Grace and Louisa.
12. Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson
Married: January 14, 1980 – Present
Unthinkable actor Samuel L. Jackson and his wife LaTanya Richardson, who is an actress and producer, have been married since 1980. They met when the actor was still at Morehouse College. LaTanya played an important role in the actor’s life, helping him overcome drug addiction when she returned home to find him passed out. She had it refitted and fixed it.
Their union is lucky to have a daughter, Zoe Jackson, born in 1982.
13. Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman
Married: January 28, 1982 – Present
Two weeks after they met in 1971, Devito and Rhea Perlman moved in together. They were in a relationship for the next 11 years before finally getting married.
The couple briefly separated in 2012 and after they got back together, they remained even closer than they had ever been. They have three children together, Lucy Chet DeVito who is also an actress, Grace Fan DeVito and Jacob Daniel DeVito.
14. Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne
Married: July 4, 1982 – Present
The marriage between Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne was not the most perfect as it was filled with infidelity, drugs, violence and lies. In fact, after Sharon found out about her extramarital affairs, she only stayed with Ozzy because she loved him and didn’t think anyone else would ever want her.
The couple met in 1979 when Sharon was only 18 and immediately they started dating. Three years later, they were husband and wife. They have three children – Aimee, Kelly and Jack.
It is one of the shortest celebrity marriages, mainly due to Sharon Osbourne’s will.
15. Denzel and Pauletta Washington
Married: June 25, 1983 – Present
Yet another of the longest celebrity marriages and relationships in Hollywood are those of Golden Globe-winning actor Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington. Like many other couples in Hollywood, Denzel and Pauletta met on set while working on the TV movie Wilma in 1977. A year later, they started dating.
Denzel asked his wife to marry him three times before finally agreeing, and then in 1983 they were married. Their children are John David, Katia and twins Olivia and Malcolm.