Every consumer of paparazzi magazines is aware of how fragile celebrity relationships are; their marriages change with the seasons and are as short-lived as the freshness of the flowers in our parlor. But this is not true for all celebrity couples. A celebrity marriage represents the glamour of high society; the couples are usually stars of the entertainment industry. The term has a negative connotation because of the high divorce rate among couples; relationships are usually short-lived. It is a widespread tendency in the mass media to report bad marriages of famous couples.
There are many reasons related to the lifestyle of the famous couples that are responsible for short-lived relationships. If a celebrity marriage is used as a publicity gag to climb the career ladder, sooner or later it will collapse. Some of the main factors responsible for divorces are: Couples’ immaturity, infidelity, and unrealistic dreams. The successful couples of the Hollywood or entertainment industry do not get as much attention in the media as the negative couples. That is why we have decided to highlight the long lasting marriages of celebrity couples.
Long Lasting Celebrity Marriages
1. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith – 19 years
These two met in 1990 when Jada Pinkett auditioned for the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a friend of Smith. She couldn’t become a friend on screen, but their real-life affection grew over time, and Jada became Smith’s real-life wife in 1997. The wedding, which was the talk of the town and the subject of celebrity gossip, took place in the Cloisters near Baltimore. They have two children, Willow Smith & Jaden Smith. Will Smith has one son, Trey Smith, from his previous marriage.
2. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson – 27 years
Their happy marriage began on April 30, 1988, when Hanks married his Volunteers’ co-star Rita Wilson. The couple is blessed with 2 children: Chester Hanks, their oldest, and Truman Theodore, the youngest, born in 1995. Tom has two more children from his previous marriage to actress Samantha Lewes. In a 2001 interview with Oprah, Tom shared his connection with Wilson: “There’s such an advantage to being involved in the day-to-day details of each other’s lives. It’s a marvelous fabric to exist in.”
3. Denzel Washington and Pauletta Pearson – 32 years
Denzel Washington met his wife Pauletta Pearson while shooting Wilma, a 1977 television movie. Their love culminated in marriage on June 25, 1983. The love affair turned into four children: John David, Katia and twins Olivia and Malcolm, born April 10, 1991.
In Ebony magazine, Denzel & Pauletta revealed the secrets of their long marriage: “I live with this man. I see the down part. I see the sad part. I see every part,” Pauletta continued, “he has and knows that he has this stability in me as his wife. That gives him strength, whether he abuses it or not. I can’t go into this in any more detail. But I know that it gives him a great platform to walk and fly.” Denzel accepted the reality of married life: “There is no magic mystery. We go through ups and downs like any couple.”
4. John Travolta and Kelly Preston – 25 years
After a meeting on the set of The Expert, John Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991. Together they have three children: Ella Bleu, their daughter; sons Benjamin and Jett, the latter of whom died in 2009. Preston shared with the media the secret of their long-standing marriage: “One thing I’ve learned is that you really have to keep recreating your marriage.
“You can’t let it drift away somehow to become what it will be… We never go to bed angry. We work it out before we go to bed, unless we’re too, too exhausted,” she revealed the reasons for her happiness, “then we put it on hold until first thing. We know what each other’s buttons are – so we don’t push them. Neither of us likes to scream, so we don’t. I think these rules are really what was the basis for us because we have had so much affection, love, respect, joy, and fun.”
5. Meryl Streep and Don Gummer – 37 years
The queen of the Oscars is also accomplished in another area, as the bearer of one of the longest celebrity marriages. On 30 September 1978, she married the sculptor Don Gummer. They have 4 children: daughters, Louisa, Grace, and Mamie, and son, Henry. She believes that conversation is the key to a successful marriage, as she told the New Zealand Women’s Weekly: “You have to talk about all problems that arise, even the smallest things. You have to listen to your partner’s problems, suggestions, and advice and accept that you are not always right. Conversation is the key to a successful marriage”.
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6. Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick – 27 years
These two met on the set of Lanford Wilson’s PBS play Lemon Sky and were married on September 4, 1988. They also played together in Loverboy, The Woodsman, Pyrates, and Murder in the First. The couple has 2 children, Travis Sedgwick and Sosie Ruth. Kevin recognizes his strength: “The time when I hit what I thought was the bottom was also the time when I met my wife, our kids were born and good things were happening.”
And I was able to keep supporting myself; that always gave me strength.” He shared the secret of his happy marriage with Parade: “When I don’t see Kyra, I look forward to seeing her, we talk a lot, and we make each other laugh. People want to know: ‘How do you do that in Hollywood?’ I have no answers. We just like being together.”
7. David & Victoria Beckham – 16 years
Beckham began dating Spice Girls’ “Posh Spice” in 1997 when she attended a Manchester United game; “Posh and Becks” immediately became a hit in the celebrity tabloids. In Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland, David and Victoria were married on 4 July 1999 amidst much media coverage. The British couple is blessed with 4 children: Sons, Brooklyn, Romeo, and Cruz, and a 1-year-old daughter.
Victoria shared the happiness of their house: “Our house is a really happy house, there are children running around and laughing and joking, I smile so much more than people would think. There’s nothing better than being in LA with my kids, having dinner with my husband, and having a romantic night out in the city. I’m getting older with the most amazing man I’ve ever met – my soul mate. Life is great.”
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8. Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos – 19 years
On the set of All My Children in 1995, they dreamed of having children of their own; they dated for a year before getting married on 1 May 1996. Later they had their own three children: sons Michael and Joaquin and daughter Lola Grace. Consuelos told the media in 2011 the busy schedule of his married life: “You have to take some time for yourself, and this is difficult to do with schedules as they are, and especially with the children who are going back to school. It seems that every evening there is a curriculum night, an open school night, or something like that! So I think after this month or two weeks we will have some time to ourselves”.
9. Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan – 27 years
Despite Fox suffering from Parkinson’s disease, the couple enjoys their togetherness. On July 16, 1988, actress Tracy Pollan married Michael J. Fox, just 2 years before he was diagnosed with the disease. Together they have 4 children: son Sam, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, and daughter Esmé. Fox shared his blessed life with Oprah: “She sees who I am and she likes me as much as she has ever liked me. We have a sense of humour about life, and we enjoy life. We feel every day that we are so blessed.”
10. Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates – 27 years
In the late 1980s, Phoebe Cates met Kevin Kline at an audition for The Big Chill. She didn’t get the part in the film, but she did get the man she wanted; they married in 1989.
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