The Quick 10: 10 Lasting Hollywood Marriages
When famous people get married, it seems like people immediately take bets on how long it will last. And with the super-short marriages of Britney Spears and Jason Alexander, Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney, and Pam Anderson and Kid Rock... well, I guess maybe people aren't too optimistic that Hollywood marriages are going to be anything long-term. But there are famous couples out there with serious staying power; they're just often overlooked. Here are a few of them.
2. Tony Martin and Cyd Charisse "“ 59 years. This duo was inseparable from 1948 until she died last year. It was the second marriage for both of them as well "“ Cyd and married to Nico Charisse originally, and it was no quickie marriage "“ it lasted eight years and resulted in one son. Cyd and Tony also had a son, Tony Martin, Jr.
3. Bill and Camille Cosby - 44 years. If you're like me, you can't hear the name "Camille" in conjunction with Bill Cosby and not think about him saying her name. Or maybe I'm just thinking about Kenan Thompson's impression of Bill on Saturday Night Live. Anyway, Bill met Camille in the 60s when he was working in D.C., doing his stand-up act. She was a student at the University of Maryland at the time. They got married in 1964 and had five kids.
4. Art Linkletter and Lois Foerster - a whopping 73 years. That is one impressive marriage. They got married in 1935 and have five kids; they have outlived three of them. In 1969, Diane jumped out of a sixth-story window. Art claimed she was on LSD, but her autopsy showed no such drug. His son Robert, died in a car accident, and his son Jack died of lymphoma in 2007.
6. Alan and Arlene Alda - 51 years. They married in 1957 and have three daughters and seven grandkids. Arlene is very accomplished in her own right "“ she is a photographer and children's book author.
7. Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens - 53 years. Kirk's sons Joel and Michael are from his first marriage to actress Diane Dill. They divorced in 1951 and he married Anne Buydens. Their sons together are Peter and Eric Douglas. Despite the divorce, though, Kirk and Diane remain good friends and even continued to act together for a long time. He even played her husband in 2003's It Runs in the Family.
8. James Garner and Lois Clarke - 52 years. James and Lois met at an Adlai Stevenson rally in 1956. And they are proof that just because you get married in a hurry doesn't mean it won't last "“ they wed just 14 days after their initial meeting. They have one daughter together, Greta Garner. Clarke has a daughter from her previous marriage.
9. Karl Malden and Mona Greenberg - 70 years. These two met when Malden was training and performing at the Goodman Theater in Chicago in the "˜30s. Mona was also an actress at the time, going by the stagename Mona Graham. They married in 1938 and just celebrated anniversary #70 in December.
Charlton married Lydia, a student at Northwestern, in 1944. She thought he was arrogant and full of himself; he loved her "tumbling mane of black Irish hair." He paid $12 for her wedding ring and they got married spontaneously after he convinced her to before he was sent overseas with the Air Corps. They had a son and a daughter together.