Princess Diana. A 19-year old marries one of the world’s most famous – uhh – titles. A few years later they divorce and she goes on to become a larger than life (and death) celebrity.
Marilyn Monroe was an up and coming starlet, but nowhere near as famous as Joe DiMaggio when they married. Judy Garland was an established star when she married Vincente Minelli, but he was a top Hollywood director, and she was nowhere near the icon she later became.
Charo was almost unknown when she married popular band leader Xavier Cugat, but is probably much better known than he is now.
She’s not exactly “hot” now, but Kathy Lee Gifford probably eclipsed her jock/sportscaster hubby Frank, in terms of fame.
Hugh Jackman had only appeared in one little seen TV series with his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness when he married her. She had been on TV and in movies for 20 years.
I was going to say Tom Arnold as well. I don’t think you give his career enough credit. His movies weren’t all crappy. He actually had a star-making performance in ‘True Lies’, a big hit in which many critics said Arnold stole every scene he was in.
He also co-starred in Undercover Blues and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, and is currently on TV in one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows of the year - Sons of Anarchy.
Tom Arnold’s biggest problem is that he apparently doesn’t know how to say ‘no’ to a bad script. With the right material he’s very good. Better than Roseanne ever was. And I remember when they got married, he was completely stereotyped as the untalented gold digging loser to her brilliant comedienne.
Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett-Majors.
I’d say Ike and Tina Turner are the textbook case, here. Ike was a big-time musician when he discovered Tina; it didn’t take long for her to eclipse him, much to his chagrin.
Tony Shaloub was not very well known when he married Brooke Adams. (Not an unknown either, Wings premiered in 1991.) Since then, he’s gone on to Monk and Men in Black; haven’t heard much from her.
I read an article about Jon Hamm awhile ago and his girlfriend and realised that the vaguely familiar looking woman was Jennifer Westfeldt. About ten years ago, she was decently well known in Indie movie circles as an up and comer, co-writing the script for as well as starring in Kissing Jessica Stein. Won an Independent Spirit Award and all that. Jon Hamm was unknown until Mad Men, a few small parts here and there (including in Westfeldt’s movies), and then overnight success at nearly 40 years old . Now, he’s Don Freakin’ Draper and has hosted SNL, appeared on 30 Rock, and all that. She seems to pick up guest roles here and there. And adorably, they’re a gorgeous couple that seems really happy.
Bennifer? Possibly…
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.
It seemed like there was an inequality there when they were dating- J-Lo was sort of at the height of her popularity, and Affleck was pretty well known, but just kind of a sidekick to Matt Damon. I’d say the tables have kind of turned at this point with Affleck being more popular than the faded J-Lo pop star. I mean what’s she doing now?.. hosting the faded American Idol to up her recog factor?
Courtney Love would have been moderately better known than Kurt Cobain at the time they started going out. Neither was a major star but she had had a couple small film roles, and her profile as the leader of Hole was a little bit higher than his as the leader of Nirvana (“Smells Like Teen Spirit” hadn’t broken yet, and though they were a reasonably popular band on the underground music scene, he wasn’t a personality then).
I guess they probably don’t fit the OP’s first requirement, but I thought it was worth mentioning, especially since so many people seem to assume that he was the big star and she was just riding his coattails.
KNEW someone would pick her! Another reason it doesn’t fit: She was an ABSOLUTE NOBODY before Tom plucked her out of obscurity, picking her to play the doctor in “Days of Thunder”! 
:dubious:
Eh, she still owed her noteriety almost completely to having married into (and divorced out of) the royal family. I don’t think you can say her fame came independent of her marriage.
George Burns finally eclipsed Gracie Allen after 40+ years of playing second fiddle to her, when he was cast in the Sunshine Boys. More people remember George Burns then her today, which certainly wasn’t true before
From the George Burns and Gracie Allen Radio Show (radio)
There was a blip on E! today (biggest breakups or whatever) that had something I thought was darkly funny about the Lachey-Simpson split.
Lachey actually did want Jessica to sign a prenup. It was her dad who put the quietus on it- Lachey was worth between $1 million & $2 million and he was determined his baby girl/client was going to get her share of it if they split. It was because of his looking out for her best interest that she ended up having to pay him millions. (Evidently they pretty much spent all the money from Newlyweds- not that it was a vast fortune- before splitting up.)
Total hijack, but their son Sean Ferrer-Hepburn ((pic)) was in the newstoday. He auctioned some rare German stamps of his mother for $600,000+, all of which he donated to UNICEF and her other charities.
But wouldn’t that be more of a function of her being in front of the camera, while he is behind the camera? I mean, really, I’ve probably seen everything Aaron Sorkin has ever done, and I wouldn’t recognize him if he pissed on my shoes in the mens room!
No. Burns was successful enough in vaudeville prior to meeting Gracie (at least, he was making a living at it), as was she. Once they teamed, they became even more successful, but it was always an equal partnership (and George got top billing).
Going further back. DeWolfe Hopper was a major vaudeville and Broadway star when he married his fifth wife, Elda Furry, who changed her name to Hedda Hopper. Though Hedda was only a minor success as an actress, she became one of Hollywood’s most visible (and vicious) gossip columnist, a public icon because of her penchant for outrageous hats.
He had a brief-but-unmistakable cameo in the West Wing finale, so keep those shoes polished. Lots of behind-the-camera types have married front-of-camera stars (Roald Dahl, Arthur Miller, David E. Kelly, Gene Roddenberry, Dick Ebersol… It’s kind of a perk of the position) and it’s fair to ask who’s got more star wattage.
Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler. Although I wonder if his fame has reemerged because “The Jazz Singer” pioneered talkies and musicals as Keeler did have faded.
There were times in the Angie Dickinson-Bert Bacharach marriage when she emerged as the more famous partner although “police Woman” seems to have faded as a cultural icon and Bacharach got to do an album with Elvis Costello.
Barbra Streisand and Eliot Gould.
