# Longest lasting first marriages of celebrities **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978 "2009-01-12T21:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/1 "2009-01-12T21:10:14Z")
Simple rules: It has to be a legal marriage still standing or ending with the death of one of the spouses, it has to be a first marriage for both parties, and at least one party has to be a celebrity. To use the two most prominent couples currently in the news, Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi count, John Travolta & Kelly Preston don’t (Kelly was married before). What other celebrity couples have “till death do us part” first marriages? ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/2 "2009-01-12T21:28:59Z")
Oddly enough, I was just looking through IMDB for something and came across [Alfred Hitchcock](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/bio). According to IMDB, they were married almost 54 years, first one for each. If you consider Art Linkletter a celebrity, he’s just had his [73rd](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0512939/bio) anniversary. I’d assume his wife wasn’t married before, but can’t confirm. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/3 "2009-01-12T21:32:47Z")
Jimmy and Gloria Stewart (45 years) and George Burns and Gracie Allen (38 years) were the first two that came to mind. And, of course, Jimmy Stewart didn’t even marry until he was 41. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/4 "2009-01-12T21:34:07Z")
Chuck and Lydia Heston were married for 64 years, if I’m reading IMDB correctly. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/5 "2009-01-13T00:20:51Z")
Ayn Rand and Frank O’Connor were married for 50 years. First and only marriage for both. Hey, the OP didn’t stipulate that it had to be monogamous. ---
**Author:** ![tattman40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/db5fbb/32.png) [@tattman40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tattman40)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/6 "2009-01-13T00:22:04Z")
Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy? 52 yrs. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/7 "2009-01-13T01:06:42Z")
[John Wooden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wooden), who has been dubbed “The Wizard of Westwood” and is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, met his future wife while they were in high school, married her some years later, and they stayed married for over 50 years until she died of cancer. It’s now more than 25 years later and he still writes a letter to her every week. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/8 "2009-01-13T01:13:13Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Jimmy and Gloria Stewart (45 years) and George Burns and Gracie Allen (38 years) were the first two that came to mind. > > And, of course, Jimmy Stewart didn’t even marry until he was 41. This was Gloria Stewart’s second marriage. [Cite.](http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5867) Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/9 "2009-01-13T02:07:31Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Chuck and Lydia Heston were married for 64 years, if I’m reading IMDB correctly. This is the one I came in to mention. Not only did they stay married, he said that his wife was the only woman he ever went out with. And they were both virgins when they married. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/10 "2009-01-13T02:11:59Z")
> [@tattman40](#): > > Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy? 52 yrs. They were both married to other people first. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/11 "2009-01-13T04:07:06Z")
Harold Lloyd and his wife (and co-star) Mildred Davis – 46 years William Randolph Hearst and Millicent Willson Hearst – 48 years (legally; he had Marion Davies as a mistress much of that time). James Cagney and Frances Vernon – 64 years. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/12 "2009-01-13T04:13:55Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Jimmy and Gloria Stewart (45 years) and George Burns and Gracie Allen (38 years) were the first two that came to mind. > > And, of course, Jimmy Stewart didn’t even marry until he was 41. George Burns was married before Gracie Allen. He claims it was a loveless marriage and the only reason he was married to her was she was his partner and her mother wouldn’t allow George to travel with her unless the two were married. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/13 "2009-01-13T04:46:48Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > George Burns was married before Gracie Allen. He claims it was a loveless marriage and the only reason he was married to her was she was his partner and her mother wouldn’t allow George to travel with her unless the two were married. I refuse to acknowledge this. I’m going to pretend it is like a country that we don’t recognize. He is probably more famous for always saying good night to his wife, even long after she died, than for anything else. I’ve always considered them to be an inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/14 "2009-01-13T04:49:09Z")
I think, I HOPE, he means the first one. Good Lord, he’d still tear up talking about Gracie decades after she died. ETA: And he wasn’t that good an actor to do it on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/15 "2009-01-13T05:07:35Z")
To clarify George Burns’s FIRST marriage was to Hannah Siegal. Siegal’s parents didn’t want her to travel the Vaudeville circuit because that would’ve made her a “loose” girl, especially if her partner was a man. So George married her and he claims it was “loveless,” and indeed after the three month tour they divorced. Geroge later on met Gracie who was part of a sister act. So that enabled Gracie not to be a “Loose” woman. Though most people of that time considered actors/actresses and stage people in general to be of questionable morals anyway. Later on Gracie and her friend Mary “Bubbles” Kelly, traveled together while George and Jack Benny pal’d around. While Mary and Jack got close, Gracie kept stringing George along with her boyfriend back home in San Francisco. Later on Jack dumped Mary, who later on went on to become an alcoholic and very obese while he married the woman who became Mary Livingston. Gracie dumped her man in SF for George and the rest is history. But George was married before Gracie. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/16 "2009-01-13T05:26:48Z")
Patrick McGoohan fell in love with wife Joan Drummond when he was 16. They’ve been married since 1951. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/17 "2009-01-13T07:38:54Z")
Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone were married for 47 years, from 1927 until Jack’s death in 1974. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/18 "2009-01-13T08:03:04Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > They were both married to other people first. Can’t they get a pass? 52 Years!! C’mon! (RE: Tandy/Cronyn) ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/19 "2009-01-13T15:32:20Z")
\*\*Kevin Bacon \*\*and \*\*Kyra Sedgwick \*\*have been married 20 years. AFAIK, it’s the first marriage for both. Same for **Michael J. Fox** and **Tracy Pollan**. ETA: **Patrick Swayze** and Lisa Niemi have them beat at 33 years. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/20 "2009-01-13T16:59:25Z")
While it’s not as long as some of the others, I still think Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber’s 30 year (and counting) marriage deserves a mention. My quick search shows nothing of either being married before. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978.md?page=2)