# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/21 "2009-01-13T17:11:03Z")
Robert and Dorothy Mitchum, 57 years, until his death in ’97 or so. I think he pretty much admitted that he wasn’t faithful all the time (hey, Ava Gardner’s coming on to you—whaddaya expect?). ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/22 "2009-01-13T17:12:36Z")
Re James Cagney, he said that he almost was seduced by Merle Oberon and then came to his senses and ran like hell; he otherwise remained 100% faithful to his wife. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/23 "2009-01-13T21:20:50Z")
Dolly Parton has been married for 42 years and counting. I had to look up her husband’s name - Carl Dean. He’s a bit publicity-shy, it seems. ---
**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, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/24 "2009-01-13T22:36:47Z")
Elizabeth II and Phillip have been married over 61 years. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/25 "2009-01-14T20:12:55Z")
They aren’t married, but Alan Rickman and Rima Horton have been together since 1965. They met when he was 19. 43 years of unmarried bliss. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/26 "2009-01-14T22:13:55Z")
This should have been so obvious: Charles Lane was married to his sweetie for **71** years. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/27 "2009-01-15T01:21:57Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > 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. To quote George, “My best talent was standing beside me.” ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/28 "2009-01-15T03:31:34Z")
Ricardo Montalban and his wife Georgiana were married for 64 years, from 1944 until her death in 2007. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![criminey.jicket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@criminey.jicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminey.jicket)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/29 "2009-01-15T05:47:37Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Ricardo Montalban and his wife Georgiana were married for 64 years, from 1944 until her death in 2007. [Together](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aPbN0_ikRnf4&refer=us) again. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/30 "2009-01-15T06:05:05Z")
Jane Wyatt and her banker husband Edgar Ward were married for 64 years and 363 days, as he died one day before their 65th anniversary in 2000. It was definitely her first marriage and I’ve seen nothing to suggest it wasn’t his. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/31 "2009-01-15T14:38:33Z")
Tony Randall was married to his first wife for 50 years until her death. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/32 "2009-01-15T17:16:06Z")
Dolly Parton did Stairway to Heaven on a CD because her husband is a big Led Zeppelin fan. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/33 "2009-01-16T16:33:35Z")
Peter Graves and his wife celebrated their 58th anniversity last month. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/34 "2009-01-29T22:07:30Z")
Jonathan Winters’ wife just died. They had been married 60 years. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/35 "2009-01-30T02:49:08Z")
Lloyd Bridges was married to the same lady for nearly 60 years at the time of his death. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/36 "2009-01-30T08:01:22Z")
This site suggests that the Linkletters have been married for about 74 years. No indication that wife is not still alive. No indication of first marriage or more. That would be our winner. Dolores Hope, Bob’s wife, will be 100 this year. They were married for close to 70 years, from 1933 until Bob’s death in 2003 ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/37 "2009-01-30T09:18:09Z")
Karl Malden has been married 70 years and is still going. This is just behind Norman Lloyd and Peggy Lloyd and the Linkletters. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/38 "2009-02-02T22:01:26Z")
Frank ‘Mr. Drucker’ Cady’s wife died this past year. They had been married 68 years. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/39 "2014-06-02T13:51:02Z")
Country singer Arthur Smith died in April of this year. He and his wife had been married 72 years. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978/40 "2014-06-02T14:16:28Z")
Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones (who turns 72 today) and his wife Shirley will celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. That’s pretty unusual in the rock & roll world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-first-marriages-of-celebrities/480978.md?page=3)