Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon and More Happy Hollywood Couples Share Their Secrets to Lasting Love

The “happy Hollywood couple” is not a myth. In fact, many stars have found true love despite the pressures of the spotlight and the madcap world of show business.

Here are the Top 10 Happiest Couples in Hollywood — with No. 1 being the happiest of all.

10. Matt Damon & Luciana Barroso

Back in 2003, as Matt’s fame was exploding, he ducked behind the bar of a South Beach Miami nightclub to escape drunk fans demanding autographs and photos — only to find himself put to work by gorgeous bartender Luciana!

“He had trained as a bartender for a film years before, so he started making drinks,” Luciana told Vogue. “And he made me a ton of money in tips that night, because of course everyone wanted to go and see him. So it turned into a really fun night.”

Now, 22 years later, they’re still together and have been married for 20 years. The key to their romance, 49-year-old Luciana said of her 55-year-old husband: “We both feel really, really lucky to have met each other, so we don’t take that for granted. It’s and it’s fun.”

9. Patrick Duffy & Linda Purl

Casual friends who were married to other people when they first met, Dallas stud Patrick, now 76, and 70-year-old Happy Days beauty Linda began a long-distance relationship during COVID — until Patrick decided to take a leap of faith.

“I loaded up my car and drove 20 hours and ended up on her doorstep just to see if it was real. We haven’t been apart since,” he told People.

Patrick had lost his wife of 43 years in 2017 and admitted of his newfound love, “I never thought for a minute this would happen again. I never thought I’d feel this way again.” He offers advice to fellow widows and widowers: “Think about it, do whatever you do, but don’t let it pass you up if it’s the right thing.”

8. Ted Danson & Mary Steenburgen

Ted, 78, and Mary, 72, first met when he auditioned for her 1983 movie Cross Creek , but sparks didn’t fly until a decade later when they played a married couple in Pontiac Moon. They’ve now been married 30 years.

At their 1995 wedding, Mary was walked down the aisle by an old family friend from Arkansas — then sitting President Bill Clinton. Ted told Extra: “One of the first ‘come meet my friends’ dates for approval was in the White House with some Secret Service behind checking me out.”

These days, the power couple starts their mornings with coffee and word games. “We have two cups of coffee, and we’re just flying high,” Ted said on Skip Intro with Krista Smith. “If I get to have that hour and half with Mary, playing, I’m set up for the rest of the day. Everything else is great.”

7. Mark Harmon & Pam Dawber

In 1986, Mark made a bold declaration about doomed Hollywood relationships: “When I marry, I want it to be everything this town says it can’t be.”

True to his word, a year later the NCIS actor married Mork & Mindy and My Sister Sam star Pam. Now both 74, Mark and Pam have been blissfully married for 38 years.

“Pam and I have both made a living in this business, and still, there’s a part of that that’s just not natural,” Mark once told Closer Weekly. Pam agreed, telling the outlet: “I don’t think two people can work all the time in show business and stay married.”

Yet they have. Mark explained their secret to People in 2023: “I have no secret. We laugh. You got to laugh, and you got to talk and communicate. That’s the fun part. We share many things, and yet we’re really different.”

6. Harrison Ford & Calista Flockhart

Now 83, Harrison used all his life experience to forge a happy 15-year marriage with 61-year old Calista — and it all began with a spilled glass of wine at an after-party.

“She spilled wine on me, or I spilled wine on her or something, and that sort of sealed the deal,” he told the New York Times.

Harrison also believes romance has no expiration date. As he said during an appearance on NPR’s Wild Card with Rachel Martin, “Old people can love, too. You know, you think about falling in love and all of that business, you think it’s the business of youth or something, and staying in love is the issue. Maintaining, nurturing, basically, not f**king up.”

Calista told the New York Times, “We’ve had to work. We’ve had our ups, we’ve had downs like everybody else mostly ups, which is good — and we just stay together. He’s the person that I want to call when something happens. That knee-jerk thing where I have to call Harrison.”

5. Tom Selleck & Jillie Mack

Tom, now 80, secretly married actress Jillie, 68, in 1987— but the secret behind their happiness is no secret at all.

“I get up before Jillie and put on the tea kettle, so when she gets up, her tea water is hot,” reveals Tom to Closer Weekly. “I think I’m pretty romantic.”

He gushds, “Jillie has this sort of joie de vivre — this effervescent quality that just lights up a room. Apart from being my wife, she’s my friend.”

They also escaped the spotlight to a 65-acre ranch in Hidden Valley, Calif. — once owned by Dean Martin — where they raise horses and avocados. Said Tom, “It took a long time to get off the train, but I try very hard to have balance, and this ranch has helped me do that.”

4. Reba McEntire & Rex Linn

Country queen Reba, 70, and fiancé Rex, 69, met in 1991 — but their first date didn’t happen until 29 years later, after reuniting on the set of Young Sheldon. Then COVID hit, and romance blossomed long-distance.

“We created an intimacy by texting and talking over the telephone that we wouldn’t have gotten if we’d been together all that time,” explained Reba to E! News. “So it was very special and a great way of finding out about each other without ever touching.”

She added, “We have made each other better. Rex brings out the little girl in me, and I have fun. I’m dorky, I’m goofy. He is, too. We love to laugh, and we love each other.”

Meanwhile, Rex uncovered one quirky habit in a chat with NBC Insider: “She puts ketchup on everything. It just drives me nuts. Everything. She’ll put ketchup on ice cream. There are 17 bottles of ketchup in that refrigerator.”

3. Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson

Married 37 years, Tom and Rita, both 69, are among Hollywood’s most beloved couples. Tom first spotted Rita on TV in 1972 as a cheerleader on The Brady Bunch and thought she was cute. They finally met in 1981 on Tom’s sitcom Bosom Buddies and later starred in Volunteers.

By 1986, their romance was public, and after Tom’s divorce was finalized in 1987, they married in 1988. “When I married Rita,” Tom once said according to People, “I thought, This is going to require some change on my part. Not that marriage doesn’t come close to being hell in a handbasket sometimes. But we both know that no matter what, we’ll be with each other — and we’ll get through it.”

2. Kurt Russell & Goldie Hawn

Kurt, 74, and Goldie, 80, met in 1966, became inseparable in 1983, had a son together — and never married. Goldie once wrote on Instagram: “No, we never got married but one thing that continues to grow is our love … I can’t imagine my life without you at any age, Kurt Russell. You’re the catch. And you’re all mine.”

Kurt professed his love at their shared Walk of Fame ceremony in 2017: “To you, I owe my wonderful life. Simply, put Goldie, I cherish you… There’s no one else I’d rather be next to.”

1. Kyra Sedgwick & Kevin Bacon

Married a staggering 37 years, Kevin, 67, and Kyra, 60, prove laughter really is the best
medicine. “A sense of humor is crucial,” Kyra once told People. “He is very freaking funny.”

What’s their secret to a lasting marriage? Kevin insisted on the Today show there is “no secret. Never have the secret.” For her part, Kyra quipped to the outlet, “The secret is don’t ask a celebrity how they stay
married.”

On a heartfelt note, she added to People, “We’ve always been each other’s biggest support and fans.”

The hardest part? “Getting the temperature in the car correct so that we’re both happy,” she told Today.