Celebrities Who Got Married After 50

Divorce rates for people aged 50 and older have almost doubled since the 1990s, according to Pew Research. Maybe those Baby Boomers are still looking for that “free love” and marriage is weighing them down, who’s to say? However, with the influx of 50+ dating sites, Boomers are finding new love faster than ever before. But marrying later in life can come with a very unique set of problems. 

“You’re bringing baggage into the relationship,” certified financial planner Mari Adam told City & Shore Magazine. “You may have already had a divorce or been widowed and usually have kids. And money is a big bone of contention.” While celebrities over 50 might enter into a new relationship with their own personal baggage, we assume money isn’t an issue … unless it’s time for a divorce settlement. 

Okay, enough with the bad news! As the old saying goes, “the heart wants what it wants,” and there definitely isn’t a timeframe on love. Not to mention, there are some surprising benefits to tying the knot, no matter your age. While quite a few celebrity marriages have fallen apart quickly, and other Hollywood unions are just straight-up weird, we bring you the celebs who found love later in life and got married after 50.

Ellen DeGeneres married Portia de Rossi at age 50

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and actor Portia de Rossi were married in 2008 after same-sex marriage was legalized in California. At the time of their nuptials, DeGeneres was 50 and the Arrested Development star was 36. Speaking to People in Feb. 2021 about their 16-year relationship (and 12-year marriage), the couple reflected on what’s made their romance last.

Revealing that DeGeneres “has the hotel put rose petals in the shape of a love heart on my bed” whenever she travels apart from her wife, De Rossi said, “Every single time over the last 16 years. And it always catches me off-guard.” Meanwhile, the stand-up comic noted that the Scandal alum is “just thoughtful” and will “leave little notes around if she’s going somewhere, which is really sweet.” Aww.

Of course, their relationship took a bit of a hit in 2020, when The Ellen DeGeneres Show was investigated after former employees alleged that the titular host cultivated a toxic work environment. But luckily, the experience only made their union stronger. “It broke my heart; I couldn’t have gone through everything I went through without [Portia],” DeGeneres told People. “It was a horrible time in my life, and she was a rock. She kept me going and tried to help me put things in perspective.” For her part, De Rossi added, “We’ve grown together as a couple, and we really consider each other and put our relationship first.”

Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, and the case of the garlic chicken

All you have to is Google “who Warren Beatty has dated” to find he was one of the most eligible bachelors in Hollywood during his prime. However, the Oscar winner finally settled down when he married fellow actor Annette Bening in 1992. At the time, the Bonnie and Clyde star was 55. 

In 2016, Beatty told People that he knew he was smitten with Bening when they met for lunch in preparation for the film, Bugsy. “I remember losing interest in the garlic chicken I was eating within 20 seconds,” he said. “And the garlic chicken had been very good.” Beatty’s decision to get married after dating literally almost every available bachelorettes in showbiz came as a surprise to many, but not the actor himself. “I always felt I wasn’t trying to avoid marriage, I was trying to avoid divorce,” he revealed on the Today show that same year (via People). “I had no doubt when I met Annette that it was time to get married.” Beatty went on to say that their four children are “the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me — and their mother.”

For her part, Bening told Us Weekly of their nearly 30-year marriage, “There is no secret as anyone who’s been married knows.” She added, “We have an incredible family, we have beautiful children. We’ve been through a lot. It’s the center of life. It’s the most important thing. It’s everything.”

Paul McCartney got married with a big assist from Barbara Walters

Paul McCartney’s first wife, Linda Eastman, died from breast cancer at the age of 56 in 1998, leaving The Beatles legend a widower. “I think I cried for about a year on and off,” McCartney told BBC News in 2019. “You expect to see them walk in, this person you love, because you are so used to them.” He then married former model Heather Mills in 2002, but they divorced in 2008 after a very ugly and very public court battle.

However, the iconic musician learned to love again in 2011, when he tied the knot with Nancy Shevell at the age of 69. Their matchmaker came from an unlikely source: legendary television journalist Barbara Walters (who happens to be Shevell’s second cousin). According to a source cited by AZCentral, “Barbara was so determined to make it work that she’d call Nancy and coach her on Paul’s likes and dislikes. Barbara was quite right — they were ideal for each other … Now Paul calls Nancy his soul mate.”

While the sweet pair have kept a relatively low profile since getting hitched, they are still going strong. Having penned “My Valentine” about Shevell in 2011, McCartney marked their ninth wedding anniversary with rare photo of his lady love on Instagram in October 2020, captioned in part with, “You are my rock and roll, you are my A side and B side, you are my verse and chorus. I love you.”

Barbra Streisand and James Brolin went on a blind date that changed their lives

James Brolin and Barbra Streisand “were set up on a blind date” by a mutual friend and met for the first time in 1996. “I met him at a dinner and expected a bearded mountain-man type, and he had cut off all his hair and was clean-shaven,” Streisand told W magazine in 2016. “I asked him, ‘Who screwed up your hair?’ He later told me that’s when he fell in love with me. My fella likes to hear the truth, which is unusual.” Meanwhile, it took Babs “a couple of months” to fall for her man.

The pair married two years later in July 1998, when Brolin was 58 and Streisand was 56. Per People, the star-studded, yet private wedding in her Malibu home marked Streisand’s second marriage and Brolin’s third. On their anniversary in 2020, the legendary singer took to Instagram to show her love for her Golden Globe and Emmy-winning soulmate. “There’s no one I’d rather be locked up with than you honey — can’t believe it’s been 24 years together! Happy anniversary,” Streisand wrote, alongside a photo of two at their wedding.

In February 2021, Brolin revealed to Access that their COVID-19 quarantine had only strengthened their connection: “My wife and I have gotten so close being locked up together like this. And I’m hearing bad stories about some people, where it’s breaking up marriages. It’s just the opposite here. We’re just wonderful.”

George Takei could no longer stay quiet about the love of his life

Star Trek star George Takei married his longtime partner, Brad Altman, at the age of 71. Never give up on love, folks. According to Reuters, Takei and Altman “were among the first gay couples to get a marriage license” in California when same-sex marriage was first legalized there in 2008. 

The couple tied the knot at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles, a memorial that’s close to Takei, as his family was forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. “I remember reciting the words, ‘With liberty and justice for all’ — innocent child — totally oblivious of the stinging irony of those words: ‘Liberty and justice for all,’ Takei said during a visit in 2019 (via ABC News). 

While speaking with Variety in 2020, Altman revealed that despite being together since 1985, he “was never identified publicly as George’s boyfriend or partner,” due to Takei’s decision to remain closeted until 2005. “I was silent, and it was totally against my character,” Takei explained. “The one cause that was the most personal to me, I had to stay quiet on because I wanted my career.” However, the pair are happier than ever 35 years into their relationship. “We truly are a team — me as the actor, writer, activist and Brad as the manager, scheduler and all-around essential guy. And we love being able to share our lives and our livelihood,” Takei said.

Harrison Ford has some great marriage advice

Harrison Ford unknowingly met his third wife, Calista Flockhart, at the 2002 Golden Globes. According to People, the pair officially tied the knot in 2010 at the Governor’s Mansion in New Mexico – Ford was 67 at the time. 

During a 2003 interview with Hello!, Flockhart addressed their significant age gap. “Sometimes I even say, ‘Wow, I keep forgetting that he’s 22 years older than me,'” the Ally McBeal star affirmed. “It doesn’t factor into our relationship at all. I like the way he looks first thing in the morning. It’s not handsome, it’s more cute. He looks like a little boy.”

It looked like their marriage would end prematurely in 2015, when Ford was severely injured after crashing his vintage plane. According to a source cited by OK! magazine six years later, “Once the broken bones were healed, Calista allowed Harrison the freedom to go back to flying. Maybe that’s why he’s so happy and always comes home to her.” The publication also reported that the couple were planning to renew their vows on the ranch they share in Jackson Hole, Wyo. “Calista is incredibly touched that Harrison’s organizing this,” the insider claimed. “He’s thoughtfully arranging her favorite flowers to be flown in and has already booked a local band, as well as a caterer and baker.” 

During a 2020 interview with Parade, Ford had revealed his secret to a great marriage. “Don’t talk,” the Star Wars star joked. “Nod your head.”

Katie Couric wanted a doctor, but found a banker instead

After her first husband tragically died from colon cancer in 1998 at the young age of 42, television journalist Katie Couric opened up about his experience as a cancer patient and hers as a caregiver. She became a cancer awareness and research advocate by co-founding Stand Up To Cancer. It also understandably took Couric over a decade to walk down the aisle again.

“In 2012 I was single again and I asked a friend of mine, Molly, whose husband is a trauma surgeon, if her husband knew any other doctors because I thought I’d like to go out with a doctor,” Couric told People in 2018. “And so she thought about it and she said, ‘We don’t really know a doctor, but we do know this banker named John Molner.’ And I said, ‘Does he have a pulse?'” Enter John Molner. Once the banker asked Couric out on a date, they met up for dinner, and immediately hit it off.

The pair married two years later in 2014, when Couric was 57. Explaining why it took her a long time to remarry, the journalist told People, “I loved being married and I love being married now.” Couric added. “And I’m not a solitary person. I like company. And John is so funny. He’s just got this incredibly dry and wry sense of humor, and he doesn’t take himself too seriously. And he’s just fun to be around.”

Elton John and David Furnish have celebrated many milestones

In 1993, iconic rocker Elton John was looking for love. “I wanted meet new people so I rang up a friend in London and said, ‘Could you please rattle some new people together for dinner here Saturday?'” he told Parade in 2010 about a dinner where he would eventually meet future husband David Furnish. “I was attracted to David immediately. He was very well dressed, very shy. The next night we had dinner. After it, we consummated our relationship. We fell in love very quickly.”

The pair became legal civil partners in 2005 and legally married in 2014, when John was 67 (via BBC News). The British musician and Canadian filmmaker welcomed their sons, Zachary and Elijah, via surrogate in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Naturally, Lady Gaga was named their godmother.

In December 2020, the pair celebrated their relationship milestones. “Today [David Furnish] and I are celebrating two anniversaries: 15 years of Civil Partnership and 6 years of marriage. Our relationship gets stronger every day, and I am extremely grateful for the love we share and our two beautiful sons,” the “Tiny Dancer” hitmaker wrote on Instagram. Furnish made an Instagram post of his own at the time. Calling their civil partnership ceremony “a wonderful day,” he added, “6 years ago, we renewed our vows and got legally married in front of our two beautiful sons.”

Robert Redford found 'a whole new life' with Sibylle Szaggars

After divorcing his first wife in 1985, legendary actor and Sundance Film Festival creator Robert Redford began dating abstract artist Sibylle Szaggars in 1996. However, the pair didn’t exchange vows until 2009 in a private ceremony at the St. Catherine Church in Hamburg, Germany (via the Daily Mail). Redford was 73 at the time. 

During a 2011 interview with AARP, the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid star revealed that he was enjoying “a whole new life” after tying the knot with Szaggars. “She’s a very special person,” he said. “She’s younger than I am, and European, which I like, so that’s a whole new life.”

Proving that this husband-wife duo make a great team, they were awarded the Prince Rainier III Award at the 2015 Princess Grace Awards Gala in Monaco, which “recognizes a leader in the arts whose accomplishments are coupled with demonstrated service to the community,” per The Hollywood Reporter. While presenting the award, Prince Albert II of Monaco said, “I am especially honored to welcome our Prince Rainier III Award winners, Mr. Robert Redford and Mrs. Sibylle Szaggars Redford whose work epitomizes what our organization has strived to achieve over the past 33 years.”

Trump's election drove RuPaul to finally get married

During a 2019 cover story for Vanity Fair, RuPaul revealed he first saw his future husband, rancher George LeBars, “on the dance floor at Limelight discotheque in 1994” as he was “dancing like a maniac” — and the attraction was instant (via Pink News). “So, I had to go over ands say, ‘Who are you?’ What are you doing?'” RuPaul said. “‘Can I put my arms around you?’ Cause I’m tall, I’ve never been able to put my arms around someone’s shoulders who was taller than me.”

23 years later, on the anniversary of the night they met, RuPaul and Lebars were married, per USA Today. RuPaul was 57 at the time. “We thought, ‘We don’t have to get married,'” the RuPaul’s Drag Race star told ET following their 2017 nuptials, before noting that Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House prompted their decision to finally get hitched. “But in light of what’s happening currently in the world today, what’s happening in Washington, we thought, you know what? Let’s do it. Let’s just do it, because there’s too much at stake with our businesses … so, that’s why we did it.” 

RuPaul went on to reveal to Vanity Fair (via Pink News) that he and LeBars have an open relationship, explaining his belief that monogamy is a “hoax” and that he didn’t wish to “put restraints on” LeBars. Hey, you do you, Ru.

Brad Pitt's second marriage didn't last very long

After nine years and six kids together, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie finally tied the knot in 2014. Pitt was 51 at the time. Of course, they didn’t appear to have the most solid of foundations: Pitt and Jolie infamously fell for one another while filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith … when he was still married to Friends alum Jennifer Aniston. While the celeb love-triangle denied the cheating rumors that resulted, marriage unfortunately didn’t work out too well for Pitt and Jolie, either, as the latter filed for divorce two years later. They then entered into a lengthy and acrimonious custody battle that, at the time of this writing, is still waging.

During a 2020 interview with Vogue, Jolie revealed that she divorced Pitt for the sake of their children. “It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing,” she explained. “Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds. In fact, they are six very brave, very strong young people.”

That same year, Pitt’s relationship with model Nicole Poturalski made headlines. However, a source cited by Us Weekly that October said, “Brad and Nicole have been over for a while now. They had a short-lived relationship that was never too serious.” What’s next for Pitt and Jolie? We’re sure we’ll find out soon enough.

George Clooney: 'I was on my knee for like 20 minutes' while proposing to Amal Alamuddin

After divorcing actress Talia Balsam in 1993, George Clooney became one of the most eligible bachelors in Hollywood, having a string of relationships that included Cameron Diaz and former wrestler Stacy Keibler. But all that changed in April 2014, when Clooney got engaged to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin (via People). The pair walked down the aisle later that year in a lavish Italian wedding that cost an estimated $4.6 million, per E!. Clooney was 53.

During a 2020 interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Clooney described the moment he proposed. “So, you know, we never talked about marriage when we were dating. And I asked her outta the blue. Took her a long time to say yes. I was on my knee for like 20 minutes,” he explained. “I finally said, ‘Look, I’m gonna throw my hip out.’ We told that story to her parents, and they’re like, ‘There’s something wrong with his hip?'”

Clooney also admitted that Alamuddin “changed everything for me” in regards to his life, saying, “It was the first time that everything that she did and everything about her was infinitely more important than anything about me.” Aww.

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