You can tell a Hollywood marriage has lasted a long time when it starts to develop its own fans.
When Cheers star Ted Danson met Mary Steenburgen in 1993 on the set of their movie Pontiac Moon, the sparks started to fly right away. By 1995, the couple had tied the knot, blended their families together (they each have two children from past marriages) and started to build a life and career together.
Danson and Steenburgen quickly became a TV super couple, appearing alongside each other on sitcoms like Ink. Unlike most married couples in Hollywood they're not shy about sharing the screen, appearing as guest stars on each other's projects.
Their love story has also outlasted most Hollywood couples from their generation, staying together for an impressive 22 years in a town where most couple split in less than five. But, this month rumors were swirling that there was trouble in paradise, and Ted Danson's publicist was forced to clear things up.
It all began with Danson's guest appearance on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he said he had been separated from Steenburgen for three months. But it turned out there was more to the story...
Danson's publicist chalked the confusion up to a misunderstanding, and reveals that the couple have no plans to split, despite what Danson said.
Since the star plays a version of himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm, many fans took his character's announcement that he was separated from Seenburgen as the gospel truth. But as his publicist says, "the show is fictitious and it is just a make-believe storyline."
Danson himself was forced to address the rumors during a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show. "That's that (jerk) Larry David spreading his perverse sense of humor out into the world," he said, blaming Curb's creator and star. "He hates happy people."
It's a good thing we learned the truth now: Steenburger will appear on the show later this season to keep up the joke, which would have really confused fans.
And how happy are Danson and Steenburger? Here's a quote straight from the actor's mouth from this summer:
"I'm madly in love with Mary Steenburgen. She's a remarkable human being so I'm just incredibly blessed," he told US Weekly, "It feels like heaven on Earth. If I were to die, I can say, I know what it's like to be loved and to love."
How cute is that? We're guessing these two will have a lot more happy years together.
Share their sweet love story with someone you know!
