Celebrity Husbands You Never Hear About
You know what they say, "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." In this day and age, this bit of wisdom, which people often falsely attribute to Gloria Steinem, seems to ring true more than ever before. But surprising as it may be, it is possible to find a committed and loving partner — just look at some of the accomplished leading ladies of Hollywood, the music industry, and beyond. From actress Meryl Streep to athlete Serena Williams, some of the world's most intelligent and talented women have found worthy partners with whom to experience life.
We've already discussed gorgeous husbands of celebrities here on Women Lifestyle — now it's time to take a look at the celebrity husbands you never hear about. We've rounded up a group of men who've managed to charm some of the greatest lady bosses in the entertainment game. Now let's take a look!
Yaron Varsano (Gal Gadot)
It takes a village to produce a blockbuster hit, though it's undeniable that Gal Gadot's superstar portrayal of Wonder Woman was effortlessly spot-on. When Gadot's on-screen career first began to flourish, she worried that daughter Alma, a toddler at the time, wouldn't fair well with constantly traveling between their home country of Israel and the United States. As Gadot shared with Glamour in 2016, her spouse of over a decade, Yaron Versano, said to her, "Gal, think about what kind of a role model you want to be. If you want to show Alma that she can follow her dreams, that's what you should do, and we will figure out the logistics."
Gadot told Glamour that she and Varsano first met at an eclectic party in the middle of an Israeli desert. From then on, the pair dated for two years before marrying in 2008. "He told me on our second date he was serious and wasn't going to wait more than two years to ask me to marry him," Gadot told the magazine. "Both of us said, 'No games. Let's just be honest and keep it simple.' I wouldn't be able to do what I do without him."
Don Gummer (Meryl Streep)
Meryl Streep may not need an introduction, but Donald Gummer, her longtime husband, just might. Gummer, a professional sculptor, has been described by Streep as a "man of few words," according to a 2012 interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The two first met in 1978, after the death of Streep's then-boyfriend John Cazale, as reported by People. Cazale, who acted in The Godfather, died of cancer in March of that year. He and Streep shared a New York City loft together, and, after his death, Streep moved out with the help of her brother and his friend Don Gummer. What began as a friendship blossomed into a romance, and Streep and Gummer married six months later.
"Motherhood, marriage, it's a balancing act," Streep told Good Housekeeping of her personal and professional lives in a 2008 interview. "Especially when you have a job that you consider rewarding. It's a challenge but the best kind of challenge."
Jeff Richmond (Tina Fey)
Queen of comedy Tina Fey married composer Jeff Richmond in 2001 (via the New York Post), and life for the couple has been fun ever since. But that doesn't mean Fey and Richmond are immune to the trials of long-term relationships. According to a 2009 Vanity Fair article, within the first couple months of dating, Richmond and a group of friends went "ironically" to a local Chicago strip club for a quick bite. "Nothing happened. We were there for like an hour. We ate chicken, really good pasta," Richmond told the magazine. Fey, on the other hand, wasn't amused: "It didn't go great when you came back, did it?"
Throughout the interview, Richmond described Fey's values as a strong influence on her life and on their relationship. "We never had to deal with any of this, but: adultery. Just looking at examples from other people's lives, we know that anything like that, messing around, is just such a complete 'No' to her," detailed Richmond. "And she has her principles and she sticks to her principles more than anybody I've ever met in my life."
Keith Lieberthal (Julianna Margulies)
The Good Wife star Julianna Margulies and lawyer Keith Lieberthal have been happily married since 2007, and their first encounter seemed to be fate. Margulies and Lieberthal, who is six years younger than the actress, met at a Hollywood agent's dinner party. Lieberthal had known the agent in college, as the agent was his dorm's resident assistant at Dartmouth. Margulies didn't plan to attend the party until the last minute... but thank God she did. "I thought when he came over to me, I said, 'Look, I think you're just so handsome, but are you a model or an actor and are you 12?'" Margulies told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres in a 2011 interview.
"I feel bad because people, you know, objectify [him]. They're like 'Oh, your husband's so hot.' The truth is he is unbelievably bright and smart and went to Harvard Law," said Margulies. Thanks to those wits, the pair, who share son Kieran, continue to enjoy a happy marriage.
Michel Stern (Lisa Kudrow)
Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay for ten years on everyone's favorite sitcom Friends, offered a bit of life advice concerning her marriage to advertising executive Michel Stern back in 2014. Speaking to Glamour, she said, "When [Michel and I] decided to get married, we understood: We're not promising to love each other forever, because you can't do that, but we are promising to work on whatever problems come up." She added, "We're committed to our marriage working. It turns out, after you have a history, there's such a bond, and love takes another shape."
Kudrow, who married Stern in 2005, further detailed to Glamour the importance of independence within a relationship. "[Michel and I] respect each other's independence ... I think people get in trouble [when they assume they're] supposed to be one unit, in sync about everything. [Marriage] is like being on a team. Each teammate is different, but you have the same goal," she explained.
Karl Cook (Kaley Cuoco)
Actress Kaley Cuoco has a famous equestrian for a husband? Now that's interesting. As a long-time horse lover herself, the Big Bang Theory star first met her now-husband, Karl Cook, at a horse show. The craziest part? Cuoco was aware of who he was, yet Cook didn't know anything about her. "It was great because he never kissed my a** at all, and he never cared about any of that. He loved that I loved horses. It became a big talking point for us," Cuoco told Women's Health in 2018.
The celebrity then dished on her number one piece of advice for every woman out there: Focus on yourself and your well-being before bringing a significant other into your life. "I don't need Karl for anything," said Cuoco, who married Cook in June 2018 (via People). "If Karl left me tomorrow, I'd be fine. And he knows that, and he would be fine too."
Brandon Blackstock (Kelly Clarkson)
Here's one thing you probably didn't know: Kelly Clarkson felt asexual until she met her now-husband, Brandon Blackstock. Clarkson relayed this piece of information to an audience during a 2017 SiriusXM show in New York City, as reported by People.
In a CBS Sunday Morning interview, Clarkson revealed (via E! News), "I never thought, honestly, I would get married or fall in love, like they say in the movies." Clarkson and talent manager Blackstock wed in 2013, and, according to her, Blackstock was the first person she said "I love you" to and meant it.
Clarkson continued the interview by describing her yearning for an "easy marriage," compared to the fantasy of a struggling, twisted romance that others may have. "I would love for [marriage] to be easy, that's what I want to work for," said Clarkson. "I have a hard job, you know, and it's a lot of travel and it's a lot of sacrifice. I just want [marriage] to be very easy." Thankfully, Clarkson said, marriage has been a breeze for the two so far.
Alexis Ohanian (Serena Williams)
A powerhouse tech entrepreneur and world-class tennis star — now that's a match made in heaven. In an interview with The New York Times, Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and husband to Serena Williams, discussed what he's learned since his 2017 marriage to Williams. "I thought I was the hardest-working person on the planet. I thought we were the hardest-working industry. That's what we tell ourselves. It's all malarkey," said Ohanian when asked what he has learned from Williams.
Tennis wasn't even on Ohanian's radar before meeting Williams, but he now describes the experience of watching her play as "humbling." "It is a work ethic on another level. ... It's not just the physical requirements but the mental requirements. I could not imagine doing my job with millions of people watching," he explained.
Williams' sport has also taught Ohanian a thing or two about business, noting that "in sport, there's a winner and a loser, and you can't delude yourself into thinking there's some other way to compare or measure." He told the Times, "You're the best or you're not."
Andrew Upton (Cate Blanchett)
According to actress and celebrity Cate Blanchett, it wasn't love at first sight for her and her husband, playwright Andrew Upton. The pair first met on the set of a TV show in the '90s. "It was mostly animosity," Blanchett told late night talk show host Jay Leno in a 2013 interview (via the Daily Mail). "He thought I was aloof and I thought he was arrogant."
But thankfully, those hard feelings didn't last. "One night we were playing poker and he was in the middle of telling me how he was attracted to a friend of mine, and then we suddenly kissed and then he asked me to marry him three weeks later," said Blanchett.
The two, who share four children, have also worked together. In 2009, Blanchett joined her husband as co-artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company — a decision that, she says, has made her a better actress, as noted by the Daily Mail.