Sixties Power Couples
The 1960s were an incredible decade. Vibrant cultural shifts and changing social norms were set against a backdrop of Cold War politics, civil rights movements, and protests against the Vietnam War. Pop culture was revolutionized during this era as people—particularly young people—pioneered and embraced these changes. New pop culture icons were created and celebrities of all types embraced the looser social mores, the relaxing taboos, and the fashions and hairstyles of the decade.
As entertainment’s biggest stars found love and lost it in this new, freer era, iconic couples were formed and captured the public’s attention.
Sonny Bono and Cher
Sonny Bono and Cher started living together platonically when Cher was just 16 (Bono was 27). Over time, romance blossomed—as did their shared career. The duo shot to fame after recording “I Got You Babe” in 1965. They quickly became a pop culture phenomenon and one of the most iconic couples of the 20th century.
K & K Ulf Kruger OHG, Getty Images
Elvis and Priscilla Presley
One of entertainment’s most iconic couples ever, Elvis and Priscilla Presley famously met in Germany in 1959, when Priscilla was just 14 and Elvis was serving in the U. S. Army. Their romance continued after Elvis returned to the United States in 1960. The couple clandestinely lived together for about four years before marrying in 1967.
They divorced in 1973. Neither ever remarried.
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
One of Hollywood’s most beloved couples, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward met in 1953, when they were both understudies for the Broadway play Picnic. The two married in 1958 and became one of the power couples of the 1960s. Their marriage lasted until Newman’s death in 2008.
Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman
Paul McCartney met Linda Eastman, a photographer, at the record release party for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. Their meeting was the stuff of rom coms:
McCartney recalled years later that he spotted Eastman across the crowded club and, even though he was nervous, he went to talk to her. The two remained married for 29 years.
Capitol Records, Wikimedia Commons
Marilyn Munroe and Arthur Miller
Possibly the most mismatched couple in the history of Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe was a full-fledged glamorous movie star when she began an affair with the cerebral—and married—playwright Arthur Miller in 1955. The two married in 1957.
Although they divorced in 1961, Marilyn’s fame and the media’s fascination with the mismatched pair meant that they were very much in the public eye for the first years of the 1960s.
Jane Fonda and Roger Vadim
Jane Fonda’s star was ascending when she married Roger Vadim, the French screenwriter, director, and producer in 1965. Ten years her senior, Vadim was well known in the media for his dalliances with young and beautiful French starlets like Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve.
Fonda and Vadim were a power couple until their divorce in 1973.
Hulton Archive / Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche via Getty Images, Wikimedia Commons
Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull
Singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull met Mick Jagger at a Rolling Stones launch party in 1964. The following year, the two began a 5-year highly publicized love affair. Jerry Hall, who later became Mick’s long-term partner and mother of four of his children, claims that Mick loved Marianne more than any other woman he was ever with.
Ben Merk (ANEFO), Wikimedia Commons
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
British actress Jane Birkin met French singer-songwriter and actor Serge Gainsbourg in 1968, when they were cast as the leads in Slogan. The two began a twelve-year love affair during which they collaborated on several music and film projects and had a daughter together.
Jean Shrimpton and David Bailey
The world’s first supermodel, Jean Shrimpton, and David Bailey, a fashion and portrait photographer met at a photoshoot in 1960. Shortly after, the two began a four-year personal and professional relationship that launched both of their careers and helped define the image of the Swinging Sixties, largely due to the sexual tension captured in Bailey’s photographs of Shrimpton.
George Harrison and Pattie Boyd
Pattie Boyd was pursuing a burgeoning modeling career when she met George Harrison, lead guitarist for the Beatles, in 1964.
Harrison asked her out on a date but since she was in a relationship, she declined. However, she quickly ended her other relationship and went out on a date with Harrison a few days later. The two became one of the leading couples of Britain’s Swinging Sixties era. They married in 1966 and stayed together until 1977.
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
Johnny Cash and June Carter toured together throughout the 1960s, with Carter singing backup and duets with Cash. Although both Cash and Carter were married to other people for most of the 1960s, sparks famously flew between the two. Cash popped the question on stage in London, Ontario, Canada in 1968.
Joel Baldwin, Wikimedia Commons
John Lennon and Yoko Ono
John Lennon and Yoko Ono met in 1966 when the Beatles attended Ono’s art show in London. While Lennon and Ono were certainly iconic in the 1960s, they remain one of the most iconic couples of all time. They married in 1969 and were together until Lennon’s assassination in 1980.
Bernard Gotfryd, Wikimedia Commons
Allen Ludden and Betty White
Legendary actress Betty White had been married and divorced twice when she met Allen Ludden in 1961.
White was a guest on the game show, Password, which Ludden hosted. Ludden first proposed marriage within a few weeks but White resisted his repeated proposals until 1963. The couple remained one of Hollywood’s favorite duos until Ludden’s death in 1981.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
Richard Burton laid eyes on Elizabeth Taylor for the first time in 1953 at a Hollywood pool party.
He was so struck by her beauty that he laughed. But it wasn’t until 1962 that the two launched a torrid love affair. After divorcing their respective partners, they got married in 1963—and again in 1975. Their marriages were marked by a lavish lifestyle and their tempestuous relationship.
Ike and Tina Turner
In retrospect, it’s difficult to celebrate the relationship between Ike and Tina Turner, knowing that Turner sent his wife to the emergency room multiple times due to violent outbursts. However, in the 1960s, the two were presented as a power couple on stage and off.
Rob Mieremet , Wikimedia Commons
John Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy Onassis
One of the most iconic couples ever to grace the White House, John and Jackie Kennedy met in 1951.
The two dated for two years before tying the knot. While the pair made headlines in the 1950s, they were truly one of the greatest couples of the 1960s, inhabiting the White House from 1961 to 1963.
Abbie Rowe, National Park Service, Wikimedia Commons
Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow was only 19 years old when she met Frank Sinatra, 31 years her senior, in 1964.
The two quickly started dating and married in Las Vegas in 1966. Farrow’s star was quickly ascending at the time, as she wrapped up filming Peyton Place in 1966 and shifted to film. Their collective star power ensured their position as one of Hollywood’s iconic couples of the 1960s, but their marriage didn’t last long. They divorced in 1968.
Keystone Features, Getty Images
Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer
Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer met in 1953, at the British opening of Hepburn’s breakout film, Roman Holiday. The two married in 1954 and remained married for 14 years. Throughout the 1960s, Hepburn’s massive popularity and her many iconic film roles kept the couple in Hollywood’s limelight.
Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev
Royal Ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn was 42 when 22-year-old Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961.
When they danced together, the chemistry between them was incredible, and with their age difference, they made tongues wag. Both always denied that they were lovers though Nureyev once said that he only ever loved three people—one of whom was Fonteyn.
Eric Koch for Anefo, Wikimedia Commons
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco
Grace Kelly had starred in her breakout role in High Noon just two years before her fateful meeting with Prince Rainier of Monaco. After their introduction in 1955, the two had a whirlwind, long-distance courtship before their marriage in 1956.
As royals who deeply loved each other, they remained one of the world’s most iconic couples from the time of their marriage until Princess Grace died in 1982.
Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski
Cast in Eye of the Devil, Sharon Tate’s star was on the rise when she met Roman Polanski in 1965. The two married in 1968 but their tempestuous relationship kept the couple in the public eye.
About a year after they married, Tate, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant, was horrifically murdered at home, along with several friends, by cult leader Charles Manson.
Sylvia Norris, Wikimedia Commons
Raquel Welch and Patrick Curtis
In 1965, actress Raquel Welch met producer Patrick Curtis when the two worked together on A Swingin’ Summer, Welch’s first feature film. She became an international superstar the next year, after the release of One Million Years B.C. Welch and Curtis stayed together while Welch navigated early stardom, marrying in 1967.
However, the couple divorced in 1972.
Barbra Streisand and Elliott Gould
Nineteen-year-old Barbra Streisand was unknown when she met Elliott Gould in 1961; they married a year later. Within months of their marriage, Streisand’s star skyrocketed after she released her acclaimed debut album. Gould also found fame in the 1960s, with roles in the iconic films Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and M*A*S*H. As their fame grew, their relationship faltered and the couple divorced in 1971.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
Jerry Lee Lewis and Myra Brown
Myra Brown was only 13 years old in 1957 when she married her first cousin once removed, musician Jerry Lee Lewis. News of the marriage ignited a storm of criticism and the scandal threatened Lewis’ career. However, Lewis remained in the limelight in the 1960s, releasing Live at the Star Club, Hamburg in 1964—still regarded as one of the greatest live rock albums ever—and reinventing himself as a country artist in the late 1960s.
Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox
Cox was a teenage hairstylist who frequented the clubs in London where the Beatles performed.
She caught Ringo Starr’s eye and the two married in 1965 when 18-year-old Cox was already pregnant. Their relationship was complicated by the Beatles’ fame as well as Starr’s alcoholism and infidelities by both Starr and Cox. The couple divorced in 1975.
Clint Eastwood and Maggie Johnson
Legendary actor Clint Eastwood met his first wife, Maggie Johnson, in May 1953.
They married in December of the same year. Eastwood skyrocketed to fame in the 1960s thanks to his role on television’s Rawhide and three spaghetti westerns: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland
In 1964, British actor Peter Sellers, who had just filmed back-to-back Pink Panther movies, spotted a photo of Swedish actress Britt Ekland in the paper and tracked her down, kicking off a whirlwind romance. The couple quickly married.
During their four-year marriage, they starred in three movies together.
Joan Baez and Bob Dylan
Joan Baez was an internationally acclaimed musician when she began a personal and professional relationship with Bob Dylan in the early 1960s. Dylan was still unknown and Baez was one of the first major artists to record Dylan’s songs, helping to popularize his songwriting. However, their personal relationship was tumultuous, and they split up in 1965 after Dylan broke her heart.
Steve McQueen and Neile Adams
Neile Adams was an up-and-coming actress, dancer, and singer when she bumped into Steve McQueen on Broadway in 1955. At that time, McQueen was a struggling Broadway actor who was virtually unknown. The two married soon after and Adams stopped working to throw her support behind McQueen’s career. During their marriage, McQueen achieved celebrity status, starring in a string of movies in the 1960s beginning with The Magnificent Seven.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgewick
Pop art artist Andy Warhol spotted model Edie Sedgewick at a party in 1965 and was instantly smitten.
Edie became Warhol’s muse, starring in several of his short films and, together, the couple were the toast of New York City’s art and party scenes. However, their relationship lasted for less than a year.
James Garner and Lois Clarke
James Garner and Lois Clarke dated for just 14 days before they got married in 1956.
Both were aspiring actors at the time. Garner’s breakout role came just a year after their marriage when he was cast in television’s Maverick; Lois shelved her acting dreams. The two were married for 57 years until Garner’s death in 2014.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
Robert and Ethel Kennedy
In December 1945, Robert F. Kennedy began dating Patricia Skakel. But that relationship ended and he turned his attention to Skakel’s younger sister, Ethel. Kennedy and Ethel married in 1950.
They rose to prominence in the 1960s, following the appointment of Kennedy to the post of attorney general and later as Kennedy campaigned for and won a seat in the United States Senate.
Prospect Park Alliance, Flickr
Robert Redford and Lola Van Wagenen
Legendary actor, director, producer, and activist Robert Redford married his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, in 1957 before beginning his acting career.
In 1960, he acted in his first roles—a few bit parts on television and in film. He became a major star as the decade progressed. The two remained married for 27 years.
Twiggy and Justin de Villeneuve
Justin de Villeneuve (born Nigel John Davies) was working at Vidal Sassoon’s Bond Street salon in London when he met 15-year-old Leslie Hornby. The gamine teenager would later become Twiggy, the influential model whose style defined 1960s fashion.
De Villeneuve became Twiggy’s boyfriend, manager, and house photographer. The two worked together to launch her career. They split in 1973.
Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson
Pamela Courson was an art school dropout when she met Jim Morrison, the frontman of the Doors, in 1965. The couple had a tumultuous relationship, marred by drug abuse, infidelities, and arguments that could escalate into violence.
However, they stayed together until Morrison’s untimely death in 1971, when he was just 27 years old.
Estate of Edmund Teske, Getty Images
Julie Andrews and Tony Walton
British Actress Julie Andrews married her childhood friend Tony Walton in 1959. Walton had become a costume and set designer. When Andrews was cast in Mary Poppins, she and Walton arrived as a package deal, with Walton working as a visual consultant on props and costumes. Despite their compatibility, the pressures of parenting and fame made their marriage falter and they divorced in 1968.
Sammy Davis Jr. and May Britt
When Swedish actress May Britt fell in love with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1959, their romance and 1960 marriage caused an uproar. At the time, interracial marriage was still illegal in 31 states. Although Harry Belafonte had married a white woman—actress Julie Robinson—in 1957, Belafonte’s marriage didn’t cause the furor that Davis’ did. The marriage between Davis and Britt lasted until 1968 and is credited with helping to make interracial marriage more acceptable in America.
Debbie Reynolds and Harry Karl
In 1959, actress Debbie Reynolds divorced her first husband, Eddie Fisher, when she found out that Fisher and her friend Elizabeth Taylor were having an affair. Reynolds quickly moved on, marrying Harry Karl in 1960. Karl owned a chain of shoe stores and was purportedly a millionaire. But Reynolds and Karl ended up in the limelight in the 1960s for the wrong reasons—Karl lost all of his money and Reynold’s money too, racking up millions of dollars of debt through gambling and bad investments. After their divorce, Reynolds worked to pay off Karl’s debt.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Paul Simon and Peggy Harper
Singer-songwriter Paul Simon, of Simon and Garfunkel fame, met his first wife—singer-songwriter Peggy Harper—at a recording session in 1969. The couple married later that same year.
They were also creative partners and collaborators throughout their six-year marriage. Harper sang backup on several of Simon’s songs and served as a creative muse for Simon, who referenced their relationship in songs such as “Run That Body Down” and “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”.
Harry Chase, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs
French actress Brigitte Bardot was at the height of her stardom when German playboy billionaire Gunter Sachs first proposed in 1966.
Bardot turned down that first proposal. Sachs persisted, flying in a helicopter over Bardot’s backyard, and dropping hundreds of roses. Bardot relented and the two married two months later in Las Vegas.
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