When Michelle Pfeiffer went on a blind date,
she had no idea she was going to meet her future husband. The actress had already been divorced
and had a string of short and fleeting romances, so she didn't hold any high hopes when her best
friend set her up with David E. Kelley. Not only did things get off to an awkward start, but they
also had an unconventional start to their budding relationship. Today, the couple has been together
for thirty years, and they are the perfect example of a marriage that has stood the test of time.
Michelle Pfeiffer first met David E. Kelley on a blind date back in 1993. Naturally, Michelle had
her reservations about the blind date and admitted that she was "kind of nervous" about who she was
going to meet. In fact, if it wasn't for her best friend, she wouldn't have gone on a date at all.
She shared, "I'd had a couple of bad blind dates, and I had sworn off of them. My best
friend said, 'Please, just this last time, meet this guy, David Kelley.' I said, 'OK.'"
Michelle thought it would be a "good idea" to first go with a group of friends to a bowling
alley and have a party there. They had all met for dinner before, although she admitted
that the meal was "the awkward part."
"It didn't start off great."
The actress recalled.
After she was introduced to Kelley, Pfeiffer
confessed that she actually tried to set him up with her sister, Dedee. However, her best
friend warned her by saying, "Don't you dare. I will kill you." Added that she was sure
Michelle had just met her "future husband."
While the initial blind date might have been
a little awkward, and they didn't immediately hit things off, the actress decided to give
things a shot with David. As it turned out, Michelle's friend couldn't have been more right.
Pfeiffer and Kelley soon started dating and quickly realized that they were a perfect match
for one another. At the time, Michelle was already in the process of adopting her daughter, Claudia.
Two months into her relationship with Kelley, the actress's adoption application was
approved, and she officially became a mother.
Michelle wasn't sure how David would react
to having a child brought into their budding relationship so soon. However, he proved to be an
even more supportive partner than she expected.
She shared, "So we had this child with us right
away, and most people don't have that. But I really got to see Kelley in a situation that
certainly would separate the boys from the men. Obviously, he really rose to the occasion."
Pfeiffer explained that they "got to see each other as parents" before they had progressed in
their relationship. Adding, "In a strange way, it took the pressure off, as a couple."
The couple certainly had a unique start to their relationship, but Michelle wouldn't have
had it any other way. In fact, she described it as "perfectly timed." For the actress, seeing
how David behaved around her daughter and how he took on a fatherly role was a "testament
to the kind of person he is." What's more, Pfeiffer realized that "sometimes the traditional
way of doing things isn't always the best way."
The actress knew she had met the man that she
wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Proving her best friend right, the
couple got married at the end of 1993, after just ten months of dating.
However, this wasn't Michelle's first marriage. The actress had previously been
married to Peter Horton for seven years. Pfeiffer first rose to fame in the eighties
and quickly achieved recognition for her roles in 'Scarface,' 'Greece 2,' and, of course, her
performance as Cat Woman in 'Batman Returns.'
As her career garnered her more attention,
so did her romance with fellow actor Peter Horton. Michelle was just twenty-two years old
when she married twenty-eight-year-old Peter in 1981. While the former couple worked together
several times during the 80s, it seems as though the pressures of Pfeiffer's new-found fame took a
toll on their marriage. The actress began to feel like they had rushed into their marriage too
quickly, and she wasn't ready to be a wife.
She shared, "For me, it was too young. I think
my husband and I were both too young, and as we started growing up, our needs changed."
The couple eventually divorced in 1988, but thankfully it wasn't the typically nasty
Hollywood breakup. Michelle shared that their split "wasn't bitter," and they even "spoke every
day on the phone." Peter had even helped her pack up her things when she moved out.
She explained, "We've always been close, even up to the separation, which was
very difficult on both of us because we have never stopped caring for each other."
After their divorce, she and Peter made sure to keep in touch; Michelle even said that they were
"like best friends" when they saw each other. While the breakup hadn't been easy on either of
them, they had both understood that they weren't right for one another romantically and were
able to part ways amicably and respectfully.
Over the next few years, Pfeiffer went on
to date Fisher Stevens and also had a brief fling with John Malkovich. After a string
of failed relationships, Michelle thought that she wasn't going to meet the right man
for her, which is why she decided to adopt her daughter on her own. Luckily, everything
changed after that blind date with David.
In 1994, Kelley and Pfeiffer welcomed their son,
John, into their family. The actress took a small break from acting while her kids were young
so that she could focus on being a full-time mother. In fact, her children didn't even know
she was an actress when they were young.
The couple moved to the San Francisco Bay area
to protect their kids from the constant swarm of paparazzi around Los Angeles. They
wanted to try and have more of a quiet life away from the spotlight for a while.
Michelle also wanted her kids to have as much of a normal life as she could give them.
However, the actress admitted that she may have tried too hard to keep her children shielded
from her celebrity status. She explained, "I actually went overboard in separating the
kids from my work, so much so that they found out through their friends how famous I was."
Although she returned to acting after her children were a little older, the couple realized that they
enjoyed being able to keep their lives private. It's no doubt that their choice to maintain
their privacy has proven to have its benefits since they've been together for three decades.
In a 2012 interview, Michelle shared that she "chose really well with David,"
adding, "I got really lucky."
She explained, "I never take him for granted.
I've never met a person who has more integrity than my husband. I respect that. There's
his humor and intelligence, too, and he's really cute all those things — but if you don't
respect your partner, you'll get sick of him."
Both Pfeiffer and Kelley have had incredibly
successful careers in Hollywood. David has written, produced, and created several noteworthy
television shows, like 'Big Little Lies' and 'Nine Perfect Strangers.' While they're both
involved in the film industry, the couple has made an active decision not to work together.
Michelle opened up about their decision to keep their home life and work life separate. She thinks
"it's a risk" that couples have to take if they work together, saying, "I've seen a lot of couples
where they seem to have a really great marriage, and then they work together, and next
year they're filing for divorce."
She believes that her husband is an
incredible writer. However, she explained, "I value our relationship more than a good
part, and I just think it's too risky."
The actress went on to say that both she and
David are "kind of fierce" when they work, so if she comes home and she's had a
bad day or she's upset about something, she wants him to be on her side.
She added, "There's value in that … I never want to risk damaging our relationship,
which is a little sacred to me.”
Although Kelley does not work with his
wife, his life with Pfeiffer and their kids does inspire his work. The actress
shared that Kelley once drew inspiration from their kids' childhood experience
with head lice for one of his shows.
She said, "One of them got hair lice in
elementary school. And it took three of us working on this kid's head to get rid of
these nits. And I turned to David and said, 'If I see this in one of these shows!' And,
of course, it was in one of his shows."
Michelle likes to keep her personal life out
of the spotlight. She and David enjoy their time together, and they always choose to have a
quiet night in rather than go out. Looking back on her thirty years of marriage and having
raised two children with an amazing husband, the actress shared, "Ultimately, I'm really
rich in love and relationships in my life."
Michelle and David may not have had the most
traditional dating experience at the beginning of their relationship, but things couldn't have
worked out better for them. They're still happier than ever after thirty years together, and their
preference to keep their lives private has worked out in their favor too. Their journey to finding
love has proven that you never know when or how you're going to meet the person you're
going to spend the rest of your life with.
