Being in it for the long haul doesn’t mean being in it for the entire haul.

10 celebrity couples who called it quits after 30 years

Being in it for the long haul doesn’t mean being in it for the entire haul.

By Brianna Zigler

August 21, 2026 3:06 p.m. ET

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman; Meryl Streep and Don Gummer. Credit:

Paul Archuleta/Getty; Steve Granitz/WireImage

Celebrity marriages can be fickle, with some lasting from mere days to just a few weeks.

But there are some couples who have managed to keep their love going strong over the years, and those are the ones that make us believe that maybe true love is real. Dolly Parton was faithful to Carl Dean for nearly 60 years until his death in 2025, while Sissy Spacek and her husband, production designer Jack Fisk, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2024.

But being in it for the long haul doesn’t always mean you’re in it for the *entire* haul. Below, ** looks back at 10 celebrity couples who split after 30 years of marriage.

Leonard Nimoy and Sandra Zober

Leonard Nimoy and wife Sandra Zober attend the Foreign Directors Party on April 7, 1984, at the Academy Theater in Beverly Hills.

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Mr. Spock himself Leonard Nimoy married Sandra “Sandi” Zober in 1954, a year after they met, and the couple went on to have two children. In late 1986, after roughly 32 years of marriage, Nimoy walked out on Zober — reportedly on her birthday, no less. They officially divorced the following year.

For Zober, it felt as though fame had changed the man she once knew. “He left me after 33 years of marriage,” she told the* **Orlando Sentinel* in 1988. “I spent the first 15 years being the only one who believed in him and struggling with him. I believe I had a lot to do with where he is now.”

According to the *Los Angeles Times* that same year, Sandi spotted a tabloid headline that rocked her: “Star Dumps Wife on Her Birthday for New Love.” The *National Enquirer* headline reportedly read, “Leonard Nimoy leaves wife of 32 years on her birthday — to marry younger woman.”

Nimoy subsequently became involved with actress Susan Bay, a cousin of director Michael Bay, whom he had known previously. The two married on Jan. 1, 1989.

“I met Leonard in 1953; we were married in 1954. I believed — well, we all did, then — that my husband and children came first, and I put all my energy into that. I read scripts for him. I did whatever I could to help his career,” Sandi told* Los Angeles Times. *

Captain & Tennille

Captain & Tenille pictured at the NATPE Vegas Convention at the Sands Hotel Expo in Las Vegas in January 1996.

Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty

The Grammy -winning married duo Captain & Tennille once had a hit called “Love Will Keep Us Together” in 1975, but unfortunately, love wasn’t enough to keep them together by 2014. After nearly 39 years of marriage, Daryl Dragon — who died in 2019 — and Cathryn Antoinette “Toni” Tennille filed for divorce in Prescott, Ariz., according to CBS News.

The two met in 1972, when Dragon was a keyboardist for The Beach Boys and Tennille was cowriting a musical. She eventually joined the Beach Boys on tour as an additional keyboardist.

Dragon and Tennille began performing together and released their breakthrough album, *Love Will Keep Us Together*, in 1975, going on to sell more than 23 million albums during their heyday. They also hosted their own ABC variety series, *The Captain and Tennille Show*, from 1976 to 1977.

Jerry Lewis and Patti Palmer

Jerry Lewis and Patti Palmer.

INDIVISION CZAP/Gamma-Rapho via Getty

Legendary funnyman Jerry Lewis died in 2017, and his passing brought renewed attention to his strained relationship with the sons from his first marriage to Patti Palmer. According to Lewis’ 2012 will, obtained by The Blast and reported by PEOPLE*,* Lewis explicitly excluded all six sons from inheriting his estate.

“I have intentionally excluded Gary Lewis, Ronald Lewis, Anthony Joseph Lewis, Christopher Joseph Lewis, Scott Anthony Lewis, and Joseph Christopher Lewis and their descendants as beneficiaries of my estate, it being my intention that they shall receive no benefits hereunder,” reads the will.

Lewis and Palmer had been married for nearly 36 years when she filed for divorce in 1980. PEOPLE reported on their split at the time, with Palmer alleging in court papers that Lewis’ extravagant spending and infidelity had contributed to the breakdown of their marriage. Lewis “has displayed an open disregard for our marriage, and I am a ‘financial puppet’ at the mercy of his office, with no money of my own,” she wrote.

The relationship between Lewis and his children was reportedly strained. After Joseph’s death, Gary spoke out against his famous father, telling *The Mercury News*, “Jerry Lewis is a mean and evil person. He was never loving and caring toward me or my brothers.”

Meryl Streep and Don Gummer

Meryl Streep and Don Gummer arrive at the 90th Annual Academy Awards on March 4, 2018, in Hollywood.

Steve Granitz/WireImage

Before Meryl Streep was making headlines for her rumored — but never confirmed — romance with *Only Murders in the Building* star Martin Short, she had been married to sculptor Don Gummer since 1978. Together, they had four children: Henry, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa.

However, in 2023, it was revealed that the longtime couple had actually been separated since 2017. “Don Gummer and Meryl Streep have been separated for more than six years,” a representative for Streep said in a statement, “and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart.”

The couple had not been seen together publicly since attending the 2018 Oscars, and at the time, Streep was still wearing her wedding ring.

Though Short shut down romance rumors with Streep in 2024, that hasn’t stopped speculation. The two were spotted looking mighty cozy during a dinner in London in May 2026.

Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon

Donna Aykroyd and Dan Aykroyd attend the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award Gala honoring Steve Martin at Dolby Theatre on June 4, 2015, in Hollywood.

Frazer Harrison/Getty

In 2022, *SNL *alum Dan Aykroyd and his wife of nearly 40 years, actress Donna Dixon, announced their separation. In a statement, they noted that they would continue to be legally married.

“After 39 years as a couple we are now on separate life paths. We remain legally married, co-parents, co-workers, and business partners,” they said in the statement. “This is our choice in loving friendship.”

Aykroyd and Dixon met on the set of 1983’s *Doctor Detroit* and married shortly afterward. They would go on to appear together in *Twilight Zone: The Movie *(1983), *Spies Like Us *(1985)*, The Couch Trip *(1988)*, *and *Exit to Eden *(1994). Together, they have three daughters.

Neil Young and Pegi Young

Neil Young and Pegi Young perform during Neil Young’s 24th Annual Bridge Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre on Oct. 24, 2010, in Mountain View, Calif.

Tim Mosenfelder/Getty

Rocker Neil Young filed for divorce from his wife of 36 years, Pegi Young, in July 2014, as reported by *Rolling Stone*. Pegi was a frequent musical collaborator, providing backup vocals for Young and inspiring several of his songs, including “Such a Woman” and “Unknown Legend.”

Together, they also founded the Bridge School in 1986 after struggling to find a school that could meet the specific needs of their son Ben, who has cerebral palsy. They also share a daughter, Amber, while Young has another son, Zeke, from his previous relationship with the late actress Carrie Snodgress.

Young, now 80, has been married to *Blade Runner* actress Daryl Hannah since 2018. The two began dating in 2014, the same year Young filed for divorce from Pegi.

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Speaking about he and Hannah’s relationship while promoting their 2018 film *Paradox*, Young only had good things to say. “I’m very lucky. We’re very lucky to have found each other. I’m eternally thankful for the opportunity to share my life with her, and she feels the same.”

Three years after their divorce, Pegi released the album *Raw*, which was partly inspired by her split from Young. She died of cancer at age 66 in January 2019.

Carlos and Deborah Santana

Carlos Santana and Deborah Santana.

Jemal Countess/WireImage for Jensen Communications

Deborah Santana had been married to iconic rock musician Carlos Santana for nearly 34 years when she decided to end their marriage. The couple had been together since Deborah was 21, when she put her academic pursuits on hold to travel the world with her future husband, as she recalled in a 2026 *HuffPost* essay.

But over the years, what Deborah wanted began to change. “On March 10, 2007, at the age of 56, I left the life I had known for more than three decades. I released Carlos, my partner of 34 years, so that I could thrive,” she wrote, reflecting on leaving the relationship 19 years earlier.

“I had identified myself by my marriage, summer trips to Europe, the abundance of rose bushes and apple trees in our garden, or by my three children, their beauty, and how well they did in school,” she continued. “But I realized what constitutes a glorious life is the liberation of hearts and minds.”

Deborah’s *HuffPost* essay followed the April 2026 release of her memoir, *Loving the Fire*, in which she further details her reasons for leaving her husband. “I began to want a solo life, to live without the burden of suspicion about Carlos’s infidelity and be open to new possibilities for myself,” she wrote.

Al and Tipper Gore

Tipper Gore and Al Gore attend The Wildlife Conservation Society’s SAFARI! INDIA Gala at Central Park Zoo on June 3, 2008, in New York City.

Nick Hunt/Patrick McMullan via Getty

The public was shocked to learn in 2010 that former Vice President Al Gore and his wife of 40 years, Tipper Gore, were separating — and so were the couples’ close friends.

The Gores announced their separation in early June that year. “They were always such a loving and supportive couple and are incredibly close, especially for a couple in politics,” a source told PEOPLE at the time.

The same source added, “They were always affectionate and loving and a tight family unit. I am shocked.”

As of 2014, the politician was still separated from Tipper but not divorced and had begun dating environmentalist Elizabeth Keadle. “I don’t want to get into my personal life, but we’re a couple,” Gore told *Politico* at the time.

Ron Perlman and Opal Stone Perlman

Opal Perlman and Ron Perlman attend the ‘Disobedience’ premiere during the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival at BMCC Tribeca PAC on April 24, 2018, in New York City.

Roy Rochlin/Getty

*Hellboy* star Ron Perlman was married to jewelry designer Opal Stone Perlman, for nearly 40 years before he filed for divorce in November 2019. His divorce filing, which was obtained by PEOPLE, cited irreconcilable differences. They share two adult children, daughter Blake and son Brandon.

Eight months after Perlman filed for divorce, his estranged wife responded, also citing irreconcilable differences and requesting spousal support and that Perlman pay her attorney fees. Though Stone did not list a date of separation, Perlman listed it as May 10, 2019, in his filing.

The divorce was finalized in 2021, and Perlman has been married to actress Allison Dunbar, his costar on the Crackle series *StartUp, *since 2022.

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman attend the Alliance For Children’s Rights 33rd Annual Champions for Children Gala on April 30, 2025, in Beverly Hills.

Paul Archuleta/Getty

Veteran actors Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman — who famously starred as husband and wife in *Matilda* (1996) and romantic partners on *Taxi *— began dating shortly after meeting in 1971 and quickly moved in together. They tied the knot in 1982, the same year Perlman began her 11-season run on *Cheers.*

The couple went on to welcome three children — Lucy, 43, Grace, 41, and Jacob, 38 — and became one of Hollywood’s most enduring pairs. They first separated in 2012 after 30 years of marriage but reconciled the following year. In 2017, they separated again, but they never divorced and, nearly a decade later, don’t plan on it.

Though they are no longer romantically involved, the two still share a special bond. “We’re always over at her house,” DeVito told *AARP *in July 2026 (via EW)*.* He also noted that he and Perlman talk daily and get together for weekly meals. “We see the grandchildren together, that kind of stuff. So that’s a good relationship.”

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Source: “EW Celebrity”