The Life of a Celebrity Romance – Senior Style

A lot of us regular folks think that celebrities have it all.  Why wouldn’t we?  They’re rich.  They’re famous.  People are always taking their picture and they’re constantly in the news.

Now think about your love life.  Relationships can be hard enough in the everyday world.  But think about how much worse it would be if every bump and wrinkle were played out in the news.  Fans and paparazzi love to spread gossip and before long nothing is private anymore.  And to top it all off, how much is fact and how much is fiction?

Celebrities come in all shapes, sizes and ages – just because someone reaches “senior” status, doesn’t mean they’re off the hook.  Fans still want to hear about their every move – even if they don’t like it.

Of course, the way stars are portrayed in the movies is part of the attraction.  Fans – and the actors themselves – frequently get caught up in the romance of the moment.  Why else would so many celebrities fall for their co-stars?

But is what’s okay on the silver screen okay for the celeb to do in real life?  Older male stars, for instance, are often paired with young actresses.  Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, and other senior actors often find their on-screen love interest to be 20 or 30 years younger.  In the course of the story, fans don’t blink an eye.  But when those same stars divorce their same-age wives for a young thing, fans aren’t so supportive.

And what about role reversal?  The days of the cougar have definitely moved in, but now that Demi Moor and Ashton Kutcher have split, do people really like to see younger men with older women?  Sexist?  Yes.  True?  Maybe.  In Hollywood, there is still a double standard.

The sad sequence of celebrity romances is this:  Fans can’t wait to hear the news of a new celebrity couple sighting.  There’s chatter about why the pair is – or isn’t — right for each other.  The excitement wears off a little and the romance is left to bloom or die on its own — until the next step, which is an exciting Hollywood wedding.  Or a messy divorce.

Here are some couples whose ill-fated romance brought the paparazzi out in droves: Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, Liza Minnelli and David Gest, Kelsey and Camille Grammer, Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva and basketball phenom Michael Jordan and former wife Juanita Vanoy.

And in honor of May being Older American’s Month, we’ll end on a bright note.  Yes, some Hollywood couples do stay together:  Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, and even Sharon and Ozzie Osborne are all couples that stood the test of time.