Another (Older) Celebrity Couple Bites the Dust

Sorry, Arnold.  Apologies, Maria.  Even if you married young, wearing a wedding ring for twenty-five years makes you an old married couple.  Your kids can probably attest to that.   Add the nine years you dated before taking the plunge, and you’re getting up there.

Most people who divorce do so early in their marriage, but there has been a rise in breakups for those over fifty.

Look at Al and Tipper Gore.  Inside and outside the Beltway people thought the former Vice President and his high school sweetheart were forever, but apparently they had drifted apart.  “After a long process of careful consideration,” they revealed their split after forty years of marriage in 2010.

Senator John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth lasted over thirty years together, before he fathered a child with his mistress.  South Carolina sanctioned Governor Mark Sanford  for “subordinating his responsibilities to his pursuit of an extramarital affair,” the affair effectively ending his twenty-year marriage. Is it the pursuit of power, or is something in the water?

But the Schwarzenegger/Shriver union seemed different, and I, for one, was sorry to hear that they were separating. Surprised, too.

They had chemistry, or so it appeared on screen.  The commercials they made together touting the state as a tourist destination made me want to visit, even though I live here.

They brought a bit of glamour to the governor’s mansion, or the idea of the governor’s mansion, since the Sacramento estate where the highest elected public official in California once resided is now a museum.

But just because Arnold commuted three hours daily by private jet to work from their exclusive Brentwood residence didn’t mean everything was copacetic at home.

They were a “supercouple,” with one foot firmly planted in Hollywood and the other in politics.

They were also an odd couple.  He spoke with an accent suggesting his Austrian roots.   She was a television journalist, speaking with poise and precision.  His muscles rippled under his tailored suits.  She was model thin.  He was a Republican.  She was part of the Kennedy dynasty.

It was a wonder the relationship lasted as long as it did.

She didn’t want him to run for governor, but she publicly supported his candidacy.  Even charges by six (or is it sixteen?) women that he had inappropriately touched them didn’t dislodge her from his side.

Upon leaving the governorship, Arnold signed up to make three movies, returning to the profession that had made him a household name and a lot of money.  Maria is not sure what she will do.  Aye, there’s the rub.

The announcement of their breakup was broadcast coast to coast. Their photos popped up on the covers of both tabloids and newsweeklies .  Experts, who had probably never met either of them, put forth their opinions on morning talk shows about what went wrong.  We might never know.

Both Maria and Arnold have made it clear that their private troubles will remain private.There will be no name calling, no blame game.  Besides, maybe they’ll make up.  Or is that so yesterday?

© 2011 Susan Marg – All Rights Reserved