Ted Danson Has Been Calling His Wife Mary Steenburgen ‘Beautiful’ Every Single Day For 27 Years

Feb 28, 2023

Ted Danson is one of the most recognized faces on television. With a career spanning almost five decades, Danson has performed brilliantly in television and in film. 

Among Danson’s most notable works in cinema are “The Onion Field,” “Three Men and a Baby,” “Three Men and a Little Lady,” “Body Heat,” “Getting Even with Dad,” “The Human Contract,” "Dad" and “Saving Private Ryan.”

In television, Danson has achieved more acclaim. Most recently, he won a Critics Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017 for his role as Michael on “The Good Place.” It also earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for the same role. 

He was also in “Becker,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “CSI: Cyber,” “Bored to Death,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Mr. Mayor,” “Something About Amelia” and “Cheers,” where he both earned his Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. 

In total, Danson is the recipient of three Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, American Comedy Awards and a Critics' Choice Television Award. 

Aside from his colorful career in television, Danson’s personal life has been equally vibrant in many ways. Danson, 75, had dated and married various women in the past before he settled with his current wife, Mary Steenburgen. 

In the 27 years Danson has been married to Steenburgen, they have remained excellent partners as they have proven that love isn’t just about grand gestures. 

Read on to learn more about Danson and Steenburgen’s lovely married life and how they managed to stay in love throughout the years.

Born Edward Bridge Danson III, Danson became interested in drama while he was attending Stanford University. However, he felt that he needed to transfer to a better acting program. Danson then set his sight on Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He completed his degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1972 and later was honored with an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the same university in 2018. 

He then debuted on television on the NBC daytime soap opera “Somerset,” where he acted from 1975 to 1976. Since then, his career has taken off significantly. 

In 1970, he married actress Randall "Randy" Gosch, but they divorced in 1975. Two years later, he married Cassandra "Casey" Coates, a producer. They had their first daughter, Kate, in 1979 and adopted their second daughter, Alexis, in 1993. 

Coates suffered a stroke, and Danson spent a huge amount of time tending to her recovery. However, he had a brief affair in 1992 with Whoopi Goldberg that resulted in his divorce from Coates and eventually ended his relationship with Goldberg too. The divorce was difficult and expensive for Danson, costing over $30 million in total. 

However, that time also reunited him with Steenburgen, an actress whom he had met in 1983 when he auditioned to be her husband on “Cross Creek.” Danson failed to get the role, but it did not stop their relationship from blossoming into something beautiful. 

Danson recalled to People Magazine that he was a “hot mess” back then because they were both married. 

Thankfully, life led them back together when they reconnected on the 1993 film “Pontiac Moon,” where they were co-stars. After two years of dating and initially not wanting to embark on a relationship, they ultimately tied the knot in 1995.   

The two have now been married for 27 years; he became a husband to not only his wife but also the father to Steenburgen’s daughter, Lily, and son, screenwriter Charlie McDowell. Danson and Steenburgen then starred in multiple films together as husband and wife – “Gulliver's Travels” and “It Must Be Love.”

Steenburgen gushed about her marriage to Danson in 2013 to CBS, revealing that she got a “little cynical about love” before meeting Danson. 

"I thought infatuation was about as far as it went, and then I met him,” she said. "He's the real deal for me. He's definitely heaven-sent."

Steenburgen also revealed to People Magazine that Danson is someone who has always reminded her that she was “beautiful” “every single day of her life.” She also told the magazine that their love “gets more profound and deeper” as they “go through the blessings and joys, but also the hurdles, of life together.” 

“He is my partner in the deepest sense of the word in this life,” she admitted. 

The two have been expressive of their love for each other, especially on Instagram. 

"Thank you for making me laugh today and every single one of the last 9,125 days," Steenburgen said on their 25th wedding anniversary. "You are the goofiest, wisest, kindest dreamboat in the world.” 

The Award-winning actress also confessed to People magazine that it was her husband’s small gestures that meant the most to her: 

“I could care less about things like Valentine’s Day because literally the appreciation for what I do for him and the way he nurtures me as a woman, as an artist, as an actor, as a songwriter and his celebration of who I am makes me free to fly and be who I am.”   

Are you a fan of Ted Danson? What can you say about his relationship with his wife, Mary Steenburgen? Do you think small gestures like appreciation and words of affirmation are the secret to long and lasting marriages? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends and other loved ones!