Love is in the air!
When Valentine’s Day rolls around, we gush with sentiment and teem with romance to express that noblest of feelings: love.
In its 140 years of history, The Academy has countless tales of stars aligning, bringing together love in many forms — lasting friendships, creative partnerships, and, as we’ll explore here, romantic couples.
This year, join us in celebrating memories of Cupid’s arrow piercing the hearts of many an unsuspecting lover.
Angel Parker (‘99) and Eric Nenninger (‘99)
Angel Parker and Eric Nenninger, a dynamic Hollywood duo with credits spanning The Recruit, Marvel’s Runaways, The Rookie, Malcolm in the Middle, Generation Kill, and Mad Men, have been navigating the entertainment industry for over two decades. The couple, who met while studying at The Academy, are going on 26 years of partnership. In a special interview with The Academy Pages, they recounted the early days of their budding romance.
Eric: We were both in the same class. I was in the afternoon sessions, and she was in the morning sessions. One day, Miss Angel Parker caught my eye immediately with her beauty and grace. She was fine, August…she was fine. I was very interested, but she was very much not.
Angel: I don’t even remember him.
Eric: In the second year, I decided to get my act together and start doing morning classes. In the morning classes, you had to focus a bit more than the people who showed up at 1pm. All the while, I was trying to pursue Miss Parker, and luckily, a mutual friend vouched for me. Angel was like, “Who’s that slacker dude?” but our friend, Ted, told her, “No, he’s good, he’s talented.” That vouch from our friend went a long way.
Angel: We were in school together, constantly seeing each other, rehearsing, going to parties, and being around each other.
Eric: I was a waiter in Pasadena, where The Academy was at the time, and Angel came into the restaurant. I picked up her check.
Angel: He gave me his free meal. Then we started dating, started hustling together, and got out into the real world. We had the same mentality of hard work and taking advantage of every opportunity we could.
Eric: One of the things that I love and respect so much about Angel is her work ethic and her talent. It’s something that motivated me; I could bounce ideas off of her, and she wanted to be an actress as much as I wanted to be an actor. Both of us were going to do it. Nothing was going to stop us.
Read the full interview on The Academy Pages.
Lauren Bacall (‘42) & Jason Robards Jr. (‘48)
Lauren Bacall spoke very fondly of her second husband, Jason Robards. She once told an interviewer: “I was crazy about Jason.”
The two married in 1961, following Robards performances in Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, when his career was at its zenith. However, their relationship faced challenges, and they divorced in 1969 when their son Sam was eight years old. Bacall recalls how attentive Robards could be; “to his own children, to mine, and to Sam.” Two things sealed their unique bond: a shared love for the theatre and a similar sense of humor.
Robards succumbed to lung cancer in 2000, passing away at the age of 78 the day after Christmas. In 2014, Bacall passed away at her home in The Dakota in New York. She was 89.
John Cassavetes (‘50) & Gena Rowlands (‘52)
This classic power couple had one of Hollywood’s most celebrated creative and romantic partnerships. Spanning over three decades, their relationship was defined by love, mutual respect, and a shared goal: creating innovative cinema.
The two met as students at The Academy, and were married only a few months later. Their “meet cute” was something out of a movie.
Cassavetes happened upon the actress backstage during a production she was in. He later remembered thinking what “an incredibly fascinating woman” she was. Rowlands admitted it was “love at first sight.”
They had three children—Nick, Alexandra, and Zoe—all of whom built careers in film and television. Nick attended The Academy, graduating in 1980, and years later, his daughter Gina followed in his footsteps, graduating in 2005.
Mutual respect underpinned their creative partnership. Cassavetes once said, with a laugh, “Gena’s point of view is totally different from mine. But I think that’s great.” He said their ability to continue “learning how to play together” kept their working relationship positive.
Rowlands acted in 10 Cassavetes-led films during her career. You might recognize a few of them below:
Faces (1968): Rowlands played a supporting role in Faces, a film that established Cassavetes as an indie tour-de-force.
A Woman Under the Influence (1974): In this mid-70s drama, Rowlands delivered a powerhouse performance as Mabel, a woman grappling with mental illness. The Oscar-nominating committee conferred on her a nomination for Best Actress.
Gloria (1980): Rowlands received her second nomination for an Academy Award for her performance in Gloria. Cassavetes, who wrote the screenplay, did not intend to direct the project, but when Rowlands was signed to play the film’s lead, her urging brought him on board.
At the 7th Annual Governors Awards ceremony in November 2015, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award. In her speech, she thanked her late husband for his contributions to her career:
“I would feel remiss if I didn’t mention my late husband, John Cassavetes. He wrote me the most magnificent parts–and for other actresses too–and sometimes he directed them. I surely do have to thank him for that.”
Kirk Douglas (‘41) & Diana Douglas (‘41)
By mid-1943, the United States was embroiled in the Second World War. Like many, Kirk Douglas enlisted post-haste after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was serving in the US Navy when a copy of Life magazine landed in his lap, and the cover model immediately caught his attention–Diana Dill, a peer from his Academy days. When he showed it to his navy buddies, he said one thing: “I’m going to marry her.”
He promptly penned a letter to Miss Dill, and the courting ensued. After six months, she agreed to marry her suitor on November 2nd, 1943. They would have two sons, Michael and Joel, before divorcing in 1951.
The two helmed the creation of the Douglas Foundation, a massive philanthropic endeavor, in 1964. Over the years, the foundation has donated millions to charities supporting education, the arts, and health (including the Motion Picture & Television Fund, which provides assisted living support to this day).
In 2003, Kirk and Diana starred alongside Michael and Cameron, their son and grandson, respectively, in the comedy-drama It Runs in the Family. The story follows the multi-generational Gromberg family navigating familial challenges and personal tragedy. It would mark Diana’s final film appearance.
Diana passed away in 2015 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills. In 2020, Kirk was at home and surrounded by his family when he passed away at 103.
In a 2011 interview, Diana shared with a reporter:
“I’ve always enjoyed Kirk’s sense of humor, even when I was angriest at him. He could always make me laugh, somehow, which annoyed the hell out of me.”
Garson Kanin (‘33) & Ruth Gordon (‘14)
The writing partnership between Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon was unparalleled in Hollywood. Film historian Patrick McGilligan called them “probably the greatest pure screenwriting collaboration in all Hollywood history.”
It was Kanin’s knack for storytelling that made him a sought-after talent in the theatre and film industries. Gordon, an esteemed actress and writer, had been strutting across professional stages since age 19.
Together, they wrote the Academy Award-nominated screenplays for Adam’s Rib and Pat and Mike, both starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Both films have been widely celebrated for their sophisticated humor and progressive approach to gender roles, reflecting the couple’s deep understanding of partnership. The Marrying Kind further dove into married life, exploring the rifts between a couple at their wit’s end.
Their creativity stretched across genres, with the noirish A Double Life, released in 1947, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Its portrayal of an actor overwhelmed by his role as Othello received considerable recognition, including an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Marrying in 1942, the couple remained together until Gordon’s passing in 1985.
Mitch Sherman (‘80) & Kaime Woody Sherman (‘80)
Kaime and Mitch’s chance meeting feels like a love story straight out of a classic Hollywood. From their days as students at The Academy to 45 years of marriage, their relationship is a testament to the power of humor, thoughtfulness, and fate. As Valentine’s Day approaches, they share the story of how it all began, the sweetest gestures that keep their love strong, and the secret to a lasting partnership.
The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
The meet-cute you two had through The Academy: could you share it with us? We’re dying to hear it.
Kaime: Mitch had already done a semester at school. I was the late arrival, with my sessions starting in January. We hadn’t even met each other at school. I was so focused on my classes and wasn’t thinking about dating or anything like that. I was totally focused.
It was the beginning of the year, and one of my classmates was having a party. I’d been in Mexico horseback riding and lounging on the beach – I didn’t want to go to a party! But my friend called me and said, “Kaime, come on, aren’t you coming to this party?” She told me there was this really cute guy [on the phone] that I should talk to. They pass the phone between about four different people before Mitch gets it. He was trying to sound really cool and debonair. I decided to play along; “I’m in satin sheets” and blah blah blah.
Mitch: I was coming from a party in Hollywood we gave up on around 11 o’clock. I was driving on the 101, saying, “All I want to do is just meet a nice girl and stay home with her and watch movies – enough of these parties and clubs.” I was getting tired of that.
Kaime: He’s trying to be nice and not say everyone was hitting on him. Everybody was hitting on him.
Read the full interview on The Academy Pages.
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