We all love hearing romantic stories about love at first sight. It’s almost something out of a fairy tale as, for most of us, love unfolds more over time than in a single moment. However, for a few lucky couples, cupid’s arrow really does exist. This was the case for beloved actor James Garner and his lovely wife Lois Clarke, who fell in love very quickly and, despite what many would consider a hasty marriage, would go on to celebrate 58 beautiful years together.
Sadly, Garner passed away after suffering a heart attack in 2014, and his wife Lois has since then been a widow. Nevertheless, this couple has shared several lifetimes together if you think about the average length of a marriage, which is said to last only 8.2 years.
Garner is best remembered for his roles on shows such as “The Rockford Files,” and as Bret Maverick in the popular western series “Maverick.”
The actor met Clarke in August of 1956, and the two would-be husband and wife just two weeks later. The pair would enjoy dinner together every night for those 14 days, which for them was all the time they needed. While they would have their share of ups and downs, like any marriage, these two love birds survived all the storms until Garner passed away just before their 58th wedding anniversary.
In 1971 and once again in 1979, Garner and Clarke briefly separated while Garner had to work out several personal issues, although he claimed these had nothing to do with their marriage.
“Lois and I were never in serious trouble. Ninety-nine percent of the problem was the pressures of ‘Rockford.’ It wasn’t us, it was me needing to get away to get my head together,” Garner told People in 1985.
There were rumors swirling around Hollywood that Garner was with other women while working on “The Rockford Files,” but he’s always denied them.
“I’ve worked with a lot of great-looking actresses, and I make it my business not to dislike any of them,” he explained. “I also make it my business not to fall in love with them either.”
The actor said that he only had room in his heart for one woman — his wife.
Through the different challenges life threw his way, Garner’s wife had been right there by his side.
“She’s just stuck with me all these years,” he said. “I guess she’s stubborn too.”
Clarke also publically defended her husband, telling People:
“Jim is a rather complicated man and is covering up lots of hurt. Growing up he was abused, lonely, and deprived.”
Garner spoke very candidly concerning the physical abuse he endured at the hands of his stepmother when he was only a child.
The actor also shared details about how their incredible love story began in his memoir titled “The Garner Files” He wrote:
“I fell in love for the first and last time on August 1, 1956 at an Adlai Stevenson for President barbeque. That’s where I met Lois Clarke. It was love at first sight. The thunderbolt. She was as beautiful as she was sweet… It was a barbeque and I ended up in the pool with the children.”
Garner continues, “That’s how I got to talk to Lois. Within the first few minutes, she told me she had a daughter from her first marriage, Kimberly, who had polio… Lois and I saw each other every day until August 17, when we were married in the Beverly Hills courthouse. My family was against the marriage. They pointed out that Lois and I had little in common.”
Despite their differences, the two fell madly in love in just two weeks.
“I was six feet three inches tall and Lois was petite. I was the outdoor, athletic type and she was the indoor type. I was practical and she was a dreamer,” Garner wrote in his memoir.
While it may have seemed these two had nothing in common, Garner said he was inspired by the differences rather than put off. He wrote:
“None of the naysayers had stopped to consider that Lois and I complemented each other. What they saw as weaknesses, we saw as strengths.”
In the end, isn’t that what love is really all about?
You can also watch a beautiful tribute to this lovely couple featuring 58 years of photos in the video below.
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Sources:
- “True Love: James Garner And Lois Clarke Married 2 Weeks After They Met, But Their Love Story Lasted 58 Years” Apost.