40 greatest love stories of all time, ADAM AND EVE Whether they are fact or fiction, love stories inspire us. Here are some of the greatest love stories from history, literature and today’s headlines.
“In the beginning . . .” Whether you believe Adam and Eve were two flesh-and-blood people that God banished from the Garden of Eden or literary archetypes that represent the dawn of humanity, the account of their enduring devotion in the face of unimaginable loss and hardship is one of the greatest love stories ever written.
DUKE AND DUCHESS OF WINDSOR
In 1936, King Edward VIII of England gave up his throne to marry “the woman I love,” a twice-divorced American socialite named Wallis Simpson. The scandal rocked the British Empire and captivated the rest of the world, but the couple remained devoted to each other until the Duke’s death in 1972.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
The love affair of this Roman general and his Egyptian queen, along with their war with Rome and mutual suicide, shook the ancient world and inspired one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated tragedies.
ELIZABETH BENNETT & MR. DARCY
The two principal characters in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” – the poor but intelligent and free-spirited woman and the wealthy but reserved and misunderstood gentleman – are among the most beloved in English literature. Their famous romance, which at first seems unlikely and then impossible, finally shows that love conquers all.
RICK BLAINE AND ILSA LUND
The unexpected reunion of these two star-crossed lovers under the shadow of war made motion picture history. Released in January 1943, shortly after the Allied invasion of North Africa during World War II, the film “Casablanca” was not considered anything special. But three Academy Awards and 70 years later, this story of love and sacrifice has become a classic.
GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN
George Burns and Gracie Allen met in 1922, married in 1926, and spent 40 years making people laugh. The comedy duo performed together in vaudeville, radio, television and films until Gracie’s final illness and eventual death in 1964. Burns, who never remarried, visited his wife’s grave every month until his own death at age 100.
RHETT BUTLER AND SCARLETT O’HARA
The tempestuous love affair between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind” is one of the most popular romances ever written. The novel won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and the film adaptation took home 10 Academy Awards.
JOHN AND ABIGAIL ADAMS
John Adams, the second president of the United States, and his wife, Abigail, shared a passionate and lifelong love affair despite the many separations they endured during their 54-year marriage. The unending stream of letters the couple exchanged for more than half a century show very clearly that they were not only intellectual equals and political allies but also deeply in love.
ROMEO AND JULIET
In Shakespeare’s classic story of forbidden love, Romeo and Juliet fall in love despite their families’ longstanding feud. Miscommunication and other plot twists lead to the death of both lovers, but the tragedy and shared grief unite the two families and bring lasting peace.
GRACE KELLY AND PRINCE RAINIER
A professional actress at 20 and a movie star at 23, Grace Kelly got the best role of her life at age 26 when she retired from acting to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco and become a real-life princess. Princess Grace died in 1982 of injuries she sustained in a car accident. She was 52. Prince Rainier, who never remarried, was buried alongside her when he died in 2005.
NICK AND NORA CHARLES
Nick and Nora Charles first appeared in 1934 in Dashiell Hammett’s best-selling final novel, “The Thin Man,” and then had long lives in the series of films they inspired. Reportedly based on Hammett and his longtime lover, playwright Lillian Hellman, Nick and Nora, and their witty banter, became the model for the many romantically linked detective duos that would follow.
JOHNNY CASH AND JUNE CARTER
Country music stars Johnny Cash and June Carter married in 1968, 13 years after they first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. Both were married to other people when they met, but their love eventually proved irresistible. They continued to make music together for the next 35 years, and died less than four months apart in 2003.
HUMPHREY BOGART AND LAUREN BACALL
Bogie and Bacall met on the set of “To Have and Have Not,” the first film they ever made together. She was 19, he was 44, but they were instantly attracted to each other. The couple married in 1945, had two children together, and was very happy during the few years they shared before Bogart’s death at age 57.
LANCELOT AND GUINEVERE
Guinevere was the wife and queen of King Arthur, the legendary British ruler, and Sir Lancelot was his friend and most gifted knight. Both Lancelot and Guinevere loved Arthur, but their irresistible passion for each other and their betrayal of Arthur destroyed a kingdom as well as a marriage and a friendship.
RACHEL AND JACOB
Another great biblical romance is the story of Jacob and Rachel. Jacob spent seven years working for Laban, Rachel’s father, to earn the right to marry his true love. After seven years, the wedding took place, but Laban tricked Jacob by disguising his older daughter, Leah, and passing her off as the bride. Laban told Jacob he would have to work for him for another seven years to win Rachel’s hand. Jacob agreed and, after 14 long years, finally took Rachel to be his wife.
QUEEN VICTORIA AND PRINCE ALBERT
When Queen Victoria married her first cousin in 1840, they were both just 20 years old. It was not love at first sight—their union was practically an arranged marriage—but the couple developed a deep love for each other and had nine children together before Albert’s death at age 42. Victoria mourned him for the rest of her life.
PIERRE AND MARIE CURIE
The two famous scientists met in Paris, where Marie had come to study. Their mutual love of science drew them together, and they married a year later. When Marie rejected Pierre’s first proposal because she wanted to return to her native Poland, he said he would go with her, even if it meant he would have to give up science and teach French. The couple worked together throughout their marriage and made breakthrough discoveries that led to Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry.
ROBIN HOOD AND MAID MARIAN
Robin Hood, the legendary hero who took from the rich and oppressive and gave to the poor and oppressed, first appeared as a character in medieval ballads. Maid Marian was sometimes depicted as a damsel in distress, sometimes as Robin’s sword-wielding companion, but always as his true love.
RONALD AND NANCY REAGAN
The Reagan’s marriage could have been just another Hollywood union, but instead it became one of the great love stories of the 20th century. Ronald and Nancy Reagan were both professional actors when they married in 1952—he was 41 and she was 30—but politics beckoned and led them first to the governor’s mansion in California and then to the White House, where they served two terms as president and first lady. They didn’t always have a smooth road—she overcame breast cancer and he survived an assassination attempt and colon cancer before battling Alzheimer’s disease for the last 10 years of his life—but they made their lifelong romance look easy.
NICKIE FERRANTE AND TERRY MCKAY
In “An Affair to Remember,” which is considered one of the most romantic movies ever made, Nickie Ferrante and Terry McKay (played by Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr) meet during an ocean cruise and fall in love. They agree to meet six months later at the top of the Empire State Building—he needs time to establish himself as an artist and to prove he can provide for her—but when the day comes she is injured in an auto accident and loses the use of her legs. Pride keeps them apart--he thinks she stood him up and she refuses to contact him until she can walk again—but love triumphs when comes to confront her about the missed appointment and finally learns the truth.
SCHEHERAZADE AND KING SHAHRYAR
King Shahryar and Scheherezade are the central characters in the “Thousand and One Nights.” After discovering his wife’s infidelity, the king executes her and seeks vengeance on all women. Each day, he marries a young woman, spends the night with her, and then has her killed the next morning. When he marries Scheherezade, the beautiful daughter of his vizier, she is determined to escape the executioner. During her wedding night with the king, she tells him an intriguing story, but stops near dawn with the tale unfinished. Eager to hear the ending, the king allows Scheherezade to live for another night. But as soon as she finishes the first story, she begins a second and, again, stops near dawn without reaching the end. This goes on for a thousand and one nights. By then, the couple is in love and go on to have a happy life together.
PAUL NEWMAN AND JOANNE WOODWARD
Married for 50 years, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward could have been Hollywood royalty, but they chose instead to live in an 18th-century Connecticut farmhouse. Newman claimed their long marriage was due to "correct amounts of lust and respect," and Woodward said it “probably helps that we always enjoyed each other's company.”
FRIDA KAHLO AND DIEGO RIVERA
When Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera met, he was a famous painter and she was an art student seeking advice from the master. Her parents opposed the marriage — Rivera was 42 and Kahlo was 22 when they wed in 1929 — and referred to the couple as “the elephant and the dove.” Their relationship was tempestuous, fueled by their fiery tempers, and they divorced in 1939—only to remarry a year later.
RUTH GORDON AND GARSON KANIN
Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin’s long and happy marriage seems to prove the old adage that opposites attract. She was religious; he was an atheist. He loved sushi; she hated it. Asked in 1980 to reveal the secret of their successful union, Kanin said, “I think the key is that we don't always agree. Agreement is deadly dull.” Yet despite their differences and disagreements, this multi-talented couple gained fame as actors, filmmakers, screenwriters, playwrights and authors.
JANE EYRE AND EDWARD ROCHESTER
Charlotte Brontë’s story of a poor governess and her wealthy employer is a classic love story. The couple’s wedding plans are spoiled when Jane Eyre discovers that Rochester is already married and keeps his insane wife shut away in another part of his mansion. Jane leaves, but returns much later after inheriting a fortune. When a fire at the house blinds Rochester and kills his wife, the lovers are reunited and happily become husband and wife.
KATHARINE HEPBURN AND SPENCER TRACY
He didn’t like her when they first met, but it didn’t take long for that to change. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, both consummate actors in their own right, teamed up to make some of the best romantic comedies of the 1940s and 1950s as well as a breakthrough film about race relations with “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” in 1967, which was Tracy’s last movie. Off-screen they were devoted to each other for more than a quarter century.
ALFRED STIEGLITZ AND GEORGIA O’KEEFE
When Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe met in 1916, he was 52 and famous—an internationally acclaimed photographer and a leader in the New York art scene. She was 28 and unknown—an art teacher in a small town in Texas. They married in 1924, but there were problems, and by 1929 she had moved to New Mexico to paint. Despite their differences, however, the couple’s love never faltered. During the 30 years between their first meeting and Stieglitz’s death in 1946, they wrote each other thousands of letters—sometimes two or three a day.
GERTRUDE STEIN AND ALICE B. TOKLAS
Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas were both writers, but they were more famous as thought leaders, critics and den mothers for artists and writers such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce, who flocked to Paris during the early 1900s. The two women met on Toklas’ first day in Paris in 1907 and were devoted, lifelong companions until Stein’s death in 1946.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
This classic fairy tale about the power of love to transcend appearances and overcome evil has inspired numerous films and a popular TV series. The beautiful Belle agrees to live with the Beast in his castle to save her father’s life and the two become friends, but she repeatedly rejects his marriage proposals. When Belle’s sisters trick her in to betraying the Beast and she finds him on the brink of death, she realizes she loves him, which breaks the spell he had been living under and reveals him as a handsome prince. The two marry and, of course, live happily ever after.
JOHN LENNON AND YOKO ONO
Critics may always debate whether John Lennon and Yoko Ono made beautiful music together, but it seems clear that they both found harmony in their love for each other. The couple met in 1966, married in 1969, and had a son in 1975. Lennon, the former Beatle, and Ono, the avant-garde artist, collaborated on many recordings and other projects and held “Bed-ins for Peace” to protest the Vietnam War. After Lennon was shot and killed outside their New York apartment building in 1980, Ono founded the Strawberry Fields Memorial in Central Park, the John Lennon Museum in Japan, and the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland.
E. B. AND KATHERINE WHITE
When they met in 1926, she was in an unhappy marriage and already working at The New Yorker and well on her way to becoming one of the most influential editors of her generation, he was a fledgling writer and seven years her junior, but each would turn out to be the other’s soul mate. They married in 1929, both became famous, and in 1938 they left New York for a small farm on the coast of Maine, where they lived together happily for the rest of their lives.
LUCILLE BALL & DESI ARNAZ
When the 28-year-old B-movie actress and the 23-year-old Cuban bandleader married, they formed a romantic partnership that would produce an entertainment empire, two children and one of the most popular sitcoms in the history of television. Tired of being apart because of work obligations, they formed Desilu Productions (the first independent television production company) and used $5,000 of their own money to produce the pilot for “I Love Lucy.” The rest is history.
ANDREW JACKSON AND RACHEL ROBARDS
Andrew Jackson was elected president in 1828, but during the campaign his opponents constantly attacked his wife, the former Rachel Robards, calling her a bigamist and a woman of loose morals because she and her first husband had divorced and, unbeknownst to her, the divorce had not been finalized before she and Jackson married.Rachel Jackson died of a heart attack in December 1828, two months before her husband took office. Jackson blamed his political enemies and never forgave them. He remained single for the rest of his life and reportedly kept Rachel’s portrait at the foot of his bed so that her face would be the last thing he saw at night and the first thing he saw each morning. As his own death approached, Jackson said, “Heaven will be no heaven for me if Rachel isn’t there.”
BRAD PITT AND ANGELINA JOLIE
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are two of the world’s most recognizable celebrities—and they are nearly as famous as lovers and parents. The couple, who met and fell in love while filming “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” in 2005, have six children (three of them adopted from different countries). Both Pitt and Jolie have busy careers and are deeply involved in humanitarian work, yet still manage to find time for each other and the kids.
HUME CRONYN AND JESSICA TANDY
When British actress married Canadian actor Hume Cronyn in 1942, it was the beginning of a personal and professional partnership that would last for more than 60 years. Often considered America’s first couple of acting, Cronyn and Tandy earned numerous awards, including the first Tony awarded for lifetime achievement. Many people often considered their long and happy marriage as remarkable as their successful careers, but they grew tired of being asked how they made their marriage work. When Mike Wallace asked the question during a “60 Minutes” interview, Tandy gave a deadpan answer that surprised him: "I don't think this is really the time to announce this, but we were thinking of splitting up." Cronyn added: "Jessie has got another fella, and I want to play the field."
ROBERT AND ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
Robert Browning wrote to Elizabeth Barrett for the first time on January 10, 1845, after reading a volume of her poems. He was a virtually unknown 32-year-old poet and playwright; she was an internationally famous poet, but also an invalid and a 39-year-old spinster. Over the next 20 months, they exchanged nearly 600 letters, and she later credited their romance with saving her life. In September 1846, they were secretly married and traveled to Italy, where they lived happily for the next 15 years, until her death in 1861.
JACKIE AND RACHEL ROBINSON
Jackie Robinson was an outstanding baseball player, but he is best remembered for being the first black man to break the color barrier in professional sports. He did it with the help of a good woman—his wife Rachel. When the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Robinson, he became the target of insults, death threats and violence on the field. Despite the bigotry and harassment he endured, Robinson was named Rookie of the Year in 1947, and by 1949 other major league teams were recruiting and signing black players. In an interview years later, Robinson gave his wife the credit: “When they try to destroy me, it's Rachel who keeps me sane.”
WARREN BEATTY AND ANNETTE BENING
When Warren Beatty and Annette Bening met at a pizza restaurant in 1991 to discuss whether she was right for a role in his new film “Bugsy,” his dating history looked like a Who’s Who of A-list female celebrities (Raquel Welch, Cher, Natalie Wood, Faye Dunaway, Bridgette Bardot, Diane Keaton, Madonna and many others), but she was just there to talk about the job. Before long, though, both Beatty and Bening knew they had found something special. They married in 1992 and have raised four children together while enjoying one of the strongest and happiest Hollywood relationships on record.
HARRY AND BESS TRUMAN
They met in Sunday School when he was 6 and she was 5, but after graduating from high school together they went their separate ways. Years later, they reunited, fell in love and married. Although separated by his military service during World War I and, later, by the demands of his political career, the couple kept up a lively and romantic correspondence throughout their long marriage. Harry once wrote of Bess: "I thought she was the most beautiful and the sweetest person on earth,"
