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Sarah Keenlyside

Staying married for 41 years is impressive in anyone’s book – let alone in Hollywood – but Denzel and Pauletta Washington make it look easy … not to mention fun.
From doing red carpet after red carpet together, to going on Oprah, FaceTiming each other during live interviews and cracking jokes at one another’s expense, the secret to their relationship’s longevity seems to lie in not taking themselves too seriously.

However, when asked in September last year why she thought she and her husband were still together, Pauletta offered a different reason: “We work at it,” she told People. “It’s work. There are a lot of prayers for strength, for staying in a forgiveness mode … mine and his. But it’s the basic love that we have for each other,” she added.
So who is the woman who’s been by the Training Day actor’s side since the beginning? Here’s what to know.
She was fearless from an early age

Pauletta Pearson was born in North Carolina in 1950. Growing up in the segregated South, she began to break racial barriers at a young age by performing in prestigious piano recital competitions, per Deadline, and by being the first Black contestant to compete for the title of Miss North Carolina.

“A lot of that classically trained [behaviour] came from my father and my mother in the house,” Pauletta told Perception Magazine in November 2022. “‘Cause they were both professors so we had to speak correctly, we had to be able to talk, to explain properly, so I think that was my beginning, and then school.”
She’s an actress and musician

Pauletta went on to study at New York’s prestigious Juilliard School before scoring roles on Broadway in shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Shakespeare’s Cabaret. In 1977 she branched out into film with a role in Wilma, about Olympic gold medallist Wilma Rudolph. She’s since appeared in numerous productions both on stage and screen, including most recently, the Hulu legal drama Reasonable Doubt.
She met Denzel Washington on Wilma

Her first film also turned out to be her most consequential – at least when it came to her love life. Pauletta played one of the track athletes in the film, and Denzel had a leading role as Wilma Rudolph’s boyfriend. When a mutual friend from the set threw a party, Pauletta and Denzel were properly introduced, and “accidentally” found themselves sitting side by side at the theatre the following night.

However, Denzel jokes that Pauletta engineered that second meeting: “At that party, I talked about going to see a play. I went to see the play and at intermission, the lights came up and she was sitting [there],” he said on Live with Kelly and Ryan in July 2018. “She said she just happened to go see the play … I’m getting in trouble as I speak!”
She cooked for Nelson Mandela

Denzel has told People magazine on more than one occasion that his wife is an excellent cook, and revealed in a 2010 interview with The Guardian that when Nelson Mandela came to California, he came to eat dinner at their house. “My wife fixed some chicken,” he explained, adding that the former South African president sat in the couple’s living room and told stories to his kids.
She’s a proud mum of four

Pauletta and Denzel Washington have four children together – son John David Washington, daughter Katia, and twins Malcolm and Olivia. All four are in the entertainment industry, and all worked together with their parents to make The Piano Lesson (2024), which premiered at last year’s Telluride Film Festival.

“All my babies are involved in this,” Pauletta proudly told Deadline from the red carpet at the event. “Art is in my bones, and to see that the children … have taken up the arts is moving to me,” she said.


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Fame and celebrity

Meet Denzel Washington’s wife, Pauletta Washington: the classically trained pianist started out on Broadway, is currently in Hulu’s Reasonable Doubt, and once cooked for Nelson Mandela

Washington power couple: Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta are both actors and now have four children in show business too. Photo: @music_highway/Instagram

Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington have been married for 41 years. Photo: @denzelonly/Instagram

Pauletta Washington née Pearson hails from North Carolina. Photo: @wearelwd/Instagram

Pauletta Washington and Denzel Washington at the premiere of American Gangster in 2007. Photo: @denzelonly/Instagram

Pauletta Washington is also an actress, starring as Mama Lu in Hulu’s Reasonable Doubt. Photo: @reasonabledoubthulu/Instagram

Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington met on the set of the 1977 sports biopic Wilma. Photo: @denzelonly/Instagram

Denzel Washington and a heavily pregnant Pauletta Washington at the 1991 Academy Awards. Photo: @denzelonly/Instagram

Pauletta Washington is an excellent cook and once made dinner for Nelson Mandela. Photo: @denzelonly/Instagram

All four of Pauletta Washington’s children work in the entertainment industry. Photo: @tiff_net/Instagram

Pauletta Washington’s children worked with her and Denzel Washington on last year’s The Piano Lesson. Photo: @johndavidwashington/Instagram

Meet Pete Hegseth’s wife Jennifer Rauchet: the Trump defence secretary pick and Fox TV host’s romance with his producer partner began with a cheating scandal – but did she get Tucker Carlson fired?

Who is Pete Hegseth’s wife Jennifer Rauchet? The Trump defence sec pick and TV host’s romance with his producer partner began with a cheating scandal. Photo: @jennycdot/Instagram

Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defence. Photo: AP

Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer Rauchet in November 2023. Photo: @jennycdot/Instagram

Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer Rauchet work in television. Photo: @jennycdot/Instagram

“Happy Birthday to the love of my life,” Pete Hegseth wrote on Instagram in January 2023 to his third wife Jennifer Rauchet. Photo: @petehegseth/Instagram

Jennifer Rauchet, Pete Hegseth and their brood on their wedding day in August 2019. Photo: @jennycdot/Instagram

Jennifer Rauchet and Pete Hegseth have seven children in their blended family. Photo: @petehegseth/Instagram

Meet Jeanette Rubio: the wife of Trump’s new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has Colombian immigrant parents and was a Miami Dolphins cheerleader – now she’s a political spouse and mother of 4

Marco Rubio and wife Jeanette Rubio in Washington. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

Jeanette and Marco Rubio with three of their children. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

Jeanette Rubio’s parents emigrated to the US from Colombia. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

Before becoming a political spouse to husband Marco Rubio, Jeanette Rubio was a cheerleader with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

Jeanette Rubio (here with Marco) once worked for billionaire Norman Braman. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

Marco Rubio married Jeanette in 1998, in Florida. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

Marco Rubio is sworn into the 118th Congress, Washington, 2023, by Vice-President Kamala Harris as his wife Jeanette holds the Bible. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

Marco Rubio and Jeanette share four children: two daughters and two sons. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

The Rubio family enjoy the snow in 2016. Photo: @jeanettedrubio/Instagram

Meet Andy García’s wife of 42 years, Marivi Lorido García: the Landman actor met his Disneyland-loving partner while they were both at Florida International University, and they have 4 kids

Andy García’s wife of 42 years, Marivi Lorido García. Photo: @andygarcia/Instagram

Andy Garcia in 1999. Photo: AP

Marivi Lorido García and Andy García have been married since 1982. Photo: @andygarcia/Instagram

Marivi Lorido García, aka Andy García’s wife, when she was young. Photo: @andygarcia/Instagram

Andy García in a tribute post on mother’s day to his wife Marivi Lorido García. Photo: @andygarcia/Instagram

For Andy García and his wife Marivi Lorido, it was love at first sight. Photo: @andygarcia/Instagram

Andy García’s daughters. Photo: @andygarcia/Instagram

Andy García with his wife and daughter, Danielle. Photo: @andygarcia/Instagram

Meet Succession star Brian Cox’s third wife, Nicole Ansari: a former child actress in her native Germany, she’s also a producer and climate activist – and even appeared as Cox’s ex in Succession

Brian Cox’s wife Nicole Ansari is ready to shine. Photos: EPA-EFE; @nicole_ansari/Instagram

Nicole Ansari is Brian Cox’s third wife. Photo: @nicole_ansari/Instagram

Nicole Ansari started acting when she was nine years old. Photo: @nicole_ansari/Instagram

Nicole Ansari is a staunch climate activist. Photo: @nicole_ansari/Instagram

Brian Cox and wife Nicole Ansari arrive at the premiere of Succession during the 2021 BFI London Film Festival. Photo: AP

Brian Cox and Nicole Ansari celebrate son Orson Cox’s 21st birthday in 2023. Photo: @nicole_ansari/Instagram

Nicole Ansari is committed to the spiritual aspects of life. Photo: @nicole_ansari/Instagram

Meet Izabel Araujo, girlfriend of NSync’s Joey Fatone: the Brazilian-born beauty has been at his side since 2014, through his divorce, Broadway and Hollywood Walk of Fame acclaim

Joey Fatone and Izabel Araujo have been seeing each other since 2014. Photos: @missizzybela/Instagram

Joey Fatone was still married to Kelly Baldwin when he began seeing Izabel Araujo (above). Photo: @missizzybela/Instagram

Brazilian Izabel Araujo is a native of Rio de Janeiro. Photo: @missizzybela/Instagram

Joey Fatone began dating Izabel Araujo more than four years before divorcing Kelly Baldwin. Photo: @missizzybela/Instagram

Izabel Araujo has accompanied Joey Fatone on many a red carpet. Photo: @missizzybela/Instagram

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Joey Fatone and Izabel Araujo have a tradition of attending Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood. Photo: @missizzybela/Instagram

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Pauletta and Denzel Washington may disagree about who initiated their romance, but with 41 years of marriage under their belt and counting, their love has stood the test of time


Pauletta and Denzel Washington may disagree about who initiated their romance, but with 41 years of marriage under their belt and counting, their love has stood the test of time.
