Inside Denzel And Pauletta Washington's Decades-Long Relationship

Denzel Washington is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. From "Malcolm X," to "Training Day," to "The Equalizer," Denzel's critically acclaimed performances are the stuff of legend. Yet during his more than four decades in the business, there has been one constant by Denzel's side: his wife, Pauletta Washington.

Celebrity marriages don't tend to last very long on average. According to a study by the UK-based organization Marriage Foundation, celebrities have a divorce rate of around 40% within a 10-year period. For the Washingtons to have been married for over 40 years, it could almost be considered a miracle. In a career filled with Academy Award, box-office, and financial success, Denzel's most prized accomplishment is his marriage to Pauletta.

Pauletta is not just simply "Denzel's wife," however, as she's gone on to enjoy an accomplished career in the arts, appearing in theater, film, and television productions. Pauletta is an accomplished performer in her own right. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Pauletta was competing in piano competitions at just 10 years old before going onto Juilliard to study piano. After graduating from Fordham University with a B.A. in drama and journalism, Denzel would first cross paths with Pauletta while they were both filming the made-for-TV movie "Wilma." But sparks didn't fly immediately, as it took one year after filming wrapped for the two to meet again at a party, where they reintroduced themselves to each other.

Meeting again at a party one year after filming "Wilma" got Denzel and Pauletta Washington talking again, but sitting next to each other at a play the next night caused the relationship to really blossom. In a 1996 interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Pauletta recounted her version of the event in question. "Denzel and his friends came at the very end of the party," Pauletta said. "We spoke again, we were reintroduced. The next night, I attended a play. I got there late, so I snuck in and just sat down. I didn't look at who was around me. At intermission, the lights came up and we were sitting next to each other."

For decades, women have swooned over Denzel — he was even named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1996. However, Denzel got off to a rocky start in his courtship with Pauletta. Things were seemingly going well on their first date until it was time to hail a cab, as Denzel and Pauletta recounted to E! Insider in 2019. "Denzel said, "So we took a cab, and I'm paying for the cab ride, but then I'm watching for the meter and I'm running out of money." Pauletta interjected, "He turns to me and says, 'I have no money' ... I paid for it." Despite not having enough for cab fare, the play was the spark that grew into their 40-year flame. In the aforementioned interview, Oprah asked Pauletta how she fell in love with Denzel, and she responded, "I thought he was cute, but I fell in love with his spirit. That I saw first. And then I thought, hmmm, not a bad package, you know?"

Proposing to Pauletta also wasn't an easy task, either. The couple told Access Hollywood in 2013 that Pauletta rejected two proposals from Denzel before the third time was ultimately the charm and she said "yes."

Soon after their wedding in 1983, Denzel and Pauletta Washington welcomed their first of four children, John David. After John David was born, they welcomed Katia in 1986 and twins Malcolm and Olivia in 1991. All four children have since followed their parent's footsteps into the entertainment world. For instance, all four children (and mom Pauletta!) worked on the movie "The Piano Lesson." Growing up in the shadow of two magnetic and successful people like Denzel and Pauletta Washington can be difficult for a child to navigate on their way to becoming their own person. As the eldest child, John David struggled with this at times early in his life. In a 2018 interview with Great Day Washington (via theGrio) John David joked, "Is it difficult to be his son? It's difficult to be Pauletta Washington's son."

John David said his mother Pauletta takes more of a glass-half-full approach: "My mother is very positive, and encouraging, and nurturing, as a mother should be. She's my auditioning partner. She says when it's not good enough, she says when I'm ready. 'Work on this.' That kind of thing. She helped me get 'Ballers.' We worked a lot on that."

As far as his relationship with dad Denzel goes, that's always been a little more complicated. Growing up and being known as "Denzel's son" before anything else bred some resentment in John David and despite always having acting aspirations, he first tried to make a name of his own on the football field. John David expressed this sentiment to Great Day Washington as "this rebellious quest of independence," and he channeled that rebellion into his play on the field. "So that anxiety, that sort of resentment, I just funneled it through football. Bash heads. And like they say, it was helmet syndrome. They can't see my face, it's just the last name. So it's like, 'Who's that Washington kid out there?'"