The Famous Actor Who Fell For Martha Stewart While They Were Both Married

In her upcoming Netflix documentary "Martha," longtime media personality Martha Stewart admits that she had an affair early into her troubled 29-year marriage to publisher Andrew Stewart. While the identity of this particular paramour remains a mystery, they're not the only one who had a thing for Martha while she was still married to Andrew. One person who was allegedly head over heels for Martha was a married former co-worker of hers — who would later become a famous actor.

Martha and Andrew Stewart got married in 1961. They separated in 1987, and their divorce was finalized in 1990. In the 1960s and '70s, Stewart took on a secondary career as a stockbroker. One of her co-workers was the late Brian Dennehy, who would go on to star in films like "First Blood," "Tommy Boy," and "Ratatouille." According to New York Post reporter Jerry Oppenheimer — author of the best-selling (and unauthorized) Martha Stewart biography "Just Desserts" — Dennehy and Stewart had what Dennehy called a "strong mutual attraction." This, despite the fact that Dennehy was also spoken for. He was married to Judith Scheff from 1959 to 1987, and to Jennifer Arnott from 1988 up until his death in 2020.

"In those days, she was skinny and gorgeous, and extremely sexy," Dennehy told Oppenheimer. Dennehy claimed that nothing ever actually happened between him and Stewart. However, he also said he "would fantasize about being involved with her."

According to Oppenheimer, Martha Stewart decided to shoot her shot with Dennehy after she officially split from Andrew. "I felt she had this fantasy of hooking up with him and showing Andy that she was still viable," Stewart's friend Kathy Tatlock — who died in 2022 — told the reporter. "She said she always thought Dennehy was a very attractive guy."

Oppenheimer says Dennehy ended up taking Stewart to a premiere party in New York after the two happened to run into each other. "To have her on your arm is not such a bad thing," Dennehy said of the whole experience. However, things between the two never progressed beyond that. According to Dennehy, this was because "Martha is one of those women who intimidate the s*** out of men."

Stewart went on to date legendary actor Anthony Hopkins — but ended up breaking things off after seeing him in his most beloved role. "I dated Sir Anthony Hopkins but broke up with him because I couldn't stop thinking of him as Hannibal Lecter," she told to Ellen DeGeneres in 2022 (via USA Today). Stewart then entered an on-again-off-again romance with wealthy software architect Charles Simonyi. They ended things permanently in 2008 after 15 years. These days, Stewart doesn't seem particularly interested in dating, instead opting to focus on her career.