Actors who have dated politicians

Dawson is not the first actress to date a politician, but she is the one who has captured the most interest recently. That’s because most of us didn’t realize she was dating Cory Booker until Booker announced he was running for president. The notion that the “Sin City” actress could become First Lady was too intriguing for people not to fawn over.

You are going to find a few people with ties to the Kennedy political dynasty on this list. Hines, forever to be enshrined in the TV Hall of Fame for her role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is one of those people. A few years ago Hines married Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father you certainly know. We’ll try and ignore the fact that RFK Jr. is an anti-vaxxer so that we can keep enjoying “Curb.”

Whether you know her from “Star Trek: Voyager” or “Orange is the New Black,” you’ve probably seen Mulgrew on your TV (or wherever you stream your Netflix) over the years. She also infamously played Columbo’s wife on her own show, until it was retconned because people hated that they were actually seeing the previously unseen Mrs. Columbo. From 1999 until 2014, Mulgrew was married to Tim Hagan, which includes the time he was the Democratic nominee for governor in the state of Ohio.

Nancy is the wife of Ronald Reagan who was around for the bulk of his political life. That being said, Ronnie’s first wife, Wyman, was there when he became President of the Screen Actors Guild. While it’s not an overtly political position, it was something of the start of a career that would lead him to the presidency. Wyman, who divorced Reagan in 1949, had the better acting career than her ex-husband (or his future wife, for that matter). She actually won an Oscar for Best Actress.

Royalty are political figures in their own way. Thus, how could we not include Grace Kelly? Her story is well-known. She was a hugely successful actress but set aside her career to become Princess of Monaco through marriage. Then, of course, she would die tragically young, robbing us of any opportunity to see her make a comeback to the screen and taking a beloved figure away from the people of Monaco.

Did you know Markle was one of the stars of “Suits?” You do now, but probably not because you’ve ever seen the USA series. Markle became perhaps the most famous actress in the world when she became engaged to Prince Harry. Her wedding was probably viewed by more people than every episode of “Suits” combined. Sorry, “Suits.”

Lawford knew how to pick his circles to run in. Not only was the British actor a member of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, but he also married into the Kennedy family. While his wife Pat Kennedy wasn’t as political as her famous brothers, if you marry into the Kennedy clan, you marry into politics. The two would get divorced in 1966, though, and Lawford would become considered one of the first people to be “famous for being famous.”

Schwarzenegger, of course, became a politician in his own right. Before the star of “Junior” and “Jingle All the Way” became the governor of California, though, he married Maria Shriver. She too is from a branch of the Kennedy family tree. Considering that Shriver has been on television quite a bit herself, you could argue that she’s an actress, or at least a TV presenter, who was romantically involved with a political as well.

Clint Eastwood is pretty well-known for his political leanings. However, he’s also put his money where his mouth is, so to speak, because he was mayor of a small California town where he lived for a couple of years. During that time he separated from the actress Sondra Locke, and soon thereafter he took up with Fisher, who has been in films such as “Titanic” and “Gone in 60 Seconds.” One assumes that things may not be great between Eastwood and Fisher, given that his ex endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016.

We may be stretching a bit to call Amal Clooney nee Alamuddin a “politician,” but she’s certainly overtly political. She’s a human rights lawyer who has done a lot work related to politics and politicians. Clooney is also the special envoy of Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Not that George isn’t political himself, which is what makes these two a dynamic pair on the politics front.

You may remember Busfield from his run on “thirtysomething,” for which he won an Emmy, or for his recurring role on “The West Wing.” For a while, though, he and his wife Melissa Gilbert were making their home in Howell, Michigan. While there, Gilbert, also an actor and former President of the Screen Actors Guild, ran for Congress. She became a Democratic nominee but had to drop out.

Towers was a working television actress for many years, most prominently on the soap opera “General Hospital.” She also appeared in the controversial Samuel Fuller film “Shock Corridor.” Towers is another actor who married a former head of the Screen Actors Guild, in this case John Gavin. However, while they were married he became Ambassador to Mexico. They stayed married until Gavin’s death in 2018.

Hayworth was married to Orson Welles for a little while, and he did play Charles Foster Kane, who was a politician. That’s not why she’s on this list, though. After Welles, she married Prince Aly Khan. In addition to his status as a prince, Khan represented Pakistan at the United Nations for a few years, where he was also vice president of the General Assembly.

Fonda is extremely political herself, as her activism is well-known. She’s also had a few notable marriages. We aren’t talking about her time with Ted Turner here. Prior to Turner, she was married to Tom Hayden, one of the most famous political activists ever. Hayden also ran for a lot of political positions and even held a couple. His greatest success was probably becoming a member of the California Senate.

Bergen, the once-and-future Murphy Brown, is here to represent the several famous women who reportedly dated Henry Kissinger. You know Kissinger from his time serving under Richard Nixon. However, he apparently is known as a former paramour to Bergen, Jill St. John and Liv Ullmann. In fact, Ullmann called him the “most interesting man I have ever met.”