Movers & Shakers: The Couples That Matter

Hollywood is hard on marriage, but marriages between Hollywood players can make for fascinating alliances that add their own dynamics to the business of show.

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In a well-known 1930 photograph that radiates glamour, modernism and the power of two, MGM design maestro Cedric Gibbons and his exquisitely stylish movie star wife Dolores Del Rio lean against the monumental black terrazzo and silver nickel fireplace in the living room of the home he designed for them. He looks straight at the camera, a man in a harmonized world of his own creation. She gazes off to the side, too attuned to cameras to openly acknowledge this one. Gibbons and Del Rio did not just have taste, they defined it and, though they lived in imperfectly overlapping worlds, they had for a time such compatible sensibilities and complementary dispositions that Hollywood felt their combined presence as a third force above and beyond two people. Hollywood marriages that add up to less than the sum of their parts even on a good day are quite common. A merger of charisma on the level of Gibbons and Del Rio is rare. But in between those two possibilities are many synergistic pairings that generate a lot of moving and shaking in every aspect of Hollywood life, from the green-lighting of movies to the pace-setting of social life to the groundbreaking of style. Here are couples, some long-established and some up-and-coming, whose teamwork is particularly interesting to observe at this particular moment.

Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston

The fame of either partner is enough to crush a marriage, but Brad and Jennifer have managed to survive tabloid fixation on their potential for parenthood, keep high individual professional profiles, coexist with quite different personal aesthetics (his love of minimalist contemporary architecture and her preference for more traditional elegance) and make bold moves together with their production partnership, Plan B, in conjunction with their mutual manager Brad Grey, an executive producer of The Sopranos. They've got Johnny Depp and Tim Burton working for them on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and reportedly used their powers of persuasion to get Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl's widow to grant them rights to the story of his murder in Pakistan. All that and the ability to create front-page trends with a single haircut.

Steven Spielberg & Kate Capshaw

He famously chose her over 120 actresses who tried for the lead in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but as husband and wife, Spielberg and Capshaw have had an even longer run. She chooses to act selectively now, but has complemented the once never-grow-up, now ever-older-and-wiser living legend perfectly as he's maintained a high level of productivity, sustained devotion to causes like the Shoah Foundation, operated within his studio DreamWorks, done his dollar thing for the Democrats, and kept a striking social profile in both Brentwood (massive horse stables and all) and the Hamptons.

Casey Wasserman & Laura Z. Wasserman

No wonder music supervisor Laura Wasserman, hot off Moulin Rouge, knocked her powerful surname Zifrin (Dad's heavy-duty entertainment attorney Ken) down to a Z. and took the name of her 11-years-younger husband, Casey. Grandson of powerhouse sans pareil Lew Wasserman (who was Casey's mother's father, meaning Casey wasn't actually born a Wasserman either), the Wasserman heir bought L.A.'s Arena Football League franchise, the Avengers, six years ago when he was just 24, and is said to wield the power of Wasserman Foundation largesse: with a certain affable shyness. Laura, now mother of the next Wasserman heir, is said to be tough enough for the two of them in their dynastic roles as industry shapers, Democratic Party contributors and social scenesters.

Steve & Jamie Tisch

Tisch is a longtime Hollywood producer with credits ranging from Risky Business to Forrest Gump. Nephew of ultra-high-profile billionaire philanthropist Laurence A. Tisch (theaters, hotels, oil, CBS), he continues to put the family name on buildings across the country with generous donations. Jamie, Tisch's wife of 10 years and mother of his three young children, is fashion-forward and design-savvy (she renovated their Georgian mansion in Beverly Hills with the renowned Thomas Beeton). They are among the very few couples that carry on the Golden Age tradition of creative entertaining with elegant dinners and screenings, often several times a week. The Tisches are tireless in big-time charity causes and constantly visible.

Richard & Lili Fini Zanuck

"Nobody has a harder time being taken seriously in this industry than the producer's much younger third wife," Lili Fini Zanuck once said. She gathered her early credits under her husband's wing, but now that she's been married more than 25 years to the 20-years-older heir to the powerful Zanuck name (who'd added his own power to the legacy with credits like Jaws), she's solid Hollywood establishment herself. Governor Schwarzenegger, a family friend, recently appointed her to the state's film commission. Though her directorial efforts have never completely flown, her talents were crucial when she and her husband took over producing the Oscars in 1999, deep-sixing the dreaded dance production numbers and introducing a style coordinator. A socially adept, at-home-in-Hollywood duo and a balanced professional pair, the Zanucks live in old-style splendor but as a modern marital team.

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