Old Hollywood Couples: Actresses Who Have Dated Their Co-Stars

1. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

Taylor, while a world-renowned actress, was equally known for her many love affairs and husbands. These future lovers first met on the set of the 1963 film, Cleopatra, which saw Taylor portray the Queen of Egypt while Burton was Mark Antony. According to the famed actress, Burton approached her with the rather lame pickup line, “Has anybody ever told you that you’re a very pretty girl?” Given that Taylor was a major movie star and considered to be one of the most beautiful actresses at the time, she wasn’t much affected by the moment.

2. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy

Hepburn and Tracy first met on the set of Woman of the Year in 1942, which they starred in as a pair of journalists who fall in love. The actors fell in love in real life, too, but kept their relationship a secret for nearly two decades. Although it was known about in Hollywood, Tracy was a devout Catholic who was married and knew divorce was not an option.

3. Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart

These major movie stars met on the set of To Have and To Have Not in 1943. Bogart, then age 44, was married to Mayo Methot when he met the 19-year-old Bacall. Although Bacall was not very interested in Bogart at first, eventually they fell hard for each other. The two began dating in secret while Bogart awaited his divorce from Methot.

Bacall and Bogart eventually married in 1945, shortly after the actor’s divorce. They had two children together — Stephen and Leslie Bogart — in 1949 and 1952, respectively. Bacall and Bogart continued to star in films together, including The Big Sleep (1946) and Key Largo (1948). The couple remained together until Bogart’s untimely death in 1957 at the age of 57.

4. Sophia Loren and Cary Grant

Like all love affairs, it starts with a first glance. Loren and Grant initially met on the set of the 1957 movie The Pride and the Passion, when Grant was 53 and Loren was 23. Loren was involved with her future husband, Carlo Ponti, at the time and Grant was onto his third marriage, this one with Betsy Drake.

Loren wrote in her 2014 memoir, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life, “When I finally saw Cary’s unmistakable profile at the door, I thought I’d faint… He looked as though he’d just stepped down from the screen: a dream come true.” While Loren eventually chose Ponti and Grant went on to marry twice more, the two remained entangled for many years.

5. Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini

While Bergman admired Rossellini long before meeting him on the set of the 1950 movie Stromboli, the two didn’t begin their affair until then. Both were married — Bergman to Petter Lindström and Rossellini to Marcella De Marchis — but that didn’t stop their blossoming love.