While husband John Lithgow might have several works under his belt as a writer, his academic wife Mary Yeager is no writing slouch herself. Now an emeritus professor of economics and history courses at UCLA, the Ph.D. holder Yeager has done much research on dense topics. Per her staff page, some of her publications include “Competition and Regulation: The Dynamics of “Oligopoly in the Meat Packing Industry,” and “Will There Ever Be a Feminist Business History?”
Together they share two children, Nathan and Phoebe as well as a child from Lithgow’s previous marriage Ian, and Yeager’s career in California might have even led to some of Lithgow’s success. Lithgow didn’t move to LA to chase the Hollywood dream decades ago–he did so because he wanted to be closer to Yeager, the actor told The Seattle Times. It was just a few years after he moved to Yeager that Lithgow scored some of his major roles in films like “Garp,” “Footloose” and “Terms of Endearment,” the outlet added.
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On the topic of his decades-long marriage, Lithgow waxed poetic to The New York Times. “I’ve brought a recklessness to her life, and she’s brought an order to mine,” the actor told the newspaper. “That’s what moved me so much about [“Love is Strange” a film he did opposite Alfred Molina] how it shows how essential another human being can be to you if a relationship lasts that long.”
