Kirk Douglas & Anne Buydens

Kirk Douglas may be a superstar when he met Anne Buydens, but it wasn’t enough to get her to say yes to dinner with him. Believe it or not, it was the first time a woman rebuffed him, which piqued his curiosity. Eventually, Douglas won her over when he started listening to her rather than talk about himself all the time. He went out of his way to prove to her that he wasn’t the man that everyone thinks he is on camera. They eventually got married in 1954 and had two children, Peter and Eric.

Douglas has stated that his wife has saved him many times, including preventing him from traveling on a plane that eventually crashed. Buydens also got credited for saving Douglas’ finances after checking his salary. She used her knowledge and hired a financial advisor to help invest his money, making his net worth soar higher.