Beloved veteran actor John Lithgow brought a special date to the 2026 Met Gala: his wife of over 40 years.
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Indeed, Lithgow—set to play Dumbledore in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter reboot—attended the star-studded affair with his longtime wife, Mary Yeager. The star, who celebrated his 80th birthday in October, proved that classic style never gets old. He kept things simple but effective fashion-wise, sporting a dark tuxedo and matching bowtie with a crisp white shirt.
Meanwhile, Yeager, a professor at UCLA, proved that brains and beauty are a killer combo. She rocked a knit mustard gown complete with a matching cape. Topping off the look with a green floral necklace and earrings, she added an air of mystery with a pair of chunky brown shades.
Her blonde, shoulder-length hair was parted simply, letting the bold accessories do the talking.
John Lithgow Once Opened Up About His Marriage: ‘We Are an Unlikely Couple’
Last year, Lithgow shed light on how his marriage has stood the test of time, admitting that his wife Mary Yeager’s career as a UCLA professor and researcher makes for an unusual pairing.
“That’s a huge factor. I’ve been married 43 years to my wife Mary, who’s a UCLA professor of history, economic, and business history. We are an unlikely couple, you know? God never meant professors and actors to get married because our lives are so different,” Lithgow said on the Smartless podcast, hosted by Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes. “She is constantly having to adapt to these crazy right-angle turns I keep taking.”
“Just think — being asked to play Dumbledore is contemplating literally years in England,” he pointed out. “And that just disrupts everything.”
Together, Lithgow and Mary have two children. Lithgow also has a son, Ian, from his first marriage to Jean Taynton.
“I have three grandkids with another on the way. Going to England, how are we going to go back and forth? Their lives are very installed here,” he explained. Throughout the podcast, he noted that he and Mary own homes in Los Angeles, New York, and her home state of Montana.
Later in the podcast, Lithgow shared that while Mary “is retired from teaching [but] she still researches and writes and goes to conferences.”
“She travels more than I do,” he added. “She travels all over the world, and I’m a trailing spouse on many occasions.”