Kim Cattrall, 69, Just Married Her Longtime Love: Inside the ‘Sex and the City’ Star’s Relationships and Child-Free Life
The sultry star has been with her new husband, Russell Thomas, for almost a decade
Kim Cattrall’s signature character, Samantha from Sex and the City, was famously opposed to marriage (and had plenty of sassy things to say about preferring sexy flings to settling down), but in real life, the actress just married her longtime love, audio engineer Russell Thomas, in an intimate ceremony on December 4.
Cattrall was married three times before tying the knot with Thomas, and like Samantha, she’s always been outspoken about her love life—and her choice to not have children. Read on to learn all about the star’s colorful romantic history, from the first marriage that ended in annulment to the husband she wrote a book about orgasms with (yep, you read that right!) to her sweet new marriage to her partner of nearly 10 years.
Kim Cattrall’s brief first marriage
Kim Cattrall married her first husband, writer Larry Davis, when she was just starting her acting career in 1977. The marriage didn’t last, and was annulled in 1979. In an interview with The Guardian, she said, “When my first marriage fell apart I didn’t know if I was going to be OK for a long time. I’ve always been more insecure personally than professionally. When we met we had the same goal, but then he couldn’t see that my need to work and express myself was as important as his. I realised I wasn’t going to change his mind and I couldn’t compromise who I was.”
After her marriage ended, Cattrall briefly dated Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the early ’80s.
A worldly second marriage and a broken engagement
In 1982, Cattrall married her second husband, architect Andre J. Lyson. During their marriage, they lived in Frankfurt, and the star became fluent in German. Cattrall and Lyson divorced 1989, and she blamed intimacy issues for her marital woes, saying, “I would constantly make excuses for bad sexual experiences. Poor sex was a factor in the first two of three marriages breaking up.”
Cattrall got engaged to actor Daniel Benzali in 1996, but they broke up shortly before Sex and the City debuted. During the ’90s, she was linked to an eclectic selection of men including Devo musician Gerald Casale and French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy.
How Kim Cattrall’s third marriage led to a steamy book
Kim Cattrall married her third husband, audio engineer and musician Mark Levinson, in 1998. Cattrall and Levinson met in a jazz club and enjoyed collaborating creatively, leading to a viral clip of her scat singing while he played bass. At the height of Sex and the City mania in 2002, the couple cowrote Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm.
Sadly, writing a sexy book together didn’t make Cattrall and Levinson’s marriage last, and the couple divorced in 2004. While they were still together, Cattrall called their relationship “a blissful and deep learning experience,” but the marriage coincided with the busiest period of the actress’ career, and she said the stress of her Sex and the City filming schedule was a contributing factor in her divorce.
After her marriage to Levinson ended, Cattrall dated actor Alexander Siddig, chef Allan Wyse and artist Clifford Ross.
Kim Cattrall’s new marriage to her longtime partner: ‘He’s a bit of a rebel, which I love’
Cattrall just married her fourth husband, Russell Thomas, in a small ceremony with 12 guests. Her chic wedding look was styled by Sex and the City costume designer Patricia Field.
Cattrall and Thomas had a meet-cute in 2016, when he was working at the BBC while she was making a guest appearance on the station’s radio show Woman’s Hour. They kept in touch and started dating shortly after that fateful meeting, and were together for nine years before making it official.
There’s an element of life imitating art in Cattrall’s new marriage, as in Sex and the City, Samantha had one of her most prominent relationships with a younger man, and Thomas is 14 years the actress’ junior. Cattrall has spoken admiringly of Thomas’ bold personality, telling The Times, “He was an actor originally. He’s had an incredibly interesting life and really done it on his terms. He’s a bit of a rebel, which I love . . . we’ve had a blast. We’ve just had so much fun.”
After three marriages, Cattrall has finally found lasting love, and in an interview with People, she said, “It’s just so easy. I’m very comfortable around him. He’s a firecracker and he’s got a wicked sense of humor. And he’s easy on the eyes!” You can’t ask for a better relationship than that!
Kim Cattrall’s child-free life: ‘I am not a biological parent, but I am a parent’
Like Samantha, Cattrall has never had children, and she’s spoken candidly about this choice. As she put it, “I am not a biological parent, but I am a parent. I have young actors and actresses that I mentor, I have nieces and nephews that I am very close to. There is a way to become a mother in this day and age which doesn’t include your name on the child’s birth certificate. You can express that maternal side, very clearly, very strongly. It feels very satisfying. I didn’t change nappies, which is okay with me, but I did help my niece get through medical school. I did sit down with my nephew when he was [going through] a very tough time to join the army. And those are very motherly things to do, very nurturing things to do.”
In 2003, long before it became more common for actresses to speak out about being child-free, Cattrall penned a piece about her decision for O, The Oprah Magazine. In the article, she talked about how at one point she considered becoming a single mom by choice, but ultimately decided it wouldn’t be the right fit, writing, “When I feel lost and can’t make a decision, I just stop and get quiet. I take a time-out. I ask myself, ‘How does this feel? What do I want my life to be like?’ I try not to listen to the shoulds or coulds, and try to get beyond expectations, peer pressure, or trying to please—and just listen. I believe all the answers are ultimately within us. When I answered those questions regarding having children, I realized that so much of the pressure I was feeling was from outside sources, and I knew I wasn’t ready to take that step into motherhood.”
Cattrall’s honesty is refreshing, and after many years of romantic ups and downs and being questioned for her life choices, it’s good to know that she’s finally found contentment.
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