After nearly 40 years of marriage, actor Dan Aykroyd and his wife, Donna Dixon, have declared their intention to divorce.

“We are now on separate life paths after 39 years as a marriage.” The Saturday Night Live alum, 69, and Dixon, 64, said in a joint statement to People on Friday, April 29 that they are still legally married, parents, coworkers, and business partners. “This is our beloved friend’s choice.”

After meeting on the set of the film Doctor Detroit earlier that year, the separated couple married in 1983.

“You have to find the right person – look them in the eye, have them look back, and know their essence,” Aykroyd said of their collaboration to the Tampa Bay Times in May 2014. “She’s a Southern lady who is patient and doesn’t mind dealing with the boys on occasion.” I refer to her as the White Goddess. “And my name is the Green Demon.”

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Danielle (stage name Vera Sola), Belle, and Stella are the couple’s three daughters, who have appeared in Twilight Zone: The Movie, Spies Like Us, and Exit to Eden.

He rose to prominence as a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live before going on to star in films such as Driving Miss Daisy, Trading Places, Crossroads, and Grosse Pointe Blank.

“I was in’show business’ the moment I started performing,” Aykroyd told the BBC in January 2020. “I had to market and negotiate my own deals.” Every audition is a sale, and then there’s the contract, union commitments, tax planning, and — if you’re lucky enough to have a decent profession as an actor — investment.”

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“Then, when I was originating my projects, that is, selling a piece of material, I had to determine a value and broker a deal,” he stated at the time. So I’ve spent my entire life in the entertainment industry. It’s not difficult to see the data in a different light.”

The late Carrie Fisher and the Blues Brothers star were previously engaged after meeting backstage at an NBC variety show and then shared the screen in the 1980 musical comedy.

In a January 2017 interview with Empire magazine, he said, “I met Carrie at Saturday Night Live.” “She and John Belushi hit it off right away. I recall how much she used to make him laugh. Carrie and I later fell in love while making Blues Brothers, and during the shoot, she moved in with me in a penthouse apartment in the futuristic, aluminum-clad Astro Tower, for which I knew I had to apologize. Carrie had the most sophisticated art and design sense.”

“Carrie wasn’t shallow,” he said, “and we had a terrific time.” She had a crush on Paul Simon as well. I hope she retained my ring when she married him.”

Following their 1980 breakup, the Star Wars actress reconnected with Simon, who died of a heart attack in December 2016. She dated Bryan Lourd after their breakup, with whom she shared daughter Billie Lourd.