Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova

Being a child of divorce (actually an adult of divorce; I was 21), and happily married (except for small irritations involving multiple dirty towels per day, wet bathroom floors, and an apparent clothes hamper phobia), I was curious to track other “model” marriages and see if Paulina and Ric are the exception; are celebs splitting up more often when their parents’ unions did not last till death did them part? Or are fame, fortune, and hot co-workers (Ric and Paulina met on the set of a Car’s music video) the problem?

Here’s a rundown:

Christie Brinkley – divorced 4 times; divorced parents

Brooke Shields – divorced once (married to writer/producer Chris Henchy); divorced parents

Elle MacPherson – divorced once; divorced parents

Cindy Crawford – divorced once (married to restaurateur and former model Rande Gerber); divorced parents

Linda Evangelista – divorced once; parents NOT divorced

Tatjana Patitz – divorced once; parents NOT divorced

Stefanie Seymour – divorced once (almost twice; married to billionaire businessman Peter Brant); parents NOT divorced

Christy Turlington – no divorces (married to actor/director/writer Ed Burns); parents NOT divorced

Claudia Schiffer – no divorces (married to film director Matthew Vaughn); parents NOT divorced

Heidi Klum – divorced once, likely to divorce Seal (Read About That Here); parents NOT divorced

Kate Moss – married The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince last summer; parents divorced

Seal and Heidi Klum

Looks like I can’t pinpoint exactly why some celeb matches last and some don’t (so much for becoming a fabulously successful Hollywood marriage counselor). Divorced parents don’t help the odds of marital bliss, but clearly the biggest divorce risk factor is being famous enough to be on this list. These models are way over the general public’s 50% divorce rate, while their parents are right in line with it.

Based on the data, the odds aren’t looking great for Kate, but at least she has Paulina for inspiration. A friend’s mom (who knew my fiance well) offered up this bit of advice on my wedding day: “The key to a successful marriage is low expectations.” Brilliant!

Paulina and I recently “chatted” on Twitter and she shared this advice: “Work just as hard at marriage as you would for CEO. And low expectations help.”

To see where I came up with the idea for this post, see the last paragraph of 15 Oscar Winners Who Used to Model

Former models who have won TWO Best Actress Oscars: Ingrid Bergman, Vivien Leigh, Jane Fonda and Halle Berry.

Ingrid Bergman

Vivien Leigh

Former models who have won one Best Actress Oscar: Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Jones, Geraldine Page, Joan Fontaine, Sophia Loren, Julia Roberts, and Charlize Theron.

Jane Fonda

Clearly, using modeling as a bridge to acting is not a new concept.

Halle Berry

Shirley MacLaine

Incidentally, during my research I noticed that many actresses who have Oscars on their mantles come from broken homes. Children of divorce must find escaping into imaginary worlds therapeutic and/or they have more raw emotions at the ready. Since people with divorced parents are more likely to divorce themselves, perhaps all those celebrity break-ups aren’t entirely due to fame, fortune, media hounding, and the temptation of hot co-stars. Stay tuned for a look at “model” marriages (both lasting and fleeting) and their correlation to vows honored or broken in the generation before.