The Real-Life Loves Of The American Graffiti Cast

The following article includes mentions of suicidal thoughts and drug abuse, as well as allegations of sexual assault.

With "American Graffiti," George Lucas set out to make a movie that captured a special time in his life: the car culture of the early 1960s. The movie spends as much time lovingly showing off the classic automobiles as it does the young up-and-coming cast that included Richard Dreyfuss, Mackenzie Phillips, and Harrison Ford. Throughout the story, each character faces an uncertain future as they spend the last day of summer drag-racing, eating burgers, and hoping to find their one true love.

The movie was a massive success at the box office and earned five Oscar nominations. Even decades later, "American Graffiti" and its cast are celebrated by movie fans around the world. And, not unlike the characters they play in the movie, each star has found themselves striving to find true love. Some have been successful, while others seem to still be searching for the person they are meant to be with. But each of them has experienced love in one form or another, and come out the other side better for it.

Richard Dreyfuss was in his mid-20s when he was cast as high school graduate Curt Henderson in "American Graffiti." Throughout the movie, Dreyfuss's character becomes obsessed with finding a beautiful blonde woman in a white Thunderbird. After a night of searching, Dreyfuss finally gets to talk to the blonde, but only for a moment before he has to get on a plane and head off to college, missing out on what may have been his greatest love.

In real life, Dreyfuss has also searched for true love. The actor, whose performance in "The Goodbye Girl" earned him an Academy Award in 1978, has been married three times. He married his first wife, writer and producer Jeramie Rain, in 1983, just months after getting out of rehab. Before the end of the year, Rain gave birth to their first child, Emily. Their second, Ben, came along in 1986, and their third, Harry, was born in 1990. By 1995, Dreyfuss and Rain divorced, which left him in a deep state of depression to the point that he considered ending his own life, but, as he told People, "I would have never committed suicide because my daughter would have been really p*ssed. I wouldn't want to hurt her."

In 1998, Dreyfuss started a relationship with Janelle Lacey, and the two married a year later. Lacey, an accountant, lived a more private life than Dreyfuss and, since they divorced in 2005, has stayed out of the public eye. In 2006, Dreyfuss married Svetlana Erokhin, in a private ceremony in North Carolina, and the two have been together ever since.

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Cindy Williams was already building a successful acting career by the time she was cast in "American Graffiti" as Laurie, the sister of Richard Dreyfuss' character, who also happens to be dating his best friend. In the movie, Williams' character is devastated when her boyfriend says they should each see other people while at college. In the end, the two decide to stay together after a near-death experience. In real life, Williams initially struggled with love before meeting her husband. 

Williams became a household name when she co-starred in the hit sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," playing Shirley Feeney for seven seasons. During that time, Williams briefly dated comedian Andy Kaufman and fellow "Laverne & Shirley" star David Lander, who played Squiggy. But, as Williams revealed to The State (via MeTV), she had trouble getting dates while starring on one of the biggest TV shows of the time, explaining, "I wonder the real motive now when somebody wants to date me ... I ask myself, 'Does he want to be on the cover of the National Enquirer?"

But Williams did find love. In 1982, she married singer Bill Hudson and became the stepmother to his children from his previous marriage to Goldie Hawn, including Kate Hudson. Williams soon became pregnant, which led to her exciting "Laverne & Shirley" just two episodes into the show's eighth season. Williams and Hudson had two children together, Emily and Zachary. The couple stayed together for 18 years, but divorced in 2000. While Williams never remarried, her divorce did lead to her and "Laverne & Shirley" co-star Penny Marshall reuniting and becoming close friends. 

The long-running working relationship between George Lucas and Harrison Ford started on "American Graffiti." Lucas cast the young actor as Bob Falfa, a cowboy hat-wearing out-of-towner who shows up in Modesto looking for some trouble and, in the process, nearly gets Cindy Williams' Laurie killed. 

Ford married Mary Marquardt in 1964, well before his acting career took off. By the time "American Graffiti" came around, Ford had all but given up on being an actor and was focused on his carpentry work, which made sure he could provide for his wife and the first two of his five children. It wouldn't be until Ford reteamed with Lucas for 1977's "Star Wars" that he would become a star. It was during the filming of "Star Wars" that Ford had a brief affair with co-star Carrie Fisher, who was 14 years younger than him. Ford and Marquardt divorced in 1979. 

Ford first met his second wife, Melissa Mathison, while filming a role in Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" in 1976,  where Mathison was working as a production assistant. Ford and Mathison started dating in 1982 and married a year later. The couple had two children together before splitting up in 2000. 

Ford met his third wife, actor Calista Flockhart, at the 2002 Golden Globes. They married eight years later and, by then, Ford was already filling the role of the father in Flockhart's adopted son's life. Ford and Flockhart have been together ever since.

The youngest cast member of "American Graffiti," Mackenzie Phillips was just 13 when she played Carol, a young girl who tricks Modesto, California's best drag racer into driving her around all night. Like Carol, Phillips was also doing things she shouldn't have been doing, like trying drugs. Her father, The Mamas & The Papas leader John Phillips, introduced Mackenzie to drugs at a very young age. 

In 1975, Phillips became a star thanks to her role as older sister Julie in the hit sitcom "One Day at a Time," and her addictions continued. She married her first husband, rock promoter Jeffrey Sessler, in 1979 and divorced him in 1980. Phillips was assaulted by her father over the course of 10 years, including on her wedding night to Sessler.

Phillips married Shane Fontayne in 1986, and the pair had a son in 1987. Phillips entered rehab in 1992 and stayed sober for the rest of her marriage to Fontayne, which ended in 2000. In 2002, she relapsed after taking painkillers following surgery. In 2005, Phillips married composer Keith Levenson. Phillips was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport in 2008 after being found carrying heroin and cocaine. In 2010, she joined the cast of the reality series "Celebrity Rehab," marking her 11th attempt to get sober. 

Thankfully, Phillips has stayed sober since and now works as an addiction counselor for Breathe, explaining, "I lost myself for many years. Now, with a strong recovery, I'm committed to helping others find their voice." Sadly, her marriage to Levenson ended in 2017.

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Ron Howard was already famous when he was cast as Steve Bolander in "American Graffiti." The actor started his career at 5 years old and grew up in front of TV viewers while playing Opie Taylor on "The Andy Griffith Show" for eight seasons. Howard was fresh out of high school himself when he took the role, but he had already met the love of his life, Cheryl Alley.

Howard and Alley met when they were both students at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California. As he explained to People, "I met her, and there was never anybody else." The two went on their first date on November 1, 1970. The pair stayed together when Howard went off to film "American Graffiti," all through college, and when Howard starred on "Happy Days" in 1974, kicking off the second stage of his career. Howard proposed to Alley three times before she accepted, and the couple married in 1975. 

Alley supported Howard as he began to transition from acting to directing, and, in 1981, they had their first child, daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, who has become a famous actor and director herself. In 1985, they welcomed twins Paige and Jocelyn to the family and, two years later, their son Reed was born. In 2020, Howard took to Instagram to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his and Alley's first date, showing off the special socks he has to commemorate the day. In an industry known for whirlwind romances and contentious divorces, Howard and Alley have shown that true love isn't just something that happens in the movies.