All about Samuel L. Jackson’s actress wife LaTanya Richardson as pair mark 45 years of marriage

LaTanya and Samuel made a pact to stay together ever since they first met in 1970 as graduates. “In the beginning, we always said the most revolutionary thing that Black people could do was stay together, raise their children with the nucleus of having a father and a mother, since everybody likes to pretend that that’s not the dynamic of the African American family. That it’s just children out here being raised by women, which we know is false,” she told People. “In order to change that narrative, we made a decision to say, ‘We are going to stay together no matter what. We’ll figure it out.'”

On their 45th wedding anniversary, the pair took to social media to share a sweet message. “Celebrating 45 Years of Love in Cannes!!,” the pair wrote on Instagram. “We have followed God’s path together and have received Blessings overflowing.”

LaTanya was the first woman to direct a Wilson play on Broadway. She went on the View alongside her husband to discuss her debut. 

“It’s not always what you decide,” LaTanya shared. “This was a gift from Denzel Washington. [He] brought it to me. That’s how I got it.”

LaTanya is not the only actor in the household. She also has plenty of TV, film and theater credits to her name. She has appeared in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and The Fighting Temptations (2003), as well as TV shows 100 Centre Street, Blue Bloods, Grey’s Anatomy and Luke Cage. In 2014 she received a Tony nomination for her role in A Raisin in the Sun. 

Not only has the actress starred in many TV, film and theater productions, she has also appeared alongside her husband in three roles Losing Isaiah (1995), Freedomland (2006) and Mother and Child (2009). 

LaTanya started acting when she was just 15 years old. Born and raised in Atlanta, she attended Spelman College and started acting in the children’s theater. “I got to work with such luminous actresses as Diana Sands in Macbeth,” LaTanya told Variety. “Atlanta was a welcoming presence for a lot of artists; they called it ‘the Mecca of the South.’ “

LaTanya co founded the  Samuel L. and LaTanya R. Jackson Foundation in 1999 which has donated substantial amounts to educational, arts and health organizations including the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “It was the most emotional moment for me,” she told the Washington Post. “I knew that it was an idea whose time had finally come. So I ran home and told Sam we have to be a part of this, and you have to donate so we can get this done.”

Early in his marriage, Samuel admitted he became addicted to drugs. “I had basically moved into the basement of our brownstone,” he told People. “I was like the troll in the basement, and every now and then I’d come upstairs and hover around to do something. I was addicted and being crazy.” But thanks to LaTanya, Samuel ended up in rehab. “She didn’t have to try to fix me,” he said. “She could’ve just said, ‘Get out,’ and left me into the world, let me go and be whatever I was going to be.” But LaTanya said she wanted to stick by her man whatever. “I couldn’t do that because I felt as though God had spoken to me and said, ‘Now, you can’t leave this young man like this. Give him some help. And then, if you feel like leaving afterwards, we’ll talk about it.'”