Inside Grease star Stockard Channing’s four marriages including with Hollywood producer ex-husband

Stockard married her first husband, Walter Channing Jr. in 1963. The two met while they were both in college – Walter at Harvard and Stockard at Radcliffe College. Their wedding ceremony was held on June 18 at St. Theresa’s Roman Catholic Church in Sherborn, Massachusetts.

While they divorced in 1967, Stockard kept the last name and eventually dropped her first name, Susan, to go by the now well-known Stockard Channing. After separating from Stockard, Walter went on to become a successful winemaker and venture capitalist, owning the Channing Daughters Winery in New York.

Walter passed away in 2015 at 74-years-old.

Three years after separating from Walter, Stockard married American playwright and professor Paul Schmidt. He taught Slavic languages at the University of Texas at Austin. The couple was married for six years, divorcing in 1976.

During his career, Paul translated Russian poet Velemir Khlebnikov’s play Zangezi, composed for the opera Alice, based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. At just 65, Paul passed away from complications of HIV-AIDS, per the Associated Press.

The same year she divorced Paul, Stockard married Hollywood writer and producer David Debin. He worked on The Newlywed Game and wrote the screenplay for Dick Tracy. After marrying Stockard in 1976, the two formed a production company.

Together, they worked on The Stockard Channing Show – David as the producer and Stockard as the star. The couple divorced after four years together. On October 2, 2025, David passed away.

There isn’t much known about Stockard’s fourth husband, David Rawle. The two were married for eight years from 1980 to 1988. While they were together, Stockard and David attended the 14th Annual Met Gala.

When asked about her many marriages, Stockard told The New York Times in 1988: “These weren’t things that were entered into casually. It’s not like I woke up in a motel in Oklahoma with a ring on my finger and said, ‘Who the hell are you?’ I would learn from each one and not make the same mistakes again.”

After divorcing in 1988, Stockard didn’t marry again. Speaking with The Guardian about her relationships in 2006, Stockard explained: “What have I learned from my divorces? I know that nobody gets married to get divorced. I don’t think I’ll get married another time.”

While Stockard and Daniel Gillham never married, they were together from 1990 until he passed away in 2014. The actress met the cinematographer on the set of A Time of Destiny.

In a conversation with The Guardian, she opened up that marrying him would “feel quite silly.” Instead they lived together as partners.