Michelle Pfeiffer dominated the silver screen in the 1980s and 1990s.
She was known for taking on meaty roles and playing complex, memorable characters in films that have gone on to become cult hits.
Behind-the-scenes, Michelle has been married to one of the most powerful men in TV for decades, and the pair have welcomed two children over the course of their relationship.
Scroll on to find out about Michelle Pfeiffer’s family life with her famous Hollywood husband and their two rarely-seen kids.
Who is Michelle Pfeiffer’s husband?
Michelle first met Hollywood producer David E Kelley on a blind date and later said it was “love at first sight”.
“I was kind of nervous … and I’d had a couple of bad blind dates and I had sworn off of them, and my best friend said, ‘Please, just this last time, meet this guy, David Kelley,’ and I said okay,” she revealed during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. “I thought it was a good idea to do like a bowling party.”
The pair tied in the knot in 1993.
“I got really lucky,” the Dangerous Minds star told Parade Magazine in 2012. “I never take him for granted.
“I’ve never met a person who has more integrity than my husband. I respect that. There’s his humour and intelligence, too, and he’s really cute, all those things — but if you don’t respect your partner, you’ll get sick of him.”
David, who has produced some of the biggest shows on television including Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal and Boston Legal, prefers to stay out of the limelight.
How many kids does Michelle Pfeiffer have?
The couple had only been dating for a couple of months when Michelle adopted her daughter Claudia in 1993.
“So we had this child with us right away, and most people don’t have that. But I really got to see [David] in a situation that certainly would separate the boys from the men. Obviously, he really rose to the occasion,” she told Good Housekeeping in 2007.
“We both got to see each other as parents before we progressed in our relationship together and, in a strange way, it took the pressure off, as a couple,” she continued. “It was sort of perfectly timed. I mean, it’s a real testament to the kind of person he is, but also to the fact that sometimes the traditional way of doing things isn’t always the best way.”
Michelle and David later welcomed their son, John Henry, who is now 31.
In a Good Housekeeping interview in 2007, the What Lies Beneath star said she wanted her kids to be “fighters”.
“I want them to be fighters; I want them to be survivors; I want them to have something they believe in and to stay true to themselves,” she told the publication.
“My grandmother raised five children during the Depression by herself … She was a real survivor, so that’s my stock. That’s how I want my kids to be too.”
Claudia, now 33, holds a bachelor’s degree in Slavic languages and literatures from Princeton University. Like his father, John prefers to keep a low profile.
Now 67-year-old Michelle has returned to acting in recent years, most recently starring in the Christmas film Oh What Fun in 2025 and in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Margot’s Got Money Troubles.
“I’m an empty nester now,” Michelle told Interview in 2017. “I’ve never lost my love for acting. I feel really at home on the movie set.
“I’m a more balanced person, honestly, when I’m working. But I was pretty careful about where I shot and how long I was away, whether or not it worked out with the kids’ schedule. And I got so picky that I was unhirable. And then … I don’t know, time just went on … I disappeared, yeah.”
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