Joe Mantegna Is Married for 46 Years to High School Friend Who Paused Her Dream to Support His Career
Finding a partner who stands by you through thick and thin is a blessing in itself. And actor Joe Mantegna has been lucky both in his career and his love life.
Joe Mantegna is an incredibly popular actor. His portrayal of David Rossi on CBS “Criminal Minds” is the most iconic role that he is known for. While on the show Mantegna’s character has a number of failed relationships and marriages, in real life, his love life is a triumph.
Joe Mantegna’s marriage to Arelene Vrhel is legendary. He met the woman of his dreams when he was only in high school and since then their romance has blossomed into something beautiful.
The duo was cast in a play together while they were in the same drama club at school. But it was not until a few years later that their relationship turned romantic.
Mantegna was at Morton East High School and junior college in Cicero, Illinois, while Arlene studied at Morton West High School in Berwyn, Illinois.
The duo met again a few years later when they were both wiser. The two had been cast in ‘Hair,’ a play at a theater in Chicago. It was at this stage in their lives that their relationship became romantic.
Later Joe recalled fondly, “As it turned out, we both got cast. And, you know, it turned into something else.”
And Joe recalls that play and the memories associated with it quite often. He shared an image of him and his wife, in costume for the play. He captioned the picture, “Yes that’s me and my darling wife Arlene when we did Hair. #hairthemusical.”
While the couple knew early on that this was it, they remained unmarried for a while, taking their time and having fun. According to Arlene, this was because they were “hippies.”
But in 1975, the couple decided to make things official and tied the knot after sharing vows with one another in the most romantic place on earth; on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
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