5 Couples We Couldn't Stop Talking About in the 1980s

From Maury and Connie to Maria and Arnold, these pairs had PEOPLE and people abuzz

There were endless couples to talk about in the 1980s, but these five felt like some of the era's obsessions. That's why PEOPLE profiled them back then, sitting down with the stars to hear the latest on their relationships.

From opposites attracting and young bohemians to a glamorous second-time-around engagement, see five couples we couldn't stop talking about in the 1980s. And hear more from your favorite celebrities in PEOPLE's special edition, 50 Years of Stars, on Amazon and newsstands now.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver

From PEOPLE's Oct. 14, 1985, issue: She is an inner-circle Democrat and niece of JFK who coanchors the CBS Morning News, and he is a Reaganite who made his reputation with an oiled body.

Arnold Schwarzenegger said the reason for the success of their relationship is that Maria Shriver had him figured out. “I’m impatient when I want to get something done right away, and if it isn’t, I go crazy,” he shared. “I’ll get in the car screaming about something, and she’ll say, ‘Oh, yeah, look good, be brutal, look like the Terminator,’ and I’ll start laughing. Or she’ll pat my shoulder like I’m a child and say, ‘Good boy, thinking about his career. Going to be a big star.’ She always makes me laugh.”

And what Shriver likes about Schwarzenegger? “His sense of humor,” she said. “His intelligence.” What about the body? “I don’t ever think about that.” You don’t ever think about the greatest body of all time? “I just don’t think about it.”

Maury Povich and Connie Chung

From PEOPLE's April 10, 1989, issue: They are the Married Media Couple of the Moment: Connie Chung, who left NBC News for CBS and a three-year contract for close to $6 million, will slide into the Sunday anchor slot, take the helm at a magazine-style show and pinch-hit for Dan Rather.

Maury Povich, the wry host of Fox TV’s successful A Current Affair, last year also started anchoring the 7 p.m. news at the Fox station in New York. “He’s the excitement, the lightning, the recreation director,’’ said Chung. “I’m so tight and under control. I never act on impulse.’’ Povich agreed. “She has not planned one vacation in our lives,’’ he said. “She’s terrible at recess.’’

Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston

From PEOPLE's July 8, 1985, issue: Prizzi's Honor costars Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston were so popular they got their own cover story. And in it, the Oscar-winning actor opened up quite a bit about his love.

“Isn’t she terrific?" he said. "She’s a dark, coiled spring of a woman with long flowing lines. She’s got a mind and a literary sense of style, and you better believe she’s got imaginative energies. She’s absolutely unpredictable, and she’s very beautiful. What is it that holds me to her? It’s love, I guess, and only love!”

Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet

From PEOPLE's Nov. 6, 1989, issue: Destiny led Lenny Kravitz to a chance romantic encounter backstage at a 1985 New Edition concert in Los Angeles. “There are lots of stories concerning that night,’’ Kravitz told PEOPLE of his love at first meeting with Cosby Show star Lisa Bonet. “But the bottom line is, I thought she was great.’’ Now living in a loft in downtown Manhattan, “Lisa and I just like to be together,’’ said Kravitz. “We just hang out at home with our kid. We’re kinda boring really.’’

The two seemed to share a ’60s kind of love, eating organic foods, wearing Woodstock-era duds and preaching peace. In fact, “Flower Child,’’ one of the better songs on his R&B-inflected retro-rock album Let. Love Rule, is a paean to their relationship: “She wears rubies on her fingers/ Tiny bells upon her toes/ She’s the finest thing I’ve ever seen/ Love that ring inside her nose.”

Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith

From PEOPLE's Feb. 27, 1989, issue: Curled up on a sofa in the Beverly Hills Hotel, Melanie Griffith was luxuriating in the glow of her newly brilliant career. Two days before, she’d won a Golden Globe for Working Girl. But now, the one thing more dazzling than her professional prospects was a four-carat rock on her left hand, a gift from her once-and-future husband, Don Johnson.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” she burbled. “It looks like it came out of a bubble-gum machine.” On Valentine’s Day she and Johnson ended weeks of speculation with the announcement that they are going to have a baby. “She’s up in the clouds, she’s so happy,” said her mom, actress Tippi Hedren.

Griffith gave Johnson the word on the Miami Vice set. “I got completely stupid,” said Johnson. “I’ve been mush-faced ever since.”

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