Why Dan Aykroyds Wife Nearly Married A Rock Legend Instead Of Him

Posted by Jenniffer Sheldon on Monday, September 2, 2024

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During the early years of Saturday Night Live, the trend of the show spawning major movie stars started almost immediately. Of course, Dan Akroyd was an example of that as after starring in SNL, he went on to headline a very long list of beloved movies during the ‘80s. On top of being a movie star, Akroyd also was the one who came up with the concept for Ghostbusters and several other movies.

Related: 25 Hidden Details Only True Fans Noticed In The Original Ghostbusters Movies

No matter how funny Dan Akroyd may be, he never would have become a movie star if it wasn’t for the fact that there is something about him that viewers gravitate to. Most likely because of Akroyd’s unique charisma, his spectacular sense of humor, and the fact that he carries himself with a lot of confidence, he wound up marrying the gorgeous Donna Dixon.

As it turns out, however, Akroyd almost didn’t get the chance to walk down the aisle with Dixon because she came close to committing herself to a rock ‘n’ roll legend.

Who Is Dan Akroyd’s Wife, Donna Dixon?

When people talk about the early-‘80s sitcom Bosom Buddies, it almost always is in the context of the fact that Tom Hanks starred in the show before he became a massive movie star. While that makes perfect sense, Hanks is far from the only actor who starred in the show of course.

One of the other people who starred in Bosom Buddies as Sonny is Dan Akroyd's wife Donna Dixon who is best known for her role in the show.

Related: 13 Surprising Facts About Eddie Murphy And Dan Aykroyd's Relationship

Once Bosom Buddies came to an end after two seasons, Donna Dixon moved on to other roles. Dixon popped up in shows like The Love Boat, Who’s the Boss?, Moonlighting, The Nanny, and an episode of The Twilight Zone that aired in 2020. Dixon also landed roles in movies like Spies Like Us, Exit to Eden, Wayne’s World, and Nixon among others.

Just after Bosom Buddies ended, Donna Dixon starred in another movie and landing that role changed the actor’s life forever. In 1983, an almost forgotten movie called Doctor Detroit was released with Dan Akroyd, Fran Drescher, and Donna Dixon in starring roles.

After meeting Akroyd on the set of Doctor Detroit, even though they don’t share any scenes in the movie, Dixon was captivated by the actor.

After working on Doctor Detroit together, Dan Akroyd and Donna Dixon wound up walking down the aisle together. Once Akroyd and Dixon were married, the couple went on to have three daughters together, one of which became a singer under the stage name Vera Sola.

As of the time of this writing, Akroyd and Dixon have been married for 39 years. Sadly, after almost four decades together, Akroyd and Dixon announced in 2022 that they were separating although they also stated they planned to remain legally married.

Which Rock Star Did Dan Akroyd’s Wife Almost Marry Instead?

Before Dan Akroyd and Donna Dixon walked down the aisle in 1983, the couple began dating roughly a year earlier. Not too long after Akroyd and Dixon began dating, he got down on one knee and proposed to the gorgeous actor.

While it seems safe to assume that Dixon was overjoyed to become Akroyd’s fiancée, it turns out that she pretty much was engaged to another man not long before that.

Related: 10 Things We Bet You Didn't Already Know About The Kiss Frontman Gene Simmons

Back in 1981, Donna Dixon became involved with one of the biggest rock stars in the world at that time, Paul Stanley.

Unlike his KISS bandmate Gene Simmons who has always loved bragging about his exploits with women and only became committed to someone late in life, Stanley seemingly was a one-woman man. After all, Stanley gave Dixon a diamond ring and even though he was reluctant to call it an engagement ring, he knew he didn’t want to lose her.

Unfortunately for Paul Stanley, Donna Dixon wound up breaking up with him after talking about needing to be on her own to figure out who she was. According to Stanley, after being separated for a while, he reached out to Dixon wanting to get back together.

Even though Stanley and Dixon never got back together, Stanley was shocked when soon after that he saw a newspaper article that revealed that Dixon had gotten married to Dan Akroyd. After his relationship with Dixon ended, Stanley wrote the song “A Million to One” about their split.

Just like Donna Dixon, Dan Akroyd came close to marrying another person. After meeting Carrie Fisher on the set of The Blues Brothers, the two actors became a couple. Clearly smitten with her at the time, Akroyd wound up popping the question to Fisher and the couple got engaged.

Not too long after that, Fisher and Akroyd’s time together came to an end when she got back together with her ex at the time, Paul Simon.

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