Hollywood’s Dennis Quaid is smitten with his fourth wife, Laura Savoie, but his latest remarks about her are raising more eyebrows than applause.
The 71-year-old and Savoie, who is 39 years younger than him, met at a business event in 2019 and got married just one year later. He told Fox News Digital this week that his “life is paradise” with her since.
When fans heard about Quaid’s over-the-top praise for his wife, many couldn’t help but point out the huge age gap between the Hollywood star and the 32-year-old woman he married during the pandemic.
Quaid says he’s never been closer to anyone in his life, calling their relationship something special. “It’s the closest relationship I’ve ever had with anybody. Every day is paradise. What can I tell you? I don’t know why God had waited so long to bring her, for her to come along, but [I’m] really glad he brought her into my life, or I walked into hers.”
But when people see them together, the first thing they notice is how different they look in age, and social media users haven’t been shy about sharing their thoughts.
“Silly old fool! Go get him girl! Take the lot!” wrote one Daily Mail reader when the couple first went public.
Another comment among the tabloid’s usual selection of disparaging remarks read, “Dirty old man.” Some got more serious about it, with one user writing, “When you’re dancing with mortality, attention from any younger woman will seem like paradise.”
The most bitter comment came from someone who said, “How annoying it must be to have to constantly explain that she isn’t his lovely granddaughter and he isn’t her beloved grandpa.”
Quaid doesn’t seem bothered by what people say about their relationship. Back in 2019, he told The Guardian that all the talk about their age gap was “really a laugh.”
He said he wasn’t looking for someone much younger when he met Savoie, and that their relationship just happened naturally. The Texas-born actor has learned not to let other people’s opinions control his happiness, especially since he says this is the best relationship he’s ever had.
Savoie isn’t just a pretty face either.
According to People, she has master’s degrees from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and the University of Notre Dame. She worked as a certified public accountant at Ernst & Young in Los Angeles, where she handled clients in real estate, drugs, retail, and entertainment. She also has a real estate license and is a certified yoga instructor, showing she’s built a solid career for herself.
The couple has mixed their personal and work lives together. In 2021, they started a production company called Bonniedale Films, with Savoie as a founding partner. Their first movie will be “American Pride,” about country music star Charley Pride. The company is based in Nashville, where they live together.
Their love story moved fast. After meeting in 2019, Quaid proposed during a trip to Hawaii when Savoie thought she was just taking a selfie. They had planned a big wedding in Hawaii with a party in Nashville, but COVID changed those plans. Instead, they had a small ceremony at a resort in Santa Barbara in June 2020, with just their pastor watching. Savoie wore a white gown and Quaid wore a light gray suit.
Religion is important to both of them. They say their shared faith is what makes their relationship strong, especially during tough times like the pandemic lockdowns. Quaid has shared that having God in their relationship makes his current marriage different from his other three marriages.
He was first married to his “Our Winning Season” co-star P.J. Soles for four years. With his second ex-wife, Meg Ryan, he shares a 33-year-old son, Jack. He also has 17-year-old twins Thomas and Zoe, born via surrogate with his third ex-wife, Kimberly Buffington.
Quaid and Savoie say they don’t even think about their age difference in daily life. During an interview on the Today show, Quaid said they “just don’t even notice it” and that he’s never gotten along better with anyone. They both love to travel, especially to Hawaii, and they like watching true crime shows together, often falling asleep to “Dateline” episodes.
Not everyone is convinced their relationship makes sense.
One Daily Mail critic put it bluntly: “She’s young enough to be his grand daughter. He couldn’t find at least a 50-year-old hottie.”
Another said, “I’d be careful if I were him, she has a PhD in accounting, probably knows how to swindle money without him even knowing it.”
A third said, “She looks eerily similar to his teenage daughter.”
But Quaid doesn’t care what people think. He says he finally feels like he has “a real partner in life” and believes this fourth marriage will be his last. For him, finding love at 71 with someone who makes every day feel like paradise is worth all the criticism from strangers on the internet.
