Actor Michael Beach’s character Miles in the movie “Soul Food” had an extremely complicated marriage and love life.
In the 1997 flick, he played a musician who was married to a wife named Terry, played by Vanessa Williams. But one evening, when she left the home, Miles gave into temptation and slept with her cousin Faith, portrayed by Gina Ravera. Viewers often remember the iconic scene where Terry confronted her husband and cousin with a knife at a family house party.
Beach’s real life is just as complicated, but not as messy. His wife of 17 years Elisha, whom he married in 2007, and his ex-wife Tracey of eight years, both live in the same home with him, in what he describes as a functional “blended family.”
During a recent interview with Sway Calloway, Heather B and Tracey G on “Sway’s Universe” last month, Beach attempted to shed light on his unconventional yet harmonious family lifestyle, capturing the complexities of their situation for people looking out on the outside and sharing how each person’s lives has been more enriched by the arrangement.
When the “Lean on Me” actor spoke about his unique living structure in 2020 on OWN’s “Black Love” special, he first explained how he and Elisha were together for a decade before getting married and have been in each other’s lives for a long time.
“On ‘Black Love,’ I talk about the fact that my ex-wife lives with my wife and I and our kids,” he told Calloway, adding, “She’s been living with us now for, I don’t know, 7-8 years, and she’s just part of our family.”
He married Tracey in 1998 and after their divorce in 2006, he thought he would never get married again.
Beach candidly reflects on his first marriage, which produced four children, saying, “It didn’t work out. I thought, well, why do I have to do that again? I’m done.”
Despite the marriage ending, Beach noted, “It wasn’t a horrible marriage.”
He further explained how he and Elisha were together for a decade before getting married in 2007 and have been in each other’s lives for a long time.
“We’ve been together 24 years now,” Beach explained, emphasizing the length of his relationship with Elisha. “She literally, to and from my mind, saved me from myself … in terms of my happiness. I can’t imagine the idea of not being in love and being with someone … aging as I am and not having that relationship.”
The 60-year-old acknowledges that this situation might seem odd from the outside looking in, but for their family, it works perfectly.
“It sounds kind of crazy, yeah. It is a rare situation,” the “Asunder” actor said to the hosts. “They [his children] just know her as Tracey. They know we used to be married… because our older children, who are in their 30s, come over all the time. They know Tracey is their mom and I’m their dad.”
This blending of families, while complex, has become a natural part of their lives. Beach shares that the arrangement has helped him let go of any lingering negativity from his past.
He said, “A lot of people hold on to it, and it really doesn’t help you. You get bitter, and you make bad decisions because of that weight and pressure. I’ve found that letting stuff go just makes my life so much easier.”
Elisha, according to Beach, has been a key figure in fostering this peaceful family dynamic.
“She helped me do that,” he said of letting go of the past. “Her embracing the fact that my ex-wife is living with us — yeah, exactly.”
It’s clear that the arrangement, which might puzzle outsiders, has been beneficial for everyone involved, including Beach’s children.
“The funny thing is they’re together more than we are together,” he stated noting he’s had to take acting gigs and be gone for months at a time.
He pointed to a time after Tracey moved in and he was filming “Aquaman” in Australia for two months and could not come home, he saw how the two would then spend time together, supporting each other.
“Elisha and Tracey got closer… Tracey was very helpful with our [four younger] kids, taking them to school and helping with dinners. It just worked out,” Beach said.
From his relationship with Tracey he has four children: 26-year-old twin girls; Quincey and Tyler, Alexandra, 24; and Roarke Beach, 36.
Beach’s children with Elisha are named, Jackson, 14, Nolan, 10, Ledgend, who is in high school and Davis, 7. Still, the situation has drawn some misconceptions, especially from those outside the family.
A few fans dismissed the non-traditional family roles that each person has assumed, including Tracey helping Elisha out with the smaller children, saying things like, “Michael Beach is the Efn MAN. I want him to play me in my life story.”
Another commented, “Idk. Lol sumin seem a lil off.”
Still, the “Waiting to Exhale” star isn’t paying any attention to critics as he clears up misconceptions about his marriage. He made it clear that, unlike his character Miles, he is entirely different when it comes to his wife.
This clarification came after he caused a stir on social media in 2023, when he asked fans to reflect on the movie and suggest who they thought he should have chosen — likely aware that people would draw parallels to his current situation.
“On social media, especially on ‘Black Love,’ it always comes up, ‘Oh, well, you’ve got this little thing going on. This little sex thing,” Beach laughs off the assumptions the three of them are in a polyamorous relationship. As he set the record straight, he added, “There’s nothing farther from the truth.”
Ultimately, Beach sums up why this blended family arrangement works so well, “Tracey is a part of my life, part of my family. We have four kids together… I can’t cut her off. It’s just not going to happen.”
His ability to embrace an unconventional family structure, while letting go of past hurts, has given him peace.
In a world where many hold onto grudges, Beach’s story offers a lesson in forgiveness, openness, and the ability to redefine family in a way that works for everyone involved.
