It’s no mystery why former Hardy Boys sleuth Parker Stevenson married chef Lisa Schoen on Sept. 29. “The two met as neighbors when Lisa asked Parker to borrow a large pot,” a friend of the couple told Closer Weekly in an exclusive new interview. “To thank him, she returned the pot full of the best chicken soup he’d ever had!”

Proving that the way to a man’s heart is truly through his stomach, Parker popped the question to Lisa, who’s been a personal chef to industry execs, celebs, and athletes for 20 years. The actor — who has kids William, 26, and Lillie, 24, with his first wife, Kirstie Alley — wed his new bride at the Demetria Vineyards in Los Olivos, CA, before flying off to enjoy their honeymoon in Israel. Mazel tov!

Parker Stevenson Wedding
Closer Weekly

But Lisa isn’t Parker’s only love. While the 66-year-old loves acting as well, and during a 2013 sit-down with Smashing Interviews Magazine, he gushed over his life-long passion for photography.

“I’m still acting, but I’m definitely focused on this,” he said of his photography career. “I get up in the morning and edit. I get up in the morning and make calls to line up shoots. This is really where my focus is, but I have not stopped acting. I love acting. But you’re a cog in the wheel. You’re just a part of the overall picture.”

“I do wonder if I should have been shooting all along instead of acting,” Parker added of his role of Frank Hardy on Hardy Boys back in the 70s. “You can’t go back, but I had come out of Princeton not quite ready to commit to architecture and was going to NYU business school when I got offered The Hardy Boys. I thought, ‘Oh, okay. I’ll go do this for a bit.’ That really sent me off on that path. I had already done three features and 120 commercials and had worked a lot, but that really kind of set me going forward more purposefully in acting.”

Between Parker’s acting and photography skills and Lisa’s cooking skills, they make the perfect power couple! Congrats to them on their marriage.

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