Michael Douglas’ Ex-Girlfriend Brenda Vaccaro Looks Back on Their ‘Wonderful’ Relationship: ‘Beautiful’

Michael Douglas’ ex-girlfriend, Brenda Vaccaro, opened up about her special relationship with the actor in a recent interview.

“Everything was wonderful,” she told Page Six in an interview published on Sunday, May 11.

Michael, 80, and Brenda, 85, dated from 1971 to 1976. Prior to that, she was married to her first husband, Martin Fried, from 1965 to 1970.

“We were young, we were beautiful, oh my God, we were such a gorgeous couple. Breathtaking,” she said about her relationship with the Basic Instinct actor.

Brenda and Michael, who worked together on the 1971 film Summertree, made a big move to California when they were dating.

“To come to California together to experience all that stuff,” Brenda revealed. “He got his first show, The Streets of San Francisco. We were so excited. It was like, ‘Wow, you know, we left New York and came to California and everything that was supposed to happen happened.’”

Ultimately, things didn’t work out for Brenda and Michael. She went on to marry and divorce two more times before walking down the aisle with her current husband, Guy Hector, in 1986.

Brenda previously spoke to Closer in August 2017 about her “amazing life” and her former relationship with Michael. The Nonnas actress revealed that she and Michael “almost got married.”

“I did Midnight Cowboy, he fell in love with me and asked his dad, Kirk Douglas, to introduce us and offer me a part in Summertree,” she said of how they met. “He was a great guy and I loved him, but I did not want to marry him.”

Brenda said she was initially not sold on the idea of marriage at the time.

“This was the 1970s. No one got married,” Brenda shared. “Then we decided to have a ‘hippie wedding’ at my agent’s house. We said vows that we loved each other and would be together forever. Finally, it came time to say that we were doing it for real. I said, ‘Yes,’ then wound up backing out of it. I really messed that one up.”

“I fell madly in love with someone else, [actor] Don Stroud. There was this really strong connection — spiritually, sexually and so overpowering I could not handle it,” the Paper Dolls alum continued. “My dear friend Robert Shaw, who was making Jaws, told me what I was doing was rash and I was making a mistake — that momentary pleasures like the one with Don would lead to lasting regrets if I broke up with Michael.”

Brenda admitted that she had some “regrets” about her past decisions that ultimately led to her split from Michael.

“I regret all of it. Everything was different back then,” she said. “There were a lot of drugs. We hung out with Anjelica Huston and Jack Nicholson, and it was a crazy time.”

But now, she and her husband, Guy, are living a happy life together and have been married for 39 years.

“He came to my house for a charity event and my dog ran into his arms,” she said of how they met and began a relationship. “He took my dog when I filmed a picture in Denver. It started as a great friendship, and when we did a great road trip to Northern California, we decided this was going to happen.”