The 70-year-old never even thought about becoming a dad but that changed after he met his wife Emilie Livingston.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 27, 2021. It has since been updated.
Jeff Goldblum has charmed us with his stellar performances onscreen. Be it playing the role of gifted mathematician Ian Malcolm in Jurrasic Park or the MIT-educated satellite engineer and technology expert David Levinson on Independence Day, the 70-year-old has captured our attention with his charismatic presence. Even to this day, the star continues to be a sex symbol. Goldblum has achieved a lot in his career, both as an actor as well as a musician. When it comes to his personal life, he never thought he'd get the chance to accomplish a significant feat- becoming a father. But as they say, life is unpredictable and the actor got this opportunity at the ripe age of 62. Now, at 70, he is a father of toddlers with his 38-year-old wife, Canadian Olympic gymnast Emilie Livingston.
Before Emilie, Goldblum has been married twice. From 1980 to 1986 he was married to his Silverado costar Patricia Gaul and from 1987 to 1990 to his Earth Girls Are Easy costar, Geena Davis. But when he met the gymnast at the gym, he knew she was the one. "We were at Equinox on Sunset Boulevard. I saw her from across a crowded room and I marched up to her, entranced, and began some kind of conversation," he shared according to CloserWeekly. They hit it off instantly and tied the knot on November 8, 2014, in Los Angeles. Although he had his fair share of love affairs, nothing really convinced Goldblum to become a parent. But that changed when Emilie came into his life.
"I never thought that I was going to do it," he told Radio Times during an interview. "I had never been particularly passionate [about fatherhood] or envisioned it for myself – I don’t have any nieces or nephews, had never seen a birth before." While he feared that he would have to say goodbye to his kids sooner than most parents, he couldn't help his parental instincts take over. "In the couple of lovely previous marriages I had, there was some fantasy talk about it, but never any serious business," he shared. "And I always thought it was a good thing that I didn’t have any drama with kids and breaking up." While he knew that things would be very different if he became a father at this age, he couldn't stop himself from starting a family.
He chose The Letterman Show to first announce the big news that he was about to become a father for the first time. "She's pregnant. She's three months pregnant. She told me the day before we got married that she's pregnant. It's a boy," the overjoyed artist said. On July 4, 2015, the pair welcomed their first son, Charlie Ocean Goldblum. Then two years later they were blessed with another bundle of joy. Sharing the happy news on Instagram, Livingston posted a picture of her family and wrote, "I can’t believe it’s been a week already! River Joe Goldblum was born on 4/7/17 at 8:53 am. Charlie Ocean is such a sweet and caring older brother. We couldn’t be happier!!! @jeffgoldblum is our rock and continues to be an exceptionally loving and passionate father! Love my boys!!!"
Welcoming his children at this point in his life actually felt right for Goldblum, who told US Weekly, "I feel right on schedule and I love our two boys. Everything seemed to happen perfectly. I appreciate it wildly." However, becoming a father in his 60s does worry him as knows he wouldn't be there for his sons for most of their life. "It’s not that it doesn’t occur to me. I would not want to say goodbye to them prematurely," he expressed while speaking to The Times. To spend more time with his kids, Goldblum wishes that Mother Nature would somehow prolong the inevitable for as long as she can. But that's just hope. Despite the gravity of the situation, Goldblum found a way to have a sense of humor about it. Talking to comedian Albert Brooks, he shared how his family would have "to look for schools with ramps!" Now, that's the kind of attitude one should have towards life!
References:
https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/jeff-goldblum-wife-emilie-livingston-marriage-kids-details/
https://www.goalcast.com/2021/08/15/jeff-goldblum-father-at-62/
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by David Livingston
