Who Is John McCook’s Wife? All About Laurette Spang and Her Marriage to The Bold and the Beautiful Star

John McCook's character on The Bold and the Beautiful , Eric Forrester, has walked down the aisle 10 times — but in real life, McCook has been married to wife Laurette Spang for more than four decades.

"We're very proud and very happy people," McCook told Soap Opera Digest in 2007. "We've been very lucky, but we've worked hard at it. It's taken a lot of effort."

He's a soap opera actor who's one of the two longest-running stars on The Bold and the Beautiful. She was in the original Battlestar Galactica, one of the seminal sci-fi series of all-time. The couple married on Feb. 16, 1980, and have three children together. Jake McCook was born in 1981, Rebecca McCook was born in 1983, and Molly McCook was born in 1990.

"I know how hard it is for people to be together for years and years," McCook told Soap Opera Digest. "It's a challenge, so I respect anybody who's in a relationship and works at it and makes it a priority."

Forty-four years later, the couple is still going strong. In November 2023, Spang posted a photo of the family on Instagram , captioning it, "Grateful for so much. My cup runneth over.."

So who is John McCook's wife? Here's everything to know about Laurette Spang and her relationship with the actor.

She had early aspirations of being an actress Laurette Spang was born on May 16, 1951, in Buffalo, New York, but grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich. She briefly attended college but was more interested in acting and was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

She moved to Los Angeles when she was scouted by Universal and offered a contract, which lasted two years. After that, she struggled to get work.

"I hit the unemployment lines in 1976 and was evicted from my apartment," Spang told PEOPLE in 1978. "Finally I started getting some TV, and then Galactica came along."

Spang had a role on a seminal sci-fi series From 1978 to 1979, Spang played Cassiopeia on Battlestar Galactica, a sci-fi show set in outer space. Although the show only lasted for a season (and a mini-series), it has a fervent fandom to this day and inspired a 2004 reboot that ran for four seasons.

When Battlestar Galactica started, Spang had love scenes with costar Dirk Benedict that ABC demanded be re-shot and toned down.

"That's a compliment," Spang told PEOPLE in 1978. "You'll never hear me complaining about re-shooting love scenes with Dirk."

She made appearances on other iconic TV shows Spang's most famous role was on Battlestar Galactica, but she also appeared on some of the most memorable shows from the 1970s and 1980s such as The Love Boat, Magnum P.I. and Three's Company.

The actress also had a recurring role on Happy Days. In September 2015, Spang posted a photo of her on that show to Instagram , captioning it, "Happy Days. I was Richie's girl Arlene on the prom episode."

McCook and Spang knew early on they wanted to get married In 2007, Soap Opera Digest asked McCook whether it was love at first sight for the couple.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said. "I had been through a marriage before. Laurette had not, but we were both really ready to commit to this thing. We came to a place where we thought we would be terrific together. We decided to fall in love."

In 2024, McCook was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for The Bold and the Beautiful. She attended the ceremony with him.

"My sweet Laurette, my wonderful wife [is] with me everywhere and for everything," he said.

They have three children together The couple married in 1980, and quickly started their family. Jake McCook was born in 1981, Rebecca McCook was born in 1983, and Molly McCook was born in 1990.

McCook had previously been married twice, and had son Seth McCook in 1972. Molly is an actress who starred in Last Man Standing.

The family is close and often spends time together. On Mother's Day, Spang posted a photo of McCook at the grill on Instagram .

She chose to step back from acting to raise their kids After appearing in a 1984 episode of Magnum P.I., Spang chose to step away from acting to stay home with her infant daughter and pre-school-aged son.

Talking to Soap Opera Digest in 2007, McCook explained her decision.

"When Laurette was pregnant with Jake, our first baby, she didn't want to work anymore," he said. "The lucky thing is that I worked enough that she didn't have to, and that's the way it's been all these years."

McCook continued, "She has taken great pride in her skill as a mom and as a wife and as a homemaker. At the time, she knows that she did do what she did, which is leave high school and go to the American Academy in New York and come out here and do a lot of television. She accomplished a great deal."

He has also expressed admiration for her decision to step away from the spotlight.

"I found that to be an amazing decision," McCook told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 1991. "It is one that she has never tossed back at my face. Also, her having guested on almost every episodic show, she truly felt there was more that she wanted."

She's an audiobook narrator Although she has largely stepped away from acting, Spang lent her voice to a series of audiobooks in 2021. She played roles on the audio recordings of three books in the Saga of a Fugitive Fleet series by Daniel Earnshaw, sci-fi fantasy stories set in space.