Latest news with #BetterLove
Hamilton Spectator
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Looking for better love: I'm a 71-year-old widower hoping to fall desperately in love one last time
Better Love — part of the Star's Toronto the Better project — is a yearlong personal ad series that connects Torontonians looking for love, and offers an alternative to our swiping habit. Singles pen honest, vulnerable descriptions of what and who they're looking for, in a throwback to (photo-free) personal ads of yore. These essays will appear regularly in the Star, and interested parties can reply to an email address — betterlove@ — to connect. I'm retired after a successful career as a lawyer, corporate executive and educator. I was born and raised in Toronto but have lived and travelled elsewhere, including, when I was younger, Europe for two months on five dollars a day, and a few years later on an around-the-world five-month journey. I have both a pan-Canadian and a global perspective. I also loved playing tennis for 50 years, downhill skiing for 30 years and volleyball for 20 years. Although I was raised Jewish, I do not ascribe to any formal religion; I consider myself a spiritual person with a true moral compass and a strong interest in giving back. I am 71 years young and pursue a variety of interests with energy and enthusiasm, including performing in a rock and pop choir; volunteering as a tutor for new Canadians in English, math, and computer skills; and taking courses on a variety of subjects that pique my interest and fulfil my goal of being a lifelong learner. Joining a rock and pop choir indicates my risk-taking (as the last time I was in a choir was when I was nine), along with a love of music and performing. Film is an abiding passion, and I am a member of both TIFF and Hot Docs, and have volunteered for both over the last three festivals. Being single as well as retired allows me to do all the things I like to do. If necessary, I am prepared to modify at least some of that to be with someone I love. I married later in life, at age 46. We had 20 wonderful years together, travelling the world, writing books together, laughing, and loving each other. Sadly, she was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and passed in 2020. It was a struggle to come to terms with her passing. I began to date again late in 2022 and enjoyed a five-month relationship with a woman in 2023 that came to an amicable conclusion. It has become clear to me that I miss the fun, excitement, warmth, shared experiences, love, and intimacy of a committed relationship, and yearn to find that again. I seek a woman who is intellectually curious. She must also be adventurous: not risk-seeking, but primed to check out what the world has to offer, both at home and abroad. She must have a sense of humour and be able to laugh. Finally, I seek a romantic, someone who wants to hold hands in public and behave lovingly in private. Politically I am a bit left of centre and proudly Canadian, which might be a problem for those right of centre. I do not own or use a smart phone which may seem strange to most. Since I started dating again in 2022, it has only been through friends as I have no interest in using social media for that (or almost anything else). I guess my circle of friends is not wide enough to have met likely candidates. I have been a reader of the Toronto Star for 60 years — I started young — so I feel a commonality with people who read it. I miss the love of intimacy I once had, and I felt this ad was a way to find a wider range of women with whom I could share love and all the other aspects of togetherness. I have only fallen deeply and hopelessly in love a few times in my life and want to have the thrill of that experience once more — and, hopefully, for the rest of our lives. Want to get in touch with Irv? Email betterlove@ to request a connection. (Note: Responses are not guaranteed.)
Buzz Feed
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
86 Wild Connections Between Celebs That Actually Kind Of Blew My Mind
1. Drake went to high school with Elliot Page — and apparently wasn't very nice to him. He wrote on his blog, "I was watching Juno tonight on the tour bus and I am so proud of were always the smartest and wittiest person in our class and I only made fun of you and acted like an asshole cause I had a crush on you." 2. Neve Campbell and Allison Pill also went to that same high school. 3. More high school classmates: Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman! They would end up becoming close friends, with Watts saying of Kidman, "She made me her sister. Her smaller sister. Nicole epitomizes for me the word 'sisterhood.'" 4. Guess who also went to high school together? Spencer Pratt and the Olsen twins — Pratt claims he sold a photo of Mary-Kate drinking at a party to the tabloids for $50,000. 5. Tia and Tamara Mowry babysat Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for a half-day when they were around seven or eight on the set of Full House. Their brother Tahj was appearing on the show at the time. "They were very young. So sweet, so kind. I remember all they wanted was matzo ball soup," Tamera revealed. 6. Jon Hamm taught Ellie Kemper's drama class when she was a freshman in high school. Later, when she was trying to make it in LA, she used her high school's directory to reach out to Hamm (who was then starring in Mad Men) and invited him to her one-person comedy show—and he came! 7. Speaking of Hamm, he and Paul Rudd fought over a woman — actor Sarah Clarke — as teenagers. Rudd, a college freshman, was rooming with Sarah's brother. He was invited to their family home, where he met Sarah's senior prom date, who was none other than Jon Hamm. Rudd and Sarah were the ones who ended up dating, though. 8. Scarlett Johansson and Jack Antanoff dated in high school and even went to prom together, which is so bizarre to me. They broke up after graduation, reportedly due to Johansson's rising fame, and Antanoff wrote the song "Better Love" about her. 9. Elton John is Eminem's AA sponsor, which is actually very wholesome to me. 10. Dolly Parton met Keanu Reeves when he was a little kid because his mom made many of her costumes, including her Playboy Bunny costume. In fact, one year, Keanu went as Dolly in the Playboy Bunny costume for Halloween. (I need photos of this.) 11. Speaking of Keanu — Alice Cooper babysat him when he was a kid. Cooper didn't even realize the kid he'd babysat was Keanu until Reeves revealed Cooper had babysat him on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Apparently, fake poop in the fridge was somehow involved? 12. Cameron Diaz went to high school with Snoop Dogg, and she's "pretty sure" she bought weed from him, which checks out. 13. Meghan Markle did the calligraphy for Robin Thicke's 2005 wedding invitations — not because the two were friends, but because the then-23-year-old was doing calligraphy to make ends meet before making it in Hollywood. 14. Alicia Keys and Timothée Chalamet grew up in the same building. Larry David also lived there at one point, along with Terrence Howard, Tennessee Williams, Angela Lansbury, Mickey Rourke, and Patrick I'm convinced there's some special star-making power in the water at this building. 15. And guess who was the first security guard of that building? Samuel L. Jackson. 16. Mick Foley and Kevin James went to high school together and were even on the same wrestling team, where they competed against each other "day in and day out," according to Foley. He even got in on the Kevin James memes to joke about the old days. 17. One of my favorite celeb connections? Lauryn Hill went to Zach Braff's bar mitzvah, and they were even partners during the game "Coke and Pepsi." 18. I'm kind of in shock that Christian Bale's stepmother is feminist rights icon Gloria Steinem. 19. And Matthew Perry's stepdad was Keith Morrison of Dateline fame. 20. Speaking of Perry — he went to school with Justin Trudeau as a kid and even claimed he beat him up in the fifth grade because "I think he was excelling at a sport that we weren't as good at. It was pure jealousy." 21. Jamie Dornan and Eddie Redmayne were roommates before they were famous. At the time, they also hung out with Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, and Charlie Cox. I'm still searching the mail for my invite, TBH. 22. Alexis Neirs (y'know, of Bling Ring/ Pretty Wild /" Nancy Jo, This Is Alexis Neiers Calling" fame) babysat Doja Cat. 23. Speaking of babysitters, Cher used to babysit Red Hot Chili Peppers vocalist Anthony Kiedis. 24. And Chloë Sevigny babysat Topher Grace — Topher even had a crush on her. 25. In one more example, Kiefer Sutherland looked after Gwyneth Paltrow while working at a theater with her mom when Paltrow was 11 or 12. 26. Mara Wilson and Ben Shapiro are cousins, and I can't IMAGINE how awkward those holiday meals are. 27. Joe Rogan and Gerard Way, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, are also cousins. Sorry, but I'd make Rogan sit at the kid's table — or in the garage by himself — at Thanksgiving. 28. Nas is Yara Shahidi's cousin, which is one Christmas dinner I'd like to attend. 29. Ed Sheeran slept on Jamie Fox's couch for six weeks when he first moved to LA. He bought a one-way ticket there for a single gig, trying to keep the momentum going, and ended up on Jamie Foxx's radio show The Foxxhole, which led to performing at Foxx's live music night, and then eventually sleeping on his couch and using his in-home recording studio for free. 30. Denzel Washington paid for Chadwick Boseman and a group of his classmates at Howard University to attend a summer theater program at The University of Oxford. When they ran into each other years later, after Boseman had made it big, Denzel joked to Chadwick that he owed him money. 32. After meeting in a playwriting class, Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson became college roommates, and they were both kind of delinquents! Apparently, they had issues with their landlord, who wouldn't fix their broken windows, so they staged a fake break-in. They also ended up moving out in the middle of the night, causing a private investigator to track them down. Oh, and Anderson once wrote a paper Wilson passed off as his. Chris Weeks / FilmMagic 33. Speaking of Wilson, he — along with his brother, Luke — attended St. Mark's as kids. This is the same school Tommy Lee Jones had previously attended, along with Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs. Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images for MOCA, Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic via Getty Images, Cathy Murphy / Getty Images Suggested by blissbednar 34. And speaking of Tommy Lee Jones, he and Al Gore lived together at Harvard, which I honestly cannot imagine. Rodin Eckenroth / WireImage via Getty Images, Matthias Nareyek / Getty Images for Paramount Pictures They didn't share a room, but they did live in the same building. 35. Before skyrocketing to fame, Harrison Ford worked on a camera crew for The Doors, helping film a road tour movie. Apparently, they partied too hard even for him, leading Ford to say he wanted to join a monastery afterward. Amy Sussman / Getty Images, Mark And Colleen Hayward / Getty Images 36. Larry David and Bernie Sanders are distant cousins, which is hilarious considering how many times David has parodied him. Nathan Congleton / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images 37. Pedro Pascal and Sarah Paulson have been friends since the early '90s before they found fame. One of the first times they hung out, they saw Woody Harrelson at a park and bonded over being fans of Harrelson. When Paulson began to book work, she would give Pascal money so he could afford to eat. And this is why they're the internet's Mom and Dad! Bruce Glikas / Bruce Glikas / WireImage 38. Werner Herzog once rescued Joaquin Phoenix from his upside-down car after he got in a crash. Herzog happened to be passing by and saw the wreckage. Phoenix says he heard a "gentle tap" and a "calming and beautiful" German voice telling him to relax, which made him feel safe. Herzog helped him get out of the car but disappeared moments later. "I got out of the car, and I said thank you, and he was gone," Phoenix recounted. Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images, Valerie Macon / AFP via Getty Images 39. Timothée Chalamet and Ansel Elgort went to high school together and competed for the same parts in plays. They also had the same drama and science teachers and played on the same basketball team. (TBH, I cannot picture either of these men playing basketball.) James Devaney / Getty Images 40. Oh, and Chalamet dated Lourdes Leon — Madonna's daughter — in high school. Taylor Hill / WireImage via Getty Images, Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images for CinemaCon 41. Kerry Washington is from the same neighborhood in the Bronx as Jennifer Lopez and attended the same high school as Gwyneth Paltrow. Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images, Jeff Vespa / WireImage via Getty Images, Stefania D'alessandro / Getty Images 42. Jay Z, Busta Rhymes, and Notorious BIG all went to high school together, and Jay and Rhymes once had a rap battle at lunch (oh, to be a fly on that wall). Rhymes said he would skip class with Biggie and smoke weed. Oh, and DMX also went to school there. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic via Getty Images, Lionel Hahn / Getty Images, Ron Galella, Ltd. / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images 43. Seth Rogen and Nathan Fielder went to the same high school and were even in an improv group together. Kevin Winter / Getty Images for Critics Choice Association, Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME 44. Rachel Brosnahan's aunt was fashion designer Kate Spade. Walter Mcbride / Getty Images 45. And maybe I'm the last person on the planet to discover this, but Kate Spade was David Spade's sister-in-law. Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images Suggested by brettmcq 46. I did know this one, but it's still worth mentioning: Francis Ford Coppola is Nicolas Cage's uncle. This means Sofia Coppola is his cousin. L. Cohen / WireImage via Getty Images Suggested by sewskilled 47. Cage is also the cousin of Rooney's lead vocalist, Robert Schwartzman, and actor Jason Schwartzman. Their mother, Talia Shire, memorably played Adrian in the Rocky films. Emma Mcintyre / Getty Images Suggested by brettmcq 48. Niecy Nash, Sterling K. Brown, and Danielle Brooks are cousins. Amy Sussman / Getty Images, Robyn BECK / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images, Monica Schipper/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images 49. Adam Levine and Jonah Hill knew each other in childhood, as their parents were good friends. "Our kids grew up together, almost like brothers and sisters," Levine's mom, Patsy Noah, said. Noel Vasquez / Getty Images 50. Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston went to Eton together and even costarred in the play A Passage to India — Redmayne was the lead, while Hiddleston "played the front right leg of the elephant that Eddie was on," as he told Graham Norton. David M. Benett/Dave Benett / Getty Images for Focus Features 51. Prince William also went to Eton and was even on a rugby team with Redmayne in 1997. David M. Benett/Dave Benett / Getty Images for Audi 52. Jennifer Aniston was in a friend group with Chaz Bono in high school and would often hang out at Cher's house. Cher remembers her as taking the most snacks from the snack drawer. David Livingston / WireImage via Getty Images, Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images for ABA 53. Maybe you already know this, but Aniston has been friends with Adam Sandler since 1990 when the two met at a deli in Los Angeles because Aniston was dating Sandler's friend. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic via Getty Images 54. Speaking of Sandler, he lived with Judd Apatow before they were both famous in a $900/month apartment in the Valley. Sandler eventually left to join the cast of SNL but continued to pay rent, as he was worried he was going to get fired and have to go back to LA. Michael Kovac / Getty Images for Baby2Baby 55. Justin Timberlake's mom was Ryan Gosling's guardian for a year while Timberlake and Gosling appeared on Mickey Mouse Club House, as Gosling's mom had to return to Canada and couldn't serve as his guardian on set. Kevin Winter / Getty Images 56. Mindy Kaling interned on Conan O'Brien's show before she was famous. Margaret Norton / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images 57. Speaking of Conan — Lisa Kudrow and Conan O'Brien dated in the '80s before they were famous. The two met at an improv class. Paul Drinkwater / NBCU Photo Bank 58. Andy Samberg and Chelsea Peretti went to elementary school together, and Peretti had a crush on Samberg. The two would later costar on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. FOX Image Collection via Getty Images 59. Maya Rudolph and Gwyneth Paltrow also went to elementary school together. Dana Edelson / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images 60. Jonah Hill also went there, though not at the same time. Oh, and Maude Apatow, Zosia Mamet, Kate Hudson, Jack Quaid, Charlie Hall, Liv Tyler, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Deschanel. Rosalind OConnor / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images 61. Jack Black also transferred to the school — Crossroads School — when he was a sophomore, and he helped coach Rudolph for an improv competition, then took her to her first Groundlings show. Rudolph would end up joining an improv group there, which would lead to her being hired on SNL. But back in school, she had a crush on Black, who she called "the theater god at my school." He also taught her how to drive a stick shift. Lisa Maree Williams / Getty Images 62. Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand were college roommates when they attended Yale Drama School — then lived together after graduating, too. JIM RUYMEN/AFP via Getty Images 63. They also, at one point, lived in an apartment with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, Scott Spiegel, the Coen Brothers, and Kathy Bates. Albert L. Ortega / WireImage via Getty Images, Rich Polk / Getty Images for Netflix, Frazer Harrison / WireImage via Getty Images 64. Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell met in junior high, though Campbell avoided Raimi at first, saying, "I remember him dressed as Sherlock Holmes playing with dolls in the middle of the floor. And I remember going way around him." The two became friends in high school, however, and would go on to collaborate on the Evil Dead film series and Xena: Warrior Princess. Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images for STARZ Suggested by ssstege11573 65. Am I the only person who didn't know Matty Healy was a nepo baby? His mom is actor and television personality Denise Welch, and his dad is actor Tim Healy. Lisa Lake/TAS23 / Getty Images for TAS Rights Management, Goffredo di Crollalanza / FilmMagic via Getty Images Suggested by jarvbird 66. I also suspect I may be the only person who didn't know that Andie MacDowell is Margaret Qualley's mom. Michael Kovac / Getty Images for AFI 67. Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein became friends after meeting at a mutual friend's Bat Mitzvah before they were both famous. Rob Kim / Getty Images for The Recording Academy 68. Alison Williams worked as Tina Fey's assistant before she was famous. Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for National Board of Review 69. This is perhaps not a huge surprise if you know that Allison Williams' dad is famous anchor Brian Williams. Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images Suggested by bringingclawstoagunfight 70. Usher used to watch Beyoncé and the rest of her singing group (then The Dolls) when they came to Atlanta to work with producer Daryl Simmons. "I had to watch them 'cause I was the authority 'cause I guess I was the teenager at the time," he said, saying he had to make "certain that they didn't get in no trouble in the house at the time." Kevin Mazur / WireImage via Getty Images 71. Brandy and Snoop Dogg are first cousins, according to Snoop. Michael Caulfield Archive / WireImage via Getty Images 72. Speaking of Brandy — she went to prom with none other than Kobe Bryant. Vinnie Zuffante / Getty Images 73. Bianca Lawson is Beyoncé and Solange's step-sister. Jason Mendez / Getty Images 74. Whitney Houston's mom, Cissy Houston, was a Grammy Award-winning artist who, at one point, sang as a backup singer for Elvis, Dionne Warwick, and Aretha Franklin. Paras Griffin / Getty Images for 2017 ESSENCE Festival 75. It's no surprise Cissy worked with Dionne Warwick, considering she's her aunt — which means Dionne and Whitney are cousins. Steve Granitz / WireImage via Getty Images Suggested by crispyrocket53 and quirkypixiedreamgirl 76. Josh Brolin's stepmom is none other than Barbara Streisand. Lester Cohen / WireImage via Getty Images 77. Years before they costarred in Barbie, Kate McKinnon and America Ferrera went to a summer acting program together while they were both in high school. Al Seib/AMPAS via Getty Images 78. Kate McKinnon was also friends with Barbie director Greta Gerwig before they were famous. The two were in an improv group together in college and "made really wonderfully strange musicals together." Lionel Hahn / Getty Images 79. Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain have known each other since they attended Julliard together. Bruce Glikas / WireImage via Getty Images 80. Bethenny Frankel was Paris and Nicky Hilton's nanny when they were kids. She would take them ice skating, to the pet shop, or shopping after school. Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images for Gabrielle's Angel Foundation 81. Years before both starring in The Office, John Krasinski and BJ Novak went to high school together. They were also on a little league team together. Dean Hendler / NBCU Photo Bank 82. Jason Segel and Kevin Hart shared a one-bedroom apartment for six months — because Apatow told them to. The two had both appeared in a pilot Apatow directed. (The series did not get picked up.) Allen Berezovsky / Getty Images, Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for Netflix 83. Henry Fonda and James Stewart were roommates back in the 1930s in New York City, then moved to LA together, where they remained roommates. Despite their differences (particularly political ones), they remained friends for decades. Hulton Archive / Getty Images Suggested by patrisiabb13 84. Michael Bowen has two half-brothers through his mother: Keith and Robert Carradine. Keith and Robert are, on their dad's side (their dad was famous Westerns actor John Carradine), half-brothers with David Carradine — who appeared with Bowen in Kill Bill. Though the two aren't blood-related, Bowen has referred to him as a stepbrother. Studio Seven Productions/NM/Sygma via Getty Images, Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic via Getty Images Suggested by crafty_gm 85. Oh, and Keith's daughter is actor Martha Plimpton. Mike Windle / Getty Images 86. And finally, Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen are brothers, which I can't believe I never knew. Vinnie Zuffante / Getty Images What are other wild celeb connections you know? Let us know in the comments!
