Meet the Real-Life Loves of the ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Cast

Larry David and Ashley Underwood

In Curb, David plays a fictionalized version of himself who goes through ups and downs with his wife before they ultimately get divorced. However, in reality, David has been married to his wife, Underwood, since 2020.

The Emmy-winning actor and the producer met through mutual friends Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher at the actor’s birthday party in 2017.

“We were seated next to each other, I think with that in mind,” David later told The New York Times in 2020. “Much to her surprise, I left before dessert. I was doing so well, banter-wise, I didn’t want to risk staying too long and blowing the good impression.”

After two years of dating, Underwood moved in with David and his adult daughter,  Cazzie David, whom he shares with ex-wife Laurie David (in addition to daughter Romy). Although the three of them initially had some “friction,” they worked everything out and the couple continued seeing each other.

David and Underwood married on Oct. 8, 2020, in Southern California. Although they keep much of their relationship out of the public eye, David and Underwood have both shared how they support each other and how they bond over their shared sense of humor.

“We’ll be at a dinner party, and Larry will take his last bit of food and just stand up for us to go. I just shrug. He gets the laugh, and I get to ride his coattails,” Underwood told GQ in February 2020.

David also complimented his wife for being a “great middler” and said during an event in April 2024, “She’s very engaging, very funny, good personality, knows about a lot of things and can talk to different people.”

Jeff Garlin and Sari Tracht

While Garlin is married to Essman’s character in Curb, in real life, he’s in a relationship with Sari Tracht.

The therapist keeps her relationship with Garlin private, but she has supported him at various events, including the Curb final season premiere and the 2024 Emmy awards.

The former Goldbergs actor frequently posts photos with Tracht. Garlin is a father to two children, sons James and Duke, with his ex-wife, Marla Garlin, whom he was married to from 1994 to 2017.

Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Hines starred on the series as David’s wife and eventual ex-wife for all 12 seasons. While Hines and David play on-screen husband and wife, she and her real-life husband, Kennedy, have David to thank for introducing them.

The Emmy-nominated actress and the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services met through David when he introduced them in 2006. However, since both were married at the time, they didn’t reconnect until 2011.

Hines and Kennedy’s friendship evolved into a romantic relationship, and they went public with their romance in October 2011. They got engaged three years later and tied the knot at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., on Aug. 2, 2014.

Between the two of them, Kennedy and Hines are parents to seven children. He was married twice before his relationship with Hines and has six adult children. Meanwhile, she has one daughter, Catherine, with her ex-husband, Paul Young.

Hines, who supported her husband’s 2024 presidential campaign, and Kennedy faced public scrutiny in September 2024 after he was revealed to have allegedly developed a “personal relationship” with New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi.

At the time, a representative for the politician told The Washington Post, “Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece.”

Although a source told PEOPLE that Hines considered filing for divorce after she was seen without her wedding ring, she has since expressed her support for Kennedy and stood by his side as he was confirmed to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“I don’t think there’s any point to going through every rumor and headline to try to defend or explain it,” she told The Wall Street Journal of the incident in August 2025. “Bobby and I talk about everything, so that’s how we move through everything, and we’re really good friends, and we trust each other.”

Susie Essman and Jim Harder

Essman plays Garlin’s on-screen wife, but off-screen, she has been married to her husband, Jim Harder, since September 2008.

The Broad City actress and the commercial real estate broker met through his brother, interior designer Michael Harder, in November 2003.

“Mike had never bothered introducing us,” she told The New York Times after their wedding. “He never thought I’d go for Jimmy because he was divorced and had four kids and lived 150 miles from New York.”

Essman described Harder as “warm and loving and real” and explained that he “didn’t know who I was or that I was on this hit show.”

“I just kept noticing her,” he told the outlet. “People had told me that she was the funniest person they had ever met, but when I met her, there was a loving and warm side of her that came across almost instantly.”

Although Essman “never had any interest in getting married or having kids,” they tied the knot at the Friars Club in N.Y.C. and moved to Albany.

J.B. Smoove and Shahidah Omar

Smoove joined the hit show later on in the series as David’s unlikely friend, Black. Although he played David’s doting friend on Curb, in reality, he’s a caring husband to his wife of nearly two decades, Shahidah Omar.

The comedian and the musician met in Los Angeles and married on July 7, 2007. They celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary in July 2024, and Smoove reflected on their “ride of so many emotions.”

“Today marks another Anniversary, another year of building all things possible in life, love and laughter and giving our time and energy to causes that matter along the way,” he captioned a montage of photos of the two of them. “Positivity is what keeps us going. Cant imagine this life without you! Thank you for being you! ❤️.”

Smoove is a father to one adult daughter named Jerrica Brooks from a previous relationship.

Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen

Danson also plays a fictionalized version of himself as David’s friend and later his ex-wife’s new love interest. However, in reality, he has been married to fellow actress Mary Steenburgen since 1995.

The Cheers actor and the Elf actress met while auditioning to play an on-screen husband and wife in Cross Creek in 1983, but they didn’t get romantically involved until working together on Pontiac Moon in 1993.

“We met when we were 40 and 45, and we had lived a bit,” Steenburgen told PEOPLE in 2018. “We met at a time when both of us had stared down some demons within ourselves and that was lucky that we met then.”

Danson and Steenburgen married on Oct. 7, 1995, in a ceremony on Martha’s Vineyard. Over the course of their 30-year marriage, they have supported each other’s careers while also acting together on several projects — including Curb.

“I want as long as possible in my life with Mary,” Danson told PEOPLE in 2021. “I know it will have all of its hard parts but I want to experience love in all those moments.”

The couple also share a blended family: Danson has daughters Kate and Alexis with his second wife, Casey Coates, while Steenburgen shares kids Charles “Charlie” Malcolm and Lily Amanda with ex-husband Malcolm McDowell.