Passages

On Feb. 16 it was revealed that former Cheers star Ted Danson, 47, had proposed—successfully—to actress Mary Steenburgen, on Feb. 8, her 42nd birthday. The couple, who met last year on the set of Pontiac Moon, have not set a date. This will be the third marriage for Danson, who has two children, Kate, 15, and Alexis, 9, from his 16-year marriage to Casey Coates. It will be Steenburgen’s second. She has Lilly, 14, and Charlie, 11, from her 10-year marriage to actor Malcolm McDowell.

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi, 32, and his wife of five years, Dorothea, also 32, became the parents of a son, Jesse James Louis (8 lbs., 13 ozs.), on Feb. 19 at an undisclosed location in New Jersey. They have a daughter, Stephanie Rose, 1….

Actor Michael J. Fox, 33, and his wife, actress Tracy Pollan, 34, have two new additions to their family: twin girls Aquinnah Kathleen and Schuyler Frances (weights not available), born in a New York City hospital on Feb. 15. The couple, who have been married six years, already have a son, Sam, 5….

Tom Cruise, 32, and his wife of four years, Nicole Kidman, 27, adopted a baby son, Connor Antony Kidman. The two actors have an adopted daughter, Isabella, 2.

Host of CNBC’s Equal Time Mary Matalin, 41, and political strategist James Carville, 50, known to her as “serpent head,” are expecting their first child, a girl, in July. The couple, who married in November 1993, have already decided on the name: Matalin Mary.

Novelist and screenwriter Calder Willingham, 72, whose first book, End as a Man, a Gothic tale of students at a military academy, made him a literary star in 1947, died of lung cancer on Feb. 19 at a hospital in Laconia, N.H. Willingham wrote 10 novels and several film scripts, including Paths of Glory (1957) and Little Big Man (1970). He and cowriter Buck Henry received an Oscar nomination for their screenplay of 1967’s The Graduate. Willingham’s last script was 1991’s Rambling Rose, which he adapted from his 1972 novel of the same name….

Winton Dean, 88, the father of screen legend James Dean, died of pneumonia on Feb. 21 in Marion, Ind. A former dental technician, the elder Dean last saw his only child at lunch on Sept. 30, 1955, the day James died in a car accident at the age of 24….

British playwright and screenwriter Robert Bolt, 70, who wrote such classic films as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), A Man for All Seasons (1966), which was based on his original play, and Ryan’s Daughter (1970), died of undisclosed causes on Feb. 20 at his home in Hampshire, England. Bolt, who was married to actress Sarah Miles, was adapting Jung Chang’s best-selling autobiography Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, when he died.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Will Smith and his wife of three years, Sheree, both 26, filed for divorce on Feb. 15 in Los Angeles superior court. They have a son, Willard III, known as Trey, 2.