NEED TO KNOW
JFK Jr and Daryl Hannah first met in the early 1980s, then met again at the 1988 wedding of his aunt Lee Radziwill to director Herb Ross
The two dated for over five years before splitting in 1994
The couple was often hounded by the press, but they never married
When John F. Kennedy Jr. and Daryl Hannah first crossed paths in the early 1980s, it was pure kismet. Both were vacationing with their families on the Caribbean island of St. Martin when they met, an encounter that would lead to one of the most talked-about romances of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Once they saw one another again in 1988 at the wedding of his aunt, Lee Radziwill, to director Herb Ross — who had worked with Hannah on Steel Magnolias — sparks flew.
By the early 1990s, the couple were often in the headlines and the subject of ongoing rumors of an impending wedding.
“It’s getting really annoying. I get asked about it all the time,” Hannah told Entertainment Weekly in 1993. “This morning I call up my plumber, and even he asks me. Oh, brother, I’m just trying to get my pipes fixed. Why can’t people talk about something else?”
In truth, Kennedy and Hannah’s relationship — which lasted for more than five years before ending in 1994 — was as passionate as it was complicated. Amelia Barlow, daughter of Kennedy’s close friend John Perry Barlow, recalled in the book JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography by Liz McNeil and RoseMarie Terenzio: “It felt fantastical, adventurous… a little bit maybe naive or immature compared to his relationship with Carolyn [Bessette]. There was a little bit more, like, fire — and fight.”
A Fairytale in Public View
One neighbor’s memory of the pair seemed pulled from a Hollywood romance. Looking out across a New York rooftop one Sunday morning, a neighbor told PEOPLE in 1993 how she saw Kennedy — tall, dark and shirtless in boxer shorts — dancing with Hannah, barefoot in a short nightgown. “They were doing this little love play,” said the onlooker. “He was tickling her, and she’d run away. Then he’d catch her, and they’d dance around. Even if you didn’t know who they were, you’d be entranced.”
Their public moments ranged from biking through Central Park to sharing apple pancakes at Chicago’s Original Pancake House to cuddling on Amtrak rides to Kennedy’s Brown University reunion. Yet the glare of the spotlight and the weight of past relationships were never far behind.
From Turbulence to Commitment
Before dating Kennedy, Hannah had been in a long-term relationship with singer Jackson Browne, which ended in a highly publicized and painful breakup in 1992. Friends recalled Kennedy flying to her side in California, then bringing her back to New York to recover.
Soon after, he moved into her spacious Upper West Side apartment, prompting fresh speculation about a more permanent arrangement. Her step-uncle, cinematographer Haskell Wexler, however, downplayed the idea. “They like each other, but I don’t think they’re ready to get married,” he told PEOPLE at the time.
Hannah’s stepmother, Sue Wexler, dismissed long-held rumors that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis disapproved of the match. “The stories I’ve heard are just unbelievable,” she said. “Daryl told me [Onassis] has been very warm and affectionate.”
More in Common Than Fame
Despite their different worlds, the two shared a few interests. Both loved the outdoors, from skiing to camping. Kennedy, a former assistant district attorney, had a lifelong interest in acting, while Hannah was an environmental activist who served on the board of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Both also came from prominent, politically connected families.
John Roca/NY Daily News Archive via Getty
John F. Kennedy Jr. and girlfriend Daryl Hannah.
Their love story, however, ended when they split in 1994. From there, Hannah continued her acting career and advocacy work, and Kennedy went on to marry Bessette in 1996. She eventually married Neil Young in 2018.
Still, for a time, their romance seemed to capture the spirit of the early ’90s — equal parts glamour and idealism mixed in with Hollywood magic. While it didn’t work out, John’s best friend, Robbie Littell, warmly described her in his memoir, The Men We Became: My Friendship with John F. Kennedy, recalling, “She was as beautiful as a sunrise.”
Read the original article on People
