\nBarbara Eden knows a thing or two about entertaining audiences all around the world, but when it comes to marriage, she can also give pretty good advice. Reflecting on how she maintains her \u201chappy\u201d relationship with husband Jon Eicholtz after 30 years, the I Dream of Jeannie star exclusively tells Closer that it\u2019s all about making comprises.\n
\u201cI think you have to like each other a lot. No, you really do,\u201d the 90-year-old shares in a new interview, insisting you \u201creally, really\u201d have to be willing to choose your partner over yourself sometimes. For Barbara, she\u2019s happy to do things with Jon \u2014 like watch sports, for instance \u2014 just \u201cbecause\u201d she adores him.\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t necessarily have to like the same things. Because we certainly don\u2019t,\u201d the Golden Globe nominee says. \u201cI don\u2019t play golf. I don\u2019t like to watch baseball \u2026 and he loves to watch the Angels. But I do because I love him. And I like him. So I\u2019ll watch with him.\u201d\n
As for Barbara, the Harper Valley PTA alum reveals Jon often compromises by supporting her busy Hollywood career. \u201cHe puts up with me working,\u201d the loving wife states, insisting Jon \u201cdoesn\u2019t actually mind\u201d her hectic work schedule. \u201cI find that it\u2019s just great because he likes what I do. He likes me doing it. I think I\u2019m really lucky to have a happy marriage.\u201d\n
\n
The Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea actress usually spends a good amount of time away from home while working on her showbiz projects, but she and Jon were together more than ever amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. To stay entertained, Barbara reveals the two adopted \u201ca COVID dog.\u201d\n
\u201cWe have a Labradoodle. Little boy, he\u2019s so spoiled,\u201d the Brass Bottle star gushes, noting even though Jon is \u201ca little skittish around dogs,\u201d they\u2019ve had a blast adding the adorable pup to their family.\n
\u201cWe would go to a Carmel with our friends who also have a Labradoodle. And we\u2019d spend long weekends up there at [Doris Day\u2018s hotel The Cypress Inn],\u201d Barbara marvels. \u201c[There\u2019s] nothing but dogs there! You don\u2019t want to go if you don\u2019t have a dog. We had such a good time.\u201d\n
The Jeannie Out of the Bottle author and her love have been going strong for 30 years, having said \u201cI do\u201d in 1991. While speaking with Closer during a previous interview in February 2020, Barbara revealed the secret to marriage with the California native. \u201cWalk in the other person\u2019s shoes if you\u2019re having a little problem,\u201d she said. \u201cTry to see their side of it. It\u2019s not easy! But try.\u201d
\n
\n
Prior to marrying Jon, Barbara was previously wed twice. She exchanged vows with her first husband, Michael Ansara, in 1958, and went on to welcome their son, Matthew Ansara, in 1965. The former couple ultimately split in 1974, and the film icon walked down the aisle with Charles Donald Fegert in 1977. However, they also split five years later in 1982.\n
Fortunately, Barbara has been living a life of wedded bliss with John for the last three decades!\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inside Barbara Eden\u2019s \u2018Happy\u2019 Marriage With Jon Eicholtz After 30 Years: \u2018I Love Him\u2019 Barbara Eden knows a thing or two about entertaining audiences all around the world, but when it comes to marriage, she can also give pretty good advice. Reflecting on how she maintains her \u201chappy\u201d relationship with husband Jon Eicholtz after 30\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":106494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[670],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-106480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/barbara-eden-talks-happy-marriage-with-husband-jon-eicholtz02.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106496,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106480\/revisions\/106496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}