Robert Wagner & Jill St. John : How Love Saved Us

After terrible tragedies, these longtime friends found lasting happiness as a married couple

- By Louise A. Barile

Robert Wagner wakes up every morning feeling lucky. Outside his window in Aspen, the sun drapes Elk Mountain in golden light and he often spies elk, deer and fox roaming his forested property. “As Jill says: ‘There are only so many front-row seats, and we are fortunate to have one,” he says.

Part of the reason Robert, 92, who friends call RJ, feels so grateful is the presence of his wife, former Bond girl Jill St. John, 81. The pair were married in 1990, but their friendship goes back to the 1960s when they met as young actors at Fox Studios. Though it took terrible heartbreak for their love to blossom, their marriage remains one of Hollywood’s happiest. “It’s a cliché, but their love has definitely stood the test of time,” says a friend.

Jill, who played sultry sexpot Tiffany Case opposite Sean Connery’s James Bond in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, is an LA native who began her professional acting career as a child. Back then, she took dance classes at the Panaieff Ballet Center, where her classmates included RJ’s future wife Natalie Wood and his Hart to Hart co-star Stephanie Powers. “The three of us were very friendly,” says Jill, who recalls feeling jealous of Natalie’s gold ballet slippers. “They were never best friends,” explains a pal, “but they respected each other.”

Detroit-born RJ, meanwhile, remains one of the last classic leading men of the studio era. He made his big-screen debut at age 20 and reached Hollywood’s A-list playing a soldier with PTSD in 1952’s