Robby Benson & Karla DeVito Have Been Married for 40 Years & He Still Declares Love with Songs

Robby Benson and Karla DeVito are the greatest examples of “life imitates art.” After performing as a romantic pair on Broadway, the couple has been living happily ever after, and Benson gushed about his love for his wife with a song to celebrate their 39th year together.

These are the type of news that fills our hearts with hope. Karla DeVito and Robby Benson have been together for four decades, and they proved to everyone that “the improbable couple” are doing just fine.

Benson told Closer Weekly he was in love with his wife the moment he met her. The couple worked together on Broadway’s “The Pirates of Penzance” while playing Frederic and Mabel.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Reality imitated art, and the fictional couple turned into reality. DeVito and Benson started dating, and a year later, in 1982, they tied the knot. They’ve been together since then. Despite Benson’s love the moment he saw her, it took a while until he got his chance.

When they met, the actress couldn’t care less about romance or a relationship. That all changed after a mutual friend invited them to their first outing which was also the last.

They found they’d admired each other all along. The composer, writer, and actor was impressed with DeVito’s talent and voice, and she thought he was a lovely and humble person.

LIFE AND CAREER

Robby Benson was born Robin Segal in Dallas. He comes from a family of artists — his mother was an actress, and his father was a screenwriter. He revealed to People in 1982 that his first memories were of his parents working with other actors, musicians, and writers.

He started early in the entertainment business. At five, he debuted in a Michigan summer stock production of “The King and I” with his mom. At eight, he had a manager, and at 10, he changed his stage name to Benson, his mother’s maiden name.

His family moved to New York, and his career in the theater took off. He starred in many plays, including “Zelda,” “The Rothschilds,” “Joseph Papp’s,” and “The Pirates of Penzance,” where he met his wife.

The 66-year-old became a teen idol when he acted in the late ’70s. He’s famous for his roles in the sports films “One on One” (1977) and “Ice Castles” (1978). Benson gained fame lending his voice to Disney’s Beast from the movie “Beauty and The Beast.”

The actor shared that he identified so much with the character — probably more than with any other character he’s ever played:

“I identify with him more than probably any character I’ve ever played because he’s funny, passionate, and gets frustrated when things aren’t fair to him in his mind.”

He concluded by saying that the similarities go into his love life, too — Benson revealed that the Beast learns a lot from a strong and smart woman, just like himself!

Robby Benson is also a talented writer — he authored the best-selling novel “Who Stole the Funny?: A Novel of Hollywood” in 2007, and in 2012 he released his medical memoir “I’m Not Dead ... Yet!”

Karla DeVito doesn’t come from an artistic family, but she also went to New York to pursue a career. From her earliest years, however, she showed an artistic bent in Mokena, Illinois. DeVito dropped her studies at Loyola University in Chicago to join the national company of Godspell.

Before joining the “Pirates,” she’d spent 18 months with Meat Loaf and switched to singing. The actress and singer released her first solo album, “Is This a Cool World or What?” in 1981 and her second, “Wake ‘Em Up in Tokyo,” five years later.

Benson collaborated with his wife and wrote some songs for her second record. The track “We Are Not Alone” appeared in the “The Breakfast Club” soundtrack.

FAMILY AND LIFE AS GRANDPARENTS

Benson and DeVito had two children together, who are following their parents’ footsteps. The eldest is Lyric, 39, who is a singer and actress. She featured in two ’90s films, “Modern Love,” her debut alongside her parents, and in the film “Evening Shade.”

The youngest, Zephyr, 30, is a filmmaker, best known for producing “Straight Outta Tompkins,” a film about a middle-class teen heroin addict in New York City.

Lyric has two children and brought joy to her parents, who are now grandparents. The 66-year-old writer, actor, and producer gushed:

“Being a grandparent is the greatest feeling you could ever wish to experience!”

A few years ago, Benson had a heart ailment and had undergone four heart surgeries to correct a murmur and valve issues. Fortunately, all went well, and now he is feeling better than ever.

After an eight-year hiatus from the show biz, he returned to the screens in his latest project, the Hallmark Channel film “A Feeling of Home.”

If you think that after four decades of marriage, romance was gone, think again. The romantic husband Benson wrote a song to celebrate their 39th anniversary, appropriately named “With All Of My Heart.”