Marilu Henner & Spouse Michael Brown Met 30 Years before They Started Dating

Walking with Michael Brown across the UChicago campus in the winter of 1970, Marilu Henner wished she had met him first. Sadly for the freshman, he was her roommate's beau, and it would take another 30 years before she could share her true feelings.

With three divorces and five children between the two, both 54, Michael Brown became Marilu Henner's spouse in 2006. Despite waiting decades before breaking the "girl code," the star's college roommate Linda no longer speaks to her.

The dad of three spent his early twenties traveling the world as a sailor and now holds down a corporate job at his family's printing business.

Michael Brown Went to the Same College as Marilu Henner

Brown graduated from the University of Chicago and was in the same physics class as Henner. After college, he saw the world as a merchant seaman and lived in Brazil for some time in the 1980s.

He joined his twin brother Marc at the family business, BrownTrout, which was established in 1986. The company, which publishes an array of calendar products, has affiliates around the globe and has worked with artists such as Taylor Swift and BTS.

The University of Chicago grad's first marriage in his twenties lead to divorce. They raised three children together.

Marilu Henner and Michael Brown attend "Changing Normal: How I Helped My Husband Beat Cancer" at AOL Studios In New York on April 29, 2016, in New York City. | Source: Getty Images

Henner's Roommate Was Dating Brown, but She Wished That She Had Met Him First

As a freshman at UChicago, Brown regularly walked Henner to her dorm after their late physics class, but not just out of chivalry; he was dating her roommate Linda. The future comedy star had to make do with the platonic strolls and the odd double date.

The would-be couple's next meeting more than 20 years later was more intentional.

After Linda broke up with her long-haired beau, the actress kept her distance out of respect for the "girl code," the informal rule that dictates that friends do not date each other's exes. He only found out about how she felt about him 30 years later.

Actress Marilu Henner and her spouse Michael Brown arrive at the after party for the 10th Anniversary of Broadway's "Chicago" on November 14, 2006, in New York City. | Source: Getty Images

They Briefly Reconnected in the 80s, and She Invited Him to Her Wedding

The college friends had a chance meeting in 1980, when they were both 28, at City Hall in New Orleans. She ran after him and invited her to her wedding; she was at City Hall to get her marriage license for her first marriage to "Apocalypse Now" now actor Frederic Forrest.

In hindsight, she realized that she still carried a torch for Brown and that her fiancé would be very jealous, so she never called to give him more details about the day. In the back of her mind, she wondered why she was not marrying a man like Brown.

The would-be couple's next meeting more than 20 years later was more intentional. Feeling adrift, the former sailor got her number from a mutual friend. They were both divorced, and he lived in Palos Verdes, close to her Hollywood Hills home base.

After the decades-long lead-up, the couple fell in love quickly and deeply. The couple married on December 21, 2006, at her home with 100 witnesses present, and her pre-teen sons from her second marriage walked her down the aisle.

The "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" actress, wearing a peach Escada gown with cap sleeves, promised her husband that she would update his wardrobe. His wedding vows included a pledge to adhere to the rules in her bestselling health books.

The actress has hyperthymesia, which allows her to recall events to the minute detail. She jokingly said that her husband thinks, "No man wins an argument against his wife anyway; at least he has an excuse."

The couple further bonded over mutual work troubles a year into their marriage. His family business was in decline, which caused him anxiety, and his restructuring of the company led to a rift in the family. As an older actress in Hollywood, she was experiencing a downturn in quality roles.

Brown said one became a better parent with exercise and did not flinch having to help raise another two boys. His wife says he has become the go-to for his stepsons' questions about sex. The fit couple coyly revealed in a 2017 profile that they follow a "Broadway schedule" with their intimate life.

Michael Brown dicusses "Changing Normal: How I Helped My Husband Beat Cancer" at AOL Studios In New York on April 29, 2016, in New York City. | Source: Getty Images

Marilu Henner Took Care of Michael Brown When He Had Cancer

Three months into their relationship, Marilu Henner became her new boyfriend's caregiver. Brown received a double diagnosis of lung and bladder cancer in 2003. This made the words of his twin brother, a Universal Life minister that officiated their wedding, so poignant:

"It's nice that people live long enough that they're able to find their way back to the place where they always should have been."

Getting to that place the "Taxi" star envisioned with her partner so many years ago meant that she had to fight cancer with him, and her first thought was, "failure was not an option."

Brown received immunotherapy, which was then a ground-breaking new treatment. According to Dr. Roy Herbst, the oncology head at the Yale Cancer Center, cancer is no longer the death sentence it once was with early detection and immunotherapy.

The star of "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries" admits that she was scared during the process, so she often visualized their future together. November 24, 2003, is the date the world traveler found out that he was cancer free.

Michael Brown and Marilu Henner discuss "Changing Normal: How I Helped My Husband Beat Cancer" at AOL Studios In New York on April 29, 2016 in New York City. | Source: Getty Images

During lung cancer awareness month in November 2017, Henner posted that laughter can help one get through the struggle and told Megyn Kelly on TODAY that her best advice for cancer caregivers was to wear many layers because hospitals are "freezing!"

The best-selling author collaborated with Brown to write "Changing Normal: How I Helped My Husband Beat Cancer," published in April 2017. However, they formatted it as a she-said-he-said due to their different writing styles.

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