Ghostbusters Star Dan Aykroyd Separating From Wife Donna Dixon After 39 Years

The Blues Brothers, Coneheads, and Ghostbusters co-creator Dan Aykroyd has separated from his wife, Donna Dixon, after 39 years of marriage. People confirmed the split in a statement from the couple which reads: “After 39 years as a couple we are now on separate life paths. We remain legally married, co-parents, co-workers and business partners/ This is our choice in loving friendship.” Aykroyd and Dixon have been married since 1983 having met working on the film Doctor Detroit, which saw Aykroyd star in the title role. The couple would appear alongside each other in multiple other features as well including Twilight Zone: The Movie and Spies Like Us.

“You gotta find the right person – look them in the eye, have them look back, and know their soul,” Aykroyd told The Tampa Bay Times in 2014 about his marriage. “She’s a Southern woman who is understanding and doesn’t mind dealing with the boys from time to time. I call her the White Goddess. And I’m the Green Demon.” Dixon and Aykroyd have three daughters together, Danielle Aykroyd (best known by her stage name Vera Sola), plus Belle and Stella.

Aykroyd recently returned to the Ghostbusters franchise, reprising his part of Ray Stantz in 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a film that acted as a decades-later sequel to the two Ghostbusters films from the 1980s. The comedian reunited with fellow Ghostbusters Ernie Hudson and Bill Murray, giving fans of the series a piece of what they’d always hoped for out of the franchise. Speaking previously on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Aykroyd revealed why he was so keen on the film, saying: “Jason Reitman wrote a great script, so full of heart and going right back to the first two movies and its DNA and its heart and soul. We just read it and thought, ‘You know, this is the right time and this is the right way to do it.’”

(Cover Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)