Honestly, most people still picture Meredith Baxter as the quintessential 1980s TV mom. You know the one. Elyse Keaton. The architect with the perfect hippie-turned-suburban-hero vibe on Family Ties. For years, she was half of one of America’s favorite on-screen couples. But the reality of her life behind the scenes was—and is—way more complicated than a thirty-minute sitcom script could ever capture. When we talk about the Meredith Baxter spouse timeline, we’re not just talking about a list of names. We’re talking about a woman who spent decades trying to figure out who she actually was while the whole world watched her play someone else.
It’s been over a decade since she married her current wife, Nancy Locke. They’re still going strong. But getting to that point? It wasn’t exactly a straight line. Pun intended, kinda.
The Long Road to Nancy Locke
Meredith and Nancy didn’t meet at some glitzy Hollywood gala. No red carpets. No agents involved. They actually met on the phone back in 2005. A mutual friend put them in touch because Nancy, a general contractor, was looking for some support with sobriety. At the time, Meredith had been sober for about 15 years.
They talked for five months before they even saw each other's faces. Think about that. In a town built on how people look, they built a foundation on how they thought. When they finally met for coffee at a Starbucks in Santa Monica, Nancy didn't even realize she’d been spilling her heart out to "America’s Mom." She saw Meredith and went, "Wait. You're Meredith?"
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By 2013, they decided to make it official. It was an intimate Los Angeles ceremony. All five of Meredith’s kids were there. Nancy’s band played the reception. It was a far cry from the high-drama, often painful marriages Meredith had lived through in her younger years.
The Men Before the Breakthrough
You can't really understand the Meredith Baxter spouse history without looking at the three marriages that came before she came out in 2009. These weren't just "starter marriages." They were long, intense chapters that defined her public persona for nearly forty years.
Robert Lewis Bush (1966–1971): This was her first marriage, right as her career was budding. They had two kids, Ted and Eva. It ended relatively quickly, but it set the stage for a life lived in the spotlight.
David Birney (1974–1989): This is the one everyone remembers. They starred together in Bridget Loves Bernie. They were the "it" couple. But the picture was messy. In her 2011 memoir Untied, Meredith didn't hold back. She described the marriage as emotionally and sometimes physically abusive. She admitted she used alcohol to cope with the tension. They had three children—Kate, Mollie, and Peter—but the divorce was a nightmare. It was a bitter, public, and long-drawn-out battle that left her feeling pretty broken.
Michael Blodgett (1995–2000): After the trauma of the Birney years, Meredith married screenwriter Michael Blodgett. It lasted about five years. By the time it ended, she was starting to realize that the "problem" with her marriages wasn't just the men. It was that she wasn't being honest about her own identity.
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Coming Out in the Public Eye
December 2, 2009. That was the day everything changed. Meredith sat down with Matt Lauer on the Today show and just said it. She was a lesbian.
People were shocked. Or, well, some people were. Others kinda saw it coming if they’d been paying attention to who she was hanging out with in LA. She explained that she didn't even realize she was gay until she started her first same-sex relationship in 2002. She was in her 50s. Imagine living that much life before the lightbulb finally flickers on.
She told the world she was "being honest for the first time." It wasn't just about who she was sleeping with. It was about why her previous relationships with men had felt like she was constantly trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
Why Their Marriage Works
So, why has Nancy Locke stuck when the others didn't?
For one, sobriety is a massive pillar of their relationship. They speak the same language when it comes to recovery. But more than that, there’s a level of equality that Meredith says she never felt with her husbands. Nancy isn't an actor. She’s a contractor. She has her own world, her own band, and her own life.
They live a relatively quiet life in Santa Barbara now. They moved there a few years back, trading the hectic energy of Los Angeles for something a bit more grounded. You’ll catch them at local events or supporting LGBTQ+ causes, but they aren't chasing the paparazzi.
What You Can Learn from Meredith’s Journey
If you're looking at the Meredith Baxter spouse history and wondering what the "takeaway" is, it’s probably this: it is never, ever too late to pivot.
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- Identity isn't a race. If it takes you 60 years to figure out who you are, those 60 years weren't "wasted." They were just the prologue.
- Honesty changes the chemistry. Meredith often says that once she stopped hiding, her relationships stopped being "work" in that exhausting, soul-crushing way.
- Support systems matter. The fact that her five children supported her transition and her marriage to Nancy is a huge testament to the family they built despite the chaos of the early years.
The Reality of 2026
As of 2026, Meredith and Nancy are still one of those "quietly successful" celebrity couples. They’ve bypassed the "seven-year itch" and the "ten-year slump." In a world where celebrity marriages last about as long as a TikTok trend, their decade-plus of marriage is actually pretty impressive.
Meredith continues to do occasional voice work and guest spots, but her focus seems to be on her life with Nancy and her grandkids. She’s transitioned from being "America’s Mom" to being a woman who is finally comfortable in her own skin.
If you're navigating your own late-in-life changes or just trying to understand how to build a partnership that actually lasts, looking at how Meredith and Nancy built theirs on a foundation of shared struggle and total transparency is a pretty good place to start.
Next Steps for You:
If you're interested in the nuances of Meredith's earlier life, I highly recommend picking up a copy of her memoir, Untied. It’s raw, it’s uncomfortable in parts, and it gives a lot of context to why her marriage to Nancy Locke is such a victory for her. You can also look up her 2009 Today show interview—it’s a masterclass in how to own your truth with dignity.