Star Love: The Year That Could Have Been

Anniversary that wasn't: 70th
The world couldn't get enough of the ditzy redhead and her singing Cuban husband on the iconic '50s show I Love Lucy. In reality, Ball and Arnaz had been married years earlier (on Nov. 30, 1940) and created the series to spend more time together and have a family, eventually welcoming Lucie and Desi Jr. But work – and Arnaz's infidelity – took their toll, and the couple divorced in 1960. Still, the duo remained friends. In his autobiography, Desi wrote of Lucy, "All I can say is that I loved her very much and, in my own peculiar way, I will always love her."

Anniversary that wasn't: 35th
So in love, they married twice! The Hollywood heavyweights first met and fell for each other in 1961 on the set of Cleopatra – when they were both already married (he to Sybil Williams, she to Eddie Fisher). By 1964, they were husband and wife, only to divorce 10 years later. On Oct. 10, 1975, they gave marriage a second shot, but it was not meant to last – divorce No. 2 was finalized in 1976. "Richard was magnificent in every sense of the word," the actress told Vanity Fair recently. "From those first moments in Rome [on the set of Cleopatra] we were always madly and powerfully in love."

Anniversary that wasn't: 30th
After 28 years and eight children together, Gibson and Moore split in 2006 and have been separated since. "These things happen. It's unfortunate, it's sad, but you know she is an admirable woman," Gibson told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show in May 2009, while he was dating pregnant girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, at the time. "When it's all said and done, I did a pretty good hatchet job on my marriage myself. I'm to blame."

Anniversary that wasn't: 25th
The pair, who met on the set of her "Material Girl" video, wed before 200 guests in a star-studded oceanside Malibu ceremony – complete with helicopters overhead! – on Aug. 16, 1985. Among the witnesses: friends Diane Keaton, Christopher Walken and Tom Cruise. Three turbulent years later – marked by Penn's notorious outbursts and a withdrawn divorce petition – Madonna finally sought a final split in 1989. "I do believe we all have soulmates," Madonna later told PEOPLE. "I don't believe that we necessarily end up with them."

Anniversary that wasn't: 25th
The "Piano Man" married his Uptown Girl on March 23, 1985, on a 147-ft. yacht on the Hudson River before 175 guests, including Paul Simon and Isabella Rossellini. It was a second marriage for both, who are parents to singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel. But the union wouldn't last: They split in 1994, saying in a statement, "We have been there to support each other during critical times and expect to be there for each other in the future."

Anniversary that wasn't: 20th
They wed on Christmas Eve in 1990, but after 11 years, the Far and Away costars called it quits in 2001 in a very public battle resulting in shared custody of their two adopted children, Connor and Isabella. "To me, he was just Tom, but to everybody else, he is huge," Kidman told the Ladies' Home Journal five years after the split. "But he was lovely to me. And I loved him. I still love him."

Anniversary that wasn't: 20th
New Zealand-born Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Hunter was 21 when she became Stewart's second wife on Dec. 15, 1990, despite a 24-year age difference. They had two children together, Renée and Liam, and were long estranged before chalking up their official split in 2006 to irreconcilable differences. A year later, the rocker said "I do" to model Penny Lancaster, 26 years his junior.

Anniversary that wasn't: 15th
Just nine months after getting hitched on April 8, 1995, Oscar winner Cage and Arquette separated, despite appearing together in public for the next five years. Their on-again, off-again relationship officially ended when the couple divorced in 2001.

Anniversary that wasn't: 10th
Hudson married Black Crowes frontman Robinson on New Year's Eve in 2000 at her parents' Aspen, Colo., ranch, with about 70 guests in attendance. They divorced nearly six years later, sharing custody of son Ryder. "I don't know if I'll ever get married again," the actress told Extra two years after the split. "I don't regret a second of my marriage. We had a great time. We love each other deeply. We have an amazing son."

Anniversary that wasn't: 10th
More than 15 years after her first wedding day, Madonna celebrated her love with British filmmaker Ritchie – father to her son Rocco – on Dec. 22, 2000. But when rumors that Madonna had an affair surfaced, the twosome split in October 2008. "I still love her," the Sherlock Holmes director told Esquire a year later. "But she's retarded, too."

Anniversary that wasn't: 10th
In one of Hollywood's most-anticipated weddings, power couple Aniston and Pitt tied the knot in a super-secret lavish Malibu ceremony on July 29, 2000, in front of 200 guests. Wedded bliss would end 4½ years later in 2005, when Aniston filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Amid rumors that Pitt and Angelina Jolie had fallen for each other while filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Pitt and Aniston came out in a joint statement to PEOPLE on the end of their union: "Our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media. This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration."

Anniversary that wasn't: 10th
It was a brief but colorful marriage for Jolie and Thornton, who wed after a two-month courtship in a quickie Las Vegas ceremony on May 5, 2000. The eccentric couple, who played husband and wife in Pushing Tin, were known to carry vials of each other's blood around their necks and for their exuberant PDA. Not long after adopting their Cambodian son, Maddox, Jolie sought a divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. "It's a sad thing," a representative said in a statement.

Anniversary that wasn't: 5th
The Miss Congeniality star wed tattooed biker tycoon James shortly before her 41st birthday in a sunset ceremony outside Santa Barbara, Calif., on July 16, 2005. Just short of five years later, news of his infidelities surfaced publicly as Bullock enjoyed the glow of her first Oscar win – and as she finalized the adoption of her son, Louis, from New Orleans. "I took a pretty amazing life and marriage ... and threw it away," James later said in an interview with Nightline.

Anniversary that wasn't: 5th
Just four months after meeting at a tsunami relief concert, Zellweger and country crooner Chesney had a beachside wedding in the U.S. Virgin Islands on May 9, 2005. Another four months later, their marriage was annulled citing "fraud," a term Zellweger clarified as referring to legal language and "not a reflection of Kenny's character." "If I get married again," Chesney told PEOPLE, "I'm going to give it 150 percent."