HOLLYWOOD - Harrison Ford's wife, screenwriter Melissa Mathison, has filed for a legal separation from the actor after 18 years of marriage, his spokesman said on Thursday. Mathison is also seeking custody of their two children, Malcom, 14, and Georgia, 11. Things seemed to be going along fine for Ford and Mathison until last November, when they announced in a joint statement that they were separating, but still trying to work out their problems. Ford reportedly moved out of their New York City apartment and into a hotel.
That same month however, Ford, was seen in nightclubs, and rumors linking him romantically with actress Lara Flynn Boyle surfaced after The National Enquirer published photos of the two chatting over cocktails in a Manhattan club. At the time, Ford's manager and publicist, Patricia McQueeney, strongly denied rumors of a romance, calling the reports false and inaccurate.
Ford and Mathison then reportedly spent time together during the Christmas holidays.
In March, the two appeared to have patched things up. People magazine quoted a source close to Ford as saying, "They're definitely back together. He seems happier."
Unfortunately, the happy reunion didn't last very long, though Ford's spokeswoman said in a statement Thursday that the couple remains on good terms. She also added that Ford, 59, is currently spending time with his children at the couples Los Angeles home. Ford and Mathison also own homes n New York and Wyoming.
Ford had no comment on Mathison's petition.
Ford and Mathison met on the set of Apocalypse Now in 1978. Ford starred as Colonel Lucas in the epic war drama while Mathison worked as an executive assistant. They married in 1983.
During the filming, Ford was married to his first wife Mary with whom he had two children, Benjamin and William. They divorced in 1979.
Mathison, on the other hand, was said to be having a relationship with Apocalypse Now director Francis Ford Coppola. Starting off as a baby sitter for Coppola's children, she eventually left UC Berkley to work as Coppola's assistant on The Godfather, Part II in 1974.
Coppola's aides have confirmed the rumor that Mathison was the young woman to whom Eleanor Coppola refers when she discusses her husband's extramarital interest in Notes, her journal on the making of Apocalypse Now.