10 Celebrities Who Prefer Experienced Men

Married to actor Michael Douglas, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has proven she prefers older, more experienced men. In the past she dated actor Angus McFadyen, 6 years her senior, director Nick Hamm, 11 years her senior, and singer Mick Hucknall, 10 years her senior. As she told Details magazine in 1999, "I've never dated anybody the same age as me. I think it's because I love the knowledge older men have." She fell in love with more than Michael Douglas' knowledge, presumably, when they married in 2000. Douglas is a full quarter-century (that's 25 years) older than his bride. So far, the union seems to be working, as they've been happily married for a decade.

Actress Calista Flockhart has been known to date slightly older men in the past. David E. Kelley, a television producer and her former suitor, was nine years older than her. When she began dating actor Harrison Ford, however, who's 22 years her senior, in 2002, many questioned her intentions. It seems that their love is meant to last, however, as the pair has been engaged since 2009. Ford's acting experience must not be what draws Flockhart to him, as she has admitted to never seeing him in the "Star Wars" series of movies.

Whatever you might think of their individual acting skills, or mental competency, theirs is a unique relationship. Katie Holmes, age 31, married Tom Cruise, now 47, back in 2006, after Cruise proclaimed his love for her on national television while jumping up and down on Oprah's couch. Before dating Cruise, Holmes stuck to guys her own age, such as Josh Hartnett and Joshua Jackson. Although rumors constantly fly about the state of their marriage and their sanity, Cruise and Holmes have been (seemingly) happily married now for the past four years, with a little girl, Suri, to show for it.

Model, actress, and businesswoman Heidi Klum likes her men experienced. She seriously dated Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, who is 23 years older than her and fathered her daughter, Helene. Klum married musician Seal, 11 years older than her, in 2005. The two seem to be a happy couple, creating a happy family with three biological children of their own and Helene, whom Seal has adopted. Klum must be serious abut her marriage to Seal, as she has legally changed her surname from Klum to Samuel (Seal's surname). It remains to be seen if she will change her professional name to Samuel, however.

Actress Annette Bening has a history of preferring older, more experienced men. In the past, she has dated actor Ed Begley, Jr., who was nine years her senior. Bening and actor Warren Beatty, who is 21 years older than her, have been married since 1992. Bening seems to be the one woman who has been successful in taming commitment-phobic playboy Beatty's former wayward ways with women, as they have been married for almost twenty years and have four children together. Beatty designed the house he, Bening and their four children share 12 years before marrying Bening, he says, with a baby's room off the master bedroom. Seems even then he had premonitions about settling down.

Although she has never been married, actress Kristin Davis, age 45, has been linked in the past, and currently, to older, more experienced men. Rumors have been flying off and on that she is dating comedian Steve Martin, 64. This could be true, as in the past she has shown a preference for men her senior, including actors Alec Baldwin, 51, and Jeff Goldblum, 57. Although the pair has been cagey about any relationship existing, photos such as this one aren't known to lie.

Everyone knows the story of teen singer Celine Dion meeting manager René Angélil, who was 26 years older than her. He mortgaged his home in order to get her first record financed. How can you ignore that kind of devotion? No wonder Dion prefers experienced men (or in this case, an experienced man, as no one knows of any other previous suitors Dion had before marrying Angélil in 1994). They have one child together and have been trying for a second. Dion has described Angelil as the color of her love, and the pair doseem truly devoted to each other.

Actress Felicity Huffman, 47, has been married to husband /actor William H. Macy, 59, since 1997. Theirs seems to be a happy marriage, surviving in Hollywood for over a decade (which is a rarity there). They have two daughters, ages 7 and 9. Macy has said that their relationship works because they are nice to each other. "Never marry someone who's not nice," he told OK Magazine in 2010. "Nice people are fun to be with, and mean people suck. I just got lucky - that's really the truth of it."

The world watched in horror when director Woody Allen was linked romantically to the adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow, his romantic partner, in 1992. Allen was 35 years older than Soon-Yi Previn, the object of his affection. The pair married in 1997, however, and have seemingly been living happily ever after since then, with fewer tabloid stories being published about them now than when their relationship was blossoming.

Once considered one of America's most eligible bachelors, comedian Jerry Seinfeld became engaged to public relations representative Jessica Sklar in November 1999. He is 17 years older than his bride, whom he is said to have met at a New York City health club. At the time Sklar met Seinfeld, however, there was one fly in the ointment: Sklar was already married - a newlywed, in fact - to Broadway producer Eric Nederlander. She and Nederlander quickly got divorced in November 1999, and she and Seinfeld hastily married in December of the same year. No one really knows what persuaded Sklar to leave her new husband to turn around and marry someone 17 years older than her, but Seinfeld's millions of dollars might have been a factor in that decision. Whatever the reason, the pair has been a seemingly happy family along with their three children for over a decade.