Ernie Hudson said he discovered the secret to a successful marriage after an argument over toilet paper.
Years ago, the 78-year-old Ghostbusters icon had his moment of realization during a seemingly trivial argument with his wife of nearly 40 years, Linda Kingsberg, over the direction of the toilet paper roll.
Despite the disagreement, he decided to let it slide, realizing that such minor disagreements didn’t matter much in the larger context of their relationship.
“I said, ‘I don’t care. If it makes you happy, I’ll do it that way. If me opening the door is a problem for you, then I’ll open the door.’ What am I going to fight about? I’m fine,” he said People on Wednesday.
“I love her for who she is and not for who I want her to be or think she should be,” he said of Linda, with whom he shares two children. “So I just trust her to be herself and if she’s happy then I’m fine too.”
Ernie Hudson said he learned the secret to a successful marriage after an argument over toilet paper with his wife of 40 years, Linda Kingsberg; in the photo 2021
Despite the disagreement, he decided to let it slide, realizing that such minor disagreements didn’t matter much in the larger context of their relationship; pictured 2016
Hudson also shares two children from his previous marriage to Jeannie Moore, whom he married when they were “just kids,” the star said.
“I was 18, she was 16. The marriage ended, the kids came with me, which surprised me,” he explained. “But I just felt like I never wanted to do that again.”
After meeting Linda, his perspective on walking down the aisle changed again.
“We were actually together for nine years before I finally said, ‘You know what? We’re together. So let’s just go ahead and get married,” the Quantum Leap alum explained.
The couple would tie the knot in 1985.
Throughout their time together, Hudson said he has embraced the art of compromise, especially when navigating his friendships with other women.
“I like women as friends,” he added. “I find women more interesting to talk to because they talk about their children and emotions and feelings and stuff.”
He noted that the majority of his friends were women, but acknowledges that this dynamic was not always conducive to a healthy marriage.
“I love her for who she is and not for who I want her to be or think she should be,” he said of Linda, with whom he shares two children. ‘So I just trust her to be herself and if she’s happy then I’m fine too’; pictured 2019
Ernie, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and Gil Kenan at Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire film screening, London 2024
Ernie in the 2016 all-female Ghostbusters
Hudson played Dr. Winston Zeddemore in the 1984 supernatural blockbuster Ghostbusters, alongside co-stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts and William Atherton
“Even though I can explain this relationship, I’m more worried about (my wife) now and I know she’s my friend now. And I can’t sit on the phone with my best friend for two hours and expect her to understand,” he claimed.
“If it were the other way around, how would I feel?”
Hudson played Dr. Winston Zeddemore in the 1984 supernatural blockbuster Ghostbusters, alongside co-stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts and William Atherton.
He returned alongside these co-stars to reprise their roles in the 2021 film Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and is now starring in the latest sequel Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.