Landon Beard and Vanessa Ray in 2018.Photo:Mike Coppola/Getty Images for AYS Sports Marketing
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for AYS Sports Marketing
Vanessa Rayand Landon Beard have been together for more than a decade.
TheBlue Bloodsactress first met her husband at a rehearsal in 2009, and after dating for six years, the couple married in 2015.
“Happy anniversary, Don,” Ray wrote in a2019 Instagram postcelebrating their four years of marriage. “Even in the past few months I’ve just realized more and more ways to love you and accept love from you. You’re a smart, tinkering, weirdo who would do literally ANYTHING for the people in your life. Thank you for keeping our life wonderful. I love you, duh.”
A singer, actor and producer, Beard is best known for touring withFrankie Valliand The Four Seasons and performing with his band Harbor Party.
The couple achieved another milestone in June 2024 when Ray wrapped up her decade-long stint onBlue Bloods. “This young lady (2013) just finished her final scene,” Beard wrote inan Instagram postcelebrating his wife’sBlue Bloodsrun. “11 Seasons. More than a decade of her life. A wedding. A home. A child. She’s done it all with grace and joy. Cheers to a job well done. I love you Eddie Janko.”
So who is Vanessa Ray’s husband? Here’s everything to know about Landon Beard and his relationship with theBlue Bloodsactress.
Vanessa Ray and husband Landon Beard.Landon Beard/Instagram
Landon Beard/Instagram
Beard was born on May 25, 1979, in San Diego, Calif.
A multi-hyphenate talent, his career has spanned singing, acting and producing.
His acting credits include the 2012 filmGeneration Um…starringKeanu Reevesand the 2005 short filmSacrificestarring Suzan Brittan. Beard also helped with the production of the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, writing about the experience ina 2022 Instagram post, “An honor to be a small part of a bigger cause. Production of the 74th Emmy Awards. New Beginnings.”
Vanessa Ray and Landon Beard in the Bahamas.Landon Beard/Instagram
After meeting in a rehearsal and dating for a few years, Beard proposed to Ray on Jan. 23, 2015.
“Thinking about it now, I could feel his heart pounding even through the many layers of clothing we had on out there,” she continued. “He pulled out the ring, we cried and I started asking a million questions. ‘Did you ask my parents? My brother? Does Kelly [Sullivan] know? Does she like the ring?’ ”
Beard flew out Ray’s best friend, actress Kelly Sullivan, from Los Angeles to witness and capture the proposal. “Totally unbeknownst to me, he had Kelly fly out from L.A.,” thePretty Little Liarsactress told the magazine. “She was disguised in a black wig, pretending to be a tourist taking pictures during the whole thing.”
“It took me a long time to realize the lady with the camera was my best friend and that she’d witnessed all of it,” Ray added. “There was a lot of dancing and tears of joy.”
Landon Beard and Vanessa Ray on their wedding day in 2015.Landon Beard/Instagram
A few months after their engagement, thecouple marriedon June 14, 2015.
PerE! News, Beard and Ray had a relaxed, boho-style wedding at the Condor’s Nest Ranch in Pala, Calif. The ceremony included a singalong with wedding guests who were also given tambourines and shakers to make music. There was even a flower crown station for attendees to enjoy.
Beard’s band Harbor Party played a set during the evening, with Craig Pilo from Frankie Valli’s band joining as a guest musician.
Sasha Pieterse, Ray’sPretty Little Liarscostar, attended the wedding, along with actresses Kim Matula and Kelly Sullivan.
Landon Beard and Vanessa Ray.Landon Beard/Instagram
“Isaac Ray Beard was born on Nov. 7 and he kind of came into our life, it was quite a whirlwind,” Ray said at the time. “My husband and I weren’t totally sure if we were going to have kids, at what point in our life that made sense and all those things.”
“I was at work one day, honestly, I was about to do a family dinner and I just had this overwhelming sensation of family and what I love about our life and all of these things,” she continued.
Ray remembered calling her husband crying and telling him, “I think we’re supposed to be parents” and “I think we’re supposed to adopt.”
“We had everything that we needed from our friends. We didn’t have to buy anything,” she added. “We really didn’t right away, at least for the first three months.”
“My husband was like, ‘Hey remember when we were on that hike and how we were broken up and you had mentioned the name Isaac and how isn’t that the most beautiful thing, the best way to respond is laughing and rejoicing?' " Ray recalled.
“He’s like, ‘I think that’s the name.’ I was like, ‘That’s the name,’ ” she continued. “I guess that name has been with us for a long time. We never knew we’d ever have to use it and here we are. He is a lot of laughing and a lot of rejoicing.”
Vanessa Ray and Landon Beard in 2022.Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
In a 2020 episode of thePink Lemonade Standpodcast, Ray revealed that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and spent three months in a mental health facility. The actress later opened up about her diagnosis and how she and Beard navigated it together in a 2021 interview withWomen on Top.
“[After I came back from treatment], Landon and I had to have a ton of therapy as well within that,” she shared in the interview. “Because here I am, changing, starting to take accountability for myself, trying to be present, and all of those things. And my husband is someone who takes care of everything. And so all of a sudden I was like, ‘I don’t need your help.’ "
“It was difficult in our marriage and it was the question of whether or not either of us wanted to be in a marriage where we completely flipped the script,” she added. Ray said that self-help books and therapy helped the couple work through the challenges they faced in their relationship.
Landon Beard and Vanessa Ray.Vanessa Ray/Instagram
Vanessa Ray/Instagram
Beard and Ray aren’t shy of publicly displaying their love on social media — the pair regularly celebrate their wedding anniversaries and birthdays with sweet posts.
When Ray turned 40 in 2021, her husbandposted a photoof them sharing a kiss while hiking, writing in the caption of the Instagram post: “She blesses every person she comes into contact with. It is I who got the gift when she was born. Happy Birthday my love.”
For their fifth wedding anniversary in 2020, the couple both marked the occasion on Instagram, withRay posting picturesof them posing at the beach and writing, “Happy anniversary @landonbeard 5 years!!!! Still crazy bout ya. Thanks to our friends and family for sticking this out with us. To know us is to KNOW us, ya know?”
Meanwhile, Beardposted a pictureof Ray hugging him and captioned it, “5 years married. What a ride!!!”
source: people.com