Hollywood is weird. One minute you're the "it" couple, and the next, you're a footnote in a Wikipedia entry about someone else's more famous marriage. That's kinda the vibe with Steven Bauer and Melanie Griffith. If you ask a random person today about Melanie's exes, they’ll probably shout "Antonio Banderas!" or maybe "Don Johnson!" because of the whole Miami Vice of it all. But Bauer? He was the bridge. He was the one there when everything was about to explode—for better and for worse.
Most people forget they were married for most of the '80s.
The "She's in the Army Now" Connection
They didn't meet at some swanky Oscar party. Nope. It was 1981, and they were both cast in a TV movie called She's in the Army Now. Melanie was 24, trying to outrun the shadow of her mother, Tippi Hedren. Steven was 25, a Cuban-born actor with a jawline that could cut glass.
The chemistry was instant. Like, "let's get married this year" instant.
Honestly, it looked like the perfect setup. They were young, ridiculously good-looking, and hungry for the big time. They moved to New York City right after the wedding. Fun fact: they actually swapped apartments with Ray Liotta. Steven and Melanie took Ray's place in NYC while he headed to their spot in L.A. to find work. It was that kind of scrappy, early-80s actor life.
Scarface, Fame, and the First Son
By 1983, Steven Bauer wasn't just "Melanie’s husband" anymore. He was Manny Ribera. Being the right-hand man to Al Pacino in Scarface changed everything. It made him a massive star overnight. While Steven was reaching this peak, Melanie was navigating her own path, eventually leading to her iconic turn in Body Double.
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Then came Alexander.
Alexander Griffith Bauer was born on August 22, 1985. He’s Melanie’s first child. You’ve probably seen photos of him—he’s the one who didn't go into acting like his half-sister Dakota Johnson. He stayed more behind the scenes, doing some writing and camera work. But at the time, his birth was supposed to be the thing that "settled" the couple.
It didn't.
Why the marriage hit a wall
If you look back at interviews from that era, the cracks were there early. Melanie has been incredibly open—sometimes brutally so—about her struggles with addiction during those years. In a 1994 Vanity Fair piece, she admitted she used to "drink herself to sleep."
Steven was trying to manage a booming career, and Melanie was struggling with a "buzz inside her body" that she used drugs and booze to quiet. They separated around 1987, though the divorce wasn't officially finalized until 1989. It was a messy, turbulent time.
Life After the Split
When they finally called it quits, the transition was lightning fast. Melanie went back to Don Johnson (the first of her many reunions with him), got sober, and filmed Working Girl. Steven kept working steadily, though he never quite hit that Scarface level of fame again until much later with Breaking Bad and Ray Donovan.
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What’s wild is how they are now.
- They are actually friends. This isn't just "PR talk." In 2013, Melanie actually brought Steven as her date to a movie premiere because Antonio Banderas couldn't make it.
- The blended family works. Melanie often posts "National Sons Day" tributes on Instagram featuring Alexander.
- Mutual respect. Steven has always spoken about Melanie with a sort of protective fondness, despite the "turbulent" label the press loved to use.
What We Can Learn From the Bauer-Griffith Years
You've got to admire the lack of bitterness. In a town where divorces usually end in 10-year legal battles and "sources" leaking dirt to Page Six, they just... moved on.
If you're looking at their history and wondering why it matters in 2026, it's because they represent a rare Hollywood outcome: the successful "failed" marriage. They realized they weren't right as partners, but they stayed right as parents.
Actionable Insights for the Curious:
- Check the Credits: Watch She's in the Army Now (1981) if you can find it. It's a total time capsule of their "first sight" chemistry.
- Look for Alexander: If you follow Melanie on social media, look for the guy who looks exactly like a mix of Manny Ribera and Tess McGill—that's their legacy.
- Normalize the Pivot: Their story is a reminder that a relationship ending doesn't mean the people involved have to disappear from each other's lives forever.
If you want to understand the modern Hollywood "blended family" dynamic that Dakota Johnson often talks about, you have to look back at 1981. It all started with a TV movie and a shared NYC apartment.
To see more about how their kids are doing today, you can check out the latest updates on the Griffith-Banderas-Johnson family tree.