Timothy Olyphant has been delighting audiences for decades. The versatile actor has starred in shows like Deadwood, Justified, and Santa Clarita Diet. However, fans don’t know much about his wife of over 30 years Alexis Knief. Here’s everything we know about Olyphant, Knief, and their lovely family.
Who Is Alexis Knief?
There isn’t much public information readily available about Alexis Knief. Just like Olyphant, Knief doesn’t have any public social media profiles. Of course, it’s impressive to maintain such a low profile while married to such a successful actor. Knief has made quite a few red-carpet appearances with her husband, but it doesn’t look like she ever broke away for an interview. From what we can tell, she’s not in show business like her husband. If she does have her own career, it’s not something she advertises publicly.
What we do know is that she has a healthy sense of humor. In 2012, Olyphant appeared on Conan to talk about his recent Emmy nomination. Although he didn’t win, he revealed that Knief actually helped him write his acceptance speech. “I was going to look at the [Emmy] and then look out at my wife of 20 years and say ‘Well honey, this is it. I’m finally leaving you,”” Olyphant joked. The audience responded with a roar of laughter, proving that Knief likely brings a lot of humor into the Olyphant household.
Knief And Olyphant Have Been Married Since 1991
It’s unclear how exactly Olyphant and Knief met, but, according to Wide Open Country, it was sometime while they were both attending the University of Southern California. It must have been love at first sight because it seems like the college sweethearts married young. Olyphant and Knief tied the knot in 1991 when Olyphant would have only been about 23 years old.
Olyphant has also spoken frankly about his and Knief’s long-lasting marriage, an increasingly rare phenomenon not just in Hollywood but in the world at large. “You have to be with the right person,” Olyphant told Women’s Health in 2011. “You both have to be willing to do the work, day in and day out, to make it happen.”
Olyphant and Kief have three children. Their eldest daughter, Grace, was born in 1999. The couple then welcomed their son, Henry, in 2001, and, in 2003, they welcomed their youngest daughter, Vivian. Olyphant has spoken at length about how it’s hard to impress his kids as they’ve gotten older.
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In a 2014 appearance on Ellen, the actor joked that he started bragging to his kids about knowing other celebrities. However, it’s clear his profession did leave an impression on at least one of his children. In that same 2012 appearance on Conan, Olyphant revealed that his daughter wanted to follow in his footsteps into acting.
His kids are all grown up now, and they seem to live extremely private lives as well. From what we can tell, it doesn’t look like any of them have any public social media profiles. It’s also unclear if any of Olyphant’s children still have any acting aspirations.
The Couple Are Pet Lovers
Over the years, Olyphant and Knief have opened their home to a whole slew of different pets. During that 2012 Ellen appearance, Olyphant listed out his family’s many four-legged friends. They have two beautiful Shiloh Shepherds. If you don’t know what a Shiloh Shepherd is, it’s basically a giant German Shepherd bred to be larger, calmer, and more family-friendly. Olyphant has said they’re a handful, even joking that he calls them “Uh-Uh” and “No.”
In addition to their giant pups, Olyphant and Knief have also had smaller animals like rabbits and guinea pigs. They’ve also had pet fish, and Olyphant specifically recalled having a bad experience keeping a pet gecko. According to Olyphant, the gecko clamped onto his daughter’s upper lip when she tried to give it a kiss.
However, it seems like Olyphant has maxed out on pets, and he was reluctant to get his kids a pet cat. When they told him they wanted a pet cat, he cleverly devised a plan to start feeding a neighborhood cat so he wouldn’t have to actually adopt another indoor pet. It’s clear that, despite living extremely private lives, Olyphant and Knief are huge pet lovers.