Debbie Allen and Norm Nixon are a beautiful example of unwavering love.

The pair have been married since 1984 and share three children: DeVaughn Nixon, Vivian Nixon and Normon Nixon Jr. Though the couple have had “differences” during their marriage, Allen told PEOPLE in September 2024 that their love for their family and each other keeps them committed.

“So wherever there have been differences and there have been,” she said. “Honey, over 40 years, child, we’ve hit some rocks and hit some walls. But at the end of the day, we really love each other and we sleep together every night and we love our family.”

The married couple have also become grandparents to two grandchildren, with Allen telling PEOPLE that spending time with her grandkids is her priority behind running her dance academy.

“The Debbie Allen Dance Academy, it’s my whole life, but my grandkids are very special,” she said at the time.

Before having grandchildren and building a life together, Allen and Nixon were on different journeys when they crossed paths more than four decades ago. Nixon is a former NBA player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers before being traded to the San Diego Clippers. Since retiring from the league, Nixon has explored other roles, including as a sports and entertainment agent and serving in an executive position with the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.

Despite the married couple’s different careers, they supported each other’s journeys and collaborated on projects over the years. In the past, they have acted alongside each other and joined forces to found the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, where Nixon produced nearly a dozen children’s musicals through their dance school.

So who is Debbie Allen’s husband? Here’s everything to know about NBA legend Norm Nixon and his relationship with the actor.

He grew up in Georgia

Born and raised in Macon, Ga., Nixon started showing an interest in sports as a young child. He played on his high school basketball, football and track teams.

As one of the star players, he helped lead his high school basketball team to the state championship in 1973. After graduating high school, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pa. and played college basketball for Duquesne University.

​​”We were some little country boys,” Nixon told 13WMAZ in May 2020. “Not only did we win the state in basketball, we won the state in track running in Converse tennis shoes. We didn’t have the type of training, I think, basketball, we were ahead of the game.”

Although he now lives miles away, the retired NBA star isn’t a stranger to his community. In his spare time, he enjoys returning to Macon and supporting charitable causes that help local citizens in his hometown. In 2020, Nixon donated $5,000 to the non-profit Adopt-A-Role Model, the Macon Housing Authority and Anderson’s Diner. His contribution helped local organizations provide meals to senior citizens affected by food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These are probably some of the people my age there who are still living there,” he told 13WMAZ. “It was just a small way to just support my community and my home.”

He is a retired NBA player

In 1977, Nixon started his NBA career as a point guard for the Lakers after being drafted as the 22nd overall pick in the first round. While on the team, he became a valuable player for his ability to average double-digit points each season. Known for his jump shots and speed on the court, the basketball legend made a name for himself. He earned the nickname “Stormin’ Norman” and was instrumental in the team’s success, helping lead the Lakers to two NBA championships.

He earned his first NBA championship title after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in 1980 and then again in 1982. During his second round in the NBA playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers, he scored an average of around 20 points per game, per Lakers Nation.

The professional basketball player was traded to the San Diego Clippers in 1983. Nixon was recognized as the team’s All-Star player in the 1984-85 season. Although a valuable player, Nixon’s time with the Clippers saw him miss several seasons due to major knee and Achilles tendon injuries. He played his last game in 1989 before retiring from the league.

He is also an actor and producer

Nixon’s skills transcend beyond the basketball court. The sports veteran is also an actor and has been featured in projects such as Bedazzled, S.W.A.T, The Magical World of Disney and Mona Must Die.

As his NBA career took off, Nixon became interested in exploring other opportunities to show off his creative side. The athlete jump-started his acting career in his offseason and landed his first movie deal where he portrayed a basketball player in the 1979 film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. It was a full-circle moment for Nixon as filming took place in the same city where he attended and played college basketball at Duquesne University.

“Duquesne and Pittsburgh hold a special place with me,” Nixon told Trib Total Media in September 2021. “I grew up a lot there and had so much support from my coaches and teammates and everyone at the university.”

Over the years, Nixon has produced 10 children’s musicals through the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. According to the Denver Speakers Bureau, the businessman made a historic first in 2008 by producing the first all-Black cast of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof on Broadway. The musical broke several box office records and won a prestigious Olivier Award in London.

He met Allen on a movie set

According to Trib Total Media, Nixon and Allen first met in 1979 while filming The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. Allen acted alongside Nixon and choreographed portions of the movie, and eventually, the two cultivated a friendship. Once filming wrapped, they kept in touch throughout the years before they began dating.

“She went to New York and moved to Fame, and I went back to Los Angeles,” he told the publication. “We stayed in touch, and I realized I had more fun with her than any of the other women I was dating.”

In September 2024, Allen told PEOPLE she credited their friendship as the foundation for sustaining their 40-year marriage through the ups and downs. “I think our relationship has always been born on friendship and commonality in terms of things that we both like,” she said. “[We like] to read books. We both like to go to the movies. We both like to travel. We both love our children.”

While Nixon has taken a backseat in acting, Allen continues to appear on the ABC drama Grey’s Anatomy. Before her recurring role in the hospital drama, she was best known for starring in Fame, A Different World, In The House and several other series.

Nixon and Allen have been married for over 40 years

Nixon and Allen tied the knot on April 27, 1984. Their decades long marriage has stood the test of time, and in April 2024, the pair reached a milestone in their marriage by celebrating their 40th anniversary. In a short video clip on Instagram, Allen serenaded her husband with a special dance routine.

While Nixon rarely speaks openly about his marriage, Allen often gives her husband an affectionate shout out on social media.

“Norman Nixon, you have been the 10 I look up to for more than 39 years,” the dancer wrote on Instagram on their 39th anniversary in April 2023. “Marriage has been a joyous rollercoaster ride of love, friendship, trust, children, debate and sleeping so close.”

On his 69th birthday in October 2024, she posted a photograph of herself and Nixon together at Project Angel Food’s 35th Annual Angel Awards Gala in Hollywood in September.

“Happy Birthday to my love and my forever, Norm Nixon! I’m blessed to walk this life with you! 💛👑,” Allen wrote alongside the image.

He shares two children with Allen

After getting married in April 1984, Allen became a stepmother to Nixon’s son, DeVaughn, whom he welcomed in a previous relationship. Shortly after they wed, the couple welcomed their firstborn, Vivian, the following month. Three years later, they expanded their family with their son, Normon Jr., who was born in August 1987.

Although he grew up with an NBA legend as a father, DeVaughn pursued acting instead. He has appeared in well-known projects, including appearing alongside Whitney Houston in the 1992 film The Bodyguard. He has also had roles in TV shows such as Lizzie McGuire, Drake & Josh, Sonny with a Chance. Snowfall andThe Secret Life of The American Teenager. In 2022, DeVaughn played his dad in the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of The Laker’s Dynasty and he appeared in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy in 2024.

Following her mom’s footsteps, Vivian also expressed herself through dance and eventually enrolled in Kirov Ballet School. She has also acted in a few shows, including alongside her mom in Grey’s Anatomy , where she appeared as Dr. Hannah Brody for 18 episodes. In 2019, Vivian and her husband Jazzston Williams welcomed a daughter Shiloh, and have since added another girl to their family, their second daughter, Aviah.

Normon Jr. is interested in acting like his siblings and has appeared in 12 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy with his mom as well as in shows like Haus of Vicious. More recently, he has been promoting his comedy work, too. As well as taping a comedy show in February 2024 in L.A, he has also hosted several standup comedy nights named “Norm Nixon & the Homies,”

In September 2024, Allen told PEOPLE that she and Nixon are preparing to welcome another pair of grandchildren, though she didn’t reveal which of the couple’s children will be expanding their own family or when exactly the were expected. Allen shared her excitement, however, and shared that the new little ones are also girls.

“I’m just excited that I got two more, and they’re all girls, so I’m going to have my own corps de ballet,” she said at the time.

He co-founded The Debbie Allen Dance Academy

After retiring from the NBA in 1989, Nixon explored different avenues to leverage his skills and talents outside of sports. He pursued several business ventures, including working as an sports and entertainment agent, owning and managing two restaurants in Los Angeles and entrepreneurship with his wife. According to his profile on the Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s website, the retired athlete co-founded the non-profit dance academy with his wife in 2001 and currently serves as the chief financial officer and executive director.

“Debbie always talked about [how] at some point she wanted to create an academy where all kids are welcome — regardless of economic background, ethnicity, social standings,” Nixon told Café Mocha Radio in 2021. “She wanted a place for kids to dance if they wanted to dance.”

As one of the non-profit’s leaders, he said that the strategy that has contributed to the ongoing success is teamwork.

“It’s not about you, it’s about your team — you take care of them,” he said at the time. “And I think when you have a team that works together, that supports each other, that’s the first part of being successful.”

Nixon also teamed up with his wife in the same year he retired, taking on the role of executive producer of the ABC show The Debbie Allen Special. The show earned two Emmy nominations for outstanding directing in a variety or music program and outstanding achievement in choreography.

He was a sports commentator

Nixon’s passion for the game didn’t end after his retirement. From 2001 to 2006, he worked as a sports analyst for KABC-TV and provided post-game coverage of ABC’s NBA telecasts.  In 2007, he moved his talents to FOX Sports Net, where he hosted the Lakers pre- and post-game telecasts, and later rejoined rejoined KABC-TV, per Denver Speaker’s Bureau.