The Real-Life Partners Of Halloweentown's Leading Ladies

"Halloweentown," the 1998 Disney classic, was so beloved that it was followed by several spin-offs. The basic premise of the film is that young Marnie Piper, played by Kimberly J. Brown, can't figure out why she and her siblings can't participate in Halloween. Her mother, Gwen Piper, played by Judith Hoag, is deeply against anything to do with witches, vampires, and Halloween-related events. One day, Marnie's grandmother, Aggie Cromwell, played by Debbie Reynolds, comes to visit. Marnie knows something's up and follows her grandmother home, only to find herself in Halloweentown to learn that she, her mother, and grandmother are all witches. 

The iconic movie is an easy way to get into the Halloween spirit. After all, it's a nice practice to embrace a spookier aesthetic in the fall, and there are lots of ways to do it. There are books with witches to fill your cauldron with feminist energy, witchy romance books that are perfect for your fall TBR, and Halloween costume ideas based on the biggest pop culture moments. With Halloween in the air, we're invested all over again in "Halloweentown." And with that in mind, let's look at the leading ladies who brought the franchise to life, and the relationships they had along the way.

The late Debbie Reynolds, who played the grandmother witch Aggie Cromwell in "Halloweentown," was married three times. Her first marriage was to Eddie Fisher; they wed in 1955 and welcomed two children, Carrie and Todd Fisher. Things between Reynolds and Eddie blew up in 1959, when Reynolds discovered that he had been having an affair with her close friend, Elizabeth Taylor. It was a huge scandal at the time, and led to a falling-out, unsurprisingly, between Taylor and Reynolds, though they did reconcile in their later years. Debbie then married shoe store magnate Harry Karl from 1960 to 1973. Her third marriage was to real estate developer Richard Hamlett from 1984 to 1996.

Opening up about her lack of sex drive, Reynolds candidly spoke about her three failed marriages with Express in 2015. "My three husbands all left me for another woman and obviously I wasn't a very sexual lady. My husbands all repeatedly said the same thing — that I was not a very passionate woman," Reynolds admitted. "I have never wished that I had had more sex," Reynolds went on. She admitted that she wasn't sensuous in her personal life and that she was much more invested in raising her children than in cultivating an erotic life with a man.

Kimberly J. Brown, who played Marnie Piper in "Halloweentown," actually met her spouse thanks to the Disney franchise. Brown was starring in "Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge," the second installment of the "Halloweentown" universe, in 2001. Daniel Kountz played the character, Kal, and while the two reportedly got along well on set, there wasn't any romance back then. "We were strictly professional," Kountz told People. Brown reiterated this, stating that there weren't any romantic vibes between the two at the time. 

But Brown and Kountz stayed in touch over social media, and in 2016, Brown reached out to him about a project that she was working on. "We met up at a bar, and I was waiting there for a little Kimberly J. Brown to come in, and in walks a beautiful, well-put-together full-grown woman. I was like, 'Oh, well, hello there. I believe we've both grown up a little bit,'" Kountz admitted to People. "Then that was pretty much it for me. I was smitten." Sure enough, the two started dating. In 2022, they got engaged and married in May 2024 in Camarillo, California. So, thanks to "Halloweentown," Brown and Kountz found each other. 

Judith Hoag played the witchy mom, Gwen Cromwell Piper, on "Halloweentown." She's the daughter of Debbie Reynolds' character and the mother to the main characters, Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie. In the movie, she's a widow, but currently, in real life, Hoag is happily married to Philip Stone, whom she refers to as her eternal valentine. With a nice nod to Valentine's Day, Stone and Hoag got married on February 13, 2021. Hoag posted a sweet tribute to her husband on Instagram at the time, with the caption: "The Gleeful Elopers!" Clearly, they didn't want a big crowd for their wedding and opted for a more private affair.

Part of the reason for this may have been that Hoag was married before. She was married to her first husband, actor Vince Grant, while filming the franchise, with their relationship spanning from 1988 to 2016. They welcomed two children together, but Hoag keeps them largely out of the spotlight.

Emily Roeske plays the youngest sister, Sophie Piper, in "Halloweentown," daughter to Judith Hoag's character and granddaughter of Debbie Reynolds' onscreen witch. Roeske briefly retired from acting and didn't return as Sophie in the 2006 film "Return to Halloweentown." However, she references "Halloweentown" frequently on her social media, so it's clear that Roeske has fond memories of the experience. In fact, in October 2023, she posted a tribute to "Halloweentown" to celebrate its 25th anniversary. 

Roeske lives with her partner, Jacob Arellano, and the two have created a thriving blended family together in Arizona. Roeske has two children, Evie and Mavis, from a prior relationship, while Arellano has twins, Lincoln and Logan, also from a previous relationship. Roeske and Arellano welcomed a son, Summit Jameson Arellano, in October 2024. He arrived just in time for Halloween, which is charmingly appropriate.