Jeremy Yaffe: Alan Arkin’s First Wife, Sons, Music, and Life After Divorce
Jeremy Yaffe was Alan Arkin’s first wife and the mother of his two oldest sons, Adam and Matthew Arkin. They married in 1955 after meeting at Bennington College in Vermont. Their marriage came years before Broadway, Oscar nods, and the long film career that made Alan famous. It ended in 1961.
Her story belongs to that early part of the Arkin family. She shared the years when money was short and acting work was hard to find. She also sang with a children’s folk group called The Baby Sitters. After the divorce, she moved into a much quieter life.
Quick Facts About Jeremy Yaffe
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Known for | Alan Arkin’s first wife |
| Marriage | 1955–1961 |
| Children | Adam Arkin and Matthew Arkin |
| College | Bennington College |
| Music | Original member of The Baby Sitters |
| Former husband | Alan Arkin |
Bennington College Was the Start of Their Story
Alan Arkin reached Bennington College after studying theater in Los Angeles. The Vermont school was still mostly for women at the time. He was one of only a small number of male students there.
The Los Angeles Times later called Jeremy Yaffe his Bennington classmate. They married in 1955, while both were still very young.
There was no Hollywood life around them then. Alan was trying to find his way as an actor and singer. Work came and went. The couple also started a family almost at once.
Their first son, Adam, was born in 1956.
The Independent reported that Jeremy was 18 when they married and was pregnant with Adam. The young family later moved to St. Louis while Alan tried to find acting work there.
Those years were hard. Money was tight, and no one knew if his career would work out.
The Baby Sitters Gave Her a Place in Music
Jeremy Yaffe also had a real part in the family’s early music life.
AllMusic lists her, under the name Jeremy Arkin, as one of the first members of The Baby Sitters. The group also included Alan Arkin, Lee Hays, and Doris Kaplan.
They made folk songs for children and parents. Their first records came out in the late 1950s. The songs used guitar, toy instruments, and even simple household sounds.
Young Adam sang on some of the tracks.
That work matters because it gives Jeremy her own clear link to music. Some later web pages call her an actress, but the stronger record is in folk music.
The Guardian also noted that she stayed with The Baby Sitters until the divorce. Alan’s second wife, Barbara Dana, later joined the group.
A Young Marriage With Very Little Money
The marriage grew under real strain.
Alan was still trying to break into theater. He worked in folk music, took small acting jobs, and kept looking for a place where he could build a career.
He later told the Los Angeles Times that he was broke and that his marriage was falling apart during that period.
That is one of the clearest comments he ever made about those years.
It does not prove one simple reason for the divorce. It does show that money trouble and an unstable career were part of their home life.
A big change came when Paul Sills offered Alan work in Chicago. That led him to Second City and gave his acting life new direction.
By then, the marriage was close to its end.
Matthew Was Born Near the End of the Marriage
Their second son, Matthew, was born in 1960.
The Washington Post later named Adam and Matthew as the two sons from Alan’s first marriage.
The couple divorced in 1961.
The timing is important. Jeremy had shared the years before Alan became a major stage actor. She had been there through college, folk music, money trouble, travel, and the birth of two sons.
Soon after the divorce, his career changed fast.
In 1963, Alan won a Tony Award for Enter Laughing. A few years later, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming brought him his first Oscar nomination.
The public knew the later success. Jeremy had lived through the much less certain years before it.
Adam Arkin Built His Own TV Career
Adam Arkin grew into a well-known actor and director.
The Television Academy lists three Primetime Emmy nominations for him. They came for Northern Exposure, Chicago Hope, and Frasier.
He also moved behind the camera and directed many TV shows.
His career lasted for decades, but it did not begin with Hollywood. Music was part of his early home life first.
AllMusic notes that Adam sang on some Baby Sitters tracks as a child.
So one of his first public links to the arts came through a group that included both of his parents.
Matthew Took a Longer Road Back to Acting
Matthew Arkin chose a different path at first.
Chapman University says he graduated from Wesleyan University and then went to Fordham Law School. He joined the New York State Bar in 1986.
He practiced law until 1989.
Then he left that field and returned to acting.
His work later included Broadway, TV, film, teaching, and writing. He also became an acting teacher and led training programs for young actors.
The two brothers reached the arts in different ways. Adam entered acting early. Matthew spent years in law before coming back to the stage.
Both, however, carried the Arkin family’s link to performance into adult life.
Life After the Divorce Became Much More Private
Jeremy Yaffe moved away from public attention after the marriage ended.
After the divorce, she worked as a nurse. Details about her training, employers, and the length of that career are not widely documented.
She did not become a regular interview subject. She also did not build a public career from her former marriage.
The contrast with Alan became stronger over time.
He moved from Second City to Broadway, film, TV, writing, and directing. In 2007, he won an Academy Award for Little Miss Sunshine.
Jeremy stayed outside that public world.
Alan Arkin’s Later Family
Alan married actress and writer Barbara Dana in 1964. They later had a son, Anthony.
He later married Suzanne Newlander.
The Washington Post noted that all three of Alan’s sons became actors.
That family history can cause confusion in short online bios. Adam and Matthew were Jeremy’s sons. Anthony was the son of Alan and Barbara Dana.
Jeremy’s place in the family is tied to the two oldest boys and the years before Alan became famous.
The Folk Years Show a Different Arkin Family
The Baby Sitters give a rare look at that early home life.
The group existed before Alan became a major stage and film actor. It mixed folk music, children, and family in a simple way.
AllMusic names Alan Arkin, Jeremy Arkin, Lee Hays, and Doris Kaplan as the first adult members.
The records were made for children to sing and play with. They were not built around star power.
That is what makes Jeremy’s part so useful.
She was not only standing beside Alan while he worked. She was a credited member of the group.
Her name was on a real creative project from the years before his fame. For Jeremy Yaffe, that music remains one of the clearest parts of her own public record.
The Divorce Came Just Before His Breakthrough
Alan’s career rose quickly after 1961.
Second City led to Broadway. Broadway led to film.
His Tony win came in 1963. His first Oscar nomination followed a few years later.
By that point, his marriage to Jeremy was already over.
This is why her story feels so different from the later Arkin story.
She knew the part before the awards and famous films. Her life with Alan belonged to the years of risk, debt, music, and young children.
Their sons kept that early family link alive in a new way.
Adam became a major TV actor and director. Matthew became an actor, teacher, and writer after first working in law.
Jeremy Yaffe Today
Jeremy Yaffe remains best known for a short but important part of the Arkin family story.
She met Alan Arkin at Bennington College, married him in 1955, had Adam and Matthew with him, and sang with The Baby Sitters while his career was still unsure.
The marriage ended in 1961.
Alan then moved into the stage and film work that made him famous. Their two sons later built long careers of their own.
Jeremy chose a much quieter path.
Her public record is still centered on college, marriage, music, motherhood, and the two sons she raised before the Arkin name became widely known.
For another story about a woman whose life changed around a famous marriage but continued on a private path, read LakewoodScoop.co.uk’s profile of June Baranco.