Jami Gertz has long held a place in pop culture that feels both effortless and enduring. From the moment she first appeared on screen, there was something about her—sharp, magnetic, impossible to overlook. Whether it was her teenage charm in Square Pegs, her haunting cool in The Lost Boys, or her sitcom brilliance in Still Standing, Gertz never felt like someone just passing through Hollywood. She belonged to it—and, in her own way, helped define it.
Born in Chicago and raised in the Glenview suburbs, she was the daughter of a contractor and a public school graduate who knew early on how to hold her own. Raised in a Conservative Jewish household, her values stayed with her, even as her name climbed the credits of box office hits and primetime favorites. Her career has always followed its own rhythm—never rushed, always precise—showing up exactly where she’s meant to be.
But her story doesn’t stop at scripts and sitcoms. Beyond the spotlight, Gertz’s life took a direction that few might have predicted—one that combined business, philanthropy, and sports ownership. And at the heart of it all is her marriage. In the sections ahead, we’ll look closely at the private world she’s built with her husband—and how the two have shaped a life as compelling off-screen as anything she’s played onscreen.
Jami Gertz’s Marriage to Billionaire Investor Tony Ressler
Gertz married financier Antony “Tony” Ressler on June 16, 1989, and the two have been inseparable ever since. Their relationship, built on mutual respect and a shared sense of purpose, has spanned decades and evolved into a powerful partnership that extends well beyond Hollywood.
Ressler, a successful private equity investor, co-founded two major investment firms and now oversees billions in assets. While Gertz continued captivating audiences on screen, Ressler built a financial empire—yet their biggest accomplishments came from what they built together. In time, they co-founded the Gertz-Ressler Foundation, a charitable force that has donated millions to education, healthcare, the arts, and Jewish causes.
Their public profile expanded even further in 2015 when Ressler became the principal owner of the Atlanta Hawks. And while Gertz often lets her husband handle the business end, she’s never been just a silent partner. From representing the team at the NBA Draft Lottery to making headlines with her confident presence, she’s carved out a spot in the sports world without ever giving up her Hollywood roots.
Despite the scale of their fortune—estimated in the billions—it’s the consistency of their bond and the impact of their giving that define their marriage. Gertz has often joked that she brought the luck into Ressler’s life, and he’s agreed wholeheartedly, once calling her “responsible for all [his] luck for the past 30 years.”
Jami and Tony’s Four Children
Jami Gertz and Tony Ressler are parents to four children—three sons and a daughter—who have largely stayed away from the public spotlight despite their parents’ high-profile lives. Their eldest son, Oliver, was born in the early ’90s, followed by Nicholas, Theo, and their youngest, Abigail, who arrived in the early 2000s. While much about their lives remains private, what’s clear is that Gertz and Ressler have always prioritized family, even amid the demands of Hollywood and high finance.
Back in 1996, when Gertz was filming Twister, she was already a mother of two young boys, one just a few weeks old. The experience of working long days on location while being separated from her children left a lasting impact on her. She later spoke about how that time pushed her to reassess her priorities, leading her to scale back her career and focus more on raising her kids.
Over the years, Gertz and Ressler have built a family grounded in values of education, giving, and personal responsibility. Though their children have grown up surrounded by privilege, their upbringing appears rooted in a strong sense of purpose and discretion. The couple’s philanthropic work, particularly through the Gertz-Ressler Foundation, has also given their children a close view of social responsibility and charitable impact from an early age.
Unlike many celebrity offspring, Jami and Tony’s children have remained out of the public eye, choosing privacy over publicity. And that alone says a lot about the environment they were raised in.
