Who Is Art Garfunkel's Wife? All About Kim Garfunkel

Mar. 15, 2025

Art and Kim Garfunkel.Photo:Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Get to know Art Garfunkel’s longtime love.

The folk singer, who famously made up one half of the legendary rock duoSimon & Garfunkel, is married to Kim Garfunkel.

The couple met in 1985 on set of theGood to Go, in which Garfunkel was an actor, as director Mike Nichols “found down time” in Garfunkel’s schedule while he “was waiting for Paul Simon to write new songs” and offered him the role. Garfunkel had done some acting previously, starting with a role in 1970’sCatch-22.

In fact, as Simon revealed in the new documentaryIn Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, Art’s “acceptance” of theCatch-22gig was “the catalyst for the rift” of their broken friendship. “We were really best friends up untilBridge over Troubled Water,” he added.

Three years after Garfunkel and Kim met, they tied the knot in 1988 and went on to welcome two kids together: Arthur Jr. in 1990, and Beau in 2005. His firstborn will often perform with him;as Garfunkel toldForbes, “Arthur Jr. sings better than I do, and I’m a good singer.”

Garfunkel has opened up about his relationship to Kim in the past and has previously revealed the “secret” to a good marriage.

“Lucky chemistry is part of it,” the singer told the aforementioned outlet in August 2023. “When she walks into a room, I light up.”

Read on to learn more about Art Garfunkel’s wife, Kim.

She’s a model, singer and actress

Art and Kim Garfunkel singing at “Broadway’s Best from Bravo” concert.KMazur/WireImage

KMazur/WireImage

Kathryn “Kim” Cermack was born in Minnesota and a graduate of AMDA, a performing arts college in New York. She’s a former model, singer and actress whose credits span across the stage and screen.

In addition to herlive solo productions, Kim has also performed alongside her husband over the years, like when she joined him on stage at “Broadway’s Best from Bravo” concert in N.Y.C.

Garfunkel calls her his “co-vocalist.” In 1994, he told the audience he was bringing out his"beautiful wife” to duet “The Water is Wide"live at the Artpark in New York.

She wed Art Garfunkel in 1988

Art and Kim Garfunkel at the Gala Tribute to Mike Nichols.Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Garfunkel was previously married to Linda Marie Grossman, who he wed in Nashville in October 1972 and divorced in 1975. He married for a second time in 1988, three years after he met Kim onstage.

“I’ve my lovely wife, Kathryn. I love this babe,” Garfunkel told Forbes in August 2023, adding jokingly, “I won’t say how many years we’ve been married. It gives her age away, and she’s much younger.”

She and Art Garfunkel have ‘lucky chemistry’

Art and Kim Garfunkel at the 2018 Paley Honors.Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

When they’re offstage, the couple tends to keep their romance out of the public eye. The folk singer, however, has previously shared a few glimpses into their relationship through interviews.

WhenForbesasked Garfunkel about the “secret” to “a good marriage” amid his then 35-year relationship with Kim, the singer cited “lucky chemistry” as “part of it.” He explained, “When she walks into a room, I light up.”

He continued, “What’s she going to do or say? Tenacity also comes to mind. But I like this one as I get older: It’s what you don’t say. There’s the wisdom. Life is what you don’t say.”

She helped Art Garfunkel sing again after his vocal chord paresis diagnosis

Art and Kim Garfunkel during the Film Society of Lincoln Center Honors.Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

In 2010, Garfunkel was diagnosed with vocal cord paresis and faced the possibility of never singing again. “I had to stop singing, almost had to stop talking, for the next year or so,” the musician toldGrammys.comin December 2014.

It wasn’t until 2012 that he attempted to ease back into it. “My knees would buckle and I wondered when the voice was going to return,” Garfunkel recalled of his challenging experience.

He credited Kim for helping him build his confidence back up. “My wife is a Buddhist and goes to meditation groups, so I’d go along and ask if I could sing a song or two at the end of the evening,” the singer explained. “It was very vulnerable and I told them not to expect too much, but I knew I had to get back on the stage and act as if I was OK.”

Garfunkel continued, “The adrenaline you get from performing helps in the mending and I knew I had to face the obstacles to get back to where I am now. I did shows at smaller spaces, just showing up and singing and slowly it built up.”

She supports Art Garfunkel on red carpets

Art and Kim Garfunkel attend the 36th Annual AFI Life Achievement Awards in June 2008.Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Kim has joined Garfunkel on various red carpets ranging from movie premieres to award shows. Among the most notable was when she joined her husband, an eight-time Grammy winner, at the award show in 2003 when he and Paul Simon received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The famed folk-rock duo reunited at the Grammys that year to perform “Sound of Silence.” It marked their first performance together since 1993.

She shares two kids with Art Garfunkel

Art and Kim Garfunkel alongside their son Art Jr. attend the “Sex Tape” screening in July 2014.Jim Spellman/WireImage

Jim Spellman/WireImage

Kim and Garfunkel are the parents of two children, sons Art Garfunkel Jr. andBeau. They welcomed their first child in 1990 and their second in 2005,when the singer was 64 years old.

“We have raised two magnificent boys,” Garfunkel toldForbes. “Arthur Jr. [James] sings better than I do, and I’m a good singer.”

Art Jr. legally changed his name from James Arthur Jr. when he grew older, tellingRolling Stonein January 2024 that he “prefers the name” because he’s “a very international person, and Arthur is a name that is compatible with most European languages.”

Garfunkel’s eldest son has pursued a music career himself, which took off in his adopted home country of Germany when he started releasing covers of his dad’s music in German. “I feel blessed to have been born into this family,” he told the outlet.

He added, “I’m so proud to be Art Garfunkel Jr. I’m so proud of my dad’s legacy. I walk in his footsteps.”

source: people.com