E!: In the spring of 1990, 29-year-old David Elliott moved to Hollywood to pursue his dream of acting, adding the middle name 'James' to join the Screen Actors Guild.
In the process, commitment-phobic David broke the heart of his long-time girlfriend, Nanci Chambers.
Nanci: But that's okay. I knew that it was just ... it wasn't about me. It was just about the struggle. He thought he needed to go and be an actor without me, that I would get in the way.
DJE: And I gotta tell ya, you come here, and it's really tough to meet people. And it's tough to meet people when you're alone.
Nanci: You know, I thought he was just having a great time and everything was going well. He had all these new friends. Of course, I was just mortified. His first job was a movie with Heather Locklear .. playing his, you know .. Oh, I just wanted to die! Like, great! Heather Locklear. That's so great!
DJE: And I was all alone.
I was calling her and I kept saying, "You gotta come down." She kept saying she was coming down. She was coming down. She wouldn't come.
Nanci: And he showed up one day. I was at work. I came home, and he was sitting on my patio, in front of my house, and I said, "What are you doing here?"
And he said, "I came to pack you."
DJE: Hey, I'm here. Start packing, 'cause we're going.
Nanci: So he packed up my house, and I've been here ever since. He decided to keep me! [laughs]
E!: Four months after moving to Los Angeles, Nanci joined David in his small east Hollywood apartment. Two struggling actors living on love and Canadian residual payments.
E!: In the fall of 1991, the couple was married in a small ceremony at Los Angeles city hall.
Nanci: We didn't have any money to have a wedding, so we went to the justice of the peace. Didn't tell anybody. Anybody! Not my parents, not his parents. Nobody knew for about three years after.
DJE: 'Cause we thought we'll have a wedding later and we'll have a big wedding and this'll be good.