Ruth Post is best known as the second wife of actor Ian McShane, the British star famous for Lovejoy, Deadwood, American Gods, and the John Wick movies. But Ruth was part of McShane’s life decades before many of those famous roles. She was an English model, married him during the late 1960s, and became the mother of his only two children, Kate and Morgan.
Their marriage belonged to a very different stage of McShane’s career. He was a young British actor still building his reputation, while Ruth was working as a model. They eventually separated after McShane began a relationship with actress Sylvia Kristel, bringing their marriage to an end.
Unlike her former husband, Ruth did not continue living in the public eye. That has made her one of the more mysterious people in McShane’s personal history. Reliable information exists about her marriage, modeling background, and children, but many details about her later life remain private.
Why Is Ruth Post Known Today?
Ruth Post is primarily known because of her marriage to Ian McShane.
She was his second wife.
Before Ruth, McShane had been married to English actress Suzan Farmer. That marriage began in 1965 and ended in divorce in 1968. Not long afterward, McShane married Ruth.
Getty Images has preserved photographs from Ruth and Ian’s wedding day, identifying her as a model and showing the couple outside the Kensington Registry Office in London on June 8, 1968.
Those photographs are important because later biographies sometimes give 1970 as the marriage year.
The contemporary wedding archive is stronger evidence.
It places their wedding on June 8, 1968.
What Was Ruth Post’s Profession?
Ruth Post worked as a model.
Getty Images identifies her directly as a model in archival photographs from her wedding to Ian McShane.
That is one of the few firmly documented facts about her professional life.
There are not many reliable records showing which fashion companies she represented, whether she appeared in major magazines, or how long she continued modeling.
This is an area where online biographies often add details that cannot be independently confirmed.
It is therefore safer to describe Ruth simply as an English model rather than giving her a larger fashion résumé without evidence.
When Was Ruth Post Born?
Ruth Post’s exact birth information is less firmly documented than her marriage.
A family-history database identifies her as Ruth Victoria Post, born on July 20, 1946, in London.
However, this information comes from a collaborative genealogy source rather than a major contemporary newspaper or official biography.
For that reason, July 20, 1946, should be treated as a reported birth date rather than an unquestionably verified fact.
If that date is correct, Ruth would be 80 years old in 2026.
Her parents, siblings, education, and childhood have not been widely documented by strong public sources.
Where Was Ruth Post From?
Ruth is generally described as English.
The available genealogy record places her birth in London, while archival photographs clearly show her marrying McShane in London.
But detailed information about where she grew up or attended school is scarce.
That lack of information is not surprising.
Ruth was never a major film or television celebrity herself.
Most newspapers had little reason to document her childhood before she married an actor.
How Did Ruth Post Meet Ian McShane?
The exact story of how Ruth and Ian first met has not been clearly preserved in reliable public reporting.
There are many celebrity relationships where the couple later tells stories about a first date or first meeting.
Ruth and Ian’s relationship does not have that kind of well-documented public origin story.
What is known is that they were together by the late 1960s.
Their wedding took place on June 8, 1968, at Kensington Registry Office in London. Getty Images photographs from the day show a young McShane standing beside Ruth immediately after the ceremony.
Who Is Ian McShane?
Ian David McShane was born on September 29, 1942, in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
His father, Harry McShane, was a professional footballer, while Ian grew up around Manchester and later trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
He began acting professionally in the early 1960s.
His career eventually became remarkably long.
British audiences knew him particularly well through Lovejoy, which ran across the late 1980s and early 1990s.
A later generation discovered him as Al Swearengen in HBO’s Deadwood.
Then came major roles in projects such as American Gods, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Kung Fu Panda, and the John Wick franchise.
Ruth knew McShane long before many of those roles existed.
A useful related article would be Ian McShane’s career from Lovejoy and Deadwood to John Wick.
Was Ruth Post Ian McShane’s First Wife?
No.
Ruth was his second wife.
McShane’s first marriage was to actress Suzan Farmer.
They married in 1965 and divorced in 1968.
He then married Ruth in June 1968.
After his marriage to Ruth ended, McShane eventually married American actress Gwen Humble in 1980. They remain married.
That gives McShane three marriages in total:
Suzan Farmer.
Ruth Post.
And Gwen Humble.
When Did Ruth Post Marry Ian McShane?
The strongest contemporary evidence gives the date as June 8, 1968.
Getty Images identifies both Ruth and Ian at Kensington Registry Office in London on their wedding day.
Some later biography databases say the couple married in 1970.
That creates a noticeable conflict.
Because dated photographs exist from a wedding on June 8, 1968, that date deserves greater weight than later summaries.
This is a good example of why older celebrity biographies sometimes contain inconsistent timelines.
What Did Their Wedding Look Like?
Their wedding was relatively simple by celebrity standards.
The couple married at Kensington Registry Office in London.
Archival photographs show Ruth beside Ian immediately after the ceremony. She was described as an English model, while McShane was already establishing himself as an actor.
There was no social-media spectacle.
No celebrity wedding exclusive.
And no endless photographs released through personal accounts.
This was 1968.
What survives today are mainly professional press photographs and biographical records.
How Many Children Did Ruth Post and Ian McShane Have?
Ruth and Ian had two children together.
Their daughter is Kate McShane.
Their son is Morgan McShane.
Kate was born in 1971.
Morgan was born in 1975.
These are Ian McShane’s only publicly documented children.
That makes Ruth an important part of his family story even though their marriage ended decades ago.
A natural internal-link opportunity would be Ian McShane’s children Kate and Morgan and his private family life.
Who Is Kate McShane?
Kate is the older child of Ruth Post and Ian McShane.
She was born in 1971.
Compared with her famous father, Kate has maintained a much lower public profile.
Ian McShane’s biography notes that he has grandchildren through his elder daughter, meaning Kate later became a mother herself.
The same source says McShane has three grandchildren through her.
Beyond that, private details about Kate’s family should not be expanded without reliable sourcing.
She has not built the kind of public entertainment career that her father has.
Who Is Morgan McShane?
Morgan is Ruth and Ian’s younger child.
Biographical sources give his birth year as 1975.
Like his sister, Morgan has mostly remained outside the celebrity spotlight.
That is worth respecting.
Being the son of a famous actor does not automatically make every part of someone’s personal life public information.
Most widely available biographies identify him mainly through his family connection.
How Long Were Ruth Post and Ian McShane Married?
This depends partly on which date is used for the end of their marriage.
Their wedding is strongly documented as June 1968.
Ian McShane’s current biographical summary says that his relationship with actress Sylvia Kristel began in 1977 and that the affair ended his marriage to Ruth.
A collaborative genealogy source gives a divorce date of March 11, 1977.
Some older databases instead give 1976.
The safest conclusion is that Ruth and Ian’s marriage lasted from 1968 until around 1976–1977, or roughly eight to nine years.
Why Did Ruth Post and Ian McShane Divorce?
The strongest public explanation involves Ian McShane’s relationship with Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel.
McShane met Kristel while they were working on The Fifth Musketeer.
His biographical record says their relationship began in 1977 and that the affair ended his marriage to Ruth.
That is much more useful than inventing private arguments or claiming to know what happened inside the marriage.
Ruth herself does not appear to have given extensive public interviews explaining the breakup.
So the responsible version is straightforward:
McShane began a relationship with Kristel, and his marriage to Ruth ended around that period.
Who Was Sylvia Kristel?
Sylvia Kristel was a Dutch actress and model who became internationally famous for starring in the Emmanuelle films.
She met McShane while working with him on The Fifth Musketeer.
Their relationship reportedly lasted several years.
Because it overlapped with the end of his marriage to Ruth, Kristel became an important figure in McShane’s personal biography.
However, Ruth’s divorce should not be reduced entirely to Kristel.
Only the people involved knew the full private condition of the marriage before the affair.
Did Ian McShane Marry Sylvia Kristel?
No.
Although Ian and Sylvia had a long relationship, they did not marry.
After that relationship ended, McShane married actress Gwen Humble on August 30, 1980.
They later settled in Venice, California.
That marriage has lasted for decades.
Ruth, meanwhile, largely disappeared from celebrity reporting after her divorce.
What Happened to Ruth Post After the Divorce?
This is where reliable information becomes much thinner.
Ruth did not use her former marriage to build a public career.
There is little major reporting about her romantic relationships, professional life, or place of residence after the divorce.
That privacy has led some biography sites to repeat unsupported information.
The safest conclusion is that she chose a life largely outside public attention.
There is no need to fill those missing years with guesses.
Sometimes the absence of public information simply means a person wanted privacy.
Did Ruth Post Remarry?
There is no firmly established mainstream source confirming a later marriage for Ruth.
That does not mean she never remarried or had another relationship.
It means her later romantic life was not widely documented in reliable sources.
This distinction is important.
Celebrity biography websites sometimes turn “unknown” into “never.”
Those are not the same thing.
The accurate wording is that Ruth’s relationship history after Ian McShane is largely private.
Is Ruth Post Still Alive in 2026?
There is no widely reported, reliably matched obituary establishing that Ian McShane’s former wife Ruth Post has died.
Many people named Ruth Post appear in genealogy and obituary databases, so matching an unrelated death record to her would be risky.
Because she has lived privately for decades, her current status is not documented as frequently as Ian McShane’s.
Without a strong record connecting a death notice specifically to the former model married to McShane, it would be irresponsible to state that she has died.
What Is Ruth Post Doing Now?
There is no verified public career or major project attached to Ruth in 2026.
Her current activities appear to remain private.
She has not become a regular television personality.
She does not appear to have created a public identity around being Ian McShane’s former wife.
And there is no reliable evidence of a heavily promoted social-media presence.
That makes Ruth very different from many modern celebrity spouses and ex-spouses.
Her fame is historical rather than something she actively maintains.
What Is Ruth Post’s Net Worth?
Ruth Post’s personal net worth has not been reliably verified.
Celebrity websites sometimes assign financial estimates to spouses and former spouses of famous actors, but those numbers often have no documented foundation.
Ruth worked as a model.
She was married to Ian McShane.
But that is not enough information to calculate her current wealth.
There is no strong public documentation of her investments, property, business interests, later employment, or divorce settlement.
For that reason, an exact net-worth figure would be speculation.
Was Ruth With Ian Before He Became a Major Star?
Yes.
This is one reason Ruth’s place in his biography matters.
McShane had already begun acting and appeared in film and television before their marriage.
But the giant roles most audiences associate with him came much later.
Lovejoy became a major television success years after Ruth and Ian had divorced.
Deadwood arrived decades later.
So did American Gods and John Wick.
Ruth therefore knew McShane during a much earlier stage of his professional life.
She was there while he was still building the career that eventually made him internationally recognizable.
Did Ruth Have Anything to Do With Ian McShane’s Acting Career?
There is no strong evidence that Ruth worked as his manager, producer, agent, or creative collaborator.
Her own career was in modeling.
She should therefore not be credited with professional roles that are not documented.
However, she was his wife during an important period of his early career and the mother of his children.
Those are meaningful personal connections without needing to invent a professional role.
What Makes Ruth Post’s Story Interesting?
Ruth’s story offers a look at Ian McShane before the version most audiences know today.
Before Al Swearengen.
Before Winston in John Wick.
Before decades of international fame.
He was a young British actor married to an English model, raising two children while trying to build a lasting acting career.
Ruth was part of that period.
Their marriage did not survive.
But their children created a permanent family connection.
And because Ruth walked away from celebrity attention afterward, much of her later life remains her own.
Interesting Facts About Ruth Post
Ruth Post was an English model before and during her marriage to Ian McShane.
She was McShane’s second wife.
Contemporary photographs place their wedding at Kensington Registry Office in London on June 8, 1968.
Ruth and Ian had two children, Kate and Morgan.
Their daughter Kate was born in 1971, while Morgan was born in 1975.
Ian’s later relationship with Sylvia Kristel contributed to the end of his marriage to Ruth.
Ruth largely withdrew from celebrity publicity after the divorce.
She is the mother of Ian McShane’s only publicly documented children.
Final Thoughts
Ruth Post belongs to a chapter of Ian McShane’s life that happened long before Deadwood, American Gods, or John Wick made him familiar to new generations.
She was a young English model.
He was a rising actor.
They married at Kensington Registry Office in London on June 8, 1968, a date preserved through contemporary press photographs.
Then came family life.
Their daughter Kate was born in 1971.
Their son Morgan followed in 1975.
But the marriage eventually ended around 1976–1977 as McShane became involved with actress Sylvia Kristel.
Ian’s story remained extremely public.
Ruth’s did not.
He went on to become a major television star with Lovejoy, reinvented himself with Deadwood, and later joined one of modern cinema’s most popular action franchises through John Wick.
Ruth largely disappeared from the entertainment press.
That difference explains why so little is known about her today.
Her parents are not widely documented.
Her education is unclear.
Her later relationships remain private.
Her present-day occupation and finances are not reliably known.
Those missing details should not be filled with guesses.
What is established already gives Ruth an important place in McShane’s history.
She was his second wife during the early years of his career.
She was a professional model.
She spent roughly eight or nine years married to him.
And most importantly, she is the mother of Kate and Morgan, the two children who continue that part of the McShane family.
Ruth Post may have chosen privacy after her marriage ended, but her connection to one of Britain’s most distinctive actors ensures that people still search for her story decades later.
For more carefully researched celebrity biographies and family stories, visit Charles Magazine.
FAQs About Ruth Post
Who is Ruth Post?
Ruth Post is an English former model best known as the second wife of British actor Ian McShane. They had two children together, Kate and Morgan.
When did Ruth Post marry Ian McShane?
Contemporary Getty Images records show that Ruth and Ian married at Kensington Registry Office in London on June 8, 1968.
How many children does Ruth Post have with Ian McShane?
They have two children: daughter Kate, born in 1971, and son Morgan, born in 1975.
Why did Ruth Post and Ian McShane divorce?
McShane began a relationship with Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel after they met while working on The Fifth Musketeer. His biographical record says the affair brought his marriage to Ruth to an end.
Was Ruth Post Ian McShane’s first wife?
No. His first wife was actress Suzan Farmer. Ruth was his second wife, followed by Gwen Humble, whom he married in 1980.
What did Ruth Post do for a living?
Ruth worked as a model. Contemporary wedding photographs identify her specifically as an English model.
Did Ruth Post remarry?
No reliable mainstream source clearly documents a later marriage. Her personal life following her divorce from McShane has remained largely private.
What is Ruth Post’s net worth?
Her individual net worth has not been reliably established. Figures published by celebrity biography websites should be treated as speculation unless supported by credible financial records.
