Yahoo Lifestyle Whoopi Goldberg's Relationship History: Inside 'The View' Co-Host's 3 Marriages
Whoopi Goldberg's relationship history is one for the books! The View co-host has been married three times throughout her life, but has long been outspoken about why marriage is not right for her.
"People expect you to have a boyfriend. They expect you to get married," Goldberg explained in a 2019 interview with the New York Times Magazine. "So I kept trying to do that, but I didn’t want to share information with somebody else. I didn’t want anybody asking me why I was doing what I was doing, or to have to make the other person feel better."
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She continued, "But if you’re in a relationship, you have to do those things, and it took me a while to figure out that I didn’t want to. I’d be thinking, 'Why don’t I feel the thing that I’m supposed to?' Then one day I thought: 'I don’t have to do this. I don’t have to conform.' I tried marriage, and it wasn’t for me. You can’t be in a marriage because everybody’s expecting you to."
Keep reading to find out all about Whoopi Goldberg's relationship history, including her three marriages and what she's said about tying the knot:
Alvin Martin
Goldberg's first husband was Alvin Martin. The pair reportedly met when Martin served as the Sister Act star's drug counselor. They tied the knot in 1973 when she was just 18 years old.
Together they share one daughter, Alex Martin, born that same year (and pictured above). The duo were married for 6 years before calling it quits in 1979.
Related: The Most Powerful Celebrity Couples of the Past 50 Years
David Claessen
Goldberg's next marriage was to Dutch cinematographer David Claessen. The duo wed in 1986 but split two years later in 1988.
The former spouses did not have any children together, and Claessen went on to remarry twice: he was married to Karen Green from 1992 to 2002 and has been married to his third wife, Taiye Selasi, since 2013.
Lyle Trachtenberg
Goldberg's third and final marriage was to actor and ITSE union organizer Lyle Tratchenberg. The twosome walked down the aisle in 1994 before going their separate ways in 1995.
What has Whoopi Goldberg said about marriage?
Despite being married three times, Goldberg has been vocal about why it was never a good fit for her.
In 2016, the EGOT winner told the New York Times Magazine that she wasn't "that interested" in finding a forever partner, mostly because she loves living by herself.
"I'm much happier on my own. I can spend as much time with somebody as I want to spend, but I'm not looking to be with somebody forever or live with someone," she said at the time. "I don't want somebody in my house."
Related: Whoopi Goldberg Opens Up About Mother's 'Mental Issues' on 'The View'
While speaking to the outlet three years later, the daytime talk show panelist reflected on the process of learning that marriage wasn't for her.
"It took me some time but I realized that trying to turn myself into something I wasn’t ready for, for a man. Wasn’t his fault. It was mine,” she said. “My marriages failed and I was the common denominator. My commitment was never that strong. I can say now that I was never really in love.”
During an appearance on The Tamron Hall Show in 2019, the Color Purple actress offered a deeper explanation of why a lifelong union doesn't agree with her lifestyle and personality.
"When you make a commitment to someone else, it's a commitment to ask their opinion and listen and work it out with them. I don't want to do that," Goldberg said. "I don't want to share money. I know it's terrible, but I don't want to do it. I know for me it doesn't work."
Goldberg also elaborated on why marriage doesn't work for her during a May 2024 appearance on Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?, explaining that she simply doesn't have the energy for that kind of relationship.
"I don't care how you feel. It’s terrible," she said. "You know, when you're married to somebody, you have to be invested in how they're feeling."
She added, "I’m invested in my kid. I'm invested in her kids. I'm invested in my son-in-law. I'm invested in my friends. But I'm not invested in a relationship that would require as much as having a child requires and I know that that's not for me."
