Whoopi Goldberg will never go out of style.
The absolute icon of an actress, comedian, author, and general treasure has been a staple of our screens since the early ’80s, and she continues to pump out hits 40 years later. Over the course of her wildly successful career, Goldberg has been known for plenty of things — none of them her husbands. Rather than fall victim to the trend of women’s achievements getting overshadowed by their husbands, Goldberg has — time and again — persisted as the most famous half of any pairing. You’ve probably never heard of some of her longtime partners, but — even as she was snatching up awards and serving as a cross-generational star, Goldberg was also shacking up with a range of suitors.
Whoopi Goldberg’s husbands
In a recent episode of The View, Goldberg mentioned her previous relationships in passing, and initiated a firestorm online. Her note of several former marriages shocked many audience members, some of whom never gave the comedic staple’s love life much thought. But while the rest of us were laughing, crying, and clapping our way through her laundry list of releases, Goldberg was getting married. Three separate times, in fact, to some major names in acting, alongside several long term relationships with men she never officially wed.
Alvin Martin
Goldberg’s first husband, Alvin Martin, came about before she ever reached widespread acclaim. In the decade before she burst onto the scene with 1982’s Citizen: I’m Not Losing My Mind, I’m Giving It Away, she was tying the knot with Martin at just 18 years old. Martin, a drug counselor, married Goldberg in 1973, and the pair were together until 1979. They share Goldberg’s only child, Alexandrea, and — through her — three grandchildren, and a single great grandchild.
David Claessen
Goldberg’s second marriage followed several years after her first. In 1986 she tied the knot with cinematographer and director David Claessen, who’s known for his focus on powerful Black women in history. While his marriage to Goldberg was short-lived, he went on to help create both The Rosa Parks Story and Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and — in 2013 — found the right woman for him. He and writer Taiye Selasi have been happily married for a decade now, and we assume Claessen hasn’t looked back since.
Lyle Trachtenberg
Unlike most celebs, Goldberg has largely steered clear from shacking up with another famous face. Instead, she’s chosen men like Lyle Trachtenberg, a union organizer she married back in 1994. Their marriage was the shortest of Goldberg’s life, lasting only a year before they broke up. It seems that this final union was all Goldberg needed to prove that marriage simply wasn’t for her.
David Schein
No, they weren’t technically married, but if Goldberg considered their union to be a marriage, what right do we have to disagree? Following her realization that she never wanted to marry again, Goldberg shared a home with David Schein, a playwright. They lived together from 1980 to 1985 — lasting longer than two of Goldberg’s marriages — and seemingly parted ways as friends.
Frank Langella
Around a decade after she moved on from Schein, Goldberg enjoyed another lengthy stint with fellow film star Frank Langella. Easily the most famous of all her partners (but not her boyfriends), Langella is almost (but not quite) as famous as Goldberg. He’s known for a range of roles, including as Nixon in Frost/Nixon, but is most celebrated for his work on the stage. He and Goldberg lived together between 1995 and 2000, before parting ways.
Was Whoopi ever married to Tom Selleck?
Now, onto the strangest query of all — was Tom Selleck among Goldberg’s former suitors? It seems that news of her past marriages, paired with an offhand comment about “loving” Selleck, was enough to get the rumor mill churning, which quickly resulted in confusion.
Let me clear that up for you: No, Whoppi Goldberg and Tom Selleck were never married. They also never dated, lived together, or anything of the sort. Selleck has been happily married to his second wife, Jillie Mack, since 1987.
Goldberg has long been open about her views on marriage. While she enjoyed the company of every man she shared her life with, Goldberg has no intention of ever marrying again. She said, in a 2011 interview, that marriage simply isn’t for her, and that her earlier attempts were made in hopes of feeling “normal.” She eventually realized, after several failed relationships, that she and marriage simply don’t jive. She’s perfectly happy being an icon, a grandmother, and co-host of The View.