George Clooney’s first wife Talia Balsam continues to turn heads at 66, stepping out recently with her Mad Men star husband John Slattery at the Museum of Modern Art for the Nuremberg screening.
The couple looked effortlessly chic, proving that decades after her brief marriage to Clooney, Balsam has carved a fulfilling personal and professional life.
Fans were quick to note her elegance and poise, showing how gracefully she’s evolved over the years.
Before settling down with Amal Alamuddin, Clooney had a long history of high-profile relationships.
The actor was linked to Lisa Snowdon, Krista Allen, Sarah Larson, Elisabetta Canalis, and Stacy Keibler, but none lasted.
It wasn’t until marrying Amal that he found stability, with the couple welcoming twins Ella and Alexander in June 2017.
George Clooney and Talia Balsam married in a spontaneous Las Vegas ceremony in December 1989 after five years of dating; (pictured in 1990)
By 1993, they had divorced, and Clooney famously vowed he would never marry again
Clooney’s path to family life began after his first marriage.
Clooney wed Balsam in a spontaneous Las Vegas ceremony in December 1989 after five years of dating, but the marriage lasted just three years.
By 1993, they had divorced, and Clooney famously vowed he would never marry again.
Reflecting on the union years later, he told Vanity Fair: ‘I probably — definitely — wasn’t someone who should have been married at that point.
‘I just don’t feel like I gave Talia a fair shot. I was responsible for the failure of that marriage.’
Balsam comes from a storied Hollywood lineage.
She is the daughter of Academy Award-winning actor Martin Balsam and actress Joyce Van Patten, who herself hailed from a showbiz family.
Talia Balsam continues to turn heads at 66, stepping out recently with her Mad Men star husband John Slattery at the Museum of Modern Art for the Nuremberg screening (pictured November 4)
Talia and John married in 1998; (pictured 2019)
It wasn’t until marrying Amal that he found stability, with the couple welcoming twins Ella and Alexander in June 2017; (pictured June 2025)
She grew up surrounded by acting talent and developed a love for the craft early on.
Talia and Clooney first crossed paths in 1984 while co-starring in a local play.
Clooney, 23, was striving to establish himself as a serious actor, while Balsam, 25, was finding her footing in the industry.
Though their marriage was brief, they remained respectful of each other’s lives and careers.
Balsam went on to build a steady television résumé, appearing as Mona Sterling on Mad Men from 2007 to 2014, playing Cynthia Walden on Homeland in 2012, and starring alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in HBO’s Divorce from 2016 to 2019.
She has been married to Slattery since 1998, and the couple share one son.
