George Clooney and Talia Balsam Marriage Profile

Talking about marriage, George Clooney once commented "The hard part is how to get that person comfortable with the idea of being followed around by photographers, having her family and friends besieged by the media ..." He repeatedly says he will remain a confirmed bachelor.

9/21/2011: Don't believe the rumors that George Clooney married. His marital status changed only in a fun commercial for Norwegian bank DnB NOR. Clooney has some great lines in the commercial like when he refers to his bride's wedding dress: "I like your dress. It looks better off than on." Watch the video

George Timothy Clooney: May 6, 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Talia Balsam: March 5, 1959 in New York, New York.

Talia and George met in 1984 while working together in a play. They dated for awhile, broke up, and later reconciled.

Eloping to Las Vegas in a Winnebago, George and Talia were married on December 15, 1989. Talia's mom and a few friends of the couple were with them. An Elvis impersonator officiated at their wedding.

"...having let Balsam get away a few years earlier, Clooney was not going to make the same mistake again. 'I had gotten out of a relationship that wasn't going very well and married the one girl I truly loved for years."
Source: Kimberly Potts. George Clooney: the Last Great Movie Star. 2007. pg. 30.

George: Actor, producer, director, writer, political activist.

Talia: Actress.

• Studio City, California: English Tudor home. "Casa de Clooney"
• Laglio, Italy: A 15-bedroom, 25-room, 18th-century villa at Lake Como, Italy aka Villa Oleandra. George generally lives there several months of the year. More about Clooney's Italian hideaway.

George about his Lake Como home: "I truly bought it as an investment. I didn't think I'd ever spend time there. I thought, 'Screw it, I'll buy it, hold it for a year, roll it over' -- and then I stayed there and went, 'Oh my God!' It is the thing singularly that I've done for myself that's brought me the most joy. It changed everything in my life."
Source: Stephen Galloway. "George Clooney: The Private Life of a Superstar." HollywoodReporter.com. 2/15/2012.

George and Talia divorced in September 1993.

George: "... I'm allowed one [marriage]."
Source: Mike Fleeman. "George Clooney: Forget About Another Wedding." People.com. 1/22/2011.

Talia married actor John Slattery on December 30, 1998. They have one child. John and Talia played husband and wife on the series Mad Men.

George: "I have been infinitely more alone in a bad relationship; there's nothing more isolating. I have been in places in my life where that has existed ... and left for someone; all those things. And it was sometimes a surprise, and sometimes you saw it coming. The most painful was when I kept trying to get [one woman] back. But we all make dumb mistakes."
Source: Stephen Galloway. "George Clooney: The Private Life of a Superstar." HollywoodReporter.com. 2/15/2012.

George: "People forget that I was married. I love that, Will he get married? I don't talk about it because I don't think about it. I don't ever question other peoples' versions of how they live their lives or what they do."
Source: "George Clooney's Thoughts For Today." Esquire.com. 12/13/2011.

George: "I hate to blow your whole news story, but I was married. So I gave it a shot ... I've proven how good I was at it ..."
Source: Interview with George Clooney and Nick Clooney." Piers Morgan Tonight. 1/21/2011.

Nick Clooney: "Talia is a lovely girl. But they probably shouldn't have got married while George's career was on the verge of such a white-hot period. In truth, neither of them was to blame. There was just too much going on in their lives to give marriage the effort it needs. They both wound up getting hurt, which is really too bad."
Source: Kimberly Potts. George Clooney: the Last Great Movie Star. 2007. pg. 40.

George: "I'm very respectful of women but that doesn't mean I'm predisposed to feeling comfortable in a relationship over a number of years. I haven't had a good track record. I'm selfish when it comes to my time and my work, and the fact that I do enjoy myself and I do feel good about the life I'm leading makes me think that maybe this is the way it's going to be for me."
Source: "Clooney: 'I'll Always Be a Bachelor.'" ContactMusic.com. 5/22/2005.

George: "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."
Source: Jennet Conant. "Hearthrob Hotel." Vanity Fair. 12/1996. pg. 274.