George Clooney has opened up with striking emotion about the death of his sister, Adelia “Ada” Zeidler, who died of cancer last December at the age of 65.
Speaking this week during a masterclass at the Venice Film Festival, Clooney recalled being by her side in her final moments. “She died very quickly, and I was with her when she died,” he said.
The actor and filmmaker described the experience as profoundly clarifying. “And there was this feeling, being with her, holding her hand when she died, understanding how brief all of this is,” he said, according to Variety.
Clooney, the director of Good Night, and Good Luck, said the loss brought childhood memories rushing back. “It was minutes ago that she and I were little kids together; Minutes ago we were holding hands as little kid,” he reflected.
The Oscar winner, who received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival, said Ada’s death left him thinking deeply about the speed of life. “Time goes fast. All of this. And so we have to find nothing but joy,” Clooney said.
Although Ada led a life outside the public eye, she was spotted with her world famous brother in Venice in 2014, the pair of them riding through a canal together during their visit to the city for his wedding to his wife Amal Clooney.
George Clooney spoke with heartrending candor on the final moments of his sister Adelia ‘Ada’ Zeidler, who succumbed to cancer last December aged 65
‘She died very quickly, and I was with her when she died,’ Clooney remembered this week while giving a masterclass at the Venice Film Festival
Clooney previously described Ada as his ‘hero’ when he broke his silence on her death in a statement released the following day.
‘She faced down cancer with courage and humor. I’ve never met anyone so brave. Amal and I will miss her terribly,’ said the Ocean’s Eleven star.
Ada’s official obituary described her as a ‘talented artist’ in her own right who ‘died peacefully’ while ‘surrounded by the people she loved’ on December 19, 2025.
Three days after her death at a branch of St Elizabeth Healthcare in Kentucky, her funeral was held at Patrick Catholic Church in Maysville.
A decade before Ada’s death, Clooney remarked that he was ‘very close to’ his sister, in an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS This Morning.
‘And I’ve got a niece and nephew. My nephew was just made prom king from the high school that I went to where I was not named,’ he quipped, referring to Ada’s children.
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Ada was born in Los Angeles on May 2, 1960 to Nick and Nina Clooney, just one year and four days before her movie star brother.
George and Ada Clooney hailed from a showbiz family – their father was a noted radio host and liberal activist, while their aunt was the celebrated jazz singer Rosemary Clooney, who also starred in the classic 1954 movie White Christmas.
Ada and her brother were spotted in Venice in 2014, the pair of them riding along a canal together during their visit to the city for his wedding to his wife Amal Clooney
Ada married retired army captain Normal Zeidler in 1987 and welcomed two children with him before he died of a heart attack in October 2004
Ada is pictured with her son Nick, who Clooney quipped in 2015 ‘was just made prom king from the high school that I went to where I was not named’
Ada was born in Los Angeles on May 2, 1960 to Nick and Nina Clooney, just one year and four days before her movie star brother; Clooney pictured with his parents in 2005
Nina, a onetime beauty queen, shared warm memories of the way her children played with each other during their childhood in Kentucky, in a 2006 interview with HGTV.
She laughingly recalled arriving home from work to see George and Ada having a party with their friends and goofing around with marshmallows.
The children, she said, ‘would lick one side of’ each marshmallow ‘and throw them at each other. When I came in, there were marshmallows stuck all over the room.’
Clooney himself has also painted a fond portrait of the gentle environment in rural Kentucky where he and Ada passed their childhoods.
‘All the things we see on cable news of people being unkind to one another doesn’t exist,’ he said in a 2019 interview with the Nashville paper the Tennessean. ‘They have to get along. I was really lucky to be raised in a small town like that.’
Ada married retired army captain Normal Zeidler in 1987 and raised two children with him before he died of a heart attack in October 2004.
The bride’s brother reportedly gave a scripture reading at the Zeidler wedding, where Rosemary is said to have treated the guests to a song.