What Happened to George Clooney’s Sister? Inside Adelia Ada Zeidler’s Life and Untold Story
Adelia Ada Zeidler, George Clooney’s older sister, has died at 65 after a battle with cancer. She passed Friday at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Kentucky, surrounded by loved ones, having long lived outside the spotlight.
Sad news out of Kentucky: George Clooney's older sister, Adelia 'Ada' Zeidler, has died after a battle with cancer. She was 65. She wasn't a public figure, but she clearly left a mark on the people around her.
What happened
Zeidler died on Friday, December 19, 2025, at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Kentucky. Her family says she passed peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. The news comes via family statements and her obituary.
Who Ada was beyond the last name
While her brother went all-in on Hollywood, Ada chose a quiet, very grounded life in Augusta, Kentucky. She spent years teaching elementary school art, stayed active in local groups, and generally kept any spotlight at arm's length. If you lived in town, you probably knew her. If you didn't, that was kind of the point.
- Born May 2, 1960, in Los Angeles to journalist/TV host Nick Clooney and writer Nina Bruce Warren; named after her great-grandmother
- A National Merit Scholar with a lifelong creative streak, according to People
- Career: longtime elementary school art teacher in Augusta; also did bookkeeping at times
- Community: active with the Augusta Art Guild and a local book club; once selected as grand marshal of Augusta's annual White Christmas Parade
- Family: married to Norman Zeidler, a retired U.S. Army captain, until his death in 2004; mother of two
George Clooney on his sister
In a statement shared with People, Clooney kept it simple and heartfelt, focusing on who she was rather than her connection to him:
'My sister, Ada, was my hero. She faced down cancer with courage and humor. I've never met anyone so brave. Amal and I will miss her terribly.'
He has said before that the two were very close and that he was proud of her, which tracks with how he chose to remember her here.
The takeaway
By design, Ada Zeidler mostly lived outside the noise. Teacher, mom, neighbor, artist, organizer — the pieces that add up to a full life. The family name is famous, but her legacy reads like something a lot of people would be lucky to leave behind: a town that cared, kids she taught, and a brother who called her his hero.