Meet Alvin Martin: Whoopi Goldberg's first husband and Alex Martin's father
Alvin Martin was Whoopi Goldberg's husband in the 1970s before she became a household name. The actress was a teenager then and went on to marry two more times after their divorce. The Sister Act star has since sworn off marriage and told the New York Times in 2019,
People expect you to have a boyfriend—to get married. So, I kept trying to do that...Then one day I thought: I don't have to do this. I don't have to conform. I tried marriage, and it wasn't for me. You can't be in a marriage because everybody's expecting you to.
Source: Getty Images
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Key takeaways
- Alvin Martin was working as a drug counsellor when he met a teenage Whoopi Goldberg who was struggling with addiction.
- The Color Purple actress has mentioned that she was never in love with any of her three husbands.
- Alvin is the father of Whoopi Goldberg's only daughter, Alex Martin.
Alvin Martin's profile summary
| Full name | Alvin Louise Martin |
| Nationality | American |
| Marital status | Divorced |
| Ex-wife | Whoopi Goldberg (1973-1979) |
| Children | Daughter Alexandrea Martin-Dean |
| Grandchildren | Amara Dean, Jerzey Dean, and Mason Dean |
| Great-grandchildren | Charli Rose Burr-Reynaud |
| Profession | Drug counsellor |
| Known for | Being Whoopi Golberg's first husband |
How did Whoopi Goldberg meet Alvin Martin?
Whoopi met Alvin Martin, a drug counsellor, in the early 1970s when she was struggling with addiction. The View co-host opened up in her May 2009 interview with The Telegraph that she turned to substances after dropping out of high school and leaving home in her teens.
I was young, homeless and addicted—I'd dropped out of high school and into drugs. As simple as that. I was a child of the Sixties, so I ingested as many mind-altering substances as I could.
Alvin Martin helped Goldberg get clean before she decided that she wanted to be an actress. The EGOT winner told the publication that she married the drug counsellor as repayment.
Source: Original
Whoopi Goldberg and Alvin Martin had a short-lived marriage
The Color Purple actress was 18 when she tied the knot with Alvin Martin in 1973. The couple's marriage lasted six years before they split in 1979.
The Oscar-winning actress mentioned in her April 2011 CNN interview with Piers Morgan that she was never in love with her husband. She shared that she only married to fit in society.
I wanted to feel normal. It seemed to be that if I was married, I'd have a much more normal life. Clearly, that is not the case—that is not a good reason to get married. You have to actually want a life with someone through ups and downs. I discovered that wasn't for me.
After divorcing Alvin Martin, the Sarafina actress had two more marriages with Dutch cinematographer David Claessen (1986-1988) and ITSE union organizer Lyle Trachtenberg (1994-1995). She also had several high-profile relationships with celebrities like Timothy Dalton, Ted Danson, Frank Langella, and David Schein.
Source: Getty Images
Whoopi Goldberg and Alvin Martin had one daughter
Shortly after getting married, Whoopi Goldberg and Alvin welcomed their only child, Alexandrea 'Alex' Martin, on May 9, 1974. She has followed in her mother's footsteps as an actress and producer with credits in projects like Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Strange as Angels, Sensitive Men, Delta Knights, and American Intellectuals.
Alex was five years old when her parents split. She has not revealed if she is close to her father, but she calls Whoopi her best friend. The mother-daughter duo lived on welfare before she got her Hollywood breakthrough with her role in the 1985 film The Color Purple. The pair have walked several red carpets together, including the 2025 Oscars.
Source: Getty Images
Whoopi and Alvin Martin are great-grandparents
Alex Martin is married to Bernard Dean, whom she met in the 1990s. The couple had been divorced twice before they married for the third and final time in 2011. Alex made Whoopi and Alvin three-time grandparents by welcoming daughters Amara and Jerzey (born in 1995) and son Mason (born in 1998).
Whoopi's eldest granddaughter, Amara, welcomed daughter Charli Rose Burr-Reynaud in March 2014. The EGOT winner shares a great relationship with her grandkids and shared during Alex's 40th birthday in 2014 that she is "a better mother to her three kids than I ever was."
Source: Getty Images
What is Alvin Martin doing now?
Alvin Martin is still alive but has kept a low profile since divorcing the Sister Act actress. Whoopi shared in an October 2024 episode of The View that she still talks to Alex Martin's father and everyone from her past relationships.
I'm in touch with all of my exes. I'm in touch with every one of them because once they were my friends. It doesn't mean that we talk all the time, but I will be respectful enough for you... I don't have to do any of those things that a relationship forces—there's nobody that I've (been) with that I absolutely hate.
Source: Getty Images
Whoopi Goldberg will leave her fortune to her daughter
Goldberg has built a fortune of over $30 million since she started acting in the 1980s, according to Celebrity Net Worth, but Alvin Martin's net worth is unknown. The ex-couple's daughter, Alexandrea Martin, is the heir to the multi-million-dollar estate.
In a May 2024 episode of The View, the EGOT winner weighed in on a recent trend of celebrities like Jeff Goldblum, Ashton Kutcher, and Gordon Ramsay, who have publicly declared that they will not leave their kids anything.
How far do you go to make kids find their own paths?... Children learn by what they see. My mother worked (really hard), and so that's why I feel the way I feel, and I'm leaving my kid everything that I have.
Source: Getty Images
Alvin Martin may not be a household name, but she gave Whoopi Goldberg a forever best friend when they welcomed their daughter, Alex Martin. Despite being a celebrity husband, the drug counsellor chose a life out of the spotlight.
READ ALSO: The story of John Tubman: Harriet Tubman's first husband
Briefly.co.za published lesser-known facts about Harriet Tubman's first husband, John Tubman. The couple was together for about five years after meeting in the early 1840s on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland.
Unlike Harriet, who was born into slavery, John was born free and took up temporary jobs. John did not share Harriet's vision to escape slavery, which led to the end of their marriage in the late 1840s.
Source: Briefly News
Alice Wabwile (Lifestyle writer) Alice Wabwile is a multifaceted content creator and Project Assistant at AfDAN, boasting over four years of experience. Holding a BCom degree from the University of Nairobi School of Business, she has cultivated a dynamic skill set through roles such as her tenure at Strathmore University's Data Science Department, where she contributed significantly to research. Recognized for her exceptional talent, she clinched the Writer of the Year Award. Beyond her professional endeavours, Alice is an engaged member of the Rotaract Club of Kabete. For inquiries, reach out to her at alicenjoro01@gmail.com
Tshepiso Ntombela (Lifestyle writer) Tshepiso Ntombela is a Wits Journalism graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He has journalistic experience obtained in 2021 from Wits Vuvuzela, a community newspaper where his tasks were inclusive of news and feature writing, subediting, photography and videography as well as source interviewing. He's currently undergoing an Internship at the Wits Centre for Journalism. In 2023, Tshepiso finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. Email: tshepisontombela62@gmail.com
