George Clooney spoke with heartbreaking candor about the final moments of his sister Adelia “Ada” Zeidler, who succumbed to cancer last December at the age of 65.
“She died very quickly, and I was with her when she died,” Clooney recalled this week while giving a masterclass at the Venice Film Festival.
“And there was a feeling, being with her, holding her hand when she died, understanding how short this all is,” he said via Variety.
“It had been a few minutes since she and I were little children together; A few minutes ago, we were holding hands as little kids,” said the director of Good Night, and Good Luck.
Clooney, who received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the festival, said: “Time flies. All this. And so all we have to do is find joy.”
Although Ada lived a life out of the public eye, she was spotted in Venice with her world-famous brother in 2014, driving through a canal together during their visit to the city for his wedding to wife Amal Clooney.
George Clooney spoke with heartbreaking candor about the final moments of his sister Adelia “Ada” Zeidler, who succumbed to cancer last December at the age of 65
“She died very quickly, and I was with her when she died,” Clooney recalled this week while giving a masterclass at the Venice Film Festival
Clooney previously described Ada as his “hero” as he broke his silence on her death in a statement released the next day.
‘She tackled cancer with courage and humour. I’ve never met anyone so brave. Amal and I will miss her terribly,” the Ocean’s Eleven star said.
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.
Ten years before Ada’s death, Clooney noted that he was “very close” to his sister, in an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS this morning.
‘And I have a niece and a nephew. My cousin just became prom king at the high school I went to where I wasn’t mentioned,” he joked, referring to Ada’s children.
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 came from a showbiz family: their father was a famous radio host and liberal activist, while their aunt was the celebrated jazz singer Rosemary Clooney, who also starred in the classic 1954 film White Christmas.
Ada and her brother were spotted in Venice in 2014, driving along a canal together during their visit to the city for his wedding to wife Amal Clooney.
Ada married retired Army Captain Normal Zeidler in 1987 and welcomed two children with him before dying of a heart attack in October 2004.
Ada is pictured with her son Nick, who Clooney joked in 2015: “I just became prom king at the high school I went to and wasn’t mentioned.”
Ada was born in Los Angeles on May 2, 1960 to Nick and Nina Clooney, just a year and four days before her movie star brother; Clooney pictured with his parents in 2005
Nina, once a beauty queen, shared fond memories of her children playing together growing up in Kentucky in a 2006 interview with HGTV.
Laughing, she remembered coming home from work to find George and Ada having a party with their friends and messing around with marshmallows.
The kids, she said, “licked one side of ‘each marshmallow’ and tossed them to each other.” When I walked in, there were marshmallows all over the room.”
Clooney himself has also painted a loving portrait of the gentle surroundings of rural Kentucky where he and Ada spent their childhood.
“All the things we see on cable news of people being unkind to each other don’t exist,” he said in a 2019 interview with the Nashville newspaper. Tennessean. ‘They have to get along. I was really lucky to grow up in such a small town.”
Ada married retired Army Captain Normal Zeidler in 1987 and raised two children with him before dying of a heart attack in October 2004.
The bride’s brother reportedly gave a scripture reading at Zeidler’s wedding, where Rosemary reportedly treated the guests to a song.
