The View host Whoopi Goldberg is a proud mother to daughter Alexandrea Martin Dean, who loosely followed her into the entertainment industry.
Born in May 1974, Martin, 51, is the beloved Hollywood actress and presenter’s only child and has worked as an actress and producer in her own right.
Sister Act star Goldberg, 69, was just 18 when she welcomed her daughter with her first husband, Alvin Martin, whom she married in 1973. They divorced in 1979.
Life was very different for the mother and daughter in the beginning and Martin has spoken about the struggles they faced before Goldberg’s career took off.
‘I know what it’s like with the food stamps, because my mom has her [welfare] cards framed,’ she told TheGrio.com.
‘I remember we had the one room space, and we slept in the bed together.’
Goldberg got her big break in the early ’80s after she caught the attention of Steven Spielberg during her Broadway spell and he went on to cast her as the lead role in his critically acclaimed 1985 film, The Color Purple.
As her mother’s career skyrocketed, Martin welcomed her first child, daughter Amara Skye Dean, in 1989 when she was just 16.
Whoopi Goldberg’s only child is daughter Alex Martin (pictured together in July 2024)
The mother and daughter have an incredibly close bond and have made numerous public appearances together over the years (pictured at the Oscars in March)
In her words memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother And Me, Goldberg claimed her daughter fell pregnant in order to get ‘revenge’ on her for being away so much once her movie career took off.
She penned: ‘Years later, Alex told me that she thinks she got pregnant as a teenager because she wanted one person in her life who didn’t know who Whoopi Goldberg was.
‘I thought she was getting her revenge on me for being gone so much. I got it.’
She went on to add that when she initially asked her daughter if she was certain about keeping her baby and claimed Martin said, ‘Yes I want to have this baby. And this baby will love me, and she won’t know you.’
‘Now to some that may sound harsh, but I understood,’ Goldberg added.
‘See, people would move my kid out of the way and not even realize they had done it. After a while, it really p**sed her off.’
Goldberg previously said that she chose her acting career over her daughter because she felt her shot at fame ‘would never happen again.’
Martin is a mom-of-three. After making Goldberg a grandmother at 34, she went on to welcome two children – Jerzey, born in 1995, and Mason, born in 1998 – with her husband, Bernard Dean.
Goldberg welcomed Dean Martin in May 1974 with her then-husband Alvin Martin
Before Goldberg’s fame, Martin once revealed that they lived on food stamps (pictured in 1993)
The Sister Act star is pictured here in 2006 with her daughter and two of her grandkids
Interestingly, Martin married her husband Dean, three times. The couple divorced twice before tying the knot again in 2011.
She became a grandmother in 2014 when her eldest daughter gave birth to her first child, Charli Rose Burr-Reynaud.
Goldberg and her daughter have an incredibly close bond and over the years they have both publicly heaped praise on each other.
During Martin’s appearance on The View in 2016, Goldberg proudly described her as ‘one of the most trustworthy and loyal people I know.’
As she continued to compliment on her daughter, she continued: ‘She is somebody who makes me laugh.
‘We can talk to each other any time during the day or night. I just like her a lot.’
The pair have made numerous public appearances together too, having recently stepped out for a joint appearance at the Oscars in March.
Martin had to audition for her role in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit just like everybody else
Martin made Goldberg a grandmother at the age of 34 when she welcomed her first child
The last time they walked the Academy Awards red carpet together was in 1991, when Goldberg took home the best supporting actress award for her role in Ghost.
Speaking to reporters this year, Goldberg enthused: ‘I brought my kid and now she’s with me again. It’s all good.’
In 2024, Martin appeared on The View as Goldberg marked the 30th anniversary of Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.
Martin had a small part in the 1993 hit film playing one of the school kids. While some might assume that she only landed the role because her mother’s acclaim, she stressed that was not the case.
Goldberg has described Martin as ‘one of the most trustworthy and loyal people I know’
‘You’ve heard all these people talking about your mom… so, you may be Whoopi’s daughter, but you say there was no nepo baby situation when you got this role?’ The View host Sunny Hostin asked her.
‘No, there wasn’t!’ Marin responded. ‘I’ve heard you guys talk about this nepo baby stuff… I have yet to experience that, how about that?’
She later added that she had to audition ‘like everybody else’ and described the experience as ‘very interesting’.
‘I realized that I’m not good at auditions, that’s what I know, but other than that, I got the job!’ she said.
Besides starring in Sister Act 2, Martin had small roles in American Intellectuals (1999), Call Me Claus (2001), and Strange as Angels (2003).
She also had an uncredited role in the 1985 film, The Color Purple, in which her mother was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress gong at the Academy Awards for her portrayal of Celie Harris-Johnson.
She served as an associate producer on the short film Sensitive Men in 2024. Prior to that, she worked as a producer on the 2008 short film, Descendants.
