Maggie Johnson, the first wife of four-time Academy Award-winner Clint Eastwood, has died, the couple’s daughter announced on social media. She was 94.
In an Instagram post, Alison Eastwood, 54, said her mother died Sunday, “just shy” of her 95th birthday.
“She had a long, amazing life. She was kind, generous, loyal, and had a great sense of humor,” said Alison Eastwood, an actress and producer who appeared with her father in the 2018 film, “The Mule.” “She instilled a deep love of nature and animals into our famiy, always teaching us compassion for the world around us.”
Johnson and Eastwood met on a blind date in May 1953 and were married on Dec. 19, 1953, Parade reported.
They had two children together -- a son, Kyle, who was born in 1968; and Alison, born in 1972, according to the magazine.
Eastwood and Johnson met when she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, People reported.
Eastwood had recently been discharged from the military and was planning to attend Los Angeles City College, according to Richard Schickel’s 1996 book, “Clint Eastwood: A Biography.”
A friend set up the couple on a blind date -- even though Johnson was dating someone at the time.
“I came down the stairs of the sorority house, and (Clint) had his back to me. When he turned around, I was amazed at what he looked like. Plus, he was understated and that kind of appealed to me,” Johnson told Schickel.
In 1979, several years into Eastwood’s affair with Sondra Locke, the couple separated.
They officially divorced in November 1984, People reported.
The couple remained on good terms, and Johnson was even at Eastwood’s side when he was elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1986, according to the magazine.
"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Maggie Johnson, Clint’s first wife, at age 94. Married in 1953, Maggie played a significant role during Clint’s breakout decade in the 1960s. From his transition from Rawhide to the Italian Westerns, she was by his side through the foundational years of his early film career..."
— Commentary: Clint Eastwood-The Man and His Movies (@ManFromMalpaso) October 7, 2026
“I’m so thankful that both of them are friends. We all celebrate Thanksgiving together,” Alison Eastwood told Fox News in 2022. “Their lives are intertwined, and it’s been great. And they’ve always gotten along really well. … I give my mom a lot of credit for being somebody who said, ‘We have a family together, regardless of whether we’re married or not. We want the kids to know that we get along, and we’re friends still.’
“That was especially important to both of my parents. Family came first.”
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