Clint Eastwood’s first wife, Maggie Johnson, has died at 94, bringing an end to a remarkable life that remained closely connected to the Hollywood legend decades after their marriage ended.
The couple’s daughter, actress and filmmaker Alison Eastwood, announced her mother’s death in an emotional Instagram tribute on Wednesday.
Johnson died peacefully on Sunday, Oct. 4, just days before what would have been her 95th birthday.
“This last Sunday, we said goodbye to our sweet Mama,” Alison wrote. “She passed peacefully, just shy of her 95th birthday.”
Alison remembered her mother as a warm and generous woman with a strong sense of humor and a lifelong love for animals and the outdoors.
“She had a long, amazing life. She was kind, generous, loyal, and had a great sense of humor,” she wrote.
According to Alison, her mother passed along that compassion for animals and nature to her children and remained deeply interested in their lives well into her later years.
Johnson was especially proud of son Kyle Eastwood’s career as a jazz musician, Alison said, while also keeping a close eye on Alison’s animal rescue work.
“Maggie was a bright, beautiful light,” Alison wrote. “She will be greatly missed.”
Alison accompanied the tribute with a collection of family photographs showing Johnson throughout the years, including pictures of Alison and Kyle as children.
One of the most striking images showed Johnson smiling alongside Clint Eastwood while celebrating her 90th birthday — decades after the former couple had divorced.
Johnson and Eastwood’s relationship began long before he became one of Hollywood’s most recognizable stars.
The pair reportedly met on a blind date in San Francisco in May 1953. Eastwood, then in his early 20s, had recently finished his military service and was still years away from his breakthrough as an actor.
Johnson was studying at the University of California, Berkeley, at the time.
Their romance moved quickly, and the couple married on Dec. 19, 1953.
Eastwood’s career soon took off. He became a television star on “Rawhide” before achieving international fame through Westerns and eventually becoming one of Hollywood’s most successful actors and directors.
During their marriage, Johnson and Eastwood welcomed two children together.
Their son Kyle was born in 1968 and went on to build a career as a jazz bassist and composer. Their daughter Alison was born in 1972 and followed her father into Hollywood, working as an actress, director and producer while also becoming heavily involved in animal welfare.
Johnson and Eastwood eventually divorced in 1984 after more than 30 years of marriage.
Despite the end of their marriage, the pair maintained an unusually close relationship in the decades that followed.
Alison previously said her parents continued spending holidays together and lived near one another, allowing their family to remain connected even after the divorce.
Johnson also appeared with Eastwood and their children in 1986 when he was elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
The family’s continued closeness was evident in Alison’s latest collection of photographs.
While Clint Eastwood went on to have several other relationships and married television journalist Dina Ruiz in 1996, Johnson largely stayed outside the Hollywood spotlight.
Instead, Alison’s tribute painted a picture of a woman whose life revolved around her family, friendships, animals and the natural world.
For Alison, that may be the legacy that matters most.
She recalled a friend telling her that knowing Johnson had made her a better person — a sentiment Alison said captured the influence her mother had on those around her.
Johnson’s death comes as Eastwood, now in his 90s, remains one of the last major figures from Hollywood’s classic generation.
And although their marriage ended more than four decades ago, the photographs shared by their daughter show that Johnson remained part of the Eastwood family story until the end.
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