Shara Blue Mathes is a 57-year-old American social worker, harm reduction specialist, former child actress, and breast cancer survivor who married Chaz Bono on March 8, 2026, at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, becoming Cher's daughter-in-law in the process. People Magazine's exclusive wedding photos showed her in a white gown with lace sleeves and a dramatic train, dark hair down in waves with a veil, holding a bouquet of purple orchids, standing next to a man she had first kissed more than four decades earlier.
She is not famous in the way Hollywood typically manufactures fame. She earned her public profile the harder way: by surviving cancer, building a career in social services, raising a son, and waiting until the right version of a decades-old love story was ready to become permanent.
Who Is Shara Blue Mathes? From Child Actress to Social Work
Shara Blue Mathes was born in 1969 in the United States, making her 57 years old in 2026. She began her career in entertainment as a child, appearing at the age of 15 in the 1984 television comedy series It's Your Move alongside a young Jason Bateman. The show ran for one season on NBC and marked her earliest professional credit. She trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City, the same institution where she first encountered a teenage Chaz Bono.
Acting, however, was not the life she ultimately chose. At some point in her adult years, Shara Blue Mathes stepped away from entertainment entirely and redirected her energy toward social services. She has spoken openly about her own past struggles with addiction and recovery, and those experiences shaped the work she went on to do professionally. According to Yahoo and multiple biography sources, she has been working with Housing Works since 2014, serving as a case manager. Housing Works organization is a New York and Los Angeles-based nonprofit that fights to end homelessness and AIDS through advocacy, housing, and healthcare services. Shara's daily work involves helping people that mainstream society often overlooks.
She has a brother named Zach, with whom she maintains a close relationship documented through social media posts. She was married once before Chaz Bono, though the name of her first husband has not been publicly confirmed. From that marriage, she has a son, Cooper James, now approximately 25 years old, who has maintained a private life outside of media attention.
Chaz Bono's wife: The Wedding at Hollywood Roosevelt on March 8, 2026
Shara Blue Mathes became Chaz Bono's wife on March 8, 2026, International Women's Day, in a ceremony the couple described as "Hollywood Glam Formal" on their Honeyfund wedding website. E! News confirmed the marriage on March 13, along with exclusive details from the event. The venue was The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, a landmark property on Hollywood Boulevard that has hosted celebrities and cultural events since 1927.
Chaz wore a classic black tuxedo with a black bow tie and a purple calla lily boutonniere. Shara wore the white gown with the dramatic train and lace sleeves. Their first dance was to Frank Sinatra's The Way You Look Tonight, a song whose lyrics map almost comically well onto a love story that survived four decades of separation. Cher sat in the front row and was photographed beaming as the couple kissed following their vows.
Chaz announced the marriage on Instagram on March 15, writing: "After knowing each other for 40 years and being in a relationship for 9, Shara and I got married at the Hollywood Roosevelt on Sunday, March 8th." Shara posted her own account of the day, writing that she had stepped into a real-life fairytale and married her longtime sweetheart. She described it as the happiest and most magical wedding a bride could dream of. The couple left for Hawaii on their honeymoon, per their Honeyfund page.
For the wedding itself, Cher's attendance was the detail that drew the most media attention, though the ring she was wearing on her own finger generated almost as much commentary. Some observers speculated that Cher and her much younger partner, Alexander "AE" Edwards, may have married privately. Page Six reported that the couple is neither married nor engaged, and Cher's representative had previously said there were absolutely no plans for a wedding in her future.
Shara Blue Mathes and Chaz Bono: 40 Years From First Kiss to Wedding Day
The story between Shara Blue Mathes and Chaz Bono begins in New York City, at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, where two teenagers met as aspiring young actors sometime in the 1980s. Chaz Bono, speaking to People Magazine in March 2026, described what happened there: not many grooms end up marrying the very first girl they ever kissed, so many years later. Shara was that girl.
They went their separate ways after that teenage connection. Chaz came out as a trans man in 2009, documented his transition in the 2011 film Becoming Chaz, and built a career as an actor, advocate, and author. Chaz Bono appeared on Dancing With the Stars in 2011 and has had recurring roles in American Horror Story. Shara moved into social work, raised Cooper, survived cancer, and lived a life almost entirely separate from celebrity attention.
Mutual friends brought them back into each other's orbit, and they began dating officially in January 2017. For nine years, they built a relationship away from most public attention, though Shara occasionally appeared alongside Chaz at events including the Beyond Fest Los Angeles premiere of Little Bites at the Aero Theatre in October 2024, where Cher joined them. That three-person photo, published by Getty Images, was one of the clearest signals that Shara had already been folded into the Bono family long before the wedding.
Chaz described what Shara means to him in a statement to People: she makes him feel complete, knowing she will always be there beside him as partner, best friend, and the love of his life. He added that no matter what life brings them, they will always be safer and stronger together, and that they are home.
Shara Blue Mathes Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Survival
In 2021, Shara Blue Mathes was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She was open about it on social media throughout her treatment, sharing updates and expressing gratitude for support from people around her. In a September 2021 Instagram post from her birthday dinner with Chaz, she wrote that she had received lovely gifts, but the best gift was being alive.
The diagnosis came in one of the hardest years of recent memory for most people, and Shara navigated treatment while maintaining her relationship with Chaz and her work in social services. Chaz posted about her strength publicly in December 2021, sharing a photo of the two of them by a fire pit and writing about the incredible strength and dignity she had shown throughout her breast cancer treatments that year, and how much he adored her and had tried to be a loving supportive partner.
Breast cancer at stage 3 means the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes or tissues but has not metastasized to distant organs. Survival rates at stage 3 vary by subtype and treatment response, but they are meaningfully better than at stage 4, and Shara's public presence in 2024 and 2026, including her full participation in the Hollywood Roosevelt wedding, indicates she came through treatment successfully. She has not detailed her current health status publicly beyond the general framing of survivor.
Her openness about cancer, about recovery from addiction, and about the unglamorous work of helping homeless people access housing in Los Angeles places Shara Blue Mathes in a specific category of public figure: someone whose identity is built around authenticity rather than image management.
Cher Daughter-in-Law: What Cher's Attendance Said
Cher is 79 years old and has been one of the most recognizable entertainers in American culture for more than sixty years. She is Chaz's mother, the child she shared with the late Sonny Bono, who died in a skiing accident in 1998. She also has a son, Elijah Allman, from her marriage to Gregg Allman. Chaz is her only child with Sonny.
Cher's presence at the Hollywood Roosevelt wedding, sitting in the front row and photographed mid-beam as her son kissed his new wife, was the visual confirmation that Shara Blue Mathes has her full blessing. That is not incidental. Cher has been publicly protective of Chaz throughout his life and transition, and her endorsement of his relationships carries genuine weight within his world.
The three of them, Cher, Chaz, and Shara, had already appeared publicly together before the wedding, including at Beyond Fest 2024 and in social media posts over several years. Shara has spoken about her bond with Cher, and the singer has reportedly embraced her son's partner warmly. For Shara Blue Mathes, becoming Cher's daughter-in-law in March 2026 was the formal recognition of a relationship that had already been operating that way for years.
Among the women who have navigated the complexity of becoming part of a celebrity family in 2026, the dynamic is not unusual. Michelle Randolph, Glen Powell's girlfriend, built an acting career in Taylor Sheridan's world before the relationship became the headline. Alyce Huckstepp, Jamie Foxx's Australian partner, avoided all public attention for four years before a pregnancy announcement made that impossible. Simone Henault had a full professional identity as a DJ and Google producer before anyone outside a small circle knew her name. Shara Blue Mathes had 40 years of private history with the groom before anyone thought to look her up.
Shara Blue Mathes, Key Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Shara Blue Mathes |
| Born | 1969, United States |
| Age | 57 (as of 2026) |
| Career | Social worker, harm reduction specialist, former actress |
| TV credit | It's Your Move (NBC, 1984) alongside Jason Bateman |
| Training | Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, New York City |
| Current work | Case manager, Housing Works (since 2014) |
| Personal history | Addiction and recovery, openly discussed |
| Health | Stage 3 breast cancer, diagnosed 2021, survivor |
| Son | Cooper James (approx. 25-26, from previous relationship) |
| Brother | Zach |
| @sharablue | |
| Husband | Chaz Bono (married March 8, 2026) |
| First met Chaz | Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, early 1980s |
| Relationship start | January 2017 |
| Wedding venue | The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles |
| Wedding theme | Hollywood Glam Formal |
| First dance song | The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra |
| Honeymoon | Hawaii |
| Mother-in-law | Cher |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who is Shara Blue Mathes?
Shara Blue Mathes is a 57-year-old American social worker, harm reduction specialist, and former child actress who married Chaz Bono on March 8, 2026, at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. She is a stage 3 breast cancer survivor, a case manager at Housing Works since 2014, and the mother of a son named Cooper from a previous relationship. She and Chaz first met as teenagers at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City in the early 1980s.
Q: When did Chaz Bono and Shara Blue Mathes get married?
The couple married on March 8, 2026, at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. The ceremony had a Hollywood Glam Formal theme. Cher attended and sat in the front row. Their first dance was to Frank Sinatra's The Way You Look Tonight. The couple honeymooned in Hawaii.
Q: Did Shara Blue Mathes have breast cancer?
Yes. Shara Blue Mathes was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2021. She shared her diagnosis and treatment publicly on Instagram and expressed gratitude for the support she received. Chaz Bono posted publicly about her strength during treatment. She has since recovered and is described as a survivor.
Q: How long have Chaz Bono and Shara Blue Mathes known each other?
They have known each other for more than 40 years. They first met as teenagers at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City in the early 1980s. Chaz has said that Shara was the first girl he ever kissed. They reconnected through mutual friends and began dating officially in January 2017, nine years before their March 2026 wedding.
Q: Who is Chaz Bono's mother?
Bono is the son of Cher and the late Sonny Bono. Cher and Sonny Bono were married from 1964 to 1975 and formed the iconic pop duo, Sonny and Cher. Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998. Cher attended Chaz and Shara's wedding at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on March 8, 2026, sitting in the front row.
Q: Does Shara Blue Mathes have children?
Yes. Shara Blue Mathes has a son named Cooper James from a previous relationship. He is approximately 25 to 26 years old as of 2026 and has maintained a private life outside of the public eye. Chaz Bono has embraced the role of stepfather to Cooper.