Though he made his acting debut on television in 1978, Clooney gained fame and recognition by portraying Dr. Douglas "Doug" Ross on the long-running medical drama ER from 1994 to 1999. While working on ER, he started attracting a variety of leading roles in films including Batman & Robin (1997) and Out of Sight (1998), where he first teamed with long-term collaborator Steven Soderbergh. In 2001, Clooney's fame widened with the release of his biggest commercial success, Ocean's Eleven, the first of a profitable film trilogy, that is a remake of the movie from 1960 with the members of The Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean. He made his directorial debut a year later with the 2002 biographical thriller Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and has since directed Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) and Leatherheads (2008). He won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the Middle East thriller Syriana (2005).
Clooney's humanitarian work includes his advocacy of finding a resolution for the Darfur conflict, raising funds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, 2004 Tsunami and 9/11 victims, and creating documentaries such as Sand and Sorrow to raise awareness about international crises.
Early life
Clooney was born in Georgetown, Kentucky. His mother, Nina Bruce (née Warren, 1939- ), is a former beauty pageant queen; his father, Nick Clooney, is a former anchorman, as well as a game show and American Movie Classics host. Clooney is of Irish American/Irish descent on his father's side; his paternal great-great-grandparents, Nicholas Clooney (of County Kilkenny) and Bridget Byron, immigrated to the United States from Ireland. Clooney was raised a strict Roman Catholic. He has an older sister, Adelia (also known as Ada); his cousins include actors Miguel and Rafael Ferrer, who are the sons of his aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney, and actor José Ferrer. He is also related to another singer, Debby Boone, who married José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney's son Gabriel. From an early age, Clooney would hang around his father's sets, often participating in shows, where he proved to be a crowd favorite.
Clooney began his education at the Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Spending part of his childhood in Ohio, he attended St. Michael's School in Columbus, and St. Susanna School in Mason, Ohio. In middle school, Clooney developed Bell's palsy, a debilitating condition that partially paralyzes the face. The malady went away within a year. "That was the worst time of my life," he told the Daily Mirror in 2003. "You know how cruel kids can be. I was mocked and taunted, but the experience made me stronger.
His parents eventually moved to Augusta, Kentucky, where Clooney attended Augusta High School. He has stated that he earned all As and a B in school, and was an enthusiastic baseball and basketball player. He tried out with the Cincinnati Reds in 1977 to play professional baseball, but was not offered a contract. He did not pass the first round of player cuts.
Personal life,Relationships
Clooney and Elisabetta Canalis at the 66th Venice International Film Festival
Clooney was married to Talia Balsam from 1989 until they divorced in 1993. Since then, Clooney has said that he will never marry again. After meeting on the set of a Martini advertisement in 2000, he had a five-year on/off relationship with British model Lisa Snowdon. In 2007, he started dating Sarah Larson and the couple broke up in May 2008. From 2009 to June 2011, Clooney was in a relationship with Elisabetta Canalis.
Often featured in People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue, Clooney's marital status and availability is a running joke for female fans who still fantasize they have a chance to bring him to the altar. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Las Vegas has a "Marrying George Clooney" photo-op in which museum visitors can put on a wedding gown and stand next to a wax statue of the smiling actor in a tuxedo.
As of August 3, 2011, he was reported to have been dating former WWE diva Stacy Keibler after his recent break up with model Elisabetta Canalis, according to Life & Style.
Homes
Clooney's main home is in Los Angeles. He purchased the 7,354 square feet (683.2 m2) house in 1995 through his George Guifoyle Trust. His villa in Italy is situated in the village of Laglio, on Lake Como, near the former residence of famous Italian author Ada Negri.
Career,Early work, 1978–94
Clooney's first role was as an extra in the TV series Centennial in 1978. The series was based on the novel of the same name by James Michener and was partially filmed in Clooney's hometown of Augusta, Kentucky. Clooney's first major role came in 1984 in the short-lived sitcom E/R (not to be confused with ER, the better-known hospital drama, on which Clooney also costarred a decade later). He played a handyman on the series The Facts of Life and appeared as Bobby Hopkins, a detective, on an episode of The Golden Girls. His first significant break was a semi-regular supporting role in the sitcom Roseanne, playing Roseanne Barr's supervisor Booker Brooks, followed by the role of a construction worker on Baby Talk and then as a sexy detective on Sisters. In 1988, Clooney also played a role in Return of the Killer Tomatoes.
Breakthrough, 1994–1999
Clooney achieved stardom when he played Dr. Doug Ross, alongside Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies, and Noah Wyle on the hit NBC drama ER from 1994 to 1999. After leaving the series in 1999, he made a cameo appearance in the 6th season and returned for a guest spot in the show's final season.
Clooney began appearing in movies while working on ER. His first major Hollywood role was in From Dusk till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez. He followed its success with One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and The Peacemaker with Nicole Kidman. Clooney was then cast as Batman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin, which was a moderate box office success, but a critical failure (with Clooney himself calling the film "a waste of money"). In 1998, he starred in Out of Sight opposite Jennifer Lopez, marking the first of his many collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh.
International success, 2000–present
George Clooney cast his hands and shoes in the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 2007.
After leaving ER, Clooney starred in commercially successful projects such as The Perfect Storm and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. In 2001, he teamed up with Soderbergh again for Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960s Rat Pack film of the same name. As of 2011 it was Clooney's most commercially successful movie, earning more than $450 million worldwide. The film spawned two sequels starring Clooney, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in 2007.
In 2001, Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh co-founded the Section Eight Productions, for which Grant Heslov was president of television. He made his directorial debut in the 2002 film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, an adaptation of the autobiography of TV producer Chuck Barris. Though the movie didn't do well at the box office, Clooney's direction showed promise.
In 2005, Clooney starred in Syriana, which was based loosely on former Central Intelligence Agency agent Robert Baer and his memoirs of being an agent in the Middle East. Clooney suffered an accident on the set of Syriana, which resulted in a brain injury with complications arising from a punctured dura. The same year he directed, produced, and starred in Good Night, and Good Luck., a film about 1950s television journalist Edward R. Murrow's famous war of words with Senator Joseph McCarthy. At the 2006 Academy Awards, Clooney was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck, as well as Best Supporting Actor for Syriana. He became the first person in Oscar history[citation needed] to be nominated for directing one movie and acting in another in the same year. He won the Oscar for his role in Syriana.
On January 22, 2008, Clooney was nominated for an Academy Award (and many other awards) for Best Actor for his role in Michael Clayton (2007). Clooney then directed his third film, Leatherheads (2008), in which he also starred. It was reported on April 4, 2008 in Variety that Clooney had quietly resigned from the Writers Guild of America over controversy surrounding Leatherheads. Clooney, who is the director, producer, and star of the film, stated that he had contributed in writing, "all but two scenes," of the film and requested a writing credit, alongside Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, who had been working on the project for 17 years. In an arbitration vote, Clooney lost 2–1 and ultimately decided to withdraw from the union over the decision. Clooney became a "financial core status" nonmember, meaning he loses his voting rights, and cannot run for office or attend membership meetings, according to the WGA's constitution.
Clooney next co-starred with Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey in The Men Who Stare At Goats, which was directed by Heslov and released in November 2009.
Humanitarian work
Clooney has been active in advocating a resolution of the Darfur conflict. His efforts include appearing on an episode of Oprah and speaking at the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2006. On March 25, 2007, he sent an open letter to German chancellor Angela Merkel, calling on the European Union to take "decisive action" in the region in the face of Omar al-Bashir's failure to respond to the UN resolutions.
In April 2006, he spent ten days in Chad and Sudan with his father to make a film in order to show the dramatic situation of Darfur's refugees. In September of the same year, he spoke in front of the Security Council of the UN with Nobel Prize-winner Elie Wiesel to ask the UN to find a solution to the conflict and to help the people of Darfur. In December, he made a trip to China and Egypt with Don Cheadle and two Olympic winners to ask both governments to pressure Sudan's government.
After making his first trip to Darfur in 2006 with his father Nick, Clooney made the TV special "A Journey to Darfur", and advocated for action in the US. The documentary was broadcast on American cable TV as well as in the UK and France. In 2008, it was released on DVD with the proceeds from its sale being donated to the International Rescue Committee.
Clooney is involved with Not On Our Watch, an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities, along with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub. He narrated and was co-executor producer of the documentary Sand and Sorrow. Clooney also appeared in the documentary film Darfur Now, a call to action film for people all over the world to help stop the ongoing crisis in Darfur. The film was released on November 2, 2007. In February 2009, he visited Goz Beida, Chad with NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. In January 2010. he organized the Telethon Hope for Haiti Now, which collects donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake victims.
On December 13, 2007, Clooney and fellow actor Don Cheadle were presented with the Summit Peace Award by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome. In his acceptance speech, Clooney said that "Don and I…stand here before you as failures. The simple truth is that when it comes to the atrocities in Darfur…those people are not better off now than they were years ago. On January 18, 2008, the United Nations announced Clooney's appointment as a United Nations messenger of peace, effective from January 31.Clooney wrote a Washington Post op-ed piece in May 2011 titled "Dancing with a dictator in Sudan", arguing that: "President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, is escalating bombing and food aid obstruction in Darfur, and he now threatens the entire north-south peace process... the evidence shows that incentives alone are insufficient to change Khartoum’s calculations. International support should be sought immediately for denying debt relief, expanding the ICC indictments, diplomatically isolating the regime, suspending all non-humanitarian aid, obstructing state-controlled bank transactions and freezing accounts holding oil wealth diverted by senior regime officials.
Political views
Clooney is a self-described political liberal. In 2003, he opposed the Iraq war, saying: "You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people seeking revenge.... Our opponents are going to resort to car bombs and suicide attacks because they have no other way to win.... I believe (Rumsfeld) thinks this is a war that can be won, but there is no such thing anymore. We can't beat anyone anymore.
In February 2003, syndicated columnist Liz Smith reported that while speaking at a National Board of Review event, Clooney had made the following remarks: "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's." Clooney later said, "It was a joke,... They got the quote wrong. What I said was 'The head of the NRA announced today ...' (Filmmaker) Michael Moore had just gotten an award. Anyway, Charlton Heston shows up with guns over his head after a school shooting and then says in the documentary it's because of ethnic diversity that we have problems with violence in America. I think he's going to have to take whatever hits he gets. It was just a joke. That was someone else trying to make a bigger story. When asked if the actor went too far with his remarks, Clooney responded by saying, "I don't care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association; he deserves whatever anyone says about him. Heston himself commented, "It just goes to show that sometimes class does skip a generation," referring to Clooney's aunt, Rosemary Clooney. Heston further commented on the Clooney joke: "I don't know the man – never met him, never even spoken to him, but I feel sorry for George Clooney – one day he may get Alzheimer's disease. I served my country in World War II. I survived that – I guess I can survive some bad words from this fellow". Clooney said he subsequently apologized to Heston in a letter, and that he received a positive response from Heston's wife.
Motorcycle accident
On September 21, 2007, Clooney and then-girlfriend, Sarah Larson, were injured in a motorcycle accident in Weehawken, New Jersey. Clooney's motorcycle was hit by a car. The driver of the car reported that Clooney attempted to pass on the right, while Clooney stated that the driver signaled left and then decided to make an abrupt right turn and clipped the motorcycle. He was treated and released from the Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey. On October 9, 2007, more than two dozen hospital staff members were suspended without pay for looking at Clooney's medical records in violation of federal law. Clooney himself quickly issued a statement on the hospital records matter, saying no one should be punished. He said "This is the first I've heard of it. And while I very much believe in a patient's right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers.
Pets
"Max" (1987 – December 1, 2006) was Clooney's pet Vietnamese black bristled potbellied pig, often referred to as "Max the star" by Clooney. The pig shared Clooney's Hollywood Hills home, as well as Clooney's bed, and frequently made cameos in interviews, mostly because of his enormous size. He is often credited with saving Clooney's life by waking him up before the Northridge earthquake on January 16, 1994. In 2006, the pig was taken for a flight in John Travolta's private jet.
Max was bought by Clooney in 1988 as a gift for his former girlfriend Kelly Preston, Travolta's current wife. He used to have a special cattle-pen and his own corner in the garage of Clooney's manor. Max was seriously injured in 2001 when one of Clooney's friends accidentally ran him over with his car.Weighing ca. 300 pounds (over 130 kg), Max died in Los Angeles of natural causes, as has been stated by Clooney's press secretary Stan Rosenfield. Because he was known to have arthritis, and was partly blind, the animal was falsely reported to have died in January 2005. Clooney dotingly recalls that Max would squeal every morning until he was fed. A column on Max by Clooney's father, Nick, appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer.
In the media
Clooney is one of three people to have been given the title of "Sexiest Man Alive" twice by People Magazine, first in 1997 and again in 2006. Clooney has appeared in commercials outside the US for products like Fiat, Nespresso and Martini vermouth, and has lent his voice to a series of Budweiser ads beginning in 2005.
Clooney was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker lampooned Clooney, among other stars, in their feature film Team America: World Police. Clooney later said that he would have been offended if he hadn't been made fun of in the film. He was also mentioned in the South Park episode "Smug Alert!", which mocks his acceptance speech at the 78th Academy Awards. Clooney has also lent his voice to South Park, however, appearing in the episode Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride as Sparky the Dog, and as the emergency room doctor in [South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut].
Clooney was also caricatured in the American Dad episode Tears of a Clooney, in which Francine sees her plans to destroy Clooney materialize.
Awards and honors
Filmography
1984–85 E/R TV Mark "Ace" Kolmar
1985 Street Hawk TV Kevin Stark
1985–86 The Facts of Life TV George Burnett
1987 Return to Horror High Film Oliver
1987 Grizzly II: The Predator Film Uncredited
1987 Combat Academy Film Maj. Biff Woods
1987 Murder, She Wrote TV Kip Howard Episode: "No Laughing Murder"
1987 The Golden Girls TV Detective Bobby Hopkins Episode: "To Catch a Neighbor"
1988 Return of the Killer Tomatoes Film Matt Stevens
1988–91 Roseanne TV Booker Brooks 11 episodes
1990 Red Surf[citation needed] Film Remar
1992 Unbecoming Age Film Mac
1993 The Harvest Film Lip Synching Transvestite
1993–94 Sisters TV Detective James Falconer
1994–99, 2009 ER TV Dr. Doug Ross 107 episodes
Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Drama Series, 1995, 1996
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama, 1995, 1996, 1997
1995 Friends TV Dr. Michael Mitchell Episode: "The One with Two Parts, Part Two"
1996 From Dusk till Dawn Film Seth Gecko MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
Saturn Award for Best Actor
1996 One Fine Day Film Jack Taylor
1996 Curdled Film Seth Gecko Uncredited; only photo shown
1997 Full-Tilt Boogie TV Himself Documentary
1997 The Peacemaker Film Thomas Devoe
1997 Batman & Robin Film Bruce Wayne/Batman Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Chris O'Donnell)
1997 South Park TV Sparky the Dog Voice only; episode: "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride"
1998 The Thin Red Line Film Captain Bosche
1998 Out of Sight Film Jack Foley Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Jennifer Lopez)
1998 Waiting for Woody[citation needed] Film Himself Comedy short
1999 Three Kings Film Major Archie Gates
1999 The Book That Wrote Itself Film Himself
1999 South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Film Doctor Gouache Voice only
1999 The Limey Film Archive footage, uncredited
2000 The Perfect Storm Film Billy 'Skip' Tyne
2000 Fail Safe TV Col. Jack Grady
2000 O Brother, Where Art Thou? Film Ulysses Everett McGill Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2001 Ocean's Eleven Film Danny Ocean Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Dressed
2001 Spy Kids Film Devlin
2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Film CIA Officer Jim Byrd Also director
2002 Solaris Film Chris Kelvin Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor
2002 Welcome to Collinwood Film Jerzy Also producer
2002 Starbuck Holger Meins[citation needed] Film Documentary
2003 Intolerable Cruelty Film Miles Massey
2003 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over Film Devlin
2004 Ocean's Twelve Film Danny Ocean Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
2005 Good Night, and Good Luck Film Fred Friendly Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Cast
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2005 Syriana Film Bob Barnes Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
2006 The Good German Film Jake Geismar
2007 Michael Clayton Film Michael Clayton National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated - Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actor
Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
2007 Darfur Now Film Himself
2007 Ocean's Thirteen Film Danny Ocean
2008 Leatherheads Film Jimmy "Dodge" Connelly Co-writer, director
2008 Burn After Reading Film Harry Pfarrer
2009 Fantastic Mr. Fox Film Mr. Fox Voice only
Central Ohio Film Critics Asocciation Award for Actor of the Year (also for The Men Who Stare at Goatsand Fantastic Mr. Fox
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (and Up in the Air)
2009 The Men Who Stare at Goats Film Lyn Cassady Central Ohio Film Critics Asocciation Award for Actor of the Year (also for Up in the Air and Fantastic Mr. Fox
2009 Up in the Air Film Ryan Bingham Central Ohio Film Critics Asocciation Award for Best Actor
Central Ohio Film Critics Asocciation Award for Actor of the Year (also for The Men Who Stare at Goats and Fantastic Mr. Fox
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (tied with Morgan Freeman for Invictus)
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (and Fantastic Mr. Fox)
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
2010 The American Film Jack
2011 The Ides of March Film Governor Mike Morris Completed
2011 The Descendants Film Matt King Completed
2011 The Muppets Film Himself Completed
2012 Gravity Film Filming
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