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George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an Academy Award- and two-time Golden Globe winning American actor, director, producer and screenwriter, known for his role in the first five seasons of the long-running television drama ER (1994–99), and his rise as an "A-List" movie star in contemporary American cinema.
Clooney has balanced his cinematic performances in big-budget blockbusters with more modestly budgeted films on serious topics and more commercially risky projects, while expanding his prominence as a movie producer.
Early life
Clooney, an Irish American, was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His mother, Nina Warren, was a former pageant queen while his father, Nick Clooney, is a journalist, anchorman, game show and American Movie Classics host, as well as a politician from the state of Kentucky. Clooney has a sister, Ada, and is the nephew of singer Rosemary Clooney and actor Jose Ferrer, as well as the cousin of their son Miguel Ferrer. From an early age, Clooney would hang around his father's sets, often participating in shows, where he proved to be a crowd favorite. Rosemary Clooney encouraged him to become a comedian.
Clooney spent his earlier years in Columbus, Ohio, attending St. Michael's elementary school and having a Catholic upbringing. Later, he attended Kentucky's Augusta High School, which he graduated in 1979, but was a poor student. George did excel in athletics; baseball in particular. He was invited to try out for the Cincinnati Reds in 1977, but was not offered a contract.
He briefly attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979-81, but did not graduate, earning no more than freshman-level credits. He also very briefly attended the University of Cincinnati, but also did not graduate from there. His college time was spent mainly on girls and partying.
Career
George Clooney spent most of his "struggling actor" years riding to auditions on a bicycle. His first major role came in 1984 in the television medical comedy/drama, E/R, though it too takes place in a hospital it should not be confused with ER. Additionally, he played a handyman on the series The Facts of Life. His first significant break was a semi-regular supporting role in the sitcom Roseanne, playing Roseanne Barr's overbearing boss Booker Brooks, followed by the role of a construction worker on Baby Talk and then as a sexy detective on Sisters. Clooney achieved stardom when he was selected to play Dr. Doug Ross on the NBC hit drama ER.
Prior to his success on ER, he befriended another actor named Grant Heslov, a close friend and frequent collaborator with whom Clooney later co-wrote Good Night, and Good Luck. Heslov is also the president of Section 8 Entertainment, Clooney's and director Steven Soderbergh's production company. Clooney said in an interview that he was driving an RV through the country with Heslov, who, at the time, was getting over a broken engagement, when he got a phone call from his agent telling him that NBC just picked up ER for a full season. Clooney said, "I think I just got my career."
In 1995, Clooney received a tape version of The Spirit of Christmas, the video greeting card which would inspire South Park. He thought it was so funny that he made copies and sent it around the Los Angeles area. Matt Stone and Trey Parker were so thankful for his help that they invited him to play a role in the show, he ended up voicing Stan Marsh's gay dog Sparky in the episode Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride, a role with no dialogue except normal dog noises. He later appeared in the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Despite their history, the shows creators, Parker and Stone, lampooned Clooney for his outspoken political views in their feature film Team America: World Police. However, Clooney later said that he would have been offended if he hadn't been made fun of in the film.
Initial success
Clooney continued to star in movies while appearing in ER, his first major hollywood role coming with From Dusk Till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez. He followed it's success with The Peacemaker, the first movie from Dreamworks SKG studio. Clooney was then cast as the new Batman, following Val Kilmer, in Batman & Robin. In 1998, he starred in Out of Sight, opposite Jennifer Lopez. This was the first of many times Clooney would collaborate with director Steven Soderbergh.
In 1999 he left the cast of ER to pursue his film career full-time, though, as a stipulation in his new contract, Clooney would return for occasional guest spots, which, to date, he has only done once.
Movie star
After leaving ER, Clooney starred in major Hollywood successes, such as, Three Kings, 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 Ocean's Eleven. Alongside Clooney starred Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, and Julia Roberts. To this day, it remains Clooney's most commercially successful movie, earning approximately $444,200,000 worldwide. The film spawned two sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. In 2001, Clooney founded the production studio Section Eight Productions with Steven Soderbergh.
He made his debut as a director in the 2002 with 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 was praised among critics and general audiences, alike.
In 2005, Clooney starred in Syriana, based loosely on former Central Intelligence Agency agent Robert Baer and his memoirs of being an agent in the Middle East. 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 McCarthy. Both films received critical acclaim and decent box-office returns despite being in limited release. At the 78th 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 to be nominated for directing one movie and acting in another in the same year. He would go on to win for his role in Syriana.
After the success of Good Night, and Good Luck, Clooney he plans to devote more of his energy to directing. He feels that the directing industry is "a great industry to grow old in", something that doesn't ring true with acting.
Most recently, he appeared in The Good German, a film-noir directed by frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh. The film is set in post-World War II Germany.
Clooney is one of only two people to have been given the title of Sexiest Man Alive twice by People Magazine, first in 1997 and again in 2006. The other is Brad Pitt. Clooney also received the American Cinematheque Award in October 2006, an award that honors an extraordinary artist in the entertainment industry who is fully engaged in his or her work and is committed to making a significant contribution to the art of motion pictures.
Other ventures
On July 8, 2005, news reports said that Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon would be working with Cindy Crawford's husband Rande Gerber to design and build a new casino hotel in Las Vegas. And, on August 29, the same year, Clooney officially announced his involvement with the Las Ramblas Resort project. However, the project never came to fruition, and the property on which the resort was to be built was sold in June 2006.
After serving as pitchman outside the U.S. for products like Fiat and Martini vermouth, Clooney lent his voice to a series of Budweiser ads beginning in 2005 (which were still running as of October 2006). Clooney was later criticized by actor Russell Crowe for such extracurricular pursuits. Clooney then responded by pointing out hypocrisy in the form of Crowe's frequent endorsements of his extracurricular rock and roll band.
Personal life
Clooney's father, Nick Clooney, a politician, is noted for saying the following about himself,
“ I spent the first part of my life being referred to as Rosemary Clooney’s brother, and now I am spending the last part of my life being referred to as George Clooney’s Dad. ”
Clooney had a 300 pound Vietnamese black bristled, potbellied pig, named Max, that had lived with him for 18 years. Max died on December 1, 2006.
Clooney has only been married once, to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993.
Medical history
Clooney suffered from Bell's palsy for a time while he was in high school.
Politics
Clooney is a self-described political liberal. Speaking about the Iraq war: "You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people seeking revenge. These days it only matters who's in charge. Right now that's us — for a while at least. 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."
Clooney is noted for his public criticisms of Jack Abramoff and other Republicans. On January 16, 2006, during his acceptance speech for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Syriana, Clooney paused to thank sarcastically the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff before adding, “Who would name their kid Jack with the word ‘off’ at the end of your last name? No wonder that guy is screwed up!”
Clooney is active in advocating a resolution of the Darfur conflict. His efforts include an episode of Oprah and speaking at the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. on April 30, 2005.
There has been some movement to try to convince Clooney to run for political office in his home state of Kentucky, including talk of a Clooney candidacy for US Senate against incoming Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2008. Clooney's remark on the possibility of his entering politics, however, has been: "Run for office? No. I've slept with too many women, I've done too many drugs, and I've been to too many parties".
Clooney supports Barack Obama for a 2008 presidential run.
Environmentalism
Clooney has paid a deposit on a Tesla Roadster from Tesla Motors. It is a battery electric vehicle with a 250 mile range. He will be among the first hundred owners.
His comment about Charlton Heston
Michelle Solomon wrote on her article Celebrity Chatter: Up-Close With George Clooney, published on Staff Writer (2/3/03)"On the same day we spoke, headlines had just broke that Clooney was at a film awards dinner and made what some people perceived as an inappropriate remark about Charlton Heston. As first reported by syndicated columnist Liz Smith, Clooney was speaking at a National Board of Review event and said: "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's." (...) "It was a joke," Clooney said. "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 he went too far with his comment, he said, "I don't care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association. He deserves whatever anyone says about him".
Asked in an October 2003 CNN interview whether it was "in poor taste in retrospect?", Clooney replied: "Yes, oh, yes. It was in poor taste. It was a funny joke.... I have a lot of good friends who — in fact, I have a very good friend who is dying of Alzheimer's. And it was just a funny joke".
Charlton Heston's response, after noting the "class" of the actor's late aunt, singer-actress Rosemary Clooney: "It just goes to show that sometimes class does skip a generation".
Then aged 79, the veteran movie star said further: "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".
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1985 Streethawk
1985 - 1986 The Facts of Life George Burnett
1987 Return to Horror High Oliver
Grizzly II: The Predator Uncredited
Combat Academy Maj. Biff Woods
Murder, She Wrote Kip Howard Episode: No Laughing Murder
The Golden Girls Detective Bobby Hopkins Episode: To Catch a Neighbor
1988 Return of the Killer Tomatoes Matt Stevens
1988 - 1991 Roseanne Booker Brooks 11 Episodes
1990 Red Surf Remar
1992 Unbecoming Age Mac
1993 The Harvest Lip Syncing Transvestite
1993 - 1994 Sisters Detective James Falconer
1994 - 1995 ER Dr Doug Ross 106 Episodes
1995 Friends Dr. Michael Mitchell Episode: The One with Two Parts, Part Two
1996 From Dusk Till Dawn Seth Gecko
One Fine Day Jack Taylor
Curdled Seth Gecko Uncredited; only photo shown
1997 Full-Tilt Boogie Himself Documentary
The Peacemaker Thomas Devoe
Batman & Robin Batman/ Bruce Wayne
South Park Sparky the Dog (voice) Episode: Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride
1998 The Thin Red Line Captain Bosche
Out of Sight Jack Foley
Waiting for Woody Himself Comedic Short
1999 Three Kings Major Archie Gates
The Book That Wrote Itself Himself
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Voice of Doctor Gouache
The Limey TV Interviewee
2000 The Perfect Storm Billy 'Skip' Tyne
Fail Safe Col. Jack Grady
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Ulysses Everett McGill
2001 Ocean's Eleven Danny Ocean
Spy Kids Devlin
2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind CIA Agent Jim Byrd also Director
Solaris Chris Kelvin
Welcome to Collinwood Jerzy Producer
Starbuck Holger Meins Documentary
2003 Intolerable Cruelty Miles Massey
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over Devlin
2004 Ocean's Twelve Danny Ocean also Executive Producer
2005 Good Night, and Good Luck. Fred Friendly also Director, Screenwriter
Syriana Bob Barnes also Producer;
2005 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2006 The Good German Jake Geismar
2007 Michael Clayton Michael Clayton also Producer
Ocean's Thirteen Danny Ocean
2007 Leatherheads Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly also Director, Producer, and co-writer
2008 Burn After Reading
(TBA)
Director Credits
Year Title
2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
2005 Good Night, and Good Luck
Unscripted
2007 Leatherheads
Producer Credits
Credit Movie
Executive Producer Ocean's Thirteen
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