George Clooney

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George Clooney

Clooney on the set of Ocean's Twelve in Winnetka, Illinois.
Born: May 06, 1961 (age 45)
United States Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Occupation: Actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer
Spouse: Talia Balsam (1989-1992) (divorced)

George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA) is an Academy Award-winning American actor, director, producer and screenwriter, known for his role in the first five seasons of the long-running television drama ER (1994–1999) and his rise as an "A-List" movie star in contemporary American cinema. Clooney has notably been able to balance 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.

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[edit] Early life

George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky. His mother, Nina, was a former pageant queen. His father, Nick Clooney, was a TV newscaster, actor, and talk-show host in Cincinnati. He has one sister, Ada. From an early age, George would hang around his father's sets, often participating in shows, where he proved to be a crowd favorite. George's aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney, encouraged him to become a comedian.

George attended Kentucky's Augusta High School, but was a poor student. George did excel in athletics, baseball in particular. A star at Augusta High, he was invited to try out for the Cincinnati Reds, but was not offered a contract. He briefly attended Northern Kentucky University, but did not graduate. He spent a season picking tobacco for his uncle Jack, then in 1982 took off for LA in his 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, with $300 in his pocket.

[edit] Film career

Clooney spent most of his "struggling actor" years riding to auditions on a bicycle, got on his feet in Los Angeles. His first major role was in the television medical comedy/drama, E/R. 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, following by the role of a construction worker on Baby Talk and then as a sexy detective on Sisters. Clooney would achieve stardom when he was selected to play maverick 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 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."

Clooney continued to star in movies while appearing in ER, his first major role coming with From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and followed by The Peacemaker (1997), the first movie from Dreamworks SKG studio, Batman & Robin (1997), and Out of Sight (1998). In 1999 he left the cast of ER to pursue his film career full-time. As a stipulation in his new contract, Clooney would return to ER for occasional guest spots, which he only had to do once. Further movie roles included Three Kings (1999),The Perfect Storm (2000), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Welcome to Collinwood (2002), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), and Ocean's Twelve (2004). He made his debut as a film director in the 2002 feature Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, an adaptation of the autobiography of TV producer Chuck Barris.

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 LA area; Matt Stone and Trey Parker were so thankful for his help that they invited him to play a role in the show, and 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 this history, show creators Trey Parker and Matt 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. [1]

George Clooney at the Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, 7 December 2001.
Enlarge
George Clooney at the Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, 7 December 2001.

On January 31, the nominees for the 2006 Academy Awards were announced. Clooney was nominated for Achievement in Directing and Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck and Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role 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. Clooney was also nominated for the David Lean Award for Achievement in Directing by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts BAFTA for Good Night, and Good Luck.

Clooney's portrayal of Bob Barnes in Syriana won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His character, and story of Syriana, are based loosely on former CIA agent Robert Baer and his memoirs of being an agent in the Middle East.

Clooney has said that he plans to devote more of his energies to directing, after the success of Good Night, and Good Luck. On directing, Clooney said it's a great industry to grow old in, as he felt acting wasn't. He will next appear onscreen in The Good German which is directed by frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh.

In 2001, Soderbergh and Clooney set up the movie production studio Section Eight Productions.

[edit] Other ventures

On July 8, 2005, news reports said that George 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. On August 29, 2005, Clooney officially announced his involvement with the Las Ramblas Resort project. The project never came to fruition, however, 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 are 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.

[edit] Family

George's father Nick Clooney is an American television journalist, anchorman, game show and American Movie Classics host, as well as a politician from the state of Kentucky. George is also the nephew of singer Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer and the cousin of her actor son Miguel Ferrer. Clooney also has been noted for having a 300 pound pig, named "Max," that lived with him for 18 years which has since died. [2][3][4]

He was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993.

[edit] Politics

Clooney is a self-described political liberal.

Clooney's father, Nick, ran as a Democrat in the 2004 election for a seat in the House of Representatives representing Kentucky's 4th Congressional district. He challenged Republican Geoff Davis for the open seat. Many observers, citing the star power and funding that Clooney's famous son would be able to draw, rated the race as highly competitive, and it quickly gained a high profile as one of few seriously contested House races. Clooney lost the election, gaining 44% of the vote to Davis's 54%. The conservative demographics of the northern Kentucky Fourth District, which were at odds with Clooney's mostly liberal leanings, have been cited as a major reason for Nick Clooney's loss.

He appeared as a guest in The Daily Show, supporting his then new movie, Good Night, and Good Luck, but his father was a major part of his discussion with host Jon Stewart.

Along with his public criticisms of Jack Abramoff and other Republicans, Clooney once remarked, "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's." 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." [5]. Charlton Heston's response: "It just goes to show that sometimes class does skip a generation." [6].

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." (quote).

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!” [7]

Clooney is active in advocating a resolution of the Darfur conflict.[8] His efforts include an episode of Oprah and speaking at the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. on April 30th, 2005.

There has been some movements to try and 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. [9]. However, the unsuccessful candidacy of his father in the Kentucky 4th district might dissaude any candidacy by Clooney.

[edit] Medical problems

Clooney suffered from Bell's palsy for a time while he was in high school.

In 2005, during the filming of a scene for the movie Syriana in which Clooney's character is tied to a chair and tortured, the chair was accidentally kicked over and Clooney hit his head on the concrete floor, tearing his dura mater. His doctors dismissed his complaints until he began leaking spinal fluid from the nose; he has since undergone surgery to bolster his spine with plastic bolts. Clooney had to cancel some promotional appearances and, finding it impossible to obtain insurance coverage, had to put up his house for collateral in order to make his second film as a director, Good Night, and Good Luck. He has dismissed media reports that he contemplated suicide following surgery, insisting that he was simply talking about the idea of having to live in severe pain for the rest of his life.

After a trip to Darfur, Sudan in 2006, George was suffering from symptoms that he thought were malaria. It turned out that it was food poisoning from the flight back home, but George's publicist, Stan Rosenfeld, released this statement: "George does not have malaria, but he felt like he had the effects of it at one point. It was food poisoning from the flight back from Darfur."

[edit] Academy Awards

George Clooney is the first person in Academy Award history to be nominated for acting in one movie (Syriana) and for writing and directing another (Good Night, and Good Luck) in the same year.

[edit] Other Awards and Honors

George Clooney is one of only two people to have been given the title of Sexiest Man Alive twice by People Magazine, first in November 1997 and again in November 2006. The other is Brad Pitt.

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Burn After Reading (TBA) [10]
2007 Michael Clayton Michael Clayton To be released fall 2007; Producer Credit
Ocean's Thirteen Danny Ocean Post Production
2006 The Good German Jake Geismar Post Production
2005 Good Night, and Good Luck. Fred Friendly Director and Co-Writer Credits
Syriana Bob Barnes Producer; Winner 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2004 Ocean's Twelve Danny Ocean Executive Producer Credit
2003 Intolerable Cruelty Miles Massey
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over Devlin
2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind CIA Agent Jim Byrd also Director
Solaris Chris Kelvin
Welcome to Collinwood Jerzy Executive Producer & Producer Credits
Starbuck Holger Meins Documentary
2001 Ocean's Eleven Danny Ocean
Spy Kids Devlin
2000 The Perfect Storm Billy 'Skip' Tyne
Fail Safe (2000) Col. Jack Grady
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Everett Ulysses McGill
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
1998 The Thin Red Line Captain Bosche
Out of Sight Jack Foley
Waiting for Woody Himself Comedic Short
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
1996 From Dusk Till Dawn Seth Gecko
One Fine Day Jack Taylor
Curdled Seth Gecko Uncredited Didn't appear in film, photo shown
1995 Friends (TV series) Dr. Michael Mitchell Episode: The One with Two Parts: Part 2
1993 The Harvest Lip Syncing Transvestite
1993 - 1994 Sisters Detective James Falconer
1992 Unbecoming Age (1992) Mac
1991 Roseanne Booker Brooks 11 episodes, 1988-1991
1990 Red Surf Remar
1988 Return of the Killer Tomatoes Matt Stevens
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

Director Credits

Year Title
2005 Good Night, and Good Luck
Unscripted
2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Preceded by:
Val Kilmer		 Actors to portray Batman
1997-2001		 Succeeded by:
Bruce Thomas
Awards
Preceded by:
Morgan Freeman
for Million Dollar Baby		 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2005
for Syriana		 Succeeded by:
TBD


The Films of George Clooney
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind • Good Night, and Good Luck.

[edit] External links

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