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George Clooney

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Wikipedia

George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe award-winning American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Clooney has balanced his glamorous performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and director behind commercially riskier projects, as well as social and liberal political activism. On January 31, 2008, the United Nations named Clooney a "Messenger of peace".

Career

Early roles

His first major role came in 1984 in the television medical comedy-drama E/R. Though it took place in a hospital, it should not be confused with ER, which Clooney more famously starred in a decade later. Additionally, he played a handyman on the series The Facts of Life. He played Bobby the detective on one episode of The Golden Girls. 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 hit NBC drama ER from 1994 to 1999. Clooney was also partnered with Deborah Leoni in their production company Mirador Entertainment.

Prior to his success on ER, he met Grant Heslov, a later close friend with whom he co-wrote Good Night, and Good Luck. Heslov was also the president of television at Section Eight Productions, Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh's production company. In August 2006, Clooney and Heslov started a new company: Smokehouse Pictures. 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."

It has been rumored that Clooney was the one to have circulated the videotape of Jesus vs. Santa (the video greeting card that gave birth to South Park) around the Los Angeles area in 1995. The show's creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, invited him to play a role in the show as the voice of 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 show's 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. He was also mentioned in the episode "Smug Alert!", which mocks his acceptance speech at the 78th Academy Awards.

Initial success

Clooney continued to star in movies while appearing in ER, his first major Hollywood role being 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, the latter being the initial feature length release from Dreamworks SKG studio. Clooney was then cast as the new Batman in Batman & Robin, however the film was a failure at the box office and was heavily criticized by both critics and fans for its campy style. In 1998, he starred in Out of Sight, opposite Jennifer Lopez. This was the first of many collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh. He also starred in Three Kings during the last weeks of his contract with ER.

In 1999, Clooney left the cast of ER to pursue his film career full-time. He mentioned a few times that he would like to do a few cameos; to date, he has only done one.

Movie star

After leaving ER, Clooney starred in major Hollywood successes, 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. To this day, it remains Clooney's most commercially successful movie, earning approximately US$ 444,200,000 worldwide. The film spawned two sequels starring Clooney, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in 2007. In 2001, Clooney founded the production studio Section Eight with Steven Soderbergh. Clooney is generally considered Chief Actor.

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 was praised among critics and audiences alike.

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. 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. Both films received critical acclaim and decent box-office returns despite being in limited release. 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 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. More recently, he appeared in The Good German, a film-noir directed by 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. Clooney also received the American Cinematheque Award in October 2006, an award that honors an artist in the entertainment industry who has made "a significant contribution to the art of motion pictures". On January 22, 2008, Clooney was nominated for Best Actor for his role in Michael Clayton, but lost to Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood.

Clooney is self-deprecating in interviews, telling STV in April 2008 that Leatherheads, one of his lightest movies, is a "cry for peace." In the same interview, when asked about reconciling George Clooney the actor and George Clooney the director, he said "there's a lot of ego there... so I just take it out on the actors.

Clooney is represented by Bryan Lourd, Co-Chairman of Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Other ventures

On July 8, 2005, news reports said that Clooney would be working with Cindy Crawford's husband Rande Gerber to design and build a new casino hotel in Las Vegas. 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 September 2007). In September 2007, Clooney defended his work when asked by an Italian journalist how he reconciled working in a Nestle advertisement for Nespresso with his criticism of multinational companies.

After the success of Good Night, and Good Luck, Clooney said, he plans to devote more of his energy to directing. He has said that the directing industry is "a great industry to grow old in." Clooney directed the film Leatherheads, in which he also stars.

Clooney is creating and producing a television series for Showtime titled The Fall of Bob. The Fall of Bob is an half-hour, single-camera black comedy-drama about a man who is committing suicide while a lengthy flashback occurs of what happened before his death.

Personal life

Romantic relationships

Clooney has been married once, to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993. He says he will never get married again nor have any children, but Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman each bet him $10,000 that he would be a father before he turned 40. They were both wrong, and each sent him a check. He returned the money, betting double or nothing that he won't have kids by age 50. Clooney started a relationship in mid-2007 with Fear Factor winner Sarah Larson. However, on May 28, 2008, it was reported that they had allegedly split.

Clooney's father

Clooney's father, Nick Clooney, a politician, is noted for saying 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.

Illness and injury

Clooney suffered from Bell's palsy for a time while he was in high school. In 2004, Clooney injured himself on Syriana's set during a torture scene. He had some excruciating headaches and suffered short term memory loss. It took a few weeks for his doctors to find the reasons for his health problems. During The Good German's promotion (two years afterwards), he revealed that he still had to wear a back brace due to this injury.

Never a heavy smoker, Clooney quit the habit at a very early stage. He says that at least eight or nine of his great-uncles and great-aunts died because of it.

2007 motorcycle accident

On September 21, 2007, Clooney and 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. Clooney suffered a broken rib and road rash; Larson broke two toes. Both were 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

Clooney had a Vietnamese black bristled, pot-bellied pig, named Max, that had lived with him for eighteen years. Max died on December 1, 2006. He also had two bulldogs, named Bud and Lou, after the famous comedy team Abbott and Costello. Both of the dogs have since died, one from a rattlesnake bite.

Leatherheads Controversy

It was reported on April 4, 2008 in Variety Magazine that George 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 is now technically 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. He must continue to pay his dues, but gets a break on "non-germane" WGA activities, such as political and lobbying efforts. His decision is also irrevocable. Beforehand, Clooney was an active member of the WGA, even receiving an Academy Award-nomination for writing Good Night and Good Luck. He is currently writing two screenplays with his associate Grant Heslov.

Politics and advocacy

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 lobbyist Jack Abramoff. 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 sarcastically thank 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!

There has been 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 Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2008. In response, Clooney has said: "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.

Save Darfur

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, 2006.

In 2006, he was involved in several events to highlight the issue. In April, 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, he spoke in front of the Security Council of the U.N. with Nobel Prize-winner Elie Wiesel to ask the U.N. 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.

In 2006, Clooney and his father, journalist Nick Clooney, travelled to Darfur and filmed a documentary, A Journey to Darfur, which was broadcast on American cable TV as well as in England 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.

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 U.N. resolutions.

Clooney also appears 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.

On December 13, 2007, Clooney and fellow actor Don Cheadle were presented with the Summit Peace Award by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates at the 8th Annual Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome. In his acceptance speech Clooney said that he and Cheadle "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.

Environmentalism

Clooney is an environmentalist, owning the first Tango car to be sold. Clooney made a deposit on a Tesla Roadster from Tesla Motors. It is a battery electric sportscar with a range. He will be among the first 100 owners.

Charlton Heston controversy

Clooney stirred up controversy for remarks he made about Charlton Heston at a 2003 National Board of Review event. "The head of the NRA announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease." (Heston had publicly announced his diagnosis the previous year.)

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 late 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.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1985	Streethawk	Kevin Stark
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 Synching Transvestite
1993 - 1994	Sisters	Detective James Falconer
1994 - 1999	ER	Dr. Doug Ross	106 episodes Emmy nomination: Outstanding Lead Drama Actor Golden Globe nomination: Best TV Actor - Drama
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	Golden Globe: Best Musical/Comedy Actor
2001	Ocean's Eleven	Danny Ocean
2001	Spy Kids	Devlin
2002	Confessions of a Dangerous Mind	CIA Officer Jim Byrd	also director
	Solaris	Chris Kelvin
	Welcome to Collinwood	Jerzy	producer
	Starbuck Holger Meins		Documentary
2003	Intolerable Cruelty	Miles Massey
2003	Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over	Devlin
2004	Ocean's Twelve	Danny Ocean	also executive producer
2005	Good Night, and Good Luck.	Fred Friendly	Academy Award nomination: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award nomination: Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe nomination: Best Director, Best Screenplay
2005	Syriana	Bob Barnes	also producer; Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe: Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award nomination: Best Supporting Actor
2006	The Good German	Jake Geismar
	A Scanner Darkly	Voice of codename Fred
2007	Michael Clayton	Michael Clayton	Also producer. Best Actor of 2007, National Board of Review. Nominated Academy Award for Best Actor. Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama.
	Darfur Now	himself
	Ocean's Thirteen	Danny Ocean
2008	Leatherheads	Jimmy "Dodge" Connelly	also director, producer, and co-writer (uncredited; see: Leatherheads Controversy)
2008	Burn After Reading	Harry Pfarrer	awaiting release
2009	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Mr. Fox (voice)	filming

Director credits

Year	Title
2002	Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
2005	Good Night, and Good Luck
2005	Unscripted
2008	Leatherheads

Producer credits

Year	Title
2007	Ocean's Thirteen

Cinema for Peace Award

In 2006, George Clooney won the "Cinema for Peace 2006 Most Valuable Film Award" for "Good Night, and Good Luck"

References

External links

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Last updated on Friday July 25, 2008 at 16:28:24 PDT (GMT -0700)
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