Biography
Family life
Born in Lexington, Kentucky and raised in Augusta, Kentucky, Clooney is the son of Nina Bruce Warren and Cincinnati news anchor and TV host Nick Clooney. His paternal aunt is actress and singer Rosemary Clooney, and the cousin of actor Miguel Ferrer; another cousin, Gabriel Ferrer (married to Debby Boone), is an Episcopal priest. Between 1989 and 1993 he was married to actress Talia Balsam, the daughter of actor Martin Balsam. Clooney is a strong supporter of the Democratic Party and is of mostly Irish American heritage, although he also has some distant German ancestry. He currently has a villa on Lake Como in Italy, where he spends much of his time.
Film career
Clooney got his start in Los Angeles, a young college dropout from Kentucky who spent most of his "struggling actor" years riding to auditions on a bicycle. His first major role was in a short-lived 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. Another early appearance was in 1988's Return of the Killer Tomatoes. Clooney would achieve stardom when he was selected to play Dr. Doug Ross on the NBC hit drama ER. In 1987 he was also in the film Combat Academy.
Prior to his success on ER, he befriended another actor named Grant Heslov, a close friend and frequent collaborator with whom Clooney 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 has hence starred in movies such as From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), One Fine Day (1996), Batman & Robin (1997), Out of Sight (1998), 3 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), along with guest appearances on sitcoms such as Roseanne and Friends. 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 and 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, this was after Clooney said that he would have been offended if he weren't made fun of in the film).
Many speculated he would follow the same career path as David Caruso who infamously left N.Y.P.D. Blue at the height of its success for a failed screen career. As a stipulation in a new contract, Clooney would have to return to the series in an occasional guest spot, which he only had to do once when his film career ignited.
On (March 5) at the 2006 Academy Awards, Clooney was nominated for Achievement in Directing for Good Night, and Good Luck and Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role for Syriana, as well as Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck. 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.
Other Ventures
On July 8, 2005, news reports said that George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon will be working with Cindy Crawford's husband Rande Gerber to design and build a new casino hotel in Las Vegas just off the Las Vegas Strip. Gerber is behind Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa's Whiskey Sky, so he is already familiar with the Las Vegas entertainment market. On August 29, 2005, Clooney officially announced his involvement with the Las Ramblas Resort project.
After serving as pitchman outside the U.S. for products like Fiat and Martini, Clooney lent his voice to a series of Budweiser ads beginning in 2005. Clooney had been criticized by actor Russell Crowe for such extracurricular pursuits. Clooney however, hit back at Crowe and pointed out the actor's frequent endorsements of his rock and roll band.
Politics
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 moderate 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.
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." [1]
Speaking about the 2003 Iraq war: "You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people revenge-seeking. 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." [2]
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 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!”
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 metal bolts. Clooney had to cancel some promotional appearances and, finding it impossible to obtain insurance coverage to make a film, had to put up his house for collateral. 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.
Filmography
Combat Academy (1987)
Grizzly II: The Predator (1987) (unreleased)
Return to Horror High (1987)
Return of the Killer Tomatoes (1988)
Red Surf (1990)
Unbecoming Age (1992)
The Harvest (1993)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Curdled (Didn't appear in film, photo showed. 1996)
One Fine Day (1996)
Batman & Robin (1997)
Full Tilt Boogie (1997) (documentary)
The Peacemaker (1997)
Waiting for Woody (1998) (short subject)
Out of Sight (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) (voice)
The Book That Wrote Itself (1999) (Cameo)
Three Kings (1999)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
The Perfect Storm (2000)
Spy Kids (2001)
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Starbuck Holger Meins (2002) (documentary)
Welcome to Collinwood (2002) (also executive producer and producer)
Solaris (2002)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) (also director)
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Welcome to Collinwood (2003)
Ocean's Twelve (2004) (also executive producer)
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) (also director and co-writer)
Syriana (2005) (also producer and winner 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor)
The Good German (2006) (post production. Possible Premiere at Cannes, May 2006 )
The Winter Hill Gang (2006) (Rumored)
Michael Clayton (2006) (Filming began January 30, 2006) (also producer)
Hail Caesar (2006)
Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
