George Clooney

George Clooney Vital Stats
Birth Name: George Timothy Clooney
Birth Date: May 6, 1961
Birth Place: Lexington, Kentucky
Height: 5’11”
Romantic Link: Sarah Larson


George Clooney Interesting Facts


George Clooney made a $10,000 bet with both Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman that he wouldn’t be married by 40. When 40 came and went, the ladies both sent him a check for that amount. He sent it back and kept the bet on until he’s 50.

In 1982, George Clooney slept in a friend’s closet while he was struggling to find work.



George Clooney Biography


George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to parents Nina and Nick, and alongside older sister Ada Zeidler.

Growing up, George instantly loved the limelight and often accompanied his father, who was a broadcast journalist, to work. George quickly learned the ins and outs of the business, but vowed that he would never do it for a living.

Clooney gets Bell’s Palsy

When George was 15, he saw the movie The Pride of the Yankees and decided that he wanted to become a professional baseball player and have millions of adoring fans. Unfortunately for George, he also learned that he had Bell’s Palsy that same year.

Lucky for George, the disease, which paralyzes part of the face, ran its course without any serious repercussions and by 19, George headed off to college in Kentucky, but found himself bored and restless.

Upon the urging of his cousin, Miguel Ferrer, George visited the set where Ferrer was filming a movie, and George ended up getting a bit part in the film. It was at this point, in 1980, that Clooney finally knew what it was he wanted to do with his life.

Although his parents discouraged it, George dropped out of college and delved into a career in film. He wanted to be a movie star.

Of course, he had to make some money in order to get to Hollywood and because his parents did not support his decision, George completed odd jobs until he managed to purchase a used car and earn $300. Then it was off to Hollywood, where George would stay with his Aunt Rosemary Clooney.

Clooney stars in The Facts of Life

Things didn’t come easily for Clooney. When he was staying with his aunt, they agreed that he would do odd jobs for her in exchange. Because he wasn’t a big fan of odd jobs, he managed to upset his aunt and was asked to leave due to his laziness.

So George moved in with a friend and slept in his closet, meanwhile going to any open-call audition he could find. Life was tough; any time he was great in an audition, the pilot would not get picked up by any of the networks, leaving George at square one.

Finally, in 1985, Clooney landed the role of, well, George, in The Facts Of Life. On the down side, the popular sitcom was coming to a close and Clooney was left looking for work once again.

Clooney becomes Dr. Doug Ross on ER

After landing bit parts in the very forgettable Return To Horror High in 1987, and Return Of The Killer Tomatoes in 1988, George landed another meaty television role as Booker in the very popular sitcom Roseanne, starring Roseanne Barr.

It was on December 15, 1989, that the now-sworn eternal bachelor decided to marry Talia Balsam. Unfortunately, the two divorced in September 1993.

After a few more very forgettable movie roles between 1990 and 1993, George hit the big time at Dr. Doug Ross on the instant hit drama ER in 1994. The role gave George ample opportunity to be more selective with the movie roles he wanted to do.

Clooney & Quentin in From Dusk Till Dawn

The first big-budget film George starred in was a Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez vehicle and co-starred Salma Hayek. From Dusk Till Dawn took George far away from the lovable character that his fans were used to.

George would continue to do double time on ER and in movies and, before his contract ended, George completed four other movies: One Fine Day costarring Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman & Robin costarring Alicia Silverstone, The Peacemaker costarring Nicole Kidman, and Out Of Sight costarring Jennifer Lopez. It was obvious that George was a true leading man.

By the time George had bid farewell to ER in 1999, he starred in Three Kings with Ice Cube and good friend Mark Wahlberg. Word also has it that, because Clooney enjoyed the TV animation South Park so much, he personally asked creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker for a part in the 1999 film release of the popular series entitled South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut, and became the voice of Dr. Gouache.

At the turn of the century, Clooney kept himself very busy by executive producing Killroy right at the end of 1999, and executive producing and starring in the TV movie Fail Safe, and starring in two big screen efforts; O Brother, Where Art Thou and The Perfect Storm, once again with his sidekick Mark Wahlberg.

Clooney takes on Ocean’s Eleven

After entertaining the children in the blockbuster hit Spy Kids in 2001, George Clooney put together an all-star cast, which included the likes of Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, and Andy Garcia, for a remake of the Rat Pack movie Ocean’s Eleven, with Clooney in the role that Frank Sinatra originally took on back in 1960.

After such a big budget stint, Clooney spent 2002 starring in Solaris, a big-budget flick that tanked in theaters. It was also in 2002, that Clooney successfully starred in and directed the box-office hit Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, starring Sam Rockwell.

After returning for the Spy Kids sequel, entitled Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over in 2003, Clooney teamed up with beauty Catherine Zeta-Jones that same year for in the romantic comedy Intolerable Cruelty. It was during shooting of this film that Clooney managed to convince Zeta-Jones to star in the upcoming sequel for Ocean’s Eleven.

Clooney takes on Ocean’s Twelve

Clooney spent 2004 hanging out with his Ocean’s Twelve cast mates at his villa in Lake Como, Italy, while making the sequel, and apparently had a fantastic time and managed to delay the movie’s wrap-up by months. The movie was nevertheless successful and carried Clooney into 2005, which would be his busiest and most successful year by far.

After producing The Jacket, which starred Adrien Brody, Clooney directed, wrote, and starred in Good Night, and Good Luck., a black and white film set in the 1950s about broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow and his attempt to bring down Senator Joseph McCart. The movie was applauded and garnered Clooney many accolades, including the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Film and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.

Clooney gains weight for Syriana

In what would turn out to be both a good and bad movie, Clooney starred in and executive produced the politically-charged film Syriana. Clooney gained 35 pounds to play the role of Bob Barnes, and during filming, he suffered a serious spinal injury that required multiple surgeries, left him with severe migraine headaches and kept him in bed for over a month.

On a more pleasant note, his role in the film got him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He spent the rest of 2006 executive producing the Jennifer Aniston/Kevin Costner vehicle, Rumor Has It…

Clooney keeps himself quite occupied by executive producing such films as A Scanner Darkly, PU-239, Wind Chill, and Tishomingo Blues, producing and starring in Michael Clayton and Ocean’s Thirteen, and simply starring in The Good German.

On a personal note, Clooney recently ended his on-again, off-again relationship with model Lisa Snowdon in 2005, and was re-linked to Krista Allen, before he made it public that he is dating model Sarah Larson. Clooney has vowed never to marry again and does not want to have any children.

Clooney currently lives in Lake Como and enjoyed spending time with his pet pig Max, but Max unfortunately went to pig heaven in December 2006.

Resource:
IMDb - George Clooney