Name: George Clooney

Birth Name: George Timothy Clooney

Birthdate: May 6, 1961

Birthplace: Lexington, Ky.

He's played a guy with wings, a roguish thief, a sea captain and a lip-syncing transvestite, but Clooney's probably still best-known for his role as Dr. Doug Ross on the hit TV show ER. Clooney quit studying broadcast journalism to avoid competing with his newscaster father and, after a failed attempt at pro baseball, went into acting. Despite a family of famous folks, it took him a good 12 years to get his career going. Now frequently referred to as the Sexiest Man Alive, thanks to People, the actor with matinee-idol good looks has become the go-to guy for such respected directors as Steven Soderbergh and the Coen brothers, as well as becoming an Oscar-nominated director (Good Night, and Good Luck) himself. His Best Directing Oscar nod was trumped by his Best Supporting Actor win for Syriana.


1. He's got lots of famous relatives. His father is Nick Clooney, a TV broadcaster; his aunt was late singer-actress Rosemary Clooney, married to late actor Jose Ferrer; and his cousin is Miguel Ferrer, who helped Clooney get his first movie role.
2. He tried but failed to make the Cincinnati Reds baseball team.
3. He purchased his Italian villa on Lake Como from presidential nominee John Kerry.
4. He dated Michelle Pfeiffer's sister DeDee.
5. Before he passed away in 2006, Clooney was inseparable from his potbellied pig, Max.


"It's very easy to sit in a room at 23 and have everyone go, 'You're the greatest,' and believe it. Which I think I did for a minute, to be quite honest. I thought I was pretty happening because I had good TV hair."
— Vanity Fair, December 1996


Wife: Talia Balsam, actress, born Dec. 1, 1960, married Dec. 15, 1989, divorced Sept. 1993

2006: Academy Award: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Syriana; Academy Award nomination: Best Achievement in Directing, Good Night, and Good Luck; Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Good Night, and Good Luck

2006: Golden Globe nomination: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Syriana; Golden Globe nomination: Best Director, Good Night, and Good Luck; Golden Globe nomination: Best Screenplay, Good Night, and Good Luck

2001: Golden Globe: Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), O Brother, Where Art Thou?

1998: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actor in a TV Series (Drama), ER

1997: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actor in a TV Series (Drama), ER

1996: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actor in a TV Series (Drama), ER

 

FILMS

Leatherheads - (2008) - Director, Actor
Ocean's Thirteen - (2007) - Actor
Michael Clayton - (2007) - Actor, Executive Producer
A Scanner Darkly - (2006) - Executive Producer
The Good German - (2006) - Actor
The Jacket - (2005) - Producer
Unscripted - (2005) - Director, Executive Producer
Good Night, and Good Luck - (2005) - Director, Screenwriter
Syriana - (2005) - Actor, Executive Producer
Criminal - (2004) - Producer
Ocean's Twelve - (2004) - Actor
K Street - (2003) - Executive Producer
Intolerable Cruelty - (2003) - Actor
Far From Heaven - (2002) - Executive Producer
Solaris - (2002) - Actor
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - (2002) - Director, Actor
The Last Castle/The Peacemaker - (2002) - Actor
Insomnia - (2002) - Executive Producer
Welcome to Collinwood - (2002) - Actor, Producer
Spy Kids - (2001) - Cameo
Ocean's Eleven - (2001) - Actor
Rock Star - (2001) - Executive Producer
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - (2000) - Actor
Definitely Not Hollywood: Dark Comedy - (2000) - Cameo
Solaris/Cast Away - (2000) - Actor
The Perfect Storm - (2000) - Actor
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - (1999) - Voice
Three Kings - (1999) - Actor
Out of Sight - (1998) - Actor
The Thin Red Line - (1998) - Actor
Batman & Robin - (1997) - Actor
The Peacemaker - (1997) - Actor
Full Tilt Boogie - (1997) - Actor
From Dusk Till Dawn - (1996) - Actor
Curdled - (1996) - Actor (uncredited)
One Fine Day - (1996) - Actor
ER - The Series Premiere - (1994) - Actor
The Magic Bubble - (1993) - Actor
Red Surf - (1990) - Actor
Return of the Killer Tomatoes - The Sequel - (1988) - Actor
Return of the Killer Tomatoes/Return to Horror High - (1988) - Actor