George Clooney

Clooney was born to Irish American parents in Lexington, Kentucky. His mother was a former beauty pageant winner; his father, Nick Clooney, was a journalist, anchorman, game show and American Movie Classics host, as well as a politician in Kentucky. Clooney is the nephew of singer Rosemary Clooney and actor Jose Ferrer, and the cousin of their son Miguel Ferrer. He has one sister named Ada. Ever since he was a young boy, George often participated in movies and shows, and soon became popular. Rosemary Clooney provided encouragement for him to become an actor, as she found him particularly talented in the genre of comedy.

George Clooney spent his childhood years in Columbus, Ohio. Later he attempted college twice, in two different universities, but did not continue his studies (some of his biographers state he spent too much time dating instead of in the company of text books. Is that true, George?)

George Clooney spent most of his "struggling actor" years trying to make a name of his own. To his auditions, he rode a bicycle. His break-through role was in 1984 in the television drama E/R. This is NOT the same movie as the later TV series entitled E.R., which made Clooney's face as Dr. Doug Ross as known to millions of Americans as the traditional apple pie in this NBC hit. He also played a handyman in the TV series The Facts of Life. His first significant role was a supporting role in the sitcom Roseanne, playing Roseanne Barr's overbearing boss Booker Brooks. After this, he also played the role of a construction worker in Baby Talk; then soon after that, a detective of high sex-appeal in Sisters.

After leaving ER, Clooney starred in major Hollywood successes, such as, Three Kings, 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 Ocean's Eleven. Alongside Clooney the film also starred Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, and Julia Roberts. To this day, it remains Clooney's most commercially successful movie, earning approximately $444,200,000 worldwide. The film spawned two sequels, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen which releases in 2007. In 2001, Clooney founded the production studio Section Eight Productions with Steven Soderbergh.

He made his debut as a director 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 general 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 McCarthy. Both films received critical acclaim and decent box-office returns despite being in limited release. At the 78th 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 won the Oscar for his role in Syriana.