Name George Clooney

Birth name George Timothy Clooney

Date of birth 6 May 1961

Star sign Taurus

Birthplace Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Height 5ft 10in

Eye colour Brown

Marriages Talia Balsam, 15 December 1989 (divorced September 1993)

Children None

Biography

Twice named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, George Clooney is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning actor, director, producer and screenwriter.

Born in Kentucky, USA, George was a college dropout who swiftly moved to LA for a shot at the big time. In a spooky prelude, he landed his first regular TV role in the short-lived CBS comedy E/R – not to be confused with the medical drama, ER, which propelled him to stardom.

After a short marriage to actress Talia Balsam in 1989, George scooped his breakout role in 1994 as ER’s Dr Doug Ross – becoming a bona fide Hollywood heart-throb in America’s top-rated show.

Attempting to build a film career, George chalked up box office hits in From Dusk Till Dawn and One Fine Day, while in 1997 he fulfilled a childhood ambition by donning the famous batsuit in Batman & Robin.

There was double closure in 1999 when George split from French waitress Celine Balitran and shot his final scene for ER after a five-season run, but there appeared no end to his talents. He branched out to play a bearded fisherman in The Perfect Storm, a crook-turned-singer in O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Danny Ocean in the blockbuster remake of Ocean’s Eleven.

George made his directorial debut in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind and took the plaudits for his talents on as well as off screen at the 2006 Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actor for Syriana and a Best Director nomination for Good Night, And Good Luck – but was devastated in the same year when his 18-year-old pot-bellied pig, Max, died.

A commitment to environmental issues and to highlighting the crisis in Darfur landed George a spot in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People In The World for 2007 and the honour of being named a UN Messenger of Peace in January 2008.

Quotes

(On plastic surgery rumours)
‘I did get my balls done, though. I got them unwrinkled. It’s the new thing in Hollywood – ball ironing.’ (Esquire, March 2008)

‘If I was as famous as some people are at 18 years old, I would have been shooting crack into my throat.’ (Rolling Stone, 15 December 2005)

‘I did try to adopt Britney Spears. You know, somebody with some cash to take care of me in my old age. She wasn’t having it.’ (Marie Claire, 1 April 2008)

‘Sure, I get depressed sometimes. But then if you drink, you know, then it’s fine.’ (Times Online, 5 April 2008)

‘You can’t demand freedom of speech and then say, “But don’t say bad things about me.” You gotta be a grown-up and take your hits.’ (The Guardian, 10 February 2006)