George Clooney Biography

George Clooney, Actor

Birthdate: May 6, 1961

Birthplace: Lexingon, Kentucky

Sign: Taurus

Clooney was born George Timothy Clooney on May 6, 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky. His parents are Nina Bruce, a former pageant queen, and journalist Nick Clooney. He has an older sister named Adelia and a niece and nephew, Alison and Nicholas.

He developed an interest in theater while he was in school. He participated in several plays at Augusta High School. He had been an enthusiastic baseball and basketball player and tried out with the Cincinnati Reds to play professionally but was not offered a contract.

In 1984, he landed his first major role in E/R, a medical comedy/drama. He then became a semi-regular on "Roseanne," which became his first significant role. In 1994, he became a household name when he signed on to play Dr. Doug Ross on another medical drama, ER, from 1994 to 1999.

While on the show, Clooney had appeared on several major Hollywood films namely "From Dusk Till Dawn," which was directed by Robert Rodriguez, "One Fine Day," which he starred alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, and "The Peacemaker" with Nicole Kidman. He was also cast as the new Batman in "Batman & Robin." The version had been mocked for the poor script. It was neither a huge critical nor financial success.

He had starred in other success major films after his stint in the "ER" such as "Three Kings," "The Perfect Storm," and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" But it was in 2001 when he starred in "Ocean's Eleven," a remake of the 1960s film of the same name, where he got his most commercially successful movie to date. The movie, costarring Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, and Julia Roberts, had earned approximately over $400,000,000 worldwide. It prompted two sequels, "Ocean's Twelve" in 2004 and "Ocean's Thirteen" in 2007.

In 2002, he made his directorial debut in the film "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." It wasn't a commercial success but earned the praise of critics.

Clooney had been married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993. He had sworn never to get married again nor have children. His former co-stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman had bet him $10,000 each that he would be a father before he turned 40. They lost and made true to their promise by sending him a check. He had returned the check and bet to double the money on the new premise that he won't have kids by age 50.

Clooney is a self-described political liberal. He is also noted for his criticism of lobbyist Jack Abranoff. His acceptance speech in the Golden Globe, he had been quoted to say, "Who would name their kid Jack with the word 'off' at the end of your last name? No wonder that guy is screwed up."

In December 2007, Clooney and actor Don Cheadle were presented with the Summit Peace Award by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates at the 8th Annual Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome. This is in connection with their roles in advocating a resolution of the Darfur conflict. On January 28, 2008, the United Nations appointed Clooney as their peace envoy for Darfur.