George Clooney Biography
Biography
He is the nephew of the famous actress and singer Rosemary Clooney, and cousin of actor, Miguel Ferrer and Gabe Ferrer, who is married to Debby Boone.
George Clooney got his start in
Los Angeles, a young college
dropout from Kentucky who spent
most of his "struggling actor"
years riding to auditions on a
bicycle. During this time, he
also befriended another actor
named Grant Heslov, a close
friend and frequent collaborator
with Clooney who co-wrote Good
Night, and Good Luck.. Heslov is
also the president of Section 8
Entertainment, Clooney's and
director Steven Soderbergh's
production company. In a bit of
trivia, Clooney said in an
interview that he was driving an
RV through the country with
Heslov, who was getting over a
broken engagement. Clooney said
he got a phone call from his
agent telling him that NBC just
picked up E/R for a full season
when Clooney said "I think I
just got my career."
His first major role was in a
television medical comedy/drama,
E/R. He played a handyman on the
series The Facts of Life. But he
first gained attention in his
semi-regular supporting role in
the sitcom Roseanne, playing
Roseanne Barr's overbearing
boss. He has also appeared in a
number of movies such as Return
of the Killer Tomatoes (1988),
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), One
Fine Day (1996), Batman & Robin
(1997), Out of Sight (1998),
Three Kings (1999), The Perfect
Storm (2000), O Brother, Where
Art Thou? (2000), Ocean's Eleven
(2001), Welcome to Collinwood
(2002), Intolerable Cruelty
(2003), and Ocean's Twelve
(2004), along with guest
appearances on sitcoms such as
Roseanne and Friends. He made
his debut as a film director in
the 2002 feature Confessions of
a Dangerous Mind, an adaptation
of the implausible autobiography
of groundbreaking TV producer
Chuck Barris.
Many speculated he'd follow the
same career path as David Caruso
who infamously left N.Y.P.D.
Blue at the height of its
success for a failed screen
career, when Clooney made the
decision to leave ER. As a
stipulation in a new contract,
Clooney would return to the
series in an occasional guest
spot, which he only had to do
once when his film career
ignited, most famously with The
Perfect Storm (2000).
On July 8, 2005, news reports
said that George Clooney,
Brad
Pitt, and Matt Damon will be
working with Cindy Crawford's
husband Rande Gerber to design
and build a new casino hotel in
Las Vegas just off the Las Vegas
Strip. Mr. Gerber is the one
behind Green Valley Ranch resort
and spa's Whiskey Sky, so he is
already familiar with the Las
Vegas entertainment market. Pitt
has some design experience,
having worked with Frank Gehry
on a project in England. On
August 29, 2005, Clooney
officially announced his
involvement with the Las Ramblas
Resort project.
In 1995, Clooney received a tape
version of The Spirit of
Christmas, the video greeting
card which would inspire South
Park. Clooney thought it was so
funny that he made copies and
sent it around the LA area. Matt
Stone and Trey Parker were so
thankful for his help that they
invited him to play a role in
the show, and he ended up
voicing Stan Marsh's gay
dog
Sparky in the episode Big Gay
Al's Big Gay Boat Ride, a role
with no dialogue except normal
dog noises. He later appeared in
the film South Park: Bigger,
Longer and Uncut. Despite this
history, show creators Trey
Parker and Matt Stone lampooned
Clooney for his outspoken
political views in their feature
film Team America: World Police.
On January 16, 2006, Clooney's
performance in Syriana earned
him a Golden Globe Award for
Best Performance by an Actor in
a Supporting Role.
He has battled a bad back which
had caused him to cancel some
promotional appearances, and
made it impossible to find
insurance cover to make a film.
For this reason, he has put up
his house for collateral and
continues his professional
career.
In 2005,
George Clooney played Bob
Barnes, a character loosely
based on former CIA agent Robert
Baer, in the movie Syriana
(based somewhat on Baer's
memoirs of being an agent in the
Middle East). During the filming
of a scene in which Barnes is
tortured, Clooney was tied to a
chair, and the chair was
accidentally kicked over.
Clooney hit his head on the
concrete floor, tearing his dura
mater. His doctors dismissed his
complaints until his nose began
leaking cerebrospinal fluid, and
he has since undergone multiple
operations to correct this.
Film List
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