George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an Academy Award and two-time Golden Globe-winning American actor, director, producer and screenwriter, known for his role in the first five seasons of the long-running television drama ER (1994–99), and his rise as an "A-List" movie star in contemporary American cinema.
Clooney has balanced his cinematic performances in big-budget blockbusters with more modestly budgeted films on serious topics and more commercially risky projects, while expanding his prominence as a movie producer.
Clooney's father, Nick Clooney, a politician, is noted for saying the following about himself,
“ I spent the first part of my life being referred to as Rosemary Clooney’s brother, and now I am spending the last part of my life being referred to as George Clooney’s dad. ”
Clooney had a 300 pound Vietnamese black bristled, potbellied pig, named Max, that had lived with him for 18 years. Max died on December 1, 2006. He also had two bulldogs named Bud and Lou, after the famous comedy team, Abbott and Costello, who both passed away (one from a rattlesnake attack).
Clooney has only been married once, to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993. He says he will never get married again, nor have any children, but Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman each bet him $10,000 that he would be a father before he turned 40. They were both wrong, and each sent him a check. He returned the money, betting double or nothing that he won't have kids by age 50.
Clooney suffered from Bell's palsy for a time while he was in high school.
Clooney injured himself on Syriana's set, during the torture scene, in 2004. He had some excruciating headaches and suffered short term memory loss. It took a few weeks for his doctors to find the reasons of his health problems. During The Good German's promotion (two years after), he revealed that he still had to wear a back brace due to this injury.Clooney is a self-described political liberal. Speaking about the Iraq war: "You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people seeking revenge. These days it only matters who's in charge. Right now that's us — for a while at least. Our opponents are going to resort to car bombs and suicide attacks because they have no other way to win.... I believe (Rumsfeld) thinks this is a war that can be won, but there is no such thing anymore. We can't beat anyone anymore."
Clooney is noted for his public criticisms of Jack Abramoff and other Republicans. On January 16, 2006, during his acceptance speech for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Syriana, Clooney paused to sarcastically thank the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff before adding, “Who would name their kid Jack with the word ‘off’ at the end of your last name? No wonder that guy is screwed up!”
There has been movement to try to convince Clooney to run for political office in his home state of Kentucky, including talk of a Clooney candidacy for US Senate against incoming Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2008. Clooney's remark on the possibility of his entering politics, however, has been: "Run for office? No. I've slept with too many women, I've done too many drugs, and I've been to too many parties."
Clooney supports Barack Obama for a 2008 presidential run