George Clooney

George Timothy Clooney, born May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, is an American actor, filmmaker, and book writer whose career spans television, film, and, most recently, Broadway. His mother, Nina Bruce, was a beauty queen and city councilwoman, while his father, Nick Clooney, worked as an anchorman and television host, including a five-year tenure on the AMC network. Clooney is of Irish, German, and English ancestry and was raised Roman Catholic, attending several schools across Kentucky and Ohio, including Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, and Augusta High School in Augusta, Kentucky. In middle school he developed Bell's palsy, a condition that partially paralyzed his face for approximately nine months. He attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981, majoring in broadcast journalism, and briefly enrolled at the University of Cincinnati, graduating from neither institution. Before establishing himself in entertainment, he held a variety of jobs, including selling shoes, selling insurance, stocking shelves, working in construction, and cutting tobacco. His aunt was cabaret singer and actress Rosemary Clooney, and his cousins include actors Miguel Ferrer, Rafael Ferrer, and Gabriel Ferrer.

Clooney made his first on-screen appearance as an extra in the 1978 television miniseries Centennial, filmed in part in his hometown of Augusta, Kentucky. His first major television role came in 1984 in the CBS sitcom E/R, and he subsequently appeared on The Facts of Life, The Golden Girls, and Roseanne, where he played Roseanne Barr's supervisor Booker Brooks. Additional television work included roles on Baby Talk, the CBS drama Bodies of Evidence, and Sisters. In 1988 he appeared in the comedy-horror film Return of the Killer Tomatoes, and in 1990 he starred in the short-lived ABC police drama Sunset Beat. During this period he studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school for five years. His first theater appearance came in 1986 in the play Vicious, about Sex Pistols musician Sid Vicious.

Clooney's breakthrough arrived with the NBC medical drama ER, in which he played Dr. Doug Ross from 1994 to 1999 alongside Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies, Eriq LaSalle, and Noah Wyle. The series drew average viewership exceeding 30 million and peaked at 47.8 million viewers. His performance earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, in 1995 and 1996, as well as three Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama, in 1995, 1996, and 1997. While still working on ER, he began building a film career, appearing in From Dusk till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez, followed by One Fine Day, The Peacemaker, and Batman and Robin. In 1998 he starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight, the first of several collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh, and he also appeared in Three Kings during the final weeks of his ER contract.

His film career continued to expand in the years that followed, with roles in O Brother, Where Art Thou? in 2000 and the Ocean's film series, which ran from 2001 to 2007. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a CIA officer in Syriana in 2005, and received the Academy Award for Best Picture as a co-producer of the political thriller Argo in 2012. Additional Academy Award nominations came for his performances in Michael Clayton in 2007, Up in the Air in 2009, and The Descendants in 2011. His other screen credits include Burn After Reading, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Gravity, Hail, Caesar!, and Jay Kelly, released in 2025. As a director, Clooney has helmed nine feature films, among them Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the historical drama Good Night, and Good Luck in 2005, The Ides of March, The Monuments Men, and The Tender Bar, starring Ben Affleck. His accolades also include the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2015, the Honorary César in 2017, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2018, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2022. Time magazine included him on its annual Time 100 list of the world's most influential people each year from 2006 to 2009.

In 2025, Clooney made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of his 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, portraying journalist Edward R. Murrow. For that performance he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and was presented with the Theatre World Special Award in 2025. He also served as book writer on the production. Beyond entertainment, Clooney has been active in political and economic causes and has served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2008. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously married to actress Talia Balsam, he has been married to human rights lawyer Amal Clooney since 2014, and the couple has two children.