'''George Timothy Clooney''' (born May 6, 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA) is an Academy Award-winning American actor, director, producer and screenwriter, known for his role in the first five seasons of the long-running television drama ''
ER'' (1994–1999) and his rise as an "A-List" movie star in contemporary American cinema. Clooney has notably been able to balance 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 producer. Considered by many to be one of the last true Matinee Idols in the modern film world today.
Family life
Born in Lexington, Kentucky and raised in Augusta, Kentucky, Clooney is the son of Nina Bruce Warren and Cincinnati news anchor and TV host Nick Clooney. His paternal aunt is actress and singer Rosemary Clooney, and he is the cousin of actor Miguel Ferrer; another cousin, Gabriel Ferrer (married to Debby Boone), is an Episcopal priest. He is of mostly Irish and Armenian heritage, although he also has some distant German ancestry. Between 1989 and 1993 he was married to actress Talia Balsam, the daughter of actor Martin Balsam. He currently has a villa on Lake Como in Italy.
Film career
Clooney, a young college graduate from Kentucky who spent most of his "struggling actor" years riding to auditions on a bicycle, got on his feet in Los Angeles. His first major role was in the television medical comedy/drama, ''
E/R''. Additionally, he played a handyman on the series ''
The Facts of Life''. His first significant break was a semi-regular supporting role in the sitcom ''Roseanne'', playing Roseanne Barr's overbearing boss Booker Brooks. Clooney would achieve stardom when he was selected to play Dr. Doug Ross on the NBC hit drama ''
ER''.
Prior to his success on ''
ER'', he befriended another actor named Grant Heslov, a close friend and frequent collaborator with whom Clooney later 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. Clooney said in an interview that he was driving an RV through the country with Heslov, (who was getting over a broken engagement), when he got a phone call from his agent telling him that NBC just picked up ''
ER'' for a full season. Clooney said, "I think I just got my career."
Clooney has since starred in movies such as ''
From Dusk Till Dawn'' (1996), ''
One Fine Day'' (1996), ''
Batman & Robin'' (1997), ''
Out of Sight''
