Why He's No. 39

Clooney has turned from playboy to pundit in recent years with films like Good Night, and Good Luck and Syriana, both of which actively question world policies while drawing controversial parallels to the President's current administration. Not content to simply hide behind a camera lens, Clooney has also publicly called for America to help end the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.

Back Stage

George Timothy Clooney (May 6, 1961) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter who gained fame as one of the lead doctors in the long-running television drama, ER (1994–99), but is best known for his subsequent rise as an "A-List" movie star in contemporary American cinema. Winner of an Academy Award and two Golden Globes, Clooney has balanced his glamorous performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and thinker behind commercially riskier and thought-provoking projects. George Clooney, an Irish American, was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His mother, Nina Bruce (née Warren), was a former pageant queen, while his father, Nick Clooney, was a journalist, anchorman, game show and American Movie Classics host, and - in later years - an aspiring politician from the state of Kentucky. Clooney has a sister, Ada, and his cousins include actors Miguel and Rafael Ferrer, who are the sons of his aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney, and actor José Ferrer. He is also related to another singer, Debby Boone, who married José's son, Gabriel Ferrer. From an early age, Clooney would hang around his father's sets, often participating in shows, where he proved to be a crowd favorite. Clooney began his education at the Blessed Sacrament School in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky. Spending part of his childhood in Ohio, he attended St. Michael's School in Columbus, the Western Row and St. Susanna schools, both in Mason, and - briefly - William Mason High School. Eventually, his parents moved to Augusta in Kentucky, where he went to Augusta High School and graduated in 1979. He was a poor student but was an enthusiastic baseball and basketball player. He tried out with the Cincinnati Reds in 1977 to play professional baseball, but was not offered a contract. Clooney attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981 and, very briefly, the University of Cincinnati, but did not graduate from either. More recently, he appeared in The Good German, a film-noir directed by frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh. The film is set in post-World War II Germany. Clooney is one of only two people to have been given the title of Sexiest Man Alive twice by People Magazine, first in 1997 and again in 2006. The other is Brad Pitt. Clooney also received the American Cinematheque Award in October 2006, an award that honors an extraordinary artist in the entertainment industry who is fully engaged in his or her work and is committed to making a significant contribution to the art of motion pictures. 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 died (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. Never a heavy smoker, George Clooney quit the habit at a very early stage. He says that at least 8 or 9 of his great-uncles and great-aunts died because of it. On October 9, 2007, more than two dozen hospital staff members were suspended without pay for looking at Clooney's medical records in violation of federal law. Clooney himself quickly issued a statement on the hospital records matter, saying no one should be punished. He said "This is the first I've heard of it. And while I very much believe in a patient's right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers." Clooney is active in advocating a resolution of the Darfur conflict. His efforts include an episode of Oprah and speaking at the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. on April 30, 2005. In 2006, he was involved in several events to highlight the issue. In April, he spent 10 days in Chad and Sudan with his father to make a film in order to show the dramatic situation of Darfur's refugees. In September, he spoke in front of the Security Council of the UN with Nobel Prize-winner Elie Wiesel to ask the UN to find a solution to the conflict and to help the people of Darfur. In December, he made a trip to China and Egypt with Don Cheadle and a two Olympic winners to ask both governments to pressure Sudan's government. Clooney is involved with Not On Our Watch, an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities, along with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub. He narrated and was co-executor producer of the documentary "Sand and Sorrow. Clooney is environmentally conscious, owning the first Tango car to be sold. Clooney made a deposit on a Tesla Roadster from Tesla Motors. It is a battery electric sportscar with a 250 mile (402 km) range. He will be among the first hundred owners. Clooney stirred up controversy for his remarks about Charlton Heston, while speaking at a National Board of Review event. "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's."

Forcaste

George Clooney first shot to fame in 1994 as medical heartthrob Dr. Douglas Ross on ER. This ruggedly handsome bachelor has since made a seamless transition onto the big screen with starring roles in Three Kings (1999), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Ocean's Eleven (2001), and Syriana (2005) -- for which he was awarded a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and a Golden Globe.

But Clooney is much more than a handsome man with solid acting chops; he's also an accomplished writer and director, and his talent for these crafts were acknowledged as 2005's Good Night, and Good Luck -- which he directed and wrote -- received two Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay. He made his mark in Oscar history as he became the first person to be nominated for directing one movie and acting in another in the same year.

"You have only a short period of time in your life to make your mark," he says, "and I'm there now."