George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer. Born in Lexington, KY in 1961, Clooney is the nephew of singer Rosemary Clooney.  His father, Nick, was a television newscaster and game show host in Lexington and later Cincinnati, OH. In 1977, George attempted to try out for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, but was not offered a contract.

In the early stages of his career, Clooney made appearances in several popular television programs, including The Facts of Life, Murder, She Wrote, and The Golden Girls. Clooney's first significant television role came on the hit show, Roseanne. He played Roseanne Barr's boss Brooker Brooks in eleven episodes from 1988-1991. However, Clooney would find mainstream success as Dr. Doug Ross on the hit television program, ER. Clooney starred on the program from 1994-1999, earning multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. During its final season, Clooney reprised his Dr. Ross character in a guest starring role.

Building on his ER fame, Clooney became more involved in feature films. His first major role was in Robert Rodriguez' film From Dusk Til Dawn (1996). Clooney followed this film with several projects opposite some of Hollywood's most popular actresses, including Michelle Pfeiffer in One Fine Day (1996) and The Peacemaker with Nicole Kidman (1997).

In 1997, Clooney became the new Batman in the financially successful, but critically panned, Batman and Robin (1997). Clooney would later say that he considered the film "a waste of money." In 2000, Clooney would rebound with two of his most successful roles in The Perfect Storm (2000) and the Coen Brothers comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000).

Following that box office success, Clooney teamed up with director Stephen Soderbergh in the remake of Ocean's Eleven (2001.) The film remains Clooney's most successful movie to date and would spawn two sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).

The actor has also starred in several other films, including: Spy Kids (2001) , Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Syriana (2005), Michael Clayton (2007), Leatherheads (2008), Burn After Reading (2008) , Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009), and Up in the Air (2009).

During his career, George has received two Golden Globes. The first was for Best Actor in the Coen Brothers film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Clooney would receive his second award, this time for Best Supporting Actor, for the film Syriana (2005).  Clooney has also received one Academy Award for his performance in Syriana, taking home the Best Supporting Actor trophy.

Clooney has scored multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night and Good Luck (2005) and two Best Actor nominations for Michael Clayton (2007) and Up in the Air (2009).

Aside from acting, Clooney is heavily involved in several humanitarian efforts, including raising funds for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2004 Indonesian tsunami disaster, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Clooney has also used his fame to bring awareness to the Darfur conflict and other poverty stricken nations. For his work, Clooney was named by the United Nations as an official Messenger of Peace in 2008.

Clooney joins the list of other high profile actors such as Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta Jones, Billy Bob Thornton, and Tom Hanks who have starred in films by the Coen Brothers. Clooney's first collaboration with the filmmaking duo occurring in the hit comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). In the film, Clooney played Ulysses Everett McGill, a smooth talking prison escapee who was attempting to reunite with his wife before she remarried. The Coens heavily pursued Clooney for the role. When trying to describe what made Clooney the perfect fit, Joel stated that "He looks like a movie star of the period, and you kind of imagine the character as imagining himself looking that way." (Eddie Robson, Coen Brothers, pg. 228)

The Coens were so impressed with George's performance that they would cast him in two future films, including Intolerable Cruelty (2003). This time around, Clooney played the role of Miles Massey, who was considered to be the best divorce lawyer in the country. After successfully defending the estate of Rex Rexroth, Massey became infatuated with Rexroth's ex-wife, Marylin, played by Catherine Zeta Jones. Throughout the film, the two engage in a cat and mouse style relationship, leading them to get married, divorced, and later reconcile at the end of the film.

In 2008, Clooney would make his third and final Coen film appearance to date with Burn After Reading. In the film, Clooney played Harry Pfarrer, a womanizing Treasury agent.

Harry is seen having several affairs in the film, including one with the wife of a CIA agent. After one of their encounters, Harry returns home to find Brad Pitt's character hiding in the closet and shoots him in the face. The rest of the film sees Harry trying to discover the identity of his victim and the subsequent cover-up. --Chris Richardson