The decade-long career in series TV, generally in forgettable roles, finally paid off for handsome George Clooney when he landed the regular starring role as the charming but troubled pediatrician Doug Ross on the acclaimed NBC medical series "ER" in 1994. This scion of a show business familyhis father Nick is a broadcast journalist and on-air host, his aunt Rosemary is a singer and actress and cousin Miguel Ferrer is an actorgrew up on the set of his father's local Cincinnati shows, occasionally serving as a commercial pitchman and sketch player and later working as a floor manager.
When Clooney's dream of a career as a professional baseball player came to naught, he headed west to L.A., bunking with his aunt and working as her handyman and chauffeur. His adult acting career began with a slew of unreleased or little seen films (i.e., "Grizzly II-The Predator" 1984; "Return of the Killer Tomatoes" 1988) and fifteen unsold pilots. Ironically, his first regular series role was as a young physician working in an emergency room in the short-lived sitcom "E/R" (CBS, 1984-85). He had recurring roles as a good-natured carpenter in NBC's "The Facts of Life" (during the 1985-86 season), a womanizing factory manager in ABC's "Roseanne" (during the 1988-89 season), a construction worker in "Baby Talk" (ABC, 1991, which he quit when he clashed with the show's producer) and as a detective in "Bodies of Evidence" (CBS, 1992-93). Clooney stayed with law enforcement but switched to drama as the married detective who falls for Teddy (Sela Ward) during the 1993-94 season of "Sisters" (NBC).
Clooney has often said how his peripatetic upbringing and the experiences of both his father and aunt prepared him for the pitfalls of a showbiz career. When he finally achieved a degree of stardom on "ER", he took it in stride. As film offers poured in, Clooney attempted to stretch as an actor, handling roles in diverse genres, although several of his efforts have fallen below expectations. He was alongside Quentin Tarantino battling vampires in the action adventure "From Dusk Till Dawn" and displayed his boyish charm opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in the romantic comedy "One Fine Day" (both 1996). Though the former has acquired some cult status, neither fared well at the box office. Inheriting the franchise from Val Kilmer, Clooney made a mediocre Bruce Wayne/Batman in Joel Schumacher's "Batman & Robin" (1997) and has often joked about his part in the debacle ("I think I've buried that franchise!"), but the true culprits were the confusing script, overblown visuals and an ear-splitting soundtrack. "The Peacemaker" (also 1997) similarly proved to be a disappointing thriller.
As Elmore Leonard's sassy but fallible escaped con Jack Foley in Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight" (1998), Clooney romanced a federal marshal (Jennifer Lopez) and the critics, earning praise for the easy-going charm and intelligence of his laid-back, debonair bank robber, but the film was still little-seen, despite good reviews. After making a cameo appearance as a platoon leader in Terrence Malick's highly-anticipated "The Thin Red Line" (also 1998), his big screen fortunes changed dramatically with David O Russell's "Three Kings" (1999), an uncommonly political, Hollywood action feature set during the Gulf War that delivered a cautionary message about the responsibility accompanying America's role as policeman of the world. Clooney proved his mettle as an action star with his turn as "seen-it-all" career military man Major Archie Gates and the success of what was essentially an independent film in studio clothing reinforced his decision to leave his role as Dr Ross on "ER" in February of that year.
Clooney returned to television, executive producing as well as acting in the two-hour live broadcast of "Fail Safe" (CBS, 2000), a black-and-white homage to the days of live television adapted from the Cold War novel by Harvey Wheeler and Eugene Burdick. Superbly acted and flawlessly produced, this welcome addition amidst the standard small screen fare failed to register with younger audiences weaned on the razzmatazz of MTV. The quality outing was the first real fruit born of his Maysville Pictures' agreement with Warner Bros. to create and produce telefilms and series, though he had previously executive produced and co-written the failed HBO pilot "Kilroy" (1999). Clooney next reunited with "Three Kings" co-star Mark Wahlberg for Wolfgang Petersen's film adaptation of Sebastian Junger's best selling-novel "The Perfect Storm" (2000), playing Captain Billy Tyne of the doomed Andrea Gail.
Anxiously awaited for its tale of men in the grip of nature's fury, "The Perfect Storm" solidified Clooney as a bankable big screen star in a fine turn as the captain of the doomed fishing boat. He also starred that year as lead escaped con Ulysses Everett McGill in the Coen brothers' deliriously loopy Depression-era jail break movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", based loosely on Homer's "Odyssey", and he produced "Rock Star", a comedy about a cover band singer drafted into the world of his heavy metal heroes starring Wahlberg. The astounding success of that movie only added to Clooney's stellar career and he next starred in Steven Soderbergh's all-star smash hit "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) opposite Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac and more, taking the Frank Sinatra role as the team leader Danny Ocean, obsessed with robbing a casino heavyweight (Andy Garcia) and winning back his ex-wife (Julia Roberts). That same year, following the Sept. 11 attacks, Clooney was instrumental in rallying dozens of his Hollywood friends and colleagues to create a televised memorial to the victims of the World Trade Centers, "America: A Tribute to Heroes."
In 2002, Clooney had small but memorable role as a crippled crook in "Welcome to Collinwood," and tried his hand behind the camera, in his directorial debut "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," based on the book by Chuck Barris, the host of TV's "The Gong Show" who claims he was a CIA hitman. Clooney also had a supporting role in the film, which was written by Charlie Kaufman and starred Clooney pal Sam Rockwell. Sometimes aping a Soderbergh style fused with Clooney's off-kilter sense of humor, the film garnered many admirers but also had its flaws, including a nudge-nudge-wink-wink demeanor. Clooney also co-starred with Natascha McElhorne in the thriller feature "Solaris," a sci-fi remake of a 1972 Russian film which reunited the actor yet again with Steven Soderbergh. "Interesting" was about all critics and moviegoers had to say about the box-office impaired metaphorical meditation on life and death, which was produced by James Cameron. The spotty track record of Section Eight Productions, the company launched by Clooney and Soderbergh responsible for most of the pair's product in 2002 (including the surprisingly restrained D.C. insider HBO series "K Street" in 2003), did little to tarnish either's reputations, and the team rebounded creatively with their HBO follow-up "Unscripted" (2005), as the title suggests an unscripted series that chronicled the ups and downs of a trio of actors making their way in Hollywood.
Clooney remained among the most in-demand A-list leading men in Hollywood. The actor re-teamed with the Coen Brothers, taking the lead in the wannabe screwball comedy "Intolerable Cruelty" (2003) as divorce attorney Miles Massey, the millionaire author of a prenuptial agreement so tightly written that it has never been cracked, who falls for a scheming, gold-digging serial divorcee (Catherine Zeta-Jones); Clooney's disarming performance is one of the film's comic strengths, though critics also tagged the film with a certain coldness. The actor then recruited Zeta-Jones to join his ensemble of actor friends for the sequel "Ocean's Twelve" (2004), which did tremendous box office but suffered in comparison to the group's initial effortset in Italy, the film came off more like a home movie of the gang on an extended vacation than an actual film.
Clooney the director emerged in full flower with his sophomore effort "Good Night and Good Luck" (2005), an ambitious and adroitly executed telling of pioneer newscaster Edward R. Murrow (David Straithairn) and his effort to publicly expose the headline-grabbing, bully-pulpit tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his Communist witch hunts of the 1950s. Clooney, who grew up watching his broadcast journalist father in action, showed a great aptitude for the ethical journalistic issues at hand, co-writing the screenplay with his longtime friend and partner Grant Heslov; the duo took greater-than-average pains to insure the historical accuracy of the events dramatized, and as a director Clooney creatively used the real news interviews in place of casting actors in parts like McCarthy. Clooney also took on a side role as Murrow's respected news producer and confidant Fred Friendly and showed an assured, measured hand in his telling of the tale and a stylish touch with the rich black and white footage he used.
As an actor, Clooney signed on the writer-director Stephen Gaghan's multi-plot potboiler "Syriana" (2005), playing a career CIA operative who uncovers a disturbing truth about the politics of oil in the Persian Gulf, then finds himself hung out to dry by his government when his mission goes awry. Clooney grew a scraggly beard and gained several extra pounds to play the role, and he suffered a serious, painful back injury on the final day of shooting which required much therapy and rehabilitationironically, the scene in which he injured himself did not make the finished film. But it wasnt a total lossClooney won a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. He was also nominated for a three Oscars, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplayan Academy first for someone to be nominated as a writer, director and actor in the same year. Though 0-for-2 for Good Night, and Good Luck, Clooney won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Clooney reunited with director Soderbergh for "The Good German" (lensed 2005), playing an American reporter sent to cover the final Allied summit meeting of World War II, secretly hoping to search for a lost love but becoming tangled up in a murder mystery. Meanwhile, he continued to find his footing as a television producer with the 10-part FX miniseries "Ten Commandments," with each episode taking one of the Ten Commandments and exploring its theme in a contemporary setting, with individual episodes helmed by a different A-list director, including Clooney, Soderbergh, Gary Ross, Gus Van Sant and Nicole Holofcener (planned for the 2005-2006). Also planned was an inside professional basketball themed series for HBO.
Copyright © Baseline 2007.