It’s not a small feat to be the Forbes highest paid actor of 2018, that too without even one release in the past year. But George Timothy Clooney is one such exception. The American actor, director, producer, screenwriter and businessman has raked in enough moolah to make him achieve the coveted number one position.
In a long and successful career spanning almost four decades, the Hollywood superstar has garnered abundant respect and appreciation for his choice of work. A constant source of inspiration for budding actors, George Clooney, has create a niche for himself as a performer.
From ER to Syriana, he has indeed come a long way. He is the only person who has been nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories. As the leading man of blockbuster movies such as Ocean’s Eleven, Gravity and Up in The Air, Clooney has cemented his position as a highly bankable star.
Here are some interesting facts about the Hollywood sensation which are not so ‘common’!
Genetically famous
His mother, Nina Bruce, was a beauty queen and his father, Nick Clooney, was an anchor and television host. His aunt was Rosemary Clooney, the famous ’50s cabaret singer and he is distantly related to former US President Abraham Lincoln. Actors Miguel, Rafael and Gabriel Ferrer are also his cousins.
Partially paralysed in school
His face was partially paralyzed during middle school. He is often quoted to express that it was the most important learning experience for him.
A sportsperson
He was an avid baseball and basketball player. In 1977, George tried to for professional baseball team Cincinnati Reds, but missed the cut.
College wasn’t priority
Even though he enrolled to study journalism at the Northern Kentucky University, he left it midway to concentrate on other things such as selling shoes, insurance and cutting tobacco.
Road to stardom
George first became famous for portraying Dr. Doug Ross on ER. After this, he went on to do memorable roles in films such as Batman & Robin, Out of Sight and Three Kings.
He tasted worldwide recognition with his biggest commercial success till date, Ocean’s Eleven.
Post this, he turned director with the spy comedy Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Apart from numerous academy award nominations, his biggest win came when he won the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the political thriller Argo.
He’s dated many celebrities
He has romantically been involved with celebs like Kelly Preston, Lisa Snowdon, Renée Zellweger and Elisabetta Canalis. His first marriage was to actress Talia Balsam and it lasted for around 4 years.
Amal Alamuddin
The world went in a dizzy when the news of his marriage to British-Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin became public knowledge. They are now married and have twins, Ella and Alexander, who were born in 2017.
Humanitarian activities
He has established the ‘Not on Our Watch’ Project along with Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, David Pressman and Jerry Weintraub. This organization aims at ending mass atrocities all around the world.
He is a known political and economic activist and has served as the United Nations Messenger of Peace. His humanitarian work includes his advocacy of finding a resolution for the Darfur conflict, raising funds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Armenian Genocide recognition, 2004 tsunami, 9/11 victims and creating documentaries such as ‘Sand and Sorrow’ to raise awareness about international crises.
In 2009, Clooney was included in Time’s annual Time 100 as one of the “Most Influential People in the World”.
Tequila that made him the richest
In 2013, Clooney co-founded ‘Casamigos’ Tequila with Rande Gerber and Michael Meldman. It was sold to Diageo for $700 million in June 2017.
Because of this deal, he was ranked number one on the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid actor for 2017-2018.