George Clooney – Artist of The Month May 2023
George Clooney is an award-winning actor and filmmaker who has starred in and directed some of the most acclaimed films of the past three decades. He is also a humanitarian and activist who has supported various causes around the world.
Born in Lexington, Kentucky, on May 6, 1961, George Clooney comes from a family with show business roots. His father, Nick Clooney, was a broadcast journalist and his aunt, Rosemary Clooney, was a famous singer and actress. George Clooney moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career after failing to become a baseball player.
George Clooney started his career in television, appearing in various sitcoms and dramas. His breakthrough role came in 1994, when he was cast as Dr. Doug Ross on the NBC medical drama ER. The show made him a star and earned him two Emmy nominations. He also began to branch out into films, starring in From Dusk till Dawn (1996), Batman & Robin (1997), Out of Sight (1998), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000).
George Clooney left ER in 1999 to focus on his film career. He collaborated with director Steven Soderbergh on several projects, including the Ocean’s trilogy (2001-2007), Solaris (2002), and The Good German (2006). He also made his directorial debut with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), based on the memoir of game show host and CIA operative Chuck Barris. He followed it with Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), a historical drama about journalist Edward R. Murrow’s confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Cold War. The film earned George Clooney six Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
George Clooney won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a CIA agent in Syriana (2005), a political thriller about the oil industry. He was nominated again for Best Actor for his performances in Michael Clayton (2007), a legal drama about a corporate fixer; Up in the Air (2009), a comedy-drama about a frequent flyer; and The Descendants (2011), a family drama set in Hawaii. He also starred in Burn After Reading (2008), The American (2010), The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009), The Ides of March (2011), Gravity (2013), The Monuments Men (2014), Hail, Caesar! (2016), and Ticket to Paradise (2022).
George Clooney won his second Oscar for Best Picture as a co-producer of Argo (2012), a historical thriller about the rescue of American hostages in Iran during the 1979 crisis. He also produced and directed The Monuments Men (2014), a war film about art historians who saved cultural treasures from Nazi looting; Suburbicon (2017), a crime comedy written by the Coen brothers; The Midnight Sky (2020), a science fiction film based on a novel by Lily Brooks-Dalton; and The Tender Bar (2021), a coming-of-age drama based on a memoir by J.R. Moehringer.
George Clooney is also known for his humanitarian and political activism. He has been involved in various causes, such as raising awareness and funds for the victims of the Darfur genocide, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and the 2020 Beirut explosion. He has also advocated for human rights, democracy, and peace in Sudan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Armenia, and Syria. He has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since 2008 and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has received several honors for his activism, such as the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award in 2007, the Summit Peace Award in 2007, the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2010, the Honorary César in 2017, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2018.
George Clooney is also a successful entrepreneur. He co-founded Casamigos tequila with his friends Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman in 2013. The brand became one of the best-selling spirits of 2022 and was sold to Diageo for $1 billion in 2017.
To celebrate his birthday, we are offering a 15% discount on all George Clooney hand signed memorabilia throughout May 2023. Just use the discount code 6V3A74KC at the checkout. T&Cs apply.