"You don't want to try to look younger because you'll look wrong. You dye your hair, you look wrong. You wear makeup to hide things, you get your eyes done, you look wrong. It happens all the time. I'm not interested in playing that game." ~ George Clooney
Not too concerned with aging, Hollywood leading man George Timothy Clooney (1961-) was born on this day in Lexington, Kentucky. He gained international fame as Dr. Doug Ross in the hospital drama series E.R. (1994-1999). This after minor success with 15 TV pilots and seven major series.
"The only failure is not to try." said Clooney, the son of TV's American Movie Classics host Nick Clooney and nephew of singer Rosemary Clooney. His quest for stardom began with trying out unsuccessfully for the Cincinnati Reds. He switched to broadcast journalism, then turned to acting.
The versatile Clooney played a vampire From Dusk Till Dawn (w/Quentin Tarantino,1996), a reporter in One Fine Day (w/Michelle Pfeiffer, 1996), and the caped crusader in Batman & Robin (w/Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1997). "Possibly sinking the entire Batman franchise," he joked. His recent hits have included The Perfect Storm (2000), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001), and Ocean's Eleven (w/ Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, 2001)
"The real reason to do these movies is because you...want to push the envelope and make things that interest you," he explained. "Then at least when you wake up at 70 and say, 'Boy, we took really good swings when we had the opportunity.'"
Known for his wild sense of humor, practical jokes, and pet pig, Clooney claims to be a confirmed bachelor and loves to golf. The outspoken actor protested the media onslaught following Princess Diana's death and debated the fair distribution of donations from the September 11 star-studded Tribute to Heroes with FOX TV's popular host Bill O'Reilly.
About his philosophy of life, the likeable heartthrob said, "I go to work, treat people nicely and they treat me nicely, and I do my job as best I can, keeping in mind Spencer Tracy's maxim, 'Never let them catch you acting.'"
Age with grace.