Clooney – actor, director, screen star, all round good guy, chic magnet, dude’s dude. Who’d a thank it that the scruffy doofus handy man on the 80s sitcom ‘Facts of Life’ would have risen to the heights he now soars at? Ah but there was evidence at birth that he was meant for stardom … his heritage certainly hinted at the greatness to come – a former beauty pageant queen for a mother, and father who made his living as a TV anchorman and host, a singing aunt and an acting uncle – a veritable family circus!
George Clooney was born in Lexington, Kentucky … blah, blah, blah! If you want more on his bio, jump onto wiki.
We’re more interested in the fact that he once dabbled in odd jobs such as selling men’s suits and cutting tobacco. Whimsical George, ‘ey? Maybe that’s when he acquired his sense of suave, debonair genteel as well as a shine for elegantly cut threads and smelly cigars.
It was when this heartthrob, who played ER’s Dr. Douglas Ross, left TV land and begun his celluloid career in films such as Out of Sight (with JLO), One Fine Day (a la Michelle Pfeiffer) and Three Kings, that he begun to be noticed by stylexperts the world over.
So what is the Clooney secret? Maybe it’s that lean, hungry, “beyond blue steel” look that even Zoolander would not be able to perfect. Or perhaps it’s how those designer linen and wool suits seem to mould to his body like a second skin and create a nether world beautiful being (oh someone stop me!), or more so, just how much he cares to cultivate the air that he doesn’t care being labelled as the sexiest man on planet earth since Cary Grant. Either way, his nonchalance, his easily irritated indifference (at the 2010 Oscars) coupled with his fashion ease, has riveted the fashion and ‘celebrity’ world as much as it has captured the swooning imagination of most females over the age of 2, sweeping them up in a whirlwind storm that rages hot and wild.
His signature style? Effortless class and dapper well fitted suiting. Very rarely does he don a tie; he always rocks an open necked cool white shirt but he makes up for this casual approach with cufflinks, a fantastic timepiece and a full shaven, neatly cut crop of grey. No-one does silver hair like Clooney. At 49, he’s handling his maturation with killa precision. I’m a die hard fan (can you tell??)
Dag, the man got talent. In 2006, he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance inSyriana; it was the first time in the awards’ history that an individual had received acting and directing nominations for two different films in the same year (nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (with Grant Heslov), for Good Night, and Good Luck).
And of course there’s the Oceans 11, 12 and 13 capers, that play up the quest for the good life at any cost, while surrounded by a pack of disarming, and seriously bent daredevils. And we can’t forget to mention the suits, the Continental locations, the women and the cut throat repartee with an equally charming, debonair Brad Pitt.
And it would seem that Clooney has a purposeful life and a heart, beyond the silver screen. In 2006, Mr. Clooney and his father, Nick, went to Darfur to record the horror of the Sudan war, culminating in the documentary Journey to Darfur. His work on behalf on Darfur relief led to his addressing the United Nations Security Council. He also narrated the Darfur documentary Sand and Sorrow. In 2007, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Jerry Weintraub co-founded Not On Our Watch, an organization whose mission is to focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities in Darfur.
Clooney was subsequently honored with the 2007 Peace Summit Award, given at The Eighth World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates at their annual meeting in Rome. In 2008, he was designated a U.N. Messenger of Peace, one of eight individuals chosen to advocate on behalf of the U.N. and its peacekeeping efforts. In January 2010, he, along with Joel Gallen and Tenth Planet Productions, produced the Hope for Haiti Now telethon, which raised more than $66 million for disaster relief. Gee!! Whattaguy … I’m glad he doesn’t walk on water otherwise I’d be a tad perplexed about the state of his immortality …
His latest film project is the suspense thriller The American, adapted from Martin Booth’s 1990 novel ‘A Very Private Gentleman‘ (opens September 1st in cinemas everywhere).
The gist of the storyline focuses on a lone American assassin living abroad who retreats to the Italian countryside after a job gone bad in Sweden. Clooney’s ‘Jack’ holes up in a small medieval town and takes on an assignment to construct a weapon for a mysterious contact, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten).
Savoring the peaceful quietude he finds in the mountains of Abruzzo, Jack accepts the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues a torrid liaison with a beautiful woman, Clara (Violante Placido). Jack and Clara’s time together evolves into a romance, one seemingly free of danger. The plot sounds inevitable i.e. by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate. We say “stay in the wilds of Abruzzo, Jack, for nothing is more satisfying than a quiet life, a home in the great harsh outdoors and the love of a beautiful woman”.
Which brings us to the subject of Clooney and his women. Although now publicly dating Italian model Elisabetta Canalis, George is very private when it comes to his love life, and throughout his career, he’s famed for his discretion. Methinks the man wants to quietly run his own life, his own way. He may be commitment shy, and I suspect he prefers the company of a beautiful, intelligent woman but not necessarily the settling down aspects of a long term relationship. Each to his own.
From the sounds of it, The American’s Jack is very much Clooney. The quintessential man’s man living life to his own rhythm, and so we laud him for following his heart, pursuing his passion and looking good in the process. As we say down under, “on ya mate!”
We leave you with the latest ad campaign from George Clooney’s association with Omega Watches: George Clooney, photographed by Norman Jean Roy for Omega’s Seamaster Planet Ocean Watch 2010. NB: This is not a paid ad, no sirree bob, we just loved how dear George is captured here – elegant, grey, cool, smooth, Clooney.
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