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1. His marriage shocked the world. He said he would never get married again and not have any children. However, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman both bet $10,000 each that he would be a father before he turned 40. They were both wrong, and each sent him a check. He returned the money, betting double or nothing that he won’t have kids by age 50. Perhaps he can triple down for 60.
2. In his youth Clooney worked in tobacco fields and took up smoking into his late 20s. He finally quit after one of his uncles died from lung cancer and has expressed his regret over it in many interviews.
3. For confidential communication the actor prefers to write letters, rather than email. George also handwrites scripts because, he says, “I like paper”.
4. He tried out for a position on the Cincinnati Reds baseball team in 1977, but did not pass the first round of cuts.
5. His mother Nina Bruce was a former beauty pageant queen and his father Nick Clooney was an AMC host. Of course Clooney comes from good looks and classic movie knowledge.
6. Phones are frowned on at his villa at Lake Como. Guests ranging from Bill Murray to Kofi Annan are asked to put them away at dinner with the result that there are very few pictures of their holidays there. “I want us to live our times there. Not just record them,” he explains.
7. The Hollywood heavyweight loves practical jokes, mostly at Brad Pitt’s expense. He once wrote to Meryl Streep on noteheaded paper with Brad’s name on that he had specially created. The note was accompanied by a book on accents, saying: “Dear Meryl, this book really helped me with my accent for Troy. I hope it helps you too.”
8. He is the nephew of singer and actress Rosemary Clooney and of Oscar-winning actor José Ferrer (“Cyrano de Bergerac”), and the cousin of their actor sons Miguel Ferrer (“Iron Man 3”) and Rafael Ferrer. He is also the cousin-in-law of Grammy-winning singer Debby Boone.
9. Showbiz runs in the family. His father is the former TV talk show host Nick Clooney and he’s a nephew of the well-known singer Rosemary Clooney. His cousin is Crossing Jordan actor Miguel Ferrer, who is Rosie’s son.
10. He was the second man after Richard Gere to make an appearance on the cover of Vogue magazine.
11. Clooney’s first film role was in 1982’s “And They’re Off,” which also starred his cousins Miguel and Rafael. Miguel Ferrer made a guest appearance on the pilot of “ER,” the show that brought Clooney fame. His aunt Rosemary also made cameos on the first season of “ER.”
12. The actor has his own brand of tequila with his friend Rande Gerber, which is called Casamigos. “We didn’t just slap our names onto some glue and try to talk people into drinking it,” said George. “It’s what we drink whenever we’re at the house (in Mexico).
13. In middle school Clooney temporarily suffered from Bell’s palsy, a condition that partially paralyzes the face. The aliment went away within a year, however Clooney has noted that as the worst time of his life saying, “I was mocked and taunted, but the experience made me stronger.”
14. His house in Studio City, LA was once owned by Clark Gable. George has kept a tile he found outside after moving in that says The Gables.
15. He lives next door to Rande and his wife Cindy Crawford. Their compound in Los Cabos Mexico also called Casamigos – or House of Friends – contains two houses side by side. The two homes are similar but each unique in character, “not twins, but more like sisters or cousins,” is how Cindy describes their distinctive aesthetics.
16. George loves memorabilia from other famous people. Pictures of the Rat Pack hang in his den – he knew Sammy Davis Jr and Frank Sinatra, through his Auntie Rosie. He has neckties and a wallet once owned by John F Kennedy. Inside the wallet are ticket stubs to a Harvard-Yale game Robert Kennedy played in and the Saint Christopher’s medal the US president probably carried in World War II.
17. He was the very first guest on Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show in 1996.
18. A dog lover, he has a cocker spaniel mix named Einstein adopted from a pet shelter. The lady at the shelter told George he wouldn’t be given the dog unless it loved him. Leaving nothing to chance he rubbed himself with turkey bacon from his fridge. The woman said, ‘Oh, my God, he’s never like this. He loves you’.”
19. Clooney is the sixth actor to play the Caped Crusader when he starred in 1997’s “Batman and Robin.”
20. All his houses were paid for in cash because of his awareness that careers in Hollywood come and go.
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