11 Facts You May Not Know About George Clooney

Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.

George Clooney is considered "the last true movie star" by some. With classic good lucks and just gravelly-enough voice, the guy is the #1 chick magnet and fantasy guy of countless millions of women around the globe. Isn't his life the most picture perfect of any man on earth?

Millionaire, famous, good-looking, an Oscar-winning actor (he got his Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for Syriana in 1995), he owns an 18th century villa in Italy, and has cut a path through scores (no pun intended) of beautiful women. Not bad.

Okay, let's take a look at a few things you may not know about the most perfect guy any of us can ever imagine- George Clooney.

1. He suffered for a year with Bell's palsy as a teenager.

At the age of 14, George took a sip of milk one day and it started dribbling out of his mouth. It was the beginning of a year-long battle with Bell's palsy, a form of facial paralysis. With his face partially paralyzed for a year, his nickname as a high school freshman became “Cloon-dog" (his face took on a droopy, Basset hound look).

“You know how cruel kids can be", recalled Clooney, "i was mocked and taunted. but the experience made me stronger".

2. He worked a tobacco cutter.

His early jobs included selling men's suits and shoes and working in the stockrooms of department stores. He was also a tobacco cutter ("a miserable job") Clooney was a smoker himself from his late teens to his late twenties (something he regrets to this day) He finally kicked the habit when he saw his uncle joe die of lung cancer.

3. He used to sleep with a pig.

Okay, that is literally, not figuratively. George often shared his bed with Max, a 300-lb. black-bristled, Vietnamese pot-bellied pig that was given to George as a gift by actress Kelly Preston. George often shared his bed (obviously when he wasn't sharing it with a lady) with Max. He owned his beloved Max for 18 years (crippled with arthritis and partially blind, Max finally passed away in 2006).

4. He once tried out for the Cincinnati Reds.

A gifted baseball player, in 1977, George actually tried out for the Cincinnati Reds at the age of 16. He was rejected, which probably gave him the experience of dealing with rejection when he was a young, struggling actor.

5. He was a typical young, starving actor.

Although it is hard to imagine today, George was once a struggling, rejected actor, trying to make it in hollywood. He used to go to auditions on a bicycle. He remembers being so broke that he was sometimes asked to go out with friends for a hamburger and he "couldn't afford it". Proud and independent, young Clooney refused to accept a hand-out from his buddies.

6. He lived in a closet.

As a young, aspiring actor, George actually lived in a friend's closet for a year.

7. He is terrified of earthquakes.

Once, during a small earthquake, he ran outside, completely naked, with his pig, Max. (I’m sure all you ladies are enjoying picturing this incident in your minds.)

8. He refuses to dye his hair or wear make-up in his films.

Unlike most middle-aged actors, George steadfastly refuses to dye his graying hair and insists he will just let it turn gray naturally. He even cuts his own hair. He is a huge fan of actor Spencer Tracy and admires the fact that Tracy never wore make-up in his movies. Like Tracy, George will not wear any make-up for his films.

9. He suffers from severe stomach ulcers and headaches.

A truly nice man, and seemingly "perfect,” George does, however, suffer from bleeding stomach ulcers and takes medicine for his ailment. He was in a motorcycle accident during the filming of Syriana (2005) and severely hurt his spine (“I was blowing spinal fluid out of my nose”). George came out of the accident needing several spinal operations. He was laid up in bed for three weeks with an IV in his arm, unable to move and with unbearable headaches. He is pretty much completely recovered now, but he still will get minor headaches.

10. He once got into a fist fight with his director.

Living out every actor's secret fantasy (at least occasionally) George once reportedly got into an actual fist fight with his director, David O. Russell, on the set of his movie Three Kings (1999). The story goes that Russell was yelling at and deriding a few extras on the set in frustration. Clooney didn't like that and the two actually mixed it up. Russell was to later state: “I wouldn't work with George Clooney again for $20 million.”

11. He is a huge movie fan (and a generous Christmas gift-giver).

As well as being a major movie star, George is also a huge movie fan himself. For Christmas 2005, he gave his closest friends 100 DVDs of his favorite films (from the years 1964 to 1976) as a holiday gift. The gift package included such eclectic titles as Patton, Harold and Maude, Jaws, A Hard Day's Night, M*A*S*H, Jaws", The Godfather, and Blazing Saddles. It also contained what is reportedly his all-time favorite movie 1964's Dr. Strangelove.


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I have heard the no-makeup thing before. I don't get it. I thought actors have to wear makeup on film because their skin looks gray without it.
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Eddie's article on George Clooney took me by surprise. Clooney is an actor I really don't give much thought to. I guess his "sex appeal" doesn't do anything for me. The films I have seen him in are 'okay', but the last role he had in "Gravity" left me thinking that he somehow didn't quite fit the feeling of the story. But... I gotta give it to him... his name alone will bring the ladies in.

How does he do it? He's got Emmy's and Golden Globes - and speaking of Golden Globes, how about the girlfriends he has conquered along the way? Talia Balsam, Ginger Lynn Allen, Kelly Preston, Lisa Snowden, Renee Zellweger, Krista Allen, Sarah Larson, Elisabetta Canalis and Stacy Keibler just to mention some. Man, I don't get it !

Oh, I guess most people know, but George comes from a long line of well known actors... His aunt is singer/actress Rosemary Clooney. His Mother (Nina Bruce) was a beauty queen. His Dad is Nick Clooney (former anchorman and game show host who now appears in PBS commercials and was in George's last film, The Monuments Men playing an older George). His Uncle was Jose Ferrer and is cousin to Miguel Ferrer. No wonder he found a job in Hollywood!

I should also add, that today - the very same day Eddie's story appeared here on Neatorama - Clooney made headlines in the news: "George Clooney storms off after Steve Wynn calls President Obama an a**hole". Apparently he is good friends with President Obama too. Maybe the President sees the sex appeal I don't (or Clooney is just another Hollywood connection).

P.S. Ladies: Clooney's shoe size is 10 1/2 ... mine is 12 !
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