Men… (German: Männer…) is a 1985 West German film directed by Doris Dörrie. It was chosen as West Germany's official submission to the 59th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but did not manage to receive a nomination.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Men… at the Internet Movie Database

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Men

Left to right from top: Hafez · David · Ban Ki-moon · Chinhua Achebe · Aryabhata · Händel · Confucius · Kofi Annan · Chief Joseph · Plato · Ronaldo · Albert Einstein · Errol Flynn · Mohandas Gandhi · Ole Henrik Magga · an American farmer · Adam · Vitruvian Man · Man with child · Heracles with Telephus

In English, lower case man (pl. men) refers to an adult human male (the term boy is the usual term for a human male child or adolescent). Sometimes it is also used as an adjective to identify a set of male humans, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "men's rights". Although men typically have a male reproductive system, some intersex people with ambiguous genitals, and biologically female transgender people, may also be classified or self-identify as a "man".

The term manhood is used to refer to masculinity, the various qualities and characteristics attributed to men such as strength and male sexuality.^[1]

Etymology[link]

Symbol of the planet/Roman god Mars, also used to indicate the male sex.

The English term "man" is derived from Old English mann. The Old English form had a default meaning of "adult male" (which was the exclusive meaning of "wer"), though it could signify a person of unspecified gender. The closely related "man" was used just as it is in Modern German to designate "one" (e.g., as in the saying Man muss mit den Wölfen heulen).^[2] The Old English form is derived from Proto-Germanic *mannaz, "persona", which is also the etonym of German Mann "man, husband" and man "one" (pronoun), Old Norse maðr, and Gothic manna. According to Tacitus, the mythological progenitor of the Germanic tribes was called Mannus. The Germanic form is in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *manu-s "man, person", which is also the root of the Indian name Manu, mythological progenitor of the Hindus.^[3]

Age and terminology[link]

The term manhood is used to describe the period in a human male's life after he has transitioned from boyhood, having passed through puberty, usually having attained male secondary sexual characteristics, and symbolises a male's coming of age. The word man is used to mean any adult male. In English-speaking countries, many other words can also be used to mean an adult male such as guy, dude, buddy, bloke, fellow, chap and sometimes boy or lad. The term manhood is associated with masculinity and virility, which refer to male qualities and male gender roles.

Biology and gender[link]

Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man displays the proportions of a man.^[4]

Humans exhibit sexual dimorphism in many characteristics, many of which have no direct link to reproductive ability, although most of these characteristics do have a role in sexual attraction. Most expressions of sexual dimorphism in humans are found in height, weight, and body structure, though there are always examples that do not follow the overall pattern. For example, men tend to be taller than women, but there are many people of both sexes who are in the mid-height range for the species.

Some examples of male secondary sexual characteristics in humans, those acquired as boys become men or even later in life, are:

• more pubic hair
• more facial hair
• larger hands and feet than women
• broader shoulders and chest
• larger skull and bone structure
• greater muscle mass
• a more prominent Adam's apple and deeper voice
• a longer shinbone

Sexual characteristics[link]

In mankind, the sex of an individual is generally determined at the time of fertilization by the genetic material carried in the sperm cell. If a sperm cell carrying an X chromosome fertilizes the egg, the offspring will typically be female (XX); if a sperm cell carrying a Y chromosome fertilizes the egg, the offspring will typically be male (XY). Persons whose anatomy or chromosomal makeup differ from this pattern are referred to as intersex.

This is referred to as the XY sex-determination system and is typical of most mammals, but quite a few other sex-determination systems exist, including some that are non-genetic.

The term primary sexual characteristics denotes the kind of gamete the gonad produces: the ovary produces egg cells in the female, and the testis produces sperm cells in the male. The term secondary sexual characteristics denotes all other sexual distinctions that play indirect roles in uniting sperm and eggs. Secondary sexual characteristics include everything from the specialized male and female features of the genital tract, to the brilliant plumage of male birds or facial hair of humans, to behavioral features such as courtship.

Biological factors are not sufficient determinants of whether a person considers themselves a man or is considered a man. Intersex individuals, who have physical and/or genetic features considered to be mixed or atypical for one sex or the other, may use other criteria in making a clear determination. There are also transgender or transsexual men, who were born or physically assigned as female at birth, but identify as men; there are varying social, legal and individual definitions with regard to these issues. (See transman.)

Reproductive system[link]

Human male reproductive anatomy and surroundings.

The male sex organs are part of the reproductive system, consisting of the penis, testicles, vas deferens, and the prostate gland. The male reproductive system's function is to produce semen which carries sperm and thus genetic information that can unite with an egg within a woman. Since sperm that enters a woman's uterus and then fallopian tubes goes on to fertilize an egg which develops into a fetus or child, the male reproductive system plays no necessary role during the gestation. The concept of fatherhood and family exists in human societies. The study of male reproduction and associated organs is called andrology.

Karyogram of human male using Giemsa staining. Human males typically possess an XY combination.

Sex hormones[link]

In mammals, the hormones that influence sexual differentiation and development are androgens (mainly testosterone), which stimulate later development of the ovary. In the sexually undifferentiated embryo, testosterone stimulates the development of the Wolffian ducts, the penis, and closure of the labioscrotal folds into the scrotum. Another significant hormone in sexual differentiation is the Anti-müllerian hormone, which inhibits development of the Müllerian ducts.

Illnesses[link]

In general, men suffer from many of the same illnesses as women. In comparison to women, men suffer from slightly more illnesses.^{[citation needed]} Male life expectancy is slightly lower than female life expectancy, although the difference has narrowed in recent years.

For males during puberty, testosterone, along with gonadotropins released by the pituitary gland, stimulates spermatogenesis, along with the full sexual distinction of a human male from a human female, while women are acted upon by estrogens and progesterones to produce their sexual distinction from the human male.

Masculinity[link]

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

Michelangelo's David is the classical image of youthful male beauty in Western art.

Enormous debate in Western societies has focused on perceived social, intellectual, or emotional differences between women and men. These differences are very difficult to quantify for both scientific and political reasons.

Masculinity has its roots in genetics (see gender).^[5][6] Therefore while masculinity looks different in different cultures, there are common aspects to its definition across cultures.^[7] Sometimes gender scholars will use the phrase "hegemonic masculinity" to distinguish the most dominant form of masculinity from other variants. In the mid-twentieth century United States, for example, John Wayne might embody one form of masculinity, while Albert Einstein might be seen as masculine, but not in the same "hegemonic" fashion.

Machismo is a form of masculine culture. It includes assertiveness or standing up for one's rights, responsibility, selflessness, general code of ethics, sincerity, and respect.^[8]

Anthropology has shown that masculinity itself has social status, just like wealth, race and social class. In western culture, for example, greater masculinity usually brings greater social status. Many English words such as virtue and virile (from the Latin and Sanskrit roots vir meaning man) reflect this.^[9][10] An association with physical and/or moral strength is implied. Masculinity is associated more commonly with adult men than with boys.

A great deal is now known about the development of masculine characteristics. The process of sexual differentiation specific to the reproductive system of Homo sapiens produces a female by default. The SRY gene on the Y chromosome, however, interferes with the default process, causing a chain of events that, all things being equal, leads to testes formation, androgen production and a range of both pre-natal and post-natal hormonal effects covered by the terms masculinization or virilization. Because masculinization redirects biological processes from the default female route, it is more precisely called defeminization.

There is an extensive debate about how children develop gender identities.

In many cultures displaying characteristics not typical to one's gender may become a social problem for the individual. Among men, some non-standard behaviors may be considered a sign of homosexuality, while a girl who exhibits masculine behavior is more frequently dismissed as a "tomboy". Within sociology such labeling and conditioning is known as gender assumptions and is a part of socialization to better match a culture's mores. The corresponding social condemnation of excessive masculinity may be expressed in terms such as "machismo" or "testosterone poisoning."

The relative importance of the roles of socialization and genetics in the development of masculinity continues to be debated. While social conditioning obviously plays a role, it can also be observed that certain aspects of the masculine identity exist in almost all human cultures.

The historical development of gender role is addressed by such fields as behavioral genetics, evolutionary psychology, human ecology and sociobiology. All human cultures seem to encourage the development of gender roles, through literature, costume and song. Some examples of this might include the epics of Homer, the King Arthur tales in English, the normative commentaries of Confucius or biographical studies of the prophet Muhammad. More specialized treatments of masculinity may be found in works such as the Bhagavad Gita or bushido's Hagakure.

Culture and gender roles[link]

Pope Benedict XVI is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, a position that is reserved for men only.

Well into prehistoric culture, men are believed to have assumed a variety of social and cultural roles which are likely similar across many groups of humans. In hunter-gatherer societies, men were often if not exclusively responsible for all large game killed, the capture and raising of most or all domesticated animals, the building of permanent shelters, the defense of villages, and other tasks where the male physique and strong spatial-cognition were most useful.^{[citation needed]} Some anthropologists believe that it may have been men who led the Neolithic Revolution and became the first pre-historical ranchers, as a possible result of their intimate knowledge of animal life.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout history, the roles of men have changed greatly. As societies have moved away from agriculture as a primary source of jobs, the emphasis on male physical ability has waned. Traditional gender roles for working men typically involved jobs emphasizing moderate to hard manual labor (see Blue-collar worker), often with no hope for increase in wage or position. For poorer men among the working classes, the need to support their families, especially during periods of industrial change and economic decline, forced them to stay in dangerous jobs working long arduous hours, often without retirement. Many industrialized countries have seen a shift to jobs which are less physically demanding, with a general reduction in the percentage of manual labor needed in the work force (see White-collar worker). The male goal in these circumstances is often of pursuing a quality education and securing a dependable, often office-environment, source of income.

United States Presidents George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. While no law reserves the Presidency for men, all United States Presidents have been men thus far.

The Men's Movement is in part a struggle for the recognition of equality of opportunity with women, and for equal rights irrespective of gender, even if special relations and conditions are willingly incurred under the form of partnership involved in marriage. The difficulties of obtaining this recognition are due to the habits and customs recent history has produced. Through a combination of economic changes and the efforts of the feminist movement in recent decades, men in some societies now compete with women for jobs that traditionally excluded women. Some larger corporations have instituted tracking systems to try to ensure that jobs are filled based on merit and not just on traditional gender selection. Assumptions and expectations based on sex roles both benefit and harm men in Western society (as they do women, but in different ways) in the workplace as well as on the topics of education, violence, health care, politics, and fatherhood - to name a few. Research has identified anti-male sexism in some areas (a concept which must be distinguished and differentiated from the traditional anti-female sexism in its ubiquity and impact) which can result in what appear to be unfair advantages given to women.

The Parsons model was used to contrast and illustrate extreme positions on gender roles. Model A describes total separation of male and female roles, while Model B describes the complete dissolution of barriers between gender roles.^[11] The examples are based on the context of the culture and infrastructure of the United States. However, these extreme positions are rarely found in reality; actual behavior of individuals is usually somewhere between these poles. The most common 'model' followed in real life in the United States and Great Britain is the 'model of double burden'.^{[clarification needed]}

Exclusively male roles[link]

Some positions and titles are reserved for men only. For example, the position of Pope in the Roman Catholic Church is reserved for men only, as is its priesthood. Men are often given priority for the position of monarch (King in the case of a man) of a country, as it usually passes to the eldest male child upon succession.

See also[link]

Gender studies portal

• Masculinity
• Lists of men
• Trans man
• Sex assignment
• Women

Medical:

• Andrology
• Masculine psychology, discipline of
• Men's health
• Gender differences
• Virility (social traits of men)
• Virilization
• Y-chromosomal Adam

Dynamics:

• Machismo
• Male chauvinism
• Patriarchy
• Sexism
• Misandry

Political:

• Fathers' rights
• Masculism
• Men's movement
• Men's studies
• Men's Rights
• New Soviet man
• Gender and sexuality studies

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Andrew Perchuk, Simon Watney, Bell Hooks, The Masculine Masquerade: Masculinity and Representation, MIT Press 1995
• Pierre Bourdieu, Masculine Domination, Paperback Edition, Stanford University Press 2001
• Robert W. Connell, Masculinities, Cambridge : Polity Press, 1995
• Warren Farrell, The Myth of Male Power Berkley Trade, 1993 ISBN 0-425-18144-8
• Michael Kimmel (ed.), Robert W. Connell (ed.), Jeff Hearn (ed.), Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities, Sage Publications 2004

External links[link]

Look up man in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Man

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Men

George Clooney
Clooney at the 2009 Venice Film Festival
Born	George Timothy Clooney (1961-05-06) May 6, 1961 (age 51) Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1978–present
Spouse	Talia Balsam (1989–1993)
Parents	Nick Clooney Nina Bruce (née Warren)
Relatives	Rosemary Clooney (aunt) Miguel Ferrer, Rafael Ferrer (cousins)

George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received three Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award. Clooney is also noted for his political activism, and has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since January 31, 2008.^[1][2][3]

Though he made his acting debut on television in 1978, Clooney gained fame and recognition by portraying Dr. Douglas "Doug" Ross on the long-running medical drama ER from 1994 to 1999. While working on ER, he started attracting a variety of leading roles in films including Batman & Robin (1997) and Out of Sight (1998), in which he first teamed with long-term collaborator Steven Soderbergh. 1999 saw the release of Three Kings, a well-received war satire set during the Gulf War featuring Clooney in another lead role. In 2001, Clooney's fame widened with the release of his biggest commercial success, Ocean's Eleven, the first of a profitable film trilogy, a remake of the film from 1960 with the members of The Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean. He made his directorial debut a year later with the 2002 biographical thriller Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and has since directed Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Leatherheads (2008), and The Ides of March (2011). He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the Middle East thriller Syriana (2005) and subsequently fetched Best Actor nominations for such films as Michael Clayton (2007), Up in the Air (2009) and The Descendants (2011).

Clooney's humanitarian work includes his advocacy of finding a resolution for the Darfur conflict, raising funds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, 2004 Tsunami, and 9/11 victims, and creating documentaries such as Sand and Sorrow to raise awareness about international crises. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.^[4]

Early life[link]

Clooney was born in Lexington, Kentucky.^[5][6] His mother, Nina Bruce (née Warren, 1939–),^[7] is a former beauty pageant queen. His father, Nick Clooney, is a former anchorman, as well as a game show and American Movie Classics host. Clooney's ancestry includes Irish, German, and English.^[8] His paternal great-great-grandparents, Nicholas Clooney (of County Kilkenny) and Bridget Byron, immigrated to the United States from Ireland.^[9] Clooney was raised a strict Roman Catholic.^{[10][11][12][13]} He has an older sister, Adelia (also known as Ada); his cousins include actors Miguel and Rafael Ferrer, who are the sons of his aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney, and actor José Ferrer. He is also related to another singer, Debby Boone, who married his cousin Gabriel Ferrer (son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney).

Clooney began his education at the Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Spending part of his childhood in Ohio, he attended St. Michael's School in Columbus, and St. Susanna School in Mason. In middle school, Clooney developed Bell's palsy, a debilitating condition that partially paralyzes the face. The malady went away within a year. "That was the worst time of my life," he told the Daily Mirror in 2003. "You know how cruel kids can be. I was mocked and taunted, but the experience made me stronger."^[14]

His parents eventually moved to Augusta, Kentucky, where Clooney attended Augusta High School. He has stated that he earned all As and a B in school,^[15] and was an enthusiastic baseball and basketball player. He tried out to play professional baseball with the Cincinnati Reds organization in 1977, but was not offered a contract. He did not pass the first round of player cuts.^[16] He attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981, majoring in Broadcast Journalism, and very briefly attended the University of Cincinnati, but did not graduate from either.^[17] He had such odd jobs as selling men's suits and cutting tobacco.^[18]

Career[link]

Early work, 1978–93[link]

Clooney's first role was as an extra in the TV series Centennial in 1978. The series was based on the novel of the same name by James Michener, and was partially filmed in Clooney's hometown of Augusta, Kentucky. Clooney's first major role came in 1984 in the short-lived sitcom E/R (not to be confused with ER, the better-known hospital drama, on which Clooney also co-starred a decade later). He played a handyman on the series The Facts of Life, and appeared as Bobby Hopkins, a detective, on an episode of The Golden Girls. His first significant break was a semi-regular supporting role in the sitcom Roseanne, playing Roseanne Barr's supervisor Booker Brooks, followed by the role of a construction worker on Baby Talk, a co-starring role on the CBS drama Bodies of Evidence as Detective Ryan Walker, and then a year-long turn as sexy Det. James Falconer on Sisters. In 1988, Clooney also played a role in Return of the Killer Tomatoes.

Breakthrough, 1994–99[link]

Clooney achieved stardom when he played Dr. Doug Ross, alongside Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies, and Noah Wyle, on the hit NBC drama ER from 1994 to 1999. After leaving the series in 1999, he made a cameo appearance in the 6th season and returned for a guest spot in the show's final season.^[19]

Clooney began appearing in films while working on ER. His first major Hollywood role was in From Dusk till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez. He followed its success with One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer, and The Peacemaker with Nicole Kidman. Clooney was then cast as Batman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin,^[20] which was a moderate box office success, but a critical failure (with Clooney himself calling the film "a waste of money"). In 1998, he starred in Out of Sight opposite Jennifer Lopez, marking the first of his many collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh. He also starred in Three Kings during the last weeks of his contract with ER.

Success, 2000–present[link]

George Clooney cast his hands and shoes in the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 2007.^[21]

After leaving ER, Clooney starred in commercially successful films including The Perfect Storm and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. In 2001, he teamed up with Soderbergh again for Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960s Rat Pack film of the same name. As of 2011, it was Clooney's most commercially successful film, earning more than $450 million worldwide.^[22] The film spawned two sequels starring Clooney, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in 2007.

In 2001, Clooney and Soderbergh co-founded Section Eight Productions, for which Grant Heslov was president of television. Clooney made his directorial debut in the 2002 film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, an adaptation of the autobiography of TV producer Chuck Barris. Though the film didn't do well at the box office, Clooney's direction showed promise.^[23]

In 2005, Clooney starred in Syriana, which was based loosely on former Central Intelligence Agency agent Robert Baer and his memoirs of being an agent in the Middle East. Clooney suffered an accident on the set of Syriana, which resulted in a brain injury with complications arising from a punctured dura.^[24] The same year he directed, produced, and starred in Good Night, and Good Luck, a film about 1950s television journalist Edward R. Murrow's famous war of words with Senator Joseph McCarthy. At the 2006 Academy Awards, Clooney was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck, as well as Best Supporting Actor for Syriana. He won the Oscar for his role in Syriana.

George Clooney at the premiere of The Men Who Stare At Goats in the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Clooney next appeared in The Good German (2006), a film noir directed by Soderbergh that is set in post-World War II Germany. In August 2006, Clooney and Heslov started the production company Smokehouse Pictures. In October 2006 Clooney also received the American Cinematheque Award, which honors an artist in the entertainment industry who has made "a significant contribution to the art of motion pictures".^[25]

On January 22, 2008, Clooney was nominated for an Academy Award (and many other awards) for Best Actor for his role in Michael Clayton (2007). Clooney then directed his third film, Leatherheads (2008), in which he also starred. It was reported on April 4, 2008, in Variety that Clooney had quietly resigned from the Writers Guild of America over controversy surrounding Leatherheads. Clooney, who is the director, producer, and star of the film, stated that he had contributed in writing "all but two scenes" of the film and requested a writing credit, alongside Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, who had been working on the screenplay for 17 years. In an arbitration vote, Clooney lost 2–1. He decided to withdraw from the union over the decision. Clooney became a "financial core status" non-member, meaning he no longer had voting rights, and cannot run for office or attend membership meetings, according to the WGA's constitution.^[26]

Clooney next co-starred with Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey in The Men Who Stare At Goats, which was directed by Heslov and released in November 2009. Also in November 2009, he voiced Mr. Fox in Wes Anderson's animated feature Fantastic Mr. Fox. The same year, Clooney starred in Up in the Air, which was initially given limited release, and then wide-released on December 25, 2009. For his performance in the film, which was directed by Jason Reitman, he was nominated for a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, BAFTA, and an Academy Award.

2010 saw the release of The American, based on the novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth and directed by Anton Corbijn. Clooney played the lead role, and was a co-producer of the film.

As of 2011, Clooney was represented by Bryan Lourd, co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency (CAA).^[27]

2011 saw the release of The Descendants, in which Clooney starred as a husband whose wife has an accident that leaves her in a coma. He earned critical praise for his work as Matt King, and won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild for Best Actor. He was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Political views[link]

Clooney supported Barack Obama's campaign in the 2008 presidential election.^[28] He is a supporter of gay rights.^[29]

Humanitarian work[link]

Clooney in Abéché, Chad, in January 2008 with the UN

Clooney is involved with Not On Our Watch, an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities, along with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub.^[30]

In February 2009, he visited Goz Beida, Chad, with NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.^[31] In January 2010, he organized the Telethon Hope for Haiti Now,^[32] which collected donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake victims.

In March 2012, Clooney was featured with Martin Sheen and Brad Pitt in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as attorney David Boies.^[33] The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.^[34][35]

Darfur[link]

Clooney has advocated a resolution of the Darfur conflict.^[36]

He spoke at a 2006 Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. In April 2006, he spent ten days in Chad and Sudan with his father to make the TV special "A Journey to Darfur" reflecting the situation of Darfur's refugees, and advocated for action. The documentary was broadcast on American cable TV as well as in the UK and France. In 2008, it was released on DVD with the sale proceeds being donated to the International Rescue Committee.^{[37][38][39][40]} In September of the same year, he spoke to the UN Security Council with Nobel Prize-winner Elie Wiesel to ask the UN to find a solution to the conflict and to help the people of Darfur.^[41] In December, he visited China and Egypt with Don Cheadle and two Olympic winners to ask both governments to pressure Sudan's government.^[42]

Clooney discusses Sudan with President Barack Obama at the White House in October 2010.

On March 25, 2007, he sent an open letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling on the European Union to take "decisive action" in the region given the failure of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir to respond to UN resolutions.^[43] He narrated and was co-executor producer of the 2007 documentary Sand and Sorrow.^[44] Clooney also appeared in the documentary film Darfur Now, a call-to-action film released in November 2007 for people all over the world to help stop the Darfur crisis.^[45] In December 2007, Clooney and fellow actor Don Cheadle received the Summit Peace Award from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome. In his acceptance speech, Clooney said that "Don and I … stand here before you as failures. The simple truth is that when it comes to the atrocities in Darfur … those people are not better off now than they were years ago."^[46][47] On January 18, 2008, the United Nations announced Clooney's appointment as a UN messenger of peace, effective January 31.^[1][2]

Clooney conceived of and, with human rights activist and co-founder of the Enough Project John Prendergast, initiated the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), after an October 2010 trip to South Sudan. SSP aims to monitor armed activity for signs of renewed civil war between Sudan and South Sudan, and to detect and deter mass atrocities along the border regions there.^[48]

Clooney and Prendergast co-wrote a Washington Post op-ed piece in May 2011, titled "Dancing with a dictator in Sudan", arguing that:

President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, is escalating bombing and food aid obstruction in Darfur, and he now threatens the entire north-south peace process ... the evidence shows that incentives alone are insufficient to change Khartoum's calculations. International support should be sought immediately for denying debt relief, expanding the ICC indictments, diplomatically isolating the regime, suspending all non-humanitarian aid, obstructing state-controlled bank transactions and freezing accounts holding oil wealth diverted by senior regime officials.^[49]

On March 16, 2012, Clooney was arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy for civil disobedience, during a protest.^[50][51] Clooney had planned to be arrested when he planned the protest.^[51] Several other prominent participants in the protest were also arrested, including Martin Luther King III.^[51]

Controversy[link]

In January 2003, Clooney made a controversial joke about the fact that Charlton Heston was suffering from Alzheimer's, and Clooney initially refused to apologize.^{[15][52][52][53]} While speaking at a National Board of Review event as he accepted an award on television, Clooney said: "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's."^[54] Charlton Heston was suffering from Alzheimer's disease at the time.^[54][55] When syndicated columnist Liz Smith asked Clooney whether he wasn't "going too far" with his remark, he responded: "I don't care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association; he deserves whatever anyone says about him."^[56][53]

Heston himself commented, "It just goes to show that sometimes class does skip a generation," referring to Clooney's aunt, Rosemary Clooney.^[56] Heston further commented on the Clooney joke: "I don't know the man – never met him, never even spoken to him, but I feel sorry for George Clooney – one day he may get Alzheimer's disease. I served my country in World War II. I survived that – I guess I can survive some bad words from this fellow".^[57] Clooney later said, "It was a joke... They got the quote wrong. What I said was 'The head of the NRA announced today ...' (Filmmaker) Michael Moore had just gotten an award. Anyway, Charlton Heston shows up with guns over his head after a school shooting and then says in the documentary it's because of ethnic diversity that we have problems with violence in America. I think he's going to have to take whatever hits he gets. It was just a joke."^[58] Clooney said in 2008 he subsequently apologized to Heston in a letter, and that he received a nice response from Heston's wife.^[15]

On January 16, 2006, during his acceptance speech for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Syriana, Clooney paused to sarcastically thank disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff before adding, "Who would name their kid Jack with the word ‘off’ at the end of your last name? No wonder that guy is screwed up!"^[59] Abramoff's father wrote a letter to The Desert Sun, calling Clooney's comment "glib and ridiculous".^[60] Larry King asked Clooney on CNN if he would apologize, but Clooney declined.^[60]

Personal life[link]

Relationships[link]

Clooney and Elisabetta Canalis at the 66th Venice International Film Festival

Clooney was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 until they divorced in 1993. He has said that he will never marry again.^[61] After meeting British model Lisa Snowdon on the set of a Martini advertisement in 2000, he had a five-year on-again, off-again relationship with her.^[62] In June 2007, he started dating reality personality Sarah Larson, but the couple broke up in May 2008.^[63] From July 2009 to June 2011, Clooney was in a relationship with Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis until they split in June 2011.^[64][65][66] Since July 2011, Clooney has been dating former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler.^[67]

Clooney has also dated actresses Kelly Preston (1987-1989), Renée Zellweger (2001) and Krista Allen (2002-2008) as well as French reality tv personality Céline Balitran (1996-1999). ^{[68][69][70][71][72]}

Often featured in People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue, Clooney's marital status and availability are a running joke among female fans who still fantasize they have a chance to bring him to the altar. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Las Vegas has a "Marrying George Clooney" photo-op, in which museum visitors can put on a wedding gown and stand next to a wax statue of the actor in a tuxedo.^[73]

Despite his highly publicized relationships with women, Clooney's sexual orientation has been the subject of media scrutiny. When asked about the subject in an interview with The Advocate, Clooney stated, "The last thing you’ll ever see me do is jump up and down, saying, ‘These are lies!’ That would be unfair and unkind to my good friends in the gay community. I’m not going to let anyone make it seem like being gay is a bad thing."^[74]

Homes[link]

Clooney's main home is in Los Angeles. He purchased the 7,354 square feet (683.2 m²) house in 1995 through his George Guifoyle Trust. His villa in Italy is in the village of Laglio, on Lake Como,^[75] near the former residence of Italian author Ada Negri.^[76]

Motorcycle accident[link]

On September 21, 2007, Clooney and then-girlfriend Sarah Larson were injured in a motorcycle accident in Weehawken, New Jersey. Clooney's motorcycle was hit by a car. The driver of the car reported that Clooney attempted to pass him on the right,^[77] while Clooney said that the driver signaled left and then decided to make an abrupt right turn and clipped his motorcycle. Clooney was treated and released from the Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey.^[78] On October 9, 2007, more than two dozen staff at the hospital were suspended without pay for looking at Clooney's medical records in violation of federal law.^[79] Clooney said: "[W]hile I very much believe in a patient's right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers."^[80]

Pets[link]

"Max" (1987 – December 1, 2006) was Clooney's pet Vietnamese black bristled potbellied pig, often referred to as "Max the star" by Clooney.^[81] The pig shared Clooney's Hollywood Hills home, as well as Clooney's bed, and frequently made cameos in interviews, mostly because of his enormous size.^[82] He is often credited with saving Clooney's life by waking him up before the Northridge earthquake on January 16, 1994.^[81] In 2006, the pig was taken for a flight on John Travolta's private jet.^[83]

Max was bought by Clooney in 1988 as a gift for his then-girlfriend Kelly Preston, who later became Travolta's wife.^[84] The pig used to have a special cattle-pen and his own corner in the garage of Clooney's manor.^[85] Max was seriously injured in 2001 when one of Clooney's friends accidentally ran him over with his car.^[86] Weighing ca. 300 pounds (over 130 kg), Max died in Los Angeles of natural causes, as has been stated by Clooney's press secretary Stan Rosenfield. Because he was known to have arthritis, and was partly blind, the animal was falsely reported to have died in January 2005. Clooney dotingly recalls that Max would squeal every morning until he was fed.^[83] A column on Max by Clooney's father, Nick, appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer.^{[citation needed]}

He also owned two bulldogs, named Bud and Lou, after the famous comedy team Abbott and Costello. Both dogs have died; one from a rattlesnake bite.^[87][88]

In the media[link]

Clooney in January 2012

Clooney is one of three people to have been given the title of "Sexiest Man Alive" twice by People Magazine; first in 1997 and again in 2006.^[89] He appeared in commercials outside the US for products such as Fiat, Nespresso, and Martini vermouth, and lent his voice to a series of Budweiser ads beginning in 2005.^[90] Clooney was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007, 2008, and 2009.^[91][92][93]

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker lampooned Clooney, among other stars, in their feature film Team America: World Police. Clooney later said that he would have been offended if he hadn't been made fun of in the film.^[94] He was also mentioned in the South Park episode "Smug Alert!", which mocks his acceptance speech at the 78th Academy Awards. Clooney has also lent his voice to South Park, however, appearing in the episode "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" as Sparky the Dog, and as the emergency room doctor in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Clooney was also caricatured in the American Dad! episode Tears of a Clooney, in which Francine sees her plans to destroy Clooney materialize.^{[citation needed]}

Director Alexander Cartio made his debut feature film entitled Convincing Clooney about a Los Angeles artist, who faced with rejection as an actor and screenplay writer, arrives at his master plan to get Clooney to star in his first-ever low-budget short film. The story was released on DVD in November 2011.^[95][96]

Awards and honors[link]

Filmography[link]

Actor - Film[link]

Actor - Television[link]

Actor - Theatre[link]

Director[link]

Producer[link]

Writer[link]

References[link]