Double Oscar winner George Clooney has become one of the most successful people in his profession but despite family connections (his aunt was the late singer Rosemary Clooney), he struggled for years to make it as an actor.
After dropping out of college, Clooney would try his hand at acting. He struggled for a few years until finding a part on “E/R” in 1984. This wasn’t the “ER” that would make him a star 10 years later, but instead was a short-lived sitcom with the same name. In the decade between those shows, Clooney became known mostly for his track record of starring in an incredibly large number of pilots that weren’t picked up to be made into series. He would score a few successes with recurring roles on “The Facts of Life,” “Sisters” and “Roseanne,” but he would also suffer brutal humiliations like starring in “Return to Horror High” and “Return of the Killer Tomatoes.” Stardom seemed unlikely for Clooney when “ER” turned that all around.
Clooney has quietly amassed a highly impressive Oscar tally for his film work. He has won two Oscars; one for Best Supporting Actor for “Syriana” in 2005 and one as a producer of “Argo” as Best Picture of 2012. He has also received six other nominations. Two for Best Actor (“Michael Clayton,” “Up in the Air,” “The Descendants”), a Best Director nomination for “Good Night and Good Luck,” Best Original Screenplay (also for “Good Night and Good Luck”) and Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Ides of March.” He has received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, American Film Institute life achievement award and Kennedy Center Honors.
Tour our photo gallery featuring his 17 greatest films as either actor or director (or both), ranked from worst to best.
-
17. ONE FINE DAY (1996)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock Director: Michael Hoffman. Writers: Terrel Seltzer, Ellen Simon. Starring George Clooney, Mae Whitman, Charles Durning.
Considering his sex symbol status Clooney has done relatively few romantic comedies in his film career. He did venture into the genre with this film in which both he and Michelle Pfeiffer play divorcees with small children. The film takes place over the course of one day (hence the title) where the two characters meet and fall in love despite many distractions. Ellen Simon who co-wrote the screenplay is the daughter of playwright Neil Simon.
-
16. THE BOYS IN THE BOAT (2023)
Image Credit: Amazon Director: George Clooney. Writer: Mark L. Smith, based on the book by Daniel James Brown. Starring Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Peter Guinness, Hadley Robinson.
Clooney’s ninth turn in the director’s chair is a real-life sports drama focusing on a team of Depression-era college rowers who banded together to win a championship and proceeded to take on the Nazis at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Clooney excels in recreating the period and getting the most from his cast, including a fine Joel Edgerton and Callum Turner. But even if the film is a far cry directorially from “Good Night and Good Luck,” Clooney shows that he can still make a “dad movie” with the best of them. -
15. BURN AFTER READING (2008)
Image Credit: Working Title/Studio Canal/Kobal/Shutterstock Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. Writers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. Starring Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovitch.
Clooney joined an impressive cast in this Coen brothers’ film about a disc containing information from the CIA and the two nitwit gym employees who find it and try to make a profit from it. Clooney plays a U.S. Marshall dating one of the gym workers. The movie earned a Golden Globe nomination as Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
-
14. CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (2002)
Image Credit: Takashi Seida - ©2002 - Miramax Films/REX/Shutterstock Director: George Clooney. Writer: Charlie Kaufman. Starring Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Sam Rockwell stars as Chuck Barris who was a game show producer and host of the infamous “The Gong Show,” and if this film based on Barris’ autobiography are to be believed was also an undercover CIA hitman. Barris was known for his exaggerations and lampooning the public (after all “The Gong Show” contestants weren’t real but instead actors playing the parts) so the truthfulness of the whole CIA connection may just be his last ruse on the public. Clooney directed the film and also co-stars as the CIA agent who provides Barris with his assignments.
-
13. TICKET TO PARADISE (2022)
Director: Ol Parker. Writers: Ol Parker, Daniel Pipski. Starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Maxime Bouttier, Lucas Bravo.
Clooney reunited with his longtime pal/sparring partner Julia Roberts in this romantic comedy as they play divorced couple David and Georgia Cotton who can’t stand the sight of each other but must work together to put a stop to their daughter’s plans for a quickie wedding in Bali. The plot may be at times creaky, even by romcom standards, but you didn’t really see “Ticket to Paradise” for the story, did you? It’s a testament to the power of movie stars, and Clooney in particular appears to be having a blast here. It’s been said that to make a romantic comedy believable is among the greatest challenges an actor can face, yet Clooney makes it look so easy.
-
12. THE IDES OF MARCH (2011)
Image Credit: Cross Creek/Kobal/Shutterstock Director: George Clooney. Writers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon. Starring Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti.
Clooney directed and adapted the screenplay from a play by Beau Willimon. Clooney has often been politically active and here he gets to put that to use playing the governor of Pennsylvania who is also a presidential candidate. Ryan Gosling co-stars as an idealistic young aide of Clooney’s. Clooney earned an Oscar nomination for the film in the category of Best Adapted Screenplay.
-
11. GRAVITY (2013)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Alfonso Cuarón. Writers: Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón. Starring Sandra Bullock, Ed Harris.
Most of “Gravity” is a one-woman vehicle for Sandra Bullock but Clooney does appear at the beginning of the film as another astronaut whom to quote Tina Fey on the Golden Globes of that year, “would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age.” Seriously though Clooney makes a big impact as the other astronaut who sacrifices his life so that Bullock may have a chance at saving hers. The film earned 10 Oscar nominations and won seven of them.
-
10. OUT OF SIGHT (1998)
Image Credit: Merrick Morton/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock Director: Stephen Soderbergh. Writer: Scott Frank. Starring Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle.
One of Clooney’s first acclaimed films after his breakout success on “ER” was this Stephen Soderbergh drama co-starring Jennifer Lopez. Lopez plays a U.S. Marshall who is kidnapped by Clooney after he breaks out of jail. The film was based on a novel by acclaimed author Elmore Leonard and earned an Oscar nomination for its screenplay and editing.
-
9. THREE KINGS (1999)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock Director and writers: David O. Russell. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze.
This comedy set at the end of the Persian Gulf War stars Clooney as one of four soldiers who want to steal gold back from Kuwait but their mercenary motives are changed when they see how many people actually need their help. While the film was well received by critics and audiences the making of it was quite chaotic. Director David O. Russell clashed first with writer John Ridley who claimed the idea of the story was his (he was given a “story by” credit eventually) and then on set with Clooney. Clooney was quite vocal about the disagreements saying: “there’s an element of David that was in way over his head… he was vulnerable and selfish, and it would manifest itself in a lot of yelling.”
-
8. THE PERFECT STORM (2000)
Image Credit: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock Director: Wolfgang Petersen. Writers: William D. Wittliff. Starring Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Diane Lane.
Based on the best-selling book of the same name “The Perfect Storm” casts Clooney as one of a number of commercial fishermen who are trapped on their vessel during a “perfect storm” meaning when everything came together to create the worst possible sea conditions imaginable. The film received two Oscar nominations for its Sound and Visual Effects.
-
7. OCEANS ELEVEN (2001)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Director: Steven Soderbergh. Writer: Ted Griffin. Starring Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts.
Frank Sinatra brought a bunch of his friends known as the Rat Pack including Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. together for the first “Ocean’s 11” about a group of criminals pulling off a Las Vegas heist. Clooney brought his friends together for a remake of the story which spawned a number of sequels including the all-female version released last year. Clooney takes the Sinatra role of Danny Ocean who coordinates and puts together the film’s gang of criminals.
-
6. OH BROTHER WHERE ART THOU (2000)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Director: Joel Coen. Writers: Ethan and Joel Coen. Starring John Turturro, Holly Hunter, John Goodman.
Clooney won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for this film from the Coen brothers based on the classic epic poem “The Odyssey” by Homer. Clooney plays a man who escapes from prison to try and get home in time to prevent his wife from remarrying him. Clooney was a bit of surprise winner at the Golden Globe Awards that year.
-
5. GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (2005)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/Shutterstock Director: George Clooney. Writers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov. Starring David Straithairn, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Daniels.
When Clooney took to the stage to accept his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2005, he joked that he guessed this meant he wasn’t winning Best Director. This was a good year for Clooney. Not only did he win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “Syriana” he was nominated as Best Director and for Best Original Screenplay for this film. The film tells the story of famed CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow’s battle with Senator Joseph McCarthy of the famed McCarthy trials. Clooney also appears in a supporting role in the film as Fred Friendly who was the head of CBS at the time.
-
4. THE DESCENDANTS (2011)
Image Credit: Ad Hominem Enterprises/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Alexander Payne. Writers: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash. Starring Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Michael Ontkean.
Clooney won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for this film about a wealthy land owner in Hawaii. The character is under pressure to sell the family land he controls while also dealing with family issues. His wife is comatose after a boating accident leaving Clooney to deal with his two troubled daughters. Clooney was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for the film but lost the award to Jean Dujardin for “The Artist.”
-
3. SYRIANA (2005)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Director and writer: Stephen Gaghan. Starring Matt Damon, Amanda Peet, Chris Cooper.
Clooney won the Oscar and Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor for this complex film about various aspects of the oil industry. The film is told in four different story lines. Clooney plays a CIA agent assigned to prevent illegal arms trafficking in the Middle East. Clooney gained a great deal of weight for the film and also suffered an injury during the filming that would affect his health for a period after filming.
-
2. MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)
Image Credit: Castle Rock/Section Eight/Kobal/Shutterstock Director and writer: Tony Gilroy. Starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack.
Clooney earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for the title role in this film. He plays a conflicted lawyer who is unhappy in his job as the person assigned to fix court cases that have gone wrong. Clooney has a pretty riveting stand off towards the film’s end with Tilda Swinton who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The film itself was nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture. Swinton was the only winner from the film. Clooney lost the Best Actor prize to Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood.”
-
1. UP IN THE AIR (2009)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Jason Reitman. Writers: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner. Starring Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman.
Clooney’s second Best Actor nomination came for this film in which he plays a business executive afraid of commitment whose job it is to fly around the country and fire people. He is quite proud of the balance in his frequent flyer account. His life is changed by two women who enter his life (played by Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick both of whom earned Supporting Actress nominations.) Farmiga plays a potential love interest while Kendrick plays an insensitive young colleague of Clooney’s who devises a way to fire people without even being in the room. The film received a total of six Oscar nominations including Best Picture. It was expected to win for Best Adapted Screenplay but lost to “Precious.” Clooney was defeated by Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”) for Best Actor.
