George Clooney hails from one of Hollywood's leading families, but his in-house connections didn't seem to help him much in his early years. Despite many career setbacks, George has arisen to assume the mantle of his family and achieved greater accolades than he could ever have imagined.

Clooney was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on May 6th, 1961. At the time, his dad was the host of his own hit talk show, and his aunt Rosemary Clooney was a successful singer. George was exposed to the entertainment industry from veryearly on, and grew up surrounded by all of the glitz and glamour. At the age of five, he beganappearing on The Nick Clooney Show. Despite the early exposure (or perhaps because of it), George decided to go another route. He was always an athletic child, and played baseball throughout his schooling. George's dream was to become a pro baseball star. He almost made t too, but after trying out for a center field position on the Cincinnati Reds and failing to make the cut, he gave up his aspirations.

Although his family's fame had waned as the decades passed, George was still confident that he could be a Hollywood star and bring the Clooney name back into the headlines. Moving out to Los Angeles, he set about creating an acting career for himself. However, George's career did not exactly take off over night. After loggging some work in commercials, he landed his first television gig on a new medical sitcom, ironically called E/R. No, not THAT ER. The situation comedy, also starring future Seinfeld star Jason Alexander, didn't last very long.

Clooney's experience on E/R would become his formula as television show after television show did not pan out. Some did not even make it on the air, while other shows did well - but better without him. He appeared most notably on The Facts of Life and Roseanne, but only for a year on each and only as a supporting character. Both times, he left with greater aspirations which never panned out (unless you consider Return of the Killer Tomatoes a success).

Then, in 1994, exactly ten years after his less than stellar debut in E/R, George was offered a plum role in Michael Crichton's new medical drama, E.R.. This time round, the emergency room proved beneficial to Clooney as the show became an instant hit - easily trouncing the competition. George Clooney in particular was heralded for his nuanced performance as Doctor Doug Ross, a womanizing pediatrician with a stubborn streak.

With the newfound exposure (complete with magazine covers, television show crossovers et al) George Clooney was finally a star. Movie offers began to trickle in, and as the show went on for one successful season after another, the trickle became a flood. It was not long before Clooney made the necessary decision to leave E.R. and make movies while the going was good.

While it would have been easy for Clooney to step right into a romantic leading role on the big screen, he surprised many people by appearing with Quentin Tarantino in Robert Rodriguez's F rom Dusk Till Dawn, a gritty tale of two kidnapers who end up in a brothel full of vampires. Playing against type, Clooney was already trying to forge some distance between himself and the Doug Ross character.

Since then, Clooney has found steady work and has gradually increased his box office pull. Not one to rush things, George has had to wait too long already to jeopardize his career with over-exposure. He has also proven himself quite adept in the action hero department, with roles in The Peacemaker, Batman and Robin (as the caped crusader himself) and Three Kings.