Clooney, an Irish American, was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His mother, Nina Bruce, is a former pageant queen, while his father, Nick, is a journalist, anchorman, game show and American Movie Classics host, and – in later years – an aspiring politician from the state of Kentucky.

Clooney has an older sister, Adelia, one niece, Alison, and one nephew, Nicholas.

Clooney began his education at the Blessed Sacrament School in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky. Spending part of his childhood in Ohio, he attended St. Michael's School in Columbus, and the Western Row and St. Susanna schools, both in Mason. There he developed an interest in theater. Eventually, his parents moved to Augusta, Kentucky, where he went to Augusta High School and began his lead in several plays. Clooney has stated that he earned all A's and a B in school, and was an enthusiastic baseball and basketball player. He tried out with the Cincinnati Reds in 1977 to play professional baseball, but was not offered a contract. He did not pass the first round of player cuts.

Clooney attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981 and, very briefly, the University of Cincinnati, but did not graduate from either.

His first major role came in 1984 in the television medical comedy-drama E/R. Clooney continued to star in movies while appearing in ER, his first major Hollywood role being 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, the latter being the initial feature length release from Dreamworks SKG studio. Clooney was then cast as the new Batman in Batman & Robin. In 1998, he starred in Out of Sight, opposite Jennifer Lopez. This was the first of many collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh. He also starred in Three Kings during the last weeks of his contract with ER.

In 1999, Clooney left the cast of ER to pursue his film career full-time. He mentioned a few times that he would like to do a few cameos; to date, he has only done one.

On July 8, 2005, news reports said that Clooney would be working with Cindy Crawford's husband Rande Gerber to design and build a new casino hotel in Las Vegas. On August 29, the same year, Clooney officially announced his involvement with the Las Ramblas Resort project.However, the project never came to fruition, and the property on which the resort was to be built was sold in June 2006.

Clooney has been married once, to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993.

He says he will never get married again nor have any children, but Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman each bet him $10,000 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. Clooney's girlfriend since mid-2007 is Fear Factor winner Sarah Larson.

Clooney suffered from Bell's palsy for a time while he was in high school.

In 2004, Clooney injured himself on Syriana's set during a torture scene. He had some excruciating headaches and suffered short term memory loss. It took a few weeks for his doctors to find the reasons for his health problems. During The Good German's promotion (two years afterwards), he revealed that he still had to wear a back brace due to this injury.

Never a heavy smoker, Clooney quit the habit at a very early stage. He says that at least eight or nine of his great-uncles and great-aunts died because of it.

On September 21, 2007, Clooney and Sarah Larson were injured in a motorcycle accident in Weehawken, New Jersey. Clooney's motorcycle was hit by a car. Clooney suffered a broken rib and road rash; Larson broke two toes. Both were treated and released from the Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey. Then on October 9, 2007, more than two dozen hospital staff members were suspended without pay for looking at Clooney's medical records in violation of federal law.

Clooney had a 300 pounds (140 kg) Vietnamese black bristled, pot-bellied pig, named Max, that had lived with him for eighteen years. Max died on December 1, 2006. He also had two bulldogs, named Bud and Lou, after the famous comedy team Abbott and Costello, who both died (one from a rattlesnake attack).

Clooney is a self-described political liberal. Clooney is active in advocating a resolution of the Darfur conflict. His efforts include an episode of Oprah and speaking at the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2006.

In 2006, he was involved in several events to highlight the issue.

George Clooney's Photos

Clooney has balanced his glamorous performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and director behind commercially riskier projects, as well as social and political activism. On January 31, 2008, the United Nations named George Clooney "Messenger of peace".