George Clooney is a rare thing in Hollywood: a hard-working actor, respected and adored by fellow professionals and the public alike. His laid-back style and easy-going personality have led to his being dubbed the new Cary Grant. Far from his years as an obscure, jobbing actor during his film career he has worked with such luminaries as Brad Pitt, the Coen Brothers, Mark Wahlberg, Julia Roberts, Steven Soderberg and Nicole Kidman. This biography aims to reveal the full story behind George Clooney. It details his upbringing in a showbiz family (his father, Nick Clooney, was a local TV and radio personality, his aunt was singing star Rosemary Clooney), his years of work on unsuccessful pilots for TV shows and his rise to fame as Dr Doug Ross in ER. He became one of the first major cast members to leave the show, launching his film career somewhat shakily with The Peacemaker and the critically-panned Batman & Robin, he reasserted his Hollywood credentials with Out of Sight, Three Kings and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and made his directorial debut with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.