While George Clooney may be one of the world’s richest and most bankable Hollywood stars, lately it’s his political views — not his roles on the big screen — that are generating buzz.
Less than a month after Clooney hosted one of the largest Democratic fundraisers in American history at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, which raised $28 million for President Joe Biden, on July 10 Clooney published a guest essay in The New York Times calling for Biden to step aside, stating, “This is about age. Nothing more … We are not going to win in November with this president.”
It seems like it's been ages since the handsome A-lister burst onto the entertainment scene in movies like “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Batman & Robin” and on the television series “ER.” Clooney has skillfully used his celebrity status to raise awareness for political issues close to his heart, such as gun control, LGBTQIA rights, and the War in Darfur, Sudan. In fact, in 2008 the United Nations even designated him as one of its “Messengers of Peace.”
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What is George Clooney’s net worth?
In 2018, Forbes listed the multi-hyphenate actor, director, and screenwriter’s net worth at an impressive$239 million. He ranked #2 on Forbes' Celebrity 100 list that year due to the sale of Casamigos, the tequila brand he co-founded with Rande Gerber and Michael Meldman, which was scooped up by Diageo for a cool $1 billion.
And while Clooney’s reign only lasted a year — Forbes noted that he fell off the Celebrity 100 list in 2019 — online sources state that his wealth has only grown since.
Celebrity Net Worth pegs his bottom line at $500 million, and The New York Post backs up this claim, crediting his endorsement deals with Nespresso as well as the Casamigos windfall for the lion’s share of his fortune. (The Post also gives props to Clooney’s auspicious natal chart, citing his Taurus sun and Capricorn moon for the one-two punch bestowing him with fame and success.)
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How much is George Clooney paid as an actor?
As an actor, Clooney commands roughly $20 million per movie, although he has famously accepted as little as $1 for passion projects, such as his screenwriting role in 2005’s “Good Night and Good Luck.”
The “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise earned more than $1 billion at the box office, with Clooney reportedly pocketing $50 million.
George Clooney’s Hollywood Career
Born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, Clooney was destined for show business: His father, Nick, was a broadcast journalist on WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, while his mother, Nina Bruce, was a beauty queen and served on the city council.
Clooney was especially close to his aunt, Rosemary, one of the biggest jazz singers of the 1950s, and he has said that he often drove her and her friends to singing gigs when he moved to Hollywood.
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Clooney made his first television appearance in 1978 as an extra on “Centennial,” a television miniseries based on the best-selling novel by James A. Michener that was being filmed in Kentucky.
After stints at Northern Kentucky University and the University of Cincinnati, Clooney moved to Los Angeles at age 21, where the 5'11 actor landed a string of blue-collar character roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
His good looks and charisma made him a memorable presence on television. He played handyman George Burnett on “The Facts of Life,” supervisor Booker Brooks on “Roseanne,” and detective Bobby Hopkins on “Golden Girls,” to name a few.
Clooney’s breakthrough came in 1994, when he was cast as Dr. Doug Ross on “ER” and garnered about as much acclaim for his Caesar haircut as he did for his acting chops (he earned two Emmy nominations and three Golden Globe nominations for the role). According to Parade, he made $11 million from the series.
Clooney’s transition to the silver screen was about as seamless as one of Billy Ocean’s designer suits. Here’s a list of some of his biggest reported earnings:
George Clooney’s Movie Earnings
| Movie | Year | Paycheck |
|---|---|---|
From Dusk Till Dawn |
1996 |
$250,000 |
One Fine Day |
1996 |
$3 million |
Batman & Robin |
1997 |
$10 million |
Out of Sight |
1998 |
$10 million |
The Perfect Storm |
2000 |
$8 million |
Intolerable Cruelty |
2003 |
$15 million |
Ocean's Eleven |
2001 |
$20 million |
Ocean's Thirteen |
2007 |
$15 million |
Gravity |
2013 |
$20 million |
But acting isn't his only gig. Clooney also writes scripts and directs films that often include his friends, like 2011’s “Ides of March,” which starred Ryan Gosling, and 2014’s “The Monuments Men,” featuring Matt Damon. In fact, the only thing he can’t do is sing — that voice you hear in “O Brother Where Art Thou” belongs to Grammy award-winner Dan Tyminski.
George Clooney’s endorsement deals
Once upon a time, a Hollywood actor hawking products on TV would be considered déclassé, or “selling out.” Clooney changed all that — and laughed all the way to the bank.
Appearing in Nespresso advertisements since 2013, Forbes estimates the partnership has made Clooney $40 million in just over a decade. He has also used his likeness to promote the Norwegian bank DnB, the Italian sparkling wine Martini & Rossi, the British baking company Warburton, and automakers like Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.
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George Clooney’s business ventures
Clooney didn’t need much help from Madison Avenue to promote his tequila brand: He and Rande Gerber (also known as Mr. Cindy Crawford) had enough star power on their own.
Ironically, Clooney said he had no intention of taking the brand public when they first started making it, saying his tequila was for his friends. (In fact, its name means "house of friends" in Spanish.)
Since Diageo’s 2017 acquisition, Casamigos has become one of the fastest-growing liquors in history. Clooney reportedly walked away from the deal with $150 million after taxes.
George Clooney’s personal life
Clooney pals around with Brad Pitt and trades jokes with Julia Roberts. He's known for giving 14 friends who “knew him when ...” $1 million each when he made it big. It's no surprise that Clooney is one of Hollywood’s most popular — and personable — players.
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He has been married twice, first to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993. After his divorce, he became one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, dating everyone from Kelly Preston to Cameron Diaz, Renee Zellweger, and Elisabetta Canalis.
In 2013, a friend asked Clooney if he could bring someone over to his Lake Como estate: That woman turned out to be Amal Alamuddin, who would eventually become Clooney’s second wife.
The British lawyer and human rights activist was seventeen years his junior but captivated Clooney from the moment they met, and they quickly grew inseparable, embarking on a year of romantic, whirlwind vacations to jet-set locales like Cabo San Lucas, Kenya, and the Seychelles before Clooney proposed in 2014.
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George and Amal were married at the Aman Canal Grande luxury resort in Venice on September 27, 2014, in a star-studded ceremony that included Anna Wintour, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, the Gerbers, and Bill Murray.
In 2017, Amal gave birth to fraternal twins, Ella and Alexander.
George Clooney’s real estate portfolio
Befitting their globe-trotting nature, the Clooneys own lavish properties on both sides of the Atlantic, according to Architectural Digest. Here are some of the highlights of their real estate portfolio:
- A $2.2 million villa in Studio City, California that Clooney bought after his success on “ER”
- A $7 million mansion on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, known as Villa Oleandra, which has 25 rooms, a pool, tennis courts, and a garage large enough to hold Clooney's collection of vintage motorcycles
- A $13 million home on the island of Sonning Eye, in South Oxfordshire, England that has a library, private cinema, gym, outdoor pool, and its own boathouse
- A $14.7 million condo in a stunning glass high-rise in Manhattan that's close to the United Nations, where Amal has held appointments
- An $8.3 million estate in Provence, France, called Domaine de Canadel, that features olive groves and a vineyard (rumors are swirling that Clooney is working on his own wine label)
