George Clooney, born in 1961, achieved notoriety thanks to the role of the pediatrician Douglas Ross in the television series ER, from 1994 to 1999. While working in ER, he began to get his first film roles as a protagonist in films such as Batman & Robin (1997 ) and Out of Sight (1998), where he began a long-term collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh.

In 2001, Clooney's fame expanded with the release of his most commercially successful Ocean's Eleven, the first film in the trilogy. That same year, he made his directorial debut with the biographical thriller Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, followed by Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), which earned him two Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. In 2006 he won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in the film Syriana.

He received three more Oscar nominations. He won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture for his production of Argo. He is also the winner of five Golden Globes, a BAFTA and an Osella Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Clooney is also known for his social activism, since 2008 he is one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace. Clooney's humanitarian work extends from trying to resolve the Darfur conflict, raising funds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and helping victims of the 2004 tsunami and September 11, 2001.