George Clooney: Just starting out

George Clooney, had a role from 1985 to 1987 in the sitcom

"The Facts of Life". Here he is at left with co-star Nancy McKeon.

Source: https://www.televisionofyore.com/

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He would gain world-wide recognition as Dr, Doug Ross in “ER” in the ‘90s, and go on to a stellar movie career in the 21st Century.

However, it all started for George Clooney in the ‘80s as an odd sort of boy next door on a sitcom in its waning years.

Yesterday, I saw Clooney in a commercial for Nespresso, and the way he looked and sounded took me back almost 40 years to Peekskill, New York.

Starting out
Unlike so many actors whose careers were already in full swing when the 1980s began, George Clooney was just starting out in the decade.

He appeared in four unmemorable movies, the most notable being “Return of the Killer Tomatoes”, but also including “Grizzly II: Revenge”; “Return to Horror High”; and “Red Surf”.

Clooney had a lot more work on television, which led to his ultimate breakthrough on “ER”.

Ironically, and this is downright spookie, his first role was in the 1984 sitcom – “E/R”. It was set in an emergency room in Chicago and starred Elliott Gould. I saw a couple episodes but it just kind of faded away. Clooney would appear in eight episodes of that “E/R”.

He would make guest appearances on a variety of shows including “Riptide” in 1984; “Streethawk” and “Crazy Like a Fox” both in 1985; “Hotel” in 1986; and “Hunter”, “Murder, She Wrote” and “Golden Girls” in 1987.

He would then begin to show his talent with two recurring roles before the end of the decade.

Learning the facts of life
“The Facts of Life” was a durable sitcom that lasted nine years, from 1979 to 1988. It was a spin-off of “Diff’rent Strokes”, another sitcom, and set in an all-girls’ boarding school in Peekskill, New York.

Clooney joined the cast in 1985 in the seventh season as George Burnett. By this point the girls are running a shop called Edna’s Edibles, that burns to the ground. George is hired as a handyman to help re-develop it and, although not very good with his hands, he becomes a friend. He would stay through season seven and eight, before being dropped.

He appeared in 17 episodes from 1985 to 1987.

What I will always remember was the stories he told about living abroad, in Kuwait I think. One in particular was about how they played baseball – with goats.

I only saw a handful of episodes of George Clooney in “The Facts of Life” because it was hard to find. Even with just three channels, and “The Facts of Life” was on CBC Channel 9, it never seemed to be on when scheduled, pre-empted by hockey or other CBC productions.

Boss man
The other recurring role Clooney had was as Roseanne’s boss “Brooker Brooks” in “Roseanne”, for 11 episodes from 1988 to 1991.

Close of the decade
So, at the close of the ‘80s, George Clooney was beginning to work more and more, but it would be the 1990s and beyond where his career took off.

The years after
I will always remember him in the early 1990s as Detective Ryan Walker opposite Lee Horsley in “Bodies of Evidence”. In the first three episodes, Walker tracked a serial killer. One of the themes was that Walker was becoming more and more convinced he and the killer were similar. In the chilling conclusion, he has arrested the killer who keeps yelling through a police car window, “I’m you Walker! I’m you!”

It was excellent TV, or so I remembered. The show lasted 16 episodes from 19923 to 1993, and that saddened me because it was really good.

Clooney also appeared in “Sunset Beat” for six episodes; “Baby Talk” for five episodes; “Jack’s Place”; and “Sisters” for 19 episodes.

Then, in 1994 he made his debut as Dr. Doug Ross in a much-anticipated show called “ER”. The rest is history. He played Ross for six years and 106 episodes, then moved onto feature films where his career has just exploded.

It started with “From Dusk till Dawn” and “One Fine Day” in 1996; then “Batman and Robin”; “The Peacemaker”; “The Thin Red Line”; “Three Kings”; “The Perfect Storm’; “O Brother, Where Art Thou”; “Ocean’s Eleven”; “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”; “Solaris”; “Ocean’s Twelve”; “Good Night, and Good Luck”; “Syriana”; “Michael Clayton; “Ocean’s Thirteen”; “Leatherheads”; “Burn After Reading”; “The Men Who Stare at Goats”; “Up in the Air”; “The American”; “The Descendants”; “Gravity”; “The Monuments Men”; and much more.

He has won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor in “Syriana”; and Best Picture for “Argo". He has also been nominated for Oscars for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for “Good Night, and Good Luck”; Best Actor for “Michael Clayton”, “Up in the Air”, and “The Descendants”; and Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Ides of March”.

He continues to act, write, direct and produce to this day.

Parting thoughts
George Clooney has achieved a great deal as an actor, writer, director and producer. He was won awards and grossed millions, and is at the point he can afford to take on the projects he wants.

He no longer has to take on guest roles in forgettable movies and TV shows with short runs.

Yet it was those projects that ultimately led to the success he enjoys today.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

George Clooney started in the ‘80s.