Early life

George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky. His mother, Nina, was a former pageant queen. His father, Nick Clooney, was a TV newscaster, actor, and talk-show host in Cincinnati. He has one sister, Ada. From an early age, George would hang around his father's sets, often participating in shows, where he proved to be a crowd favorite. George's aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney, encouraged him to become a comedian. Early in their careers, George Clooney and Jay Leno, were simultaneously sheltered by her, according to the January 2nd, 2007 show of Tonight Show with Jay Leno when George Clooney was the guest.

Clooney spent his earlier years in Columbus, Ohio attending St. Michael's elementary school. Later, he attended Kentucky's Augusta High School, but was a poor student. George did excel in athletics, baseball in particular. A star at Augusta High, he was invited to try out for the Cincinnati Reds, but was not offered a contract. He briefly attended Northern Kentucky University, but did not graduate. He spent a season picking tobacco for his uncle Jack, then in 1982 took off for LA in his 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, with $300 in his pocket.