Married in September, 2014, they became parents of twins, Alexander and Ella, in 2017. Despite typical “Hollywood” rumors of a possible separation, the Clooneys were seen and photographed at the London premiere of his new series, Catch-22, on May 17, 2019. Much is known about George Clooney, who has paid his dues in the acting game. He was on the TV show, Facts of Life, as a young man and ended up playing the troubled doctor, Doug Ross, on the Emmy winning ER, for which he was nominated for the award twice. He has subsequently produced, directed, and starred in many movies. He won two Oscars, three Golden Globes, the 2018 American Film Industry (AFI) Lifetime Achievement award and the 2015
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, which is a Golden Globe from the Foreign Press Association.
During his acceptance speech, Clooney said, reportedly looking at his wife in the audience, “It’s a humbling thing when you find someone to love. Even better if you’ve been waiting your whole life.”
Both Clooneys have interests in the political realm and social causes.
For example, George Clooney was recently recognized for working with Pope Francis’ Scholas Occurrentes, known as an international group which marries technology with sports and the arts.
He is also well recognized for his work in the Sudan, in the region of Darfur, with his retired journalist father, Nick Clooney. In 2009, Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, became the world’s first sitting leader to be indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity over the government’s role in Darfur’s conflict.
George Clooney initially put Darfur “on the map,” so to say. He solicited funds, gained celebrity support, and even addressed the United Nations to try to draw attention to widespread atrocities in the area. In 2010, he started the Sentinel Project which tracked human rights abuses by satellite.
Fast forward to 2019 when George Clooney said recently that the fall of Sudan’s al-Bashir, resulting in his detention, was not enough and called for the dismantling of the military-led system.
In turn, Attorney Amal Clooney is an accomplished human rights lawyer who earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from University of Oxford’s St Hugh’s College in the United Kingdom (UK), as well as a Masters of Law degree from New York University’s School of Law in the US. She then worked for now Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Now working in a position of high prestige as a barrister in London, she has had clients in cases before the courts in the UK and the US, as well as in the International Court of Justice, and the European Court of Human Rights. She represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in extradition proceedings in the UK and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuila Tymonshenko before the European Court of Human Rights. She has published articles and books; given lectures; and has been Professor Clooney on faculty at Columbia University.
Born in Baakline, Lebanon, a small village near Beirut, she launched the Amal Clooney Scholarship for Lebanese girls in 2015. Because of a partnership with 100 LIVES, every year the program sends one deserving female Lebanese student to a two-year international program at United World College in Dilijan, Armenia. A global organization, 100 LIVES brings awareness to the Armenian genocide.
A Los Angeles Times article quoted Amal Clooney as saying, “This scholarship will give young women from Lebanon the opportunity of a lifetime. Cross-cultural learning and studying abroad can be transformative. I am grateful to 100 LIVES for helping to open doors for these bright and talented young women.”
On top of it all, the Clooney’s are animal rights advocates and have three rescue dogs.
This advocacy and everything else the Clooneys have accomplished says everything about what two people with power, influence, and commitment can do personally, professionally, and for the world
By Chris Miles
