George Clooney is one of the hottest stars of the mid-to-late 1990s. At first glance, his rise to big screen stardom following his success playing soulful, mixed-up Dr. Doug Ross on the wildly popular medical drama E.R. seems meteoric, but a closer look at Clooney's career reveals that he has more than paid his dues having spent over a decade as a contract player for Warner Brothers television.

Clooney was born the son of broadcast journalist Nick Clooney and is the nephew of famed jazz singer Rosemary Clooney. He made his first television appearance at age five on his father's talkshow The Nick Clooney Show. Clooney did not show up again on television until he was in his early twenties. Growing up, his passion was for baseball and he only turned to acting after he fizzled a tryout with the Cincinnati Reds. He started out in television commercials and then signed with Warners. Though he basically remained unknown through the '80s and early '90s, Clooney had a steady career as a supporting actor. He appeared in fifteen failed television pilots and was a semi-regular on several series, including the situation comedy E/R, The Facts of Life, Roseanne, and Sisters. When the 1990's medical drama E.R. became a smash hit, Clooney became one of the favorite characters, especially among young women. At first he played Dr. Ross as a callous womanizer, but as the show matured so did his character and after a few painful comeuppances, his Ross has become a decent human being, something that has only endeared him further to his female fans.

Up until E.R. Clooney had only played occasional roles in feature films (he made his debut with a small role in Combat High, 1986), and had even starred in a couple of low-budget videos. But after the show caught on, he found himself surrounded by scripts and movie offers. For his first big-budget project, Clooney chose to play an action hero in the Quentin Tarantino-written and produced extravaganza From Dusk Till Dawn. After that, he appeared in the romantic comedy One Fine Day opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. For Clooney, 1997 proved a good year, as he appeared in three major films, the most hyped of which was Batman & Robin, with Clooney replacing Val Kilmer as the mysterious Dark Knight. Though the film is widely considered the worst of the Tim-Burton-inspired Batman series, Clooney did receive some praise for bringing an extra sensitivity to his interpretation of Batman. Though he has been criticized for being somewhat of a one-note performer who employs more tricks than talent, Clooney proved them wrong with his acclaimed multi-layered performance as a suave bankrobber in the acclaimed Out of Sight (1998).