George Clooney's Open House
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The Mirror: Why George Could Grow Old Alone" March 2003

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Michelle meyers
Katiedot
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Post by Katiedot Mon 19 Mar 2012, 20:26

Note, this is from the Mirror (a British tabloid newspaper) but taken from excerpts of a biography about George which is pretty good. Bear in mind this is from 2003:

WHY CLOONEY COULD GROW OLD ALONE

Mar 3 2003

Exclusive by Claire Donnelly

IT SOUNDS like every woman's dream. But as Talia Balsam found out, marriage to
George Clooney comes with a lot of unwelcome extras.

She had no idea that agreeing to spend the rest of her life with the
heart-throb meant spending it with his friends, too.

Notoriously close to a group of seven old mates he calls The Boys, his devotion
to male bonding sessions left his marriage in tatters.

The pair split in 1992, after just three years, with George, then 31, vowing
never to tie the knot again. Despite girlfriends and live-in-lovers, so far he
has kept his promise.

Now friends fear the US star - once dubbed the "world's sexiest man" - might
spend the rest of his life alone.

As actress Talia explains: "George spent more time with his friends than me
during our marriage."

Richard Kind, one of The Boys, adds: "Marriage may have been a lifestyle that
didn't jibe with George."

It is precisely this love of the macho lifestyle - his male friends spend as
much time at his Californian home as they do at their own - that has destroyed
some of his best relationships.

He bought a flat with first girlfriend, Kelly Preston, now married to John
Travolta, just a month after they met. Six months later, the affair was over
with George admitting it had been too much too soon.

He and French girlfriend, student Celine Balitran, went their separate ways in
1999 after three years together. She'd had enough of sharing him and their home
with his friends and pet pot-bellied pig, Max.

Model Lisa Snowdon fared no better. She went out with George after meeting him
in 2000 but yet again, his reluctance to settle down meant the relationship was
doomed.

AND despite rumours of an on-off relationship with Chicago star Renee
Zellweger, George seems happy for things to stay that way.

His relationship with his male pals, most of whom he has known for 20 years,
gives him the emotional stability he needs and keeps him laughing. The seven
revel in practical jokes, often competing to out-do each other.

Driving home from the Warner Bros lot one day, George spotted a huge oil
painting of a big-breasted, huge-bottomed and totally naked Mexican woman, in a
rubbish bin.

Swinging his grey BMW over to the kerb, he leant out and grabbed the picture.
It was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen. But George had a plan. He normally
meets The Boys on a Monday night but after bagging the picture, he started
crying off - telling his mates he was going to art classes. Claiming it was
therapeutic, he began dragging his friends around craft fairs and artists'
shops. This went on for six months until George presented Richard Kind (press
secretary Paul in Spin City) with a gift - an oil painting he'd "done himself"
of a large, naked Mexican woman. He'd even signed it.

Richard was flabbergasted. The picture was hideous. George had absolutely no
talent. But George was his best friend in the world. How could he upset him? He
managed a weak smile and hung the painting in pride of place on his living-room
wall.

It was weeks before George let him in on the secret.

============

STAYING SINGLE: Clooney

The star's pals are the closest thing he has to brothers and he'll stick by
them through thick and thin. They also help explain why, despite his fame and
wealth, George has remained so level-headed. "We are what makes him George,"
Richard says. "Everything else makes him George Clooney."

Understanding his friendship helps explain how George ticks. George met The
Boys when he first arrived in Los Angeles in the early 80s looking for work.
The gang consists of Richard, Thom Mathews, Grant Heslov, Tommy Hinkley, Matt
Adler, Benn Weiss and Waldo Sanchez.

Thom let George sleep in his roomy cupboard for eight months when he first
arrived in LA. Grant gave him $100 to pay for his first promotional shot.
Richard gave George a bed for nine months after his divorce from Talia.

Benn is a close friend of George's cousin, Miguel Ferrer. George met Matt on a
Hollywood basketball court in 1986. Actor Tommy Hinkley and stylist Waldo
Sanchez, who now joins George on set as his hairdresser, complete the group.

They meet up most Sundays at George's sprawling, eight-bedroom mansion, Casa de
Clooney. The house is Boy Heaven - there's a cigar lounge and a TV room with an
adjacent steam room. His bar offers Guinness on tap. What more could anyone
want? The Boys - all now in their early 40s - ride matching Harley motorbikes
or the motorcycles George bought everyone for Christmas a few years back. They
play basketball, go swimming and then have a barbecue. Wives and children are
welcome. George loves children... he just doesn't want any of his own.

There are dozens of stories of how the friends help each other. When
Grantseparated from his girlfriend in 1994, George decided the best way to heal
his broken heart was by playing golf. The pair set off in George's Winnebago
motor home to play golf across every state line in the USa.

"We'd stop at each line on the freeway and tee up a golf ball into the next
state," George recalls. "We played through the problem - so to speak."

And when Richard's father died of a heart attack, George hired a jet and flew
them all out to the funeral. "We sat in the back of the synagogue and Richard
was in front with his back to us," George recalls. "When he got up and started
to talk about his dad, he saw us and started sobbing. He said: 'I'm sorry but I
just saw my best friends back there.'

"There was this amazing feeling that every one of these guys had dropped
everything just to be there. That's what it's like. People like that keep you
sane."

Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher sums the situation up: "That house is
like a sitcom. George has these buddies who have recently divorced and they're
all living there. George is like everybody's older brother. I'm 57 but if I was
in trouble, I'd go to see George."

Added to the "attraction" of Max the pig, perhaps it's not such a surprise that
Casa de Clooney is largely a male-only zone. George also loves practical jokes
- - particularly if they involve whoopee cushions or bottoms.

After a party, actor Harry Hamlin left his camera behind. George grabbed
Richard Kind: "Hey, pal. Everyone's mooned into Harry's camera. Now it's your
turn"

As Kind obliged, George managed to get his friend's head in the picture along
with everything else. A few days later there was a call from a puzzled Hamlin:
"Why the hell is there a picture of Richard Kind's ass on my camera?"

George seems to like nothing better than letting it all hang out. Holidaying on
a yacht in St Tropez with some of The Boys, he gave an unsuspecting tourist an
eyeful. She says: "I glanced up, saw these bottoms and thought it was just a
bunch of lads. But one bloke was absolutely gorgeous. So I had a second look
and realised it was George Clooney. Naturally, I swam closer to enjoy the
fantastic view."

With friends and a packed filming schedule, it's hardly surprising George
doesn't have the time to devote to a serious relationship. He's got two films
out this year alone - Solaris out now and Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind,
released on March 14.

But there's always time for The Boys. Ex-girlfriend Celine refuses to criticise
George but it's telling that just two days after celebrating his 37th birthday
with her, he took the group off to Florida for a week's holiday - no women
included.

George's knack of making friends has helped propel him through the notoriously
bitchy world of Hollywood.

WHEN he was producing Ocean's Eleven - the hit remake of the Frank Sinatra film
- George was determined everyone should have fun.

"We only wanted to have people who play nice" he says. His idea of fun?
Introducing farting contests. It wasn't everyone's idea of a good time but it
suited George.

"Brad Pitt and George thought they'd try it while we were on a plane," says
screenwriter Ted Griffin. "When you're at 30,000ft and can't open a window,
it's really upsetting."

Brad remembers the filming. "Off-camera, it was basketball games, backgammon,
playing poker - jokes."

Now he's reached the top, it's easy for George to have life exactly the way he
wants. But part of the reason for his success and popularity is quite simply
that he's always been his own man.

"This town is run by fear but I've always had a line that I will not cross. It
may have cost me some jobs but at least I can look myself in the mirror every
morning," he says.

Three Kings producer Paul Junger says: "George is what we used to call a 'ride
back guy' - the one in the westerns who'd ride back and get you if you were
shot off your horse."

Old friend Bonnie Hunt sums it up differently: "George really, really wants to
be Frank Sinatra. He's the guy who takes care of everything, leads the pack,
includes all the guys in his success.

"Success would be horrible for him without his friends around."
Katiedot
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Post by Michelle meyers Mon 19 Mar 2012, 20:55

WOW!! THAT would be a nice change from a clingy (soon to be ex) husband. " what are we doing tonight" can i go to the grocery store with you" he's like a Pomerianian yapping at my leg. I know my mom has a Pomerian headbang

" Fine be off with the boys..... ( i want my own motorcycle one day ( wish wish ) anyways. I'd be off on my Ninja faster than they get a start on their boys harley trip ) LOL Gotta dash

riding with him occassionally would be nice... of course Very Happy
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Post by Maggy Mon 19 Mar 2012, 21:10

Wow, what a long article.
It was fun to read it, thanks Katie.

I think life is a learning process, some learn faster than others and some don't care to learn, but eventually all we learned makes us what we are.

I think Mr. Clooney has traveled a long road and learned plenty from
it. He is in my opinion more than ready to commit. When he finds his
match he will not hesitate to commit, IMO.
Maggy
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Post by it's me Mon 19 Mar 2012, 21:23

thanks
really nice article Very Happy
it's me
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Post by Lakin460 Mon 19 Mar 2012, 22:23

Thanks for the posting, Katie. Really enjoyed a more in depth reveal of his relationship. The stories I'd heard before, but the cnotext fills some gaps for me.
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Post by Astras Wed 21 Mar 2012, 04:45

George obviously derives contentment and stability when he is surrounded by trust worthy friends. He did say the quality he values most in a man is loyalty. Actually, it's the quality he values most in a woman as well - and I love that he values it equally in men and women.

I have a theory that many of the women he's dated have been at a point in their lives where they don't quite understand the emotional needs George's friends fulfill for him - and this contributes to the inevitable break-up. I wonder if his GFs feel as though they are in competition with The Boys? I mean, they probably are, but a secure woman who values herself for herself and not because she's attached to a powerful man wouldn't feel threatened by George's relationship with the guys. She would understand that someone in George's position needs to be with people he feels *safe* with. I'm not saying his GF's DO eventually end up feeling threatened, but you really have to wonder if his close knit relationships with his long time pals doesn't eventually wear thin with the GFs. Maybe that's why George should try dating an older woman - we are less clingy and don't expect to be the object of unlimited attention and focus. lol!

Good read!
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