In the beginning...
Despite his famous aunt - singer Rosemary Clooney - and his famous dad - newsreader Nick - becoming famous wasn't a birthright for George, who admits he struggled to find his niche in life.

"I sold suits, insurance, drew caricatures at a mall, sold women's shoes, stumbled through a million things and ended up on a movie set because someone said, ‘You really ought to give acting a shot,'" the actor reveals of the early days. "I couldn't live with the idea of just being Nick Clooney and Rosemary Clooney's relative all my life. I needed success or failure on my own. I had to make a name for myself."

The infamous "boys"
George's hellraising past involved hanging out with "The Boys" - "The greatest support group ever".

Sleeping in bit-part actor Thom Mathews' closet when he first arrived in LA with Dhs2,500 in his pocket, George slummed it for eight months, revealing, "We took a bunk- bed mattress and laid it on the floor of the walk-in closet in Thom's small apartment. I lived in that closet, and it was the greatest time of my life. Because of it, Thom will always be my best friend."

"We are what makes him George," revealed ‘boys' stalwart Richard Kind - Spin City's Paul. "Everything else makes him George Clooney."

Disastrous First Marriage George's relationship with actress Talia Balsam (left) lasted three years, and he married her after splitting from Kelly Preston - now John Travolta's wife.

Famously vowing never to marry again after the painful split from Talia, George revealed, "She was the girl I chased and was in love with, the girl I always wanted to marry. I was 28 and in Kentucky when you get to be that age, you're supposed to get married, and you know exactly what the marriage should be like... Maybe I wasn't ready to be married. It was my fault all the way down the line."

The Max years'
Following the split in 1992, George lived in LA with his legendary pot-bellied pig, Max, for company for the next 18 years, until Max's death in 2006. Famously ending his relationship with French school teacher Celine Balitran, who lost her "me or the pig" ultimatum, and taking Max on John Travolta's private jet, George often joked - "[Max is] my longest relationship to date."

And the actor cultivated his bachelor lifestyle with Sunday meet-ups with the boys Chez Clooney - "Everybody comes by and everybody plays basketball, and we're all really close and really supportive of one another."

Cementing the legend
With his super-cool Ocean's buddies, his incredible villa on Lake Como, the enviable relationship with his ex, Renee Zellweger, and, of course, the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Syriana, George has spent the past few years creating an international persona that's half-Frank Sinatra/half-monk - and he's succeeded!

Making the transition from pretty boy actor to Oscar-nominated director - not to mention becoming one of only three men, alongside Brad and Richard Gere to be named World's Sexiest Man, twice - George worked his way to the top of the Hollywood food chain, with his now legendary sense of humour keeping him there. Well, who couldn't like a man who says, "[Ocean's Twelve] was fun, we had a great time. Fun people, except for Julia. We don't like her, or her twins."

Right here, right now
Now, aged 46 and Oscar nominated for a second time for Michael Clayton, George is firmly at the top of his game and may finally have found a woman he could settle down with - 29-year-old Sarah Larson.

Pals claim George has asked the former waitress to move in with him, revealing, "She has made him very happy because she has a great sense of humour and doesn't stress him out."

And then there's that UN role which has seen George named as a United Nations Peace Envy, recognised for his work in bringing attention to the troubles in Darfur.

"You hope that somehow... if you just shine a really bright light on these things it's harder to get away with it," said George. "An Oscar's a nice thing to have in your life, but this isn't just sort of an honour, it's a responsibility."

Clooney tunes
On money: "You don't spend your money like it's gonna keep coming in. You pay off your house."

Carpe diem: "Anybody who knows me knows I actually live for the moment."

Learning humility: "I was very lucky to get well known much later on in life. You need to have flopped quite a few times to get a sense of how little any of it has to do with you."

Tackling politics: "I'm pretty good at the fight. Which is to say I've learned, over the years, how to fight these things