Back in 2003, fan played cruel hoax on George

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Cruel hoax dismissed by Clooneys as 'bad apple'

By SCOTT WARTMAN-Staff Writer Ledger Independent | Posted: Saturday, January 11, 2003 1:00 am

George Clooney ...A 15-year-old girl, dying of cancer.

An actor, one of the most popular and powerful stars in the movie industry, learns of her illness and takes a special interest in her, sending flowers, notes and movie memorabilia. He even plans to fly his private jet to her hometown to see her, but she dies just hours before he can make the trip.

It's a touching story to be sure, one that sounds as if it came from a Hollywood script. But, according to the actor's family, although the star's generosity was real, the dying girl never existed.

George Clooney and his family hoped they had put an end to an apparent hoax orchestrated by a Norcross, Ga., woman, Nick Clooney said Thursday.

This week, however, letters were sent from the woman who identified herself as Gina Carr to The Ledger Independent and other newspapers thanking George Clooney for helping her recently deceased daughter Cindy - who Nick Clooney said doesn't exist.

"My daughter Cindy passed away Sept. 17, 2002, after a two-year-long battle with cancer," Carr wrote. "Prior to her death, her life was made happier due to the generosity of George Clooney and his assistants, Angel McConnell and Amy Cohen."

For a good portion of last year, Nick Clooney said George sent Carr gifts and kept in contact with her, hoping to arrange a meeting with her daughter whom he thought had cancer. Nick Clooney said Carr had used two voices on the phone, one for herself and another for her "daughter."

"He (George) was very concerned," Nick Clooney said. "This woman had convinced him her daughter was dying of cancer."

Every time George Clooney and Carr would try to meet in person, Nick Clooney said, Carr would make an excuse. Eventually, George Clooney said he was going to fly to Norcross and meet her personally, Nick Clooney said. About 15 minutes after receiving that call, Nick Clooney said his son received a call back from Carr informing him that Cindy Carr had died. At that point, his son became suspicious, Nick Clooney said.

After calling local media and various people in the area, George Clooney determined there never was a Cindy Carr, Nick Clooney said. The actor has since talked to Carr and agreed no charges will be pressed so long as they never talk to each other again, he said.

Carr denied the death was a hoax, but refused to provide any evidence her daughter existed, such as the funeral home that took care of the arrangements or an obituary from a local newspaper recounting her daughter's death.

"I am taken aback," Carr said.

Carr also claimed her daughter was a member of the Starlight Foundation, a group devoted to granting the wishes of sick children, but the foundation office in Georgia has no record of ever having any contact with Carr or her daughter. Phone messages left at the Los Angeles headquarters of the organization were not returned.

Nick Clooney said he thought the matter was over until letters were sent to The Ledger Independent and The Bracken County News thanking George Clooney for his generosity to her late daughter. The letter was published on the editorial page in Thursday's issue of The Ledger Independent.

In addition to the letter, The Bracken County News received some pages from a journal allegedly written by Cindy Carr, a photo allegedly of Cindy Carr in a casket and a suspicious-looking memorial card, said the paper's Editor Libby Estill.

She said the photograph of the girl in the casket made her suspicious, because the girl looked too old for a teenager.

"This 15-year-old has crow's feet," Estill said.

Nick Clooney said he isn't concerned about the re-appearance of the hoax. It is better that it be a hoax, than a real sick girl, he said.

While his son has been the target of hoaxes before, Nick Clooney said this was the most convincing.

"This one was very well done," he said. "She was quite good at that."

The experience has not soured him or his son on the fan letters they receive, Nick Clooney said.

"This is that one bad apple we cannot allow to contaminate the rest," he said. "We can't allow ourselves to become cynical."

George Clooney was unavailable for comment Friday and his assistants said they could not comment on the incident.

fava wrote:Hate to say it, but a lot of his practical jokes sound almost as bad as this!