Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
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Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
Here's a nice look at George's childhood:
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George Clooney developed star power in Mason
Posted by rrichardson
October 11th, 2011
“The Ides of March” opened No. 2 at the box office last weekend with $10.4 million, behind Hugh Jackman’s “Real Steel” robots ($27.3 million).
USA Today said that the film, “considered an early Oscar contender,” marked a “solid debut” for George Clooney’s political thriller set in the Cincinnati area.
But long before he became a national star, George Clooney already showed star quality while living in Mason with his family from 1968 to 1974.
While in Mason, the Clooneys — Nick and Nina, son George and his older sister, Ada — lived in an old farm house across from Western Row Golf Course. George attended school at both Western Row Elementary School and St. Susanna, where he served as an altar boy.
It was in Mason that George began to perfect his talent for deflecting trouble and disarming rivals by making them laugh, as reported in a 2006 Enquirer story by reporters John Kiesewetter and Margaret McGurk
“When George was 8 years old, he was diagnosed with dyslexia,” his mother said. “It wasn’t debilitating. I had it, too, as a child. It was something you grew out of, and he did.”
Like most bright dyslexics, she said, he learned to compensate. “George got through school by charming his teachers,” she said.
Classmate Ann Harpen remembers George facing some less-than-friendly attitudes among other children.
“George was very hyper in grade school,” she said. “Some of the kids were not real nice to him,” she said. “His father was this famous TV anchorman, and some kids were mean to him because of that. That’s why he and my brother (Pete) got to be good friends. My brother was never like that.”
John Romer, now a vice president at Fifth Third Bank, remembers serving Mass as a St. Susanna altar boy alongside George.
“George and his sister were always very conscious of social issues, and his parents were strong influences on the person he is today,” Romer said. “George would strongly defend his positions and argue logically and passionately. The ongoing debates between George and (conservative talk show host) Bill O’Reilly are easy to understand. But George was never combative. He was the person you wanted to be with and laugh with.”
“In my opinion, George is now making millions of dollars doing the same things he did in Mason,” said Perry Denehy, now head athletic trainer at Sycamore High School, who was a close friend during the years when the Clooneys lived in Mason. “George always had all the props, like rubber chickens and whoopee cushions.
“I always thought Pete Harpen and I gave him a run for his money,” Denehy said. “The three of us emceed an evening talent show, and I got to stick a whipped cream pie into George’s face during our ‘Three Stooges’ act.”
“I have always felt that I gave George his start in show biz,” said Carol Rauch, an associate academic director at the University of Cincinnati. “I was a first-year teacher at Western Row Elementary School in Mason 1969-70 when George was in second grade there. For the Christmas program, George and Ada were my featured performers in a play I wrote called ‘When the Toys Came to Life.’ When the play opened, they were sitting on the front of the stage singing ‘Dear Santa, I just got the measles,’ covered with red dots.”
The Clooney family moved from Mason to Augusta when George was midway through seventh grade. George missed St. Susanna so much that he made his way back to Mason for the eighth-grade graduation, posing with his old friends in their class picture.
“I have no idea how he did that,” Nina said. “But there he is in the picture. He’s wearing an open-collar shirt and the rest of the boys are in jackets and ties.”
Katiedot- Admin
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
Thanks Katie. Nice story.
melbert- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
Thanks. I just love that story of George travelling all the way back to his old school to be photographed in their class photo. And none of the teachers noticed?!
Katiedot- Admin
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
Lovely story. Says a lot aout GC's character, and how it must have been hard to keep moving schools. Always unsettling for a child. I seem to remember that that is the school he always refers to in interviews
party animal - not!- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
Katiedot wrote:Thanks. I just love that story of George travelling all the way back to his old school to be photographed in their class photo. And none of the teachers noticed?!
I think that the teachers knew, they just let George get away with it, all because he was Nick Clooney's son. Nina told me that the family moved from Mason to Augusta, Kentucky, in December of 1974, in the middle of George's eighth grade. In the Catholic parochial school system (I also am an alumnus of the Catholic parochial school system), the school goes from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. Since George moved in the middle of the school year, and it was his last year in grade school, no wonder he was so homesick for his former schoolmates.
MM- Ooh, Mr Clooney!
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
homesick for his former schoolmates
poor thing
poor thing
it's me- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
I can relate. In my 13 years of school, K-12, I went to 8 different schools, not always in the same town. Hard to make and keep friends when you have to move in the middle of the school year...
melbert- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
similar article like above wonder why they repost it again?
George Clooney developed star power in Mason
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The Monuments Men," starring George Clooney, opened in theaters earlier this year, grossing a solid $7 million at the box office in its first weekend.
The film is the latest directing effort of the Hollywood heartthrob, who's received eight Academy Award nominations and won two Oscars for best supporting actor and directing.
But it wasn't always bright lights and red carpets for Clooney, who lived in Mason from 1968-74. In Mason, he was simply George Timothy, Nick's kid, the cut-up who'd do anything for a laugh. "When I watch a George Clooney movie, I don't see him acting; I see him acting his normal self," said Perry Denehy, an athletic trainer at Sycamore High School, and a close friend during the years when the Clooneys lived in Mason. "In my opinion, George is now making millions of dollars doing the same things he did in Mason."
While in Mason, the Clooneys – Nick and Nina, son George and his older sister, Ada – lived in an old farm house across from Western Row Golf Course. George attended school at both Western Row Elementary and St. Susanna, where he served as an altar boy.
Even then, George was somewhat of a celebrity, as the son of local TV and radio personality Nick Clooney and nephew of singer and actress Rosemary Clooney, said Denehy, who still lives in Mason.
It was in Mason that George began to perfect his talent for deflecting trouble and disarming rivals by making them laugh, those who know him say.
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A young George Clooney, left, in 1967 with da, Nick, sister Ada and mother Nina.(Photo: File photo)
"When George was 8 years old, he was diagnosed with dyslexia," his mother said in 2006.
Like most bright dyslexics, she said, he learned to compensate. "George got through school by charming his teachers."
That charm wasn't lost on Carol Rauch, an adjunct professor at University of Cincinnati, who was a first-year music teacher at Western Row in Mason 1969-70 when George was in second grade.
She cast George and Ada in featured roles in a Christmas play she wrote called 'When the Toys Came to Life' in which the Clooney siblings sat on the stage, covered in red dots and wearing trap-door pajamas, singing "Dear Santa, I Just Got the Measles." "I gave George Clooney his start in show business," said Rauch with a chuckle. "He probably would have made it despite my best efforts."
"I knew putting the Clooney kids at the front of the stage would attract some attention," she continued. "I remember George was this great-looking kid, a beautiful child with gorgeous brown eyes."
Clooney's reputation as a prankster is legendary in Hollywood circles. Star Bill Murray recently told Entertainment Tonight that while shooting "Monuments Men," Clooney altered co-star Matt Damon's costumes throughout the shoot to make him think he was piling on the pounds.
The 52-year-old Clooney's antics don't surprise Denehy, who said he, George, and another classmate, Pete Harpen, often vied for the title of class clown. George, he remembers, always seemed to have rubber chickens and whoopee cushions. "If someone had a joke, it was almost copyrighted. There were plenty of times where he used my material," said Denehy. "I didn't have his looks, but I still had his wit and humor and was better than him at some one-liners."
But Denehy would have his revenge: "We were emcees of a talent show and did comedy skits. In every one of the skits, I got to hit George with a shaving cream pie to the face."
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Clooney’s 1974-1975 class photo(Photo: Provided by Lee Czerwonka)
The Clooney family moved from Mason to Augusta in seventh grade. George missed St. Susanna so much that he made his way back to Mason for the eighth-grade graduation, posing with his friends in their class picture.
"I have no idea how he did that," Nina said. "But there he is in the picture. He's wearing an open-collar shirt and the rest of the boys are in jackets and ties."
While George is often regarded as a native son of Kentucky, he'll always have a place in Mason history, said Denehy.
"We were pretty social, that eighth-grade class. We still consider George to be part of the graduating eighth-grade year."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
George Clooney developed star power in Mason
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The Monuments Men," starring George Clooney, opened in theaters earlier this year, grossing a solid $7 million at the box office in its first weekend.
The film is the latest directing effort of the Hollywood heartthrob, who's received eight Academy Award nominations and won two Oscars for best supporting actor and directing.
But it wasn't always bright lights and red carpets for Clooney, who lived in Mason from 1968-74. In Mason, he was simply George Timothy, Nick's kid, the cut-up who'd do anything for a laugh. "When I watch a George Clooney movie, I don't see him acting; I see him acting his normal self," said Perry Denehy, an athletic trainer at Sycamore High School, and a close friend during the years when the Clooneys lived in Mason. "In my opinion, George is now making millions of dollars doing the same things he did in Mason."
While in Mason, the Clooneys – Nick and Nina, son George and his older sister, Ada – lived in an old farm house across from Western Row Golf Course. George attended school at both Western Row Elementary and St. Susanna, where he served as an altar boy.
Even then, George was somewhat of a celebrity, as the son of local TV and radio personality Nick Clooney and nephew of singer and actress Rosemary Clooney, said Denehy, who still lives in Mason.
It was in Mason that George began to perfect his talent for deflecting trouble and disarming rivals by making them laugh, those who know him say.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
A young George Clooney, left, in 1967 with da, Nick, sister Ada and mother Nina.(Photo: File photo)
"When George was 8 years old, he was diagnosed with dyslexia," his mother said in 2006.
Like most bright dyslexics, she said, he learned to compensate. "George got through school by charming his teachers."
That charm wasn't lost on Carol Rauch, an adjunct professor at University of Cincinnati, who was a first-year music teacher at Western Row in Mason 1969-70 when George was in second grade.
She cast George and Ada in featured roles in a Christmas play she wrote called 'When the Toys Came to Life' in which the Clooney siblings sat on the stage, covered in red dots and wearing trap-door pajamas, singing "Dear Santa, I Just Got the Measles." "I gave George Clooney his start in show business," said Rauch with a chuckle. "He probably would have made it despite my best efforts."
"I knew putting the Clooney kids at the front of the stage would attract some attention," she continued. "I remember George was this great-looking kid, a beautiful child with gorgeous brown eyes."
Clooney's reputation as a prankster is legendary in Hollywood circles. Star Bill Murray recently told Entertainment Tonight that while shooting "Monuments Men," Clooney altered co-star Matt Damon's costumes throughout the shoot to make him think he was piling on the pounds.
The 52-year-old Clooney's antics don't surprise Denehy, who said he, George, and another classmate, Pete Harpen, often vied for the title of class clown. George, he remembers, always seemed to have rubber chickens and whoopee cushions. "If someone had a joke, it was almost copyrighted. There were plenty of times where he used my material," said Denehy. "I didn't have his looks, but I still had his wit and humor and was better than him at some one-liners."
But Denehy would have his revenge: "We were emcees of a talent show and did comedy skits. In every one of the skits, I got to hit George with a shaving cream pie to the face."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Clooney’s 1974-1975 class photo(Photo: Provided by Lee Czerwonka)
The Clooney family moved from Mason to Augusta in seventh grade. George missed St. Susanna so much that he made his way back to Mason for the eighth-grade graduation, posing with his friends in their class picture.
"I have no idea how he did that," Nina said. "But there he is in the picture. He's wearing an open-collar shirt and the rest of the boys are in jackets and ties."
While George is often regarded as a native son of Kentucky, he'll always have a place in Mason history, said Denehy.
"We were pretty social, that eighth-grade class. We still consider George to be part of the graduating eighth-grade year."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Nicky80- Casamigos with Mr Clooney
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
similar article like above wonder why they repost it again?
Because George is running for mayor.
Way2Old4Dis- Mastering the tao of Clooney
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
Now we're talking
Nicky80- Casamigos with Mr Clooney
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Re: Mason buzz: George Clooney developed star power in Mason, Ohio
I'm glad they didn't let the facts get in the way of a good story.
melbert- George Clooney fan forever!
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