Anthony Edwards and George Clooney: A tale of two TV doctors

I was always a fan of Anthony Edwards. When ER started I liked his character better. I will always have a soft spot for him.


Anthony Edwards and George Clooney: A tale of two TV doctors


While George Clooney has become a Hollywood icon, Anthony Edwards returns to TV Feb. 14 in Zero Hour

On Sept. 19, 1994, NBC (and CTV) debuted a new medical drama, ER, which immediately shot to No. 1 in the U.S. ratings and remained within the top five for eight of its 15 seasons.
It featured a large ensemble of fresh-faced, relatively unknown young actors, notably and most prominently, Anthony Edwards and George Clooney.
Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC and Global, Edwards is back on TV in what is frankly a not very good new series, Zero Hour.
And Clooney has become a Hollywood icon, humanitarian and producing/directing/writing major marquee movie megastar.
This is a tale of two careers, intersecting on opposite trajectories. It also may have something to do with male pattern baldness.
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1984: Edwards had the early edge, starting with his co-starring role in the hit campus comedy Revenge of the Nerds. Clooney had by this time survived several failed pilots to play a minor role on a short-lived sitcom, coincidentally also entitled E/R (with a slash). It lasted barely a season.
1986: Edwards scores big time as the doomed fighter pilot Nick “Goose” Bradshaw in the box-office blockbuster Top Gun. Clooney is in his second season as handyman George Burnett on the sitcom Facts of Life.
1988: Following his 1987 cameo in Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, Edwards has lead roles in several marginal movies, including Mr. North and Miracle Mile.
After one-episode appearances on Golden Girls and Murder She Wrote, Clooney gets his major break as factory supervisor “Booker” Brooks on the first season of Roseanne. On the other hand, he also co-stars in Return of the Killer Tomatoes!
1992: Edwards co-stars in Pet Sematary II and appears in one season of TV’s Northern Exposure as Mike Monroe, an allergy-prone environmentalist living in a geodesic dome.
Clooney appears in five episodes of Baby Talk, a single-season sitcom spinoff of the Look Who’s Talking movies, and following that, all 16 aired episodes of the cop drama Bodies of Evidence, and all 19 of Sisters.
1994: The debut of ER. Both become major TV stars.
1996: Edwards stars as convicted killer Dick Hickock in a TV-movie remake of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.
Clooney stars in Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s horror comedy From Dusk Till Dawn.
1997: Clooney plays the title role in The Peacemaker and is widely ridiculed as the third Batman in the movie Batman & Robin. He nonetheless is named People magazine’s “Sexiest Man of the Year,” and would be again in 2006.
1998: Edwards appears about halfway down the cast list of the romantic dramedy feature Playing by Heart, starring Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie.
1999: Clooney leaves ER to focus on his film career and immediately lands the co-starring role opposite Jennifer Lopez in the romantic crime thriller Out of Sight, securing his status as a major movie star.
2000: Edwards narrates the animated short The Island of the Skog.
Clooney applies his escalating movie-star status to executive-produce a TV remake of the Cold War drama Fail Safe, live to air and in black and white, in the tradition of classic TV anthologies like Playhouse 90. It wins two technical Emmys and a nomination for director Stephen Frears.
2001: Edwards leaves ER to spend more time with his family, as his character, Dr. Mark Greene, dramatically dies from a brain tumour. The hiatus from acting effectively kills what’s left of his career.
In his nine seasons on ER he earned four Emmy nominations, winning none, and four Golden Globes, winning one.
Clooney has by this point starred in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Perfect Storm and Ocean’s Eleven. He makes his directing debut with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Far from Heaven, his fifth film as an executive producer, is nominated for three Oscars.
2004: Edwards returns to the big screen to play “Brains” in Thunderbirds, a live-action remake of the puppet-animated British sci-fi show of the mid-1960s. He also has a supporting role in the Julianne Moore thriller The Forgotten.
2005: Clooney makes his feature screenwriting debut as writer/director of Good Night, and Good Luck.
2007: Edwards co-stars in David Fincher’s Zodiac.
After travelling to Darfur, Clooney produces and narrates the documentary Sand and Sorrow, chronicling the efforts of humanitarian activists.
2008: The United Nations officially designates Clooney as a Messenger of Peace.
2009: Edwards runs the New York City Marathon to raise funds for Shoe4Africa, a non-profit charity of which he is chairman, dedicated to building the largest public children’s hospital in Africa and providing shoes for Kenyan athletes.
Let’s stop there. The comparison ceased being valid or fair several paragraphs back. No actor on Earth could possibly parallel the stellar celebrity and associated influence of someone like George Clooney, or for that matter his hair.

Edwards’ happily sacrificed his career trajectory for more personal priorities. More power to him. And hopefully he will also survive the more than likely embarrassing failure of Zero Hour.

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failure? why the hel arel they saying that?!?

This gossip rag has redefined failure. Anthony Edwards mainly retired after ER in 2008 to be family man with his wife of almost 20 years, (she is the creator of Stila Cosmetics) and their four children. He has only done a few things since. His new show may end up being bad, mid-season replacement have a higher failure rate, but George has also had a few clinkers since - Batman and Robin anyone?

I know George is wonderful, but if your choice is to raise four kids, not a continued successful career then it should be applauded not deemed a failure. If you ask me I think Anthony may have chosen the more fulfilling and rewarding path. Sorry this story just really bugged me.

I'm with you Madsky. They're basically evaluating him on his acting work credits and not on anything else.

Frankly, I think looks had the most to do with the difference, in addition to the fact he obviously chose his family over pursuing mega fame. Neither man is an exceptional actor, the calibre of Daniel Day Lewis or Phillip S Hauffman. George has looks and oozes sex appeal. Anthony, not so much.

The choices people make determine how we live our lives. George got off ER while still at the height of his popularity. Anthony and Noah stayed too long. Julianne, as a woman, had even fewer opportunities after ER since women have such a short shelf life in Hollywood. She tried with movies and just never clicked. Now, in her late 40's she is playing a sexy and well rounded character on my favorite TV show.

So who knows. Not only will Anthony have a loving family, maybe he will find his niche in Hollywood now. Seems to me, he would probably stick with his life versus George's never ending assembly line of barbie dolls and papparazzi wherever he goes.

four children? wow!!

I totally agree. He's only a 'failure' in terms of box office success. But there are many, many ways of succeeding in life, and almost none of them include the ability to get People magazine to rate you as sexiest person alive.

In terms of acting, Anthony Edwards has been tremendously successful. We forget that the failure rate in acting is around 99%. He beat the odds, is well-known (if not mega famous) and continues to find work in a profession where 99% of his colleagues don't.

That in itself is a huge success.

They were great together in ER. I wish him all the success for Anthony Edwards in his acting career. George has been very successful in his acting, producing,and comercials. Anyway I wish both of them more success and a great acting career. bg

Granted Anthony hasn't really had "box office " success, and at his age now he might not, but he has had tremendous success on american television, as I feel ER was as much him or more him than George. Since it was a big success while Anthony was the lead on it- no George, and then he didn't work at all. I think that was by choice, as I am sure with his success from ER he could have gotten some parts. Look at his IMDB page very little work for years. I remember when he left ER he said it was for family, and I think that is success.

I watched his new show, Zero Hour, last night, and he is still a very good actor. There was a lot of hype for a show that was a mediocre concept, who knows though it may get better, if not hope he does something else.

I watched as well thanks to Silly Girl finding the article. Sadly, I think the critics are correct; it's a great idea but I don't think the writing was great and, more than that, it's a series you'll need to watch every week and Americans don't seem to have that level of focus anymore. Add to that, ABC is apparently notorious for starting then canceling new series. He seems like such a wonderful man, I hope it gets better and is given a chance.

me too !!!