George Clooney says Kennedy Center Honor 'a genuinely exciting surprise for the whole Clooney family'

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

George Clooney says Kennedy Center Honor 'a genuinely exciting surprise for the whole Clooney family'
91.7 WVXU | By John Kiesewetter
Published July 21, 2022 at 12:05 PM EDT





[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]




George Clooney will receive the Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime artistic achievement this fall.

George Clooney, whose Augusta Independent High School was too tiny to field a football team, says he never dreamed of being honored at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
"Growing up in a small town in Kentucky I could never have imagined that someday I’d be the one sitting in the balcony at the Kennedy Center Honors," said Clooney, who will receive the 45^th annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement later this year with iconic soul singer Gladys Knight, Christian pop singer-songwriter Amy Grant, Cuban-born American composer-conductor Tania León, and members of the Irish rock band U2.
"To be mentioned in the same breath with the rest of these incredible artists is an honor. This is a genuinely exciting surprise for the whole Clooney family,” said Clooney, 61, in a statement provided by CBS, which will telecast the ceremony later this year.
Clooney, 61, was born in Lexington and grew up in Fort Mitchell, Mason and Augusta while his father worked as an entertainer and TV newsman for WLWT-TV, WCPO-TV and WKRC-TV. The 1979 Augusta Independent High School graduate went to Hollywood in 1982.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]




George Clooney and his father Nick toured Darfur in 2006 to film a documentary about genocide.

In his 40-year career as an actor, producer and director, he has won two Academy Awards (Syriana, Argo); the American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award; the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Bob Hope Humanitarian Award; the 2007 Peace Summit Award from the World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates; the 2010 Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award; and the 2021 International Freedom Conductor Award with his wife, Amal, from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center last October.
Soon after winning an Oscar for Syriana in 2006, George and his father went to Darfur to film a documentary about the genocide there. He later discussed his experiences with the United Nations Security Council, and in the White House with President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden.
In 2007, he also co-founded Not On Our Watch, a non-profit which highlighted mass atrocities worldwide, which merged with The Sentry in 2019. The United Nations appointed Clooney a United Nations Messager of Peace in 2008 to raise awareness of the UN's peacekeeping efforts. In 2016, George and Amal established their Clooney Foundation for Justice.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]




Vice President joe Biden meets with George Clooney in the White House in Washington. on Feb. 23, 2009.

George's humanitarian efforts also include producing three telethons: The Tribute to Heroes (after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks), Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope, and Hope for Haiti Now.
His Emmy-nominated performance on NBC's hit ER in the early 1990s paved the way for Clooney to star in, direct and/or produce dozens of shows, such as his Ocean's Eleven trilogy, Gravity, The Ides of March (filmed here in 2011), Michael Clayton, Up In The Air, The Descendants, The Perfect Storm, Fail Safe, Leatherheads, Monuments Men (which included a cameo by his father) and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
“Whether saving humanity, masterminding a heist or captaining a ship in dangerous seas, actor George Clooney’s unique brand of earnest charisma and his complete embodiment of a character has led us to root for him every time," said David M. Rubenstein, Kennedy Center chairman, in the announcement Thursday.
Rubenstein also praised the other 2022 Honorees:
Amy Grant: "Multiplatinum singer-songwriter Amy Grant became the first artist to bring contemporary Christian music to the forefront of American culture, then equally thrived after crossing over into mainstream pop with hit after hit, and today is revered as the 'Queen of Christian Pop.' ”
Gladys Knight: "In her 55-year music career, legendary singer and America’s beloved 'Empress of Soul' Gladys Knight went from the Pips of Georgia to Grammy royalty, showcasing a boundless vocal range and soulfulness that has stood the test of time."
Tania León: "A brave, young Cuban refugee-turned-Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and music ambassador, Tania León has blessed America for more than five decades with her astoundingly original compositions and continues to be a major influence on classical music."
U2: "One of most influential rock bands of the modern rock era, U2 won over America and the world long ago with their iconic anthems, potent lyrics and powerful messages of social justice and global citizenship — earning a musical legacy that crosses generations, inspires and unites.”
Clooney also has five Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award; four Screen Actors Guild awards; two Critics’ Choice Awards; and one Emmy Award. He was also named one of People magazine's People of the Year in 2020. (The magazine also honored him as the "sexiest man alive" in 1997 and 2006.)
He's currently working on a feature-length documentary for HBO and HBO Max about allegations by hundreds of former Ohio State University male student athletes that they were sexually abused by Dr. Richard Strauss, the team doctor from 1978 to 1998.
Ticket to Paradise, his romantic comedy with Julia Roberts, is scheduled for release in theaters Oct. 21.
CBS usually tape the Kennedy Center Honors in fall and broadcasts the special in December.