The (Not So) Secret TV Past of George Clooney: The Golden Girls, Street Hawk, The Facts of Life and More

Take a walk down memory lane and examine the Oscar winner's early roles

By Chris Harnick Jun 04, 2014 5:23 PMTags
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George Clooney, Oscar winner. George Clooney, The Facts of Life star. They are the same person. Your favorite A-list actors weren't always on the top of the heap. Let's explore the (not so) secret TV past of your favorite stars.

Clooney's first film appearance was in 1982 as an extra in And They're Off. Following his big screen debut, he hit TV with roles Riptide and Street Hawk. In 1984 he booked E/R, not to be confused with the breakout drama ER, and continued his guest-starring spree, hopping around everywhere from The Golden Girls to Murder, She Wrote. Series regular and recurring roles came around—Bodies of Evidence, Sisters and Roseanne being a few of them—but everybody recalls Clooney's defining TV role on ER as Dr. Doug Ross. Swoon.

The big screen came calling and Clooney answered with roles in One Fine Day, Up in the Air, Syriana, Ocean's Twelve and Gravity. He returned to the small screen twice. Once in 2000, a year after he left ER, to help co-star Julianna Margulies leave the series and again in 2009 alongside Margulies and Susan Sarandon in the final season of ER.

Let's take a look at Clooney's TV past.

E/R (1984-1985)
Before ER there was E/R. The comedy about an emergency room featured Clooney in a recurring role as Mark "Ace" Kolmar, Nurse Joan Thor's (Conchata Ferrell) nephew who works with the paramedics.

Street Hawk (1985)
One of Clooney's first major acting roles, Street Hawk followed a crimefighter who had a special motorcycle.

The Facts of Life (1985-1987)
George! Clooney played handyman George Burnett, who was hired to help rebuild Edna's Edibles. He's ultimately fired, but hangs around with the former Eastland students.

Combat High (1986)
Also known as Combat Academy, the 1986 movie, which aired on NBC, hailed from the creator of Police Academy and featured Clooney as Cadet Major Biff Woods.

The Golden Girls (1987)
Clooney got his cop on in this classic 1987 episode of the long-running sitcom. He used the girls' house to stake out their neighbors who were suspected jewel thieves.

Roseanne (1988-1991)
Clooney played Booker Brooks, the foreman at Wellman Plastics where Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) worked at the start of the series. He dated Jackie in secret.

Baby Talk (1991)
Clooney was a regular in this Look Who's Talking follow-up and only appeared in the first season. When it returned for season two, there was a complete cast shake-up, but even that didn't save the series.

Sisters (1993-1994)
Clooney recurred during the fourth and fifth season of the popular drama as Detective James Falconer. His character, a recovering alcoholic, would later marry Teddy (Sela Ward), but was killed with a car bomb before a big trial.

ER (1994-1999, 2000, 2009)
Last but not least, ER. Clooney played Dr. Doug Ross from 1994 to 1999 and became a household name. He reprised the role again in 2000 and 2009.