Nick Clooney

Nick Clooney
Nick Clooney, 2006
Born	(1934-01-13) January 13, 1934 Maysville, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Journalist, Politician, Anchorman, Game Show host
Spouse	Nina Warren (m. 1939, present) 2 children
Children	George Clooney and Ada Clooney

Nicholas Clooney (born January 13, 1934) is an American television journalist, anchorman and game show host, as well as a politician from the state of Kentucky. He is the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney, and the father of actor/film director George Clooney.

Early Life

Clooney was born Nicholas Joseph Clooney in Maysville, Kentucky, the son of Frances Marie (née Guilfoyle) and Andrew Joseph Clooney. After a stint in the Army where he achieved a non-commissioned rank of Corporal, he moved to California for a try at show business. When that did not work out, Clooney moved to Ohio, where he met his wife, Nina, when she was a contestant in a beauty pageant he was judging.

Broadcasting and Journalism Career

Clooney had a five-year stint as a news anchor in Lexington, Kentucky, then went to Ohio to host his own TV show, the "Nick Clooney Show", first in Columbus, Ohio for WLWC television in the late 60s, then for Cincinnati's WCPO Channel 9 in 1969, and finally with its greatest degree of success for Cincinnati's WKRC-TV Channel 12 through the early 70s. The "Nick Clooney Show" was a local morning show, with a variety and talk-show format. In 1974, he gained his first national fame by hosting the short-lived ABC daytime game show The Money Maze.

After the non-renewal of the Money Maze, Clooney became the news director and anchor for WKRC-TV, then an ABC affiliate, and the former home of his talk and variety show. As a journalist, he is probably best remembered for his hard-hitting coverage of the 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire and its aftermath, which stretched for several years. Many people in the region first heard about the fire from Clooney when WKRC interrupted its Saturday night prime time schedule to broadcast news of the fire. Clooney pursued a hard news focus that was quite different from the sensationalism often seen on local TV. Under his leadership, WKRC-TV became a solid #1 in the local news ratings, dethroning CBS affiliate WCPO, which had controlled ratings for more than two decades under Al Schottelkotte's leadership. After leaving WKRC in 1984, Clooney worked in Los Angeles, California as the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. co-anchor at KNBC-TV, and Salt Lake City, Utah, as an anchor. he returned to WKRC-TV in the late 1980s, but by that time, the NBC affiliate, WLWT, was #1 in the late newscast with Jerry Springer as its main anchor; Clooney was not able to lead WKRC back to ratings leadership as he had done in the past.

Clooney entered print media in 1989 with a column in The Cincinnati Post, then in 1994 after a short stint as a local NBC affiliate's news anchor in Buffalo, New York, resurfaced nationally in television as a host and researcher for the cable channel American Movie Classics, where he introduced and presented backgrounds of classic movies, along with Bob Dorian. He also worked as a presenter on a Cincinnati oldies radio station, WSAI-AM.

Run for Congress in 2004

Clooney ran as a Democrat in the 2004 election for a seat in the House of Representatives representing Kentucky's 4th Congressional District. He challenged Republican Geoff Davis for the open seat. Clooney was highly recruited to run by Ken Lucas, the outgoing Democratic congressman who had held onto the conservative district with his moderate views. With his name recognition and well-publicized endorsement from Lucas, Clooney was a big favorite to keep the seat in Democratic hands.

Early in 2004, Davis fought through a (sometimes rough) three-way Republican primary to earn the chance to face off against Clooney. Because of Clooney's standing and name recognition, Clooney was up 16 percentage points to start the race—and this according to a poll sponsored by Davis himself.

The press began to use the phrase "Heartland vs. Hollywood" to describe the race. In the home stretch, Clooney's lead began to disappear. He was dealt a blow when both The Kentucky Enquirer and the Community Press newspapers endorsed Davis.

Clooney lost the election, gaining 44% of the vote to Davis's 54%. At his concession speech on election day, he said his short career in politics was over. He went back to writing a column for The Cincinnati Post three times a week, covering a wide range of topics, until the Post's discontinuation in 2008.

Recognition

The University of Kentucky announced that it would present Clooney with an honorary degree at its 2007 commencement.

Post-Congressional Run

In 2006, Clooney and his son George travelled to Darfur, Sudan and filmed a documentary, A Journey to Darfur, which was broadcast on American cable TV as well as in England and France. In 2008 it was released on DVD with the proceeds from its sale being donated to the International Rescue Committee to help the people of Darfur. .

Clooney became a strong activist for Darfur. He has done several open forums and speeches at local high schools in Ohio & Kentucky, and has participated in different rallys for Darfur. On March 16, 2007, Clooney was awarded an honorary diploma from St. Xavier High School, the high school he attended in Cincinnati before moving to California. On October 11, 2007, Clooney visited Turpin High School in Cincinnati to talk to students about Darfur.

Clooney served as the host of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards ceremony in both 2007 and 2008.

In fall 2008, Clooney joins the faculty at American University in Washington, D.C. as American University School of Communication and Newseum Distinguished Journalist in Residence. Clooney’s appointment is part of a long-term partnership between the School of Communication and the Newseum, the interactive museum of news in Washington, D.C.

Clooney will teach Opinion Writing in fall 2008, and in spring 2009 he will teach Films that Changed Us, a new course based on his book, The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen (Atria, 2002). The book analyzes the significance of such iconic American films as The Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer, Dr. Strangelove, Stagecoach, The Graduate, Star Wars, and Saving Private Ryan.

As part of the school-Newseum partnership, Clooney will host the fifth annual AU School of Communication-Newseum Reel Journalism Film Festival and other events at the Newseum. The Newseum moved into its new $450 million home at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. in Northwest Washington in April 2008.

“After a news career that stretches back to the Eisenhower administration, I'm looking forward to joining American University’s School of Communication and the Newseum to work with a new generation of prospective journalists” said Clooney.

External Links

• Nick Clooney at IMDb
• Campaign finance data from 2004 Congressional race
• "Nick Clooney archives". The Cincinnati Post. E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on 2005-04-03.
• Clooney, Nick (1998-07-22). "Game show days a dizzying maze". The Cincinnati Post. E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on 2007-01-07. {{cite news}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help) Nick Clooney describes "The Money Maze"
• Nick Clooney biography written by his wife, Nina Clooney
• 1975 interview (from sister Rosemary Clooney's site)