2010 Emmys: George Clooney Honored with Bob Hope Humanitarian Award

Every year at the Primetime Emmy Awards a special honor is given to an artist who has made a substantial humanitarian impact over the course of their lifetime and career. This year at the 2010 Emmys that honor was bestowed upon George Clooney, who not only holds the title of award-winning actor, but writer, director and producer as well. Clooney is the fourth recipient of this award.

George Clooney's Incredible Reign of Success

To this day George Clooney remains one of a limited number of actors in television history who starred on a long-running series and went on to become a true movie star. The club filled with his kind of small screen to big screen success is quite small. Many of our favorite TV performers have moved on to try their hand at the box office only to have one or two 'flash in the pan' moments.

After his departure from his character Dr. Doug Ross on NBC's much loved hit ER, Clooney moved forward to focus on the movie business. Since then he has churned out hits like Ocean's 11, Goodnight & Good Luck, Syriana, Michael Clayton and Up in the Air. George also branched out to different jobs behind the scenes in the film industry and kicked off an entirely new career as a director, producer and writer.

Julianna Margulies, Clooney's ER costar and close friend took her leave from the show just a couple years after the actor playing her love interest on the series moved on. Both returned at the end of the final season to reunite with the cast and crew and bid farewell to the fans who made their success possible. Fittingly, it was Julianna Margulies who presented Clooney with the prestigious award at the 2010 Primetime Emmys. Margulies is now starring in her own series, the CBS mega-hit The Good Wife.

George Clooney's Passion & Dedication to Humanitarian Work

The presentation time highlighted just a few of Clooney's humanitarian work during and after devastating tragedies around the globe and brought attention to the humble artist's driving force behind some of the biggest charity fundraisers and support events in the world, such as America: A Tribute to Heroes, Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope, and Hope for Haiti Now.

George Clooney Accepts His Award & Offers a Challenge to Viewers

Just as we've come to expect, George kept his speech lighthearted with a slice of his much known and loved humor but full of meaning as well. His line, "I have offered to go to south Sudan and have a wardrobe malfunction. But it was pointed out to me that I'm 49, and the consensus was that it would just be upsetting," certainly wasn't a surprise coming from him.

Clooney continued on a more serious note expressing his desire to shed light into circumstances of people in desperate need and help others find ways to get involved. He said, "We live in strange times where bad behavior sucks up all the attention and press and the people who really need it can't get it."

George went on to speak about the dilemma many have been discussing in the aftermath of these horrific tragedies. "The truth is when a disaster happens, everybody wants to help. But the hard part is that seven months later, five years later, we're on to a new story. Honestly, we've failed at that. I've failed. That's a fact."

The point Clooney drove home that seemed to stand out most to viewers was his challenge both to himself and those watching. Ending his speech, the star said, "Let's find a way to help keep the spotlight burning on these heartbreaking situations that continue to be heartbreaking long after the cameras go away. That would be an impressive accomplishment."

Sources:

The 62^nd Primetime Emmy Awards 2010, NBC

IMDB - George Clooney