He's already won an Oscar and Golden Globe this year, but Tinseltown was still honouring George Clooney as he collected yet another gong last Friday. And Hollywood's most famous bachelor was not short of congratulatory pats on the back as a host of his celebrity pals turned out for the dinner event in Beverly Hills.
Pretty Woman star Julia Roberts, who appeared as George's love interest in Ocean's Eleven, presented the 45-year-old with his American Cinematheque award as an A-list crowd including Salma Hayek, Don Cheadle, Lindsay Lohan and Demi Moore's daughter Rumer looked on. "Basically, what it is really is a bunch of your friends who are gonna roast the hell out of you," he joked beforehand.
But praise came in thick and fast for the modest screen pin-up. "There's no man probably more worthy of getting some awards," said Christian Slater. "He's a great artist, great director, and a phenomenal humanitarian. I think he serves as a great example to other actors, myself included."
It seems super-stardom has certainly not gone to George's head, however, as he isn't averse to penning his own fan mail to Pirates Of The Caribbean's Johnny Depp. "Johnny just keeps doing really good stuff," he says. "he's really smart and a good actor. I've written letters to him just to say, 'Hey man, you're flaming great'."
The Syriana actor, whose stellar career began when he won the role of Dr Doug in hit medical series ER, was joined by former cast-mates Noah Wyle and Juliana Marguiles at the $500 a head bash. And Juliana revealed she would love a big screen ER spin-off in which her character Nurse Carol and Dr Doug finally make it to the altar.
"George and I have a pact that, after enough time goes by, we're going to do it," she said. "We never had a wedding or a hot steamy love scene. Millions of people wanted to see that." The only forthcoming wedding he is likely to be involved in, though, is the November nuptials of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. According to some newspaper reports, the actor's Italian pad on Lake Como is being considered as a possible venue for the A-list marriage of the year.