For the first time in nearly three decades, George Clooney is a brunette. The Academy Award winner, whose talents mould effortlessly to fit the characters he plays, has typically been less experimental with his looks than the scripts he signs.
While stars like Christian Bale, Tom Hanks, and Colin Farrell have undergone dramatic physical transformations for their movies, George, 63, has rocked his signature salt-and-pepper, neatly trimmed hairstyle for the better part of 20 years.
It appears, however, that the Ocean’s 11 star is ready for a switch-up after he was photographed at lunch with his attorney wife, Amal Alamuddin Clooney, in New York City on Sunday, March 9.
The father-of-two debuted a startling new look – a head of dyed brown hair almost the same colour as Amal’s long tresses – as he was seen leaving French restaurant Raoul’s, where the couple met up with their attorney friend Kevin Johnson.
George’s darker hair is likely for his upcoming Broadway debut in Good Night, And Good Luck, which will see him tackle the role of legendary American war correspondent Edward R Murrow.
The colour appears to be a recent change since George’s hair was still streaked silver at the press conference for Good Night, and Good Luck at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway on February 6.
By the end of the month, however, George had started wearing stylish fedoras to cover his hair up, including on February 28 when the actor was seen wearing a black, white and gray plaid hat during a night-out in the Big Apple with his glamorous wife.
As George embraces a more youthful appearance, including swapping his brogues for adidas sneakers and blazers for leather jackets, FEMAIL revisists his most distinguishable looks over the years:
George Clooney debuted a startling new look – a head of dyed brown hair – ahead of the actor’s Broadway debut in Good Night, And Good Luck later this month
The shade resembled George’s shoulder-length locks from the 80s when the actor was just finding fame in the industry
And it was a far cry from the mullet he sported when George was cast as sexy handyman George Burnett in the American sitcom The Facts of Life in 1985
The Kentucky native began acting in the late 70s and, before finding national fame with the American medical drama ER, George was a mainstay of American sitcom TV like Eighties hit The Facts of Life.
On the show, the actor played sexy handyman George Burnett for 17 episodes in which he rocked a mullet that left women across the country swooning over his movie star good looks.
By the end of the decade, George has grown his envious locks down to his shoulders for Red Surf in which the actor played sideburn-sporting surfer and drug dealer Remar.
One of his most iconic photographs from the Eighties showed the actor posing for photographs in front of a poster of the H Gordon Boos’s film while wearing a yellow snakeskin shirt, a leather jacket, and the half-smile George still flashes at red carpets in his 60s.
Swapping his grungy attire for light blue scrubs, George earned the part that would cement his status as bonafide Hollywood heartthrob when he stepped into the shoes of pediatrician Dr Doug Ross on ER – the long-running medical drama series that made him a star.
Much like the ‘Rachel’ haircut – named after Jennifer Aniston’s character on Friends – George’s neatly-trimmed ‘Dr Doug Ross Caeser cut’ was replicated by men across the US in the 90s.
His bleach blonde locks were a less popular style choice; in 1998, George unveiled the lighter hair that he later revealed to American TV host and comedian Rosie O’Donnell was the result of a lost bet.
After five years of playing the trauma specialist on ER, George refocused his career on Hollywood at the turn of the century – following a string of commercially successful 90s films alongside his time on ER.
Last month, George had started wearing stylish fedoras to cover his hair up, including on February 28 when the actor was seen wearing a black, white and gray plaid hat during a night-out in the Big Apple with his glamorous lawyer wife Amal (right)
In 1994, George earned the part that would make him a star when he was cast as Dr Doug Ross on the American medical drama ER. Much like the ‘Rachel’ haircut – named after Jennifer Aniston’s character on Friends – George’s neatly-trimmed ‘Dr Doug Ross Caeser cut’ was replicated by men across the US in the 90s
George would continue to experiment with beard lengths and cuts over the years – including a risky ‘toothbrush moustache’ in 2008 and a 10-day scruff as seen above, when he attended the New York Film Critic’s Circle Awards in 2010
In 2001, he made his debut as gangster Danny Ocean in the blockbuster American director Steven Soderbergh’s casino heist film Ocean’s 11, alongside George’s acting contemporaries such as Matt Damon.
During the film’s glitzy press run, it appeared his hair had been dyed a darker shade of brown but it was his brand new goatee that became the talk of Tinseltown.
Among the most famous men that have endorsed the facial hairstyle, George would continue to experiment with beard lengths and cuts over the years – including a risky ‘toothbrush moustache’ in 2008.
He was, however, clean shaven when the actor was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2006 at the age of 45.
As he neared his 50s, George was rarely seen without the 10-day beard scruff and his sharply side-parted grey hair with the actor previously revealing his reaction to watching himself in the 2009 film Up in the Air.
‘I thought, “Jesus, who’s the old, grey-haired guy?’ And it was me.”
All trends are cyclical and, following his marriage to Amal in 2014, George decided to bring the goatee back – this time, though, it matched the silver in his hair as the actor walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival with his lawyer wife.
He was unrecognisable in the 2020 Netflix film The Midnight Sky that saw the actor play Arctic-bound scientist Augustine who, without access to razors, had a thick, scraggly beard.
During Ocean 11’s glizy press tour in 2001, it appeared George’s (right) hair had been dyed a darker shade of brown but it was his brand new goatee that became the talk of Tinseltown
Earlier this year, in February, George was still rocking the silver fox style he has maintained for nearly two decades
In 2022, George grew out his beard for a more fuller, scruffier style
In what is perhaps his most pronounced hair transformation since the shoulder-length style circa Red Surf, George has covered his whites as he gears up for his Broadway debut on Wednesday, March 12
The actor’s buzz cut was also a marked departure from the curly, flowing locks he took pride in during the 70s and 80s – with George previously saying ‘I thought I was pretty happening because I had good TV hair’.
50 years since the mullet that left women across the US weak in the knees, George has now coloured his signature grey locks a light brown shade that closely resembles the hue of Amal’s long locks.
In what is perhaps his most pronounced hair transformation since the shoulder-length style circa Red Surf, George has covered his whites as he gears up for his Broadway debut on Wednesday, March 12.
Speaking to FEMAIL, the creative director of London-based salon Brooks and Brooks, Sally Brooks said: ‘Men colouring their hair is still a bit of a conversation topic, but why should women have all the fun?’
‘Personally, I love a natural grey – George Clooney is the perfect example of how great it can look with the right haircut,’ she continued, referring to the actor’s years-long silver fox era.
To those who might wish to replicate the actor’s new chocolate brown locks, she cautioned against hues that can end up ‘artificial-looking’.
‘If you’re thinking of colouring, be careful – it can sometimes turn a little too warm or artificial-looking,’ the hairstylisty added.
‘The key is getting the right blend for a natural, effortless result.’
In the new play, the actor and filmmaker will be starring as American war correspondent Edward R Murrow, who notably did have visible gray hair during the period George will be playing him.
George’s leaner frame was also noticeable as he donned a leather jacket, a pair of well-tailored beige chinos, and classic black-and-white Adidas trainers – as he walked in step with Amal, fashionable as ever in a cropped brown plaid jacket with wide peaked lapels.
