George Clooney was the recipient of this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, where he was recognized for his lifetime achievement in the film industry — and “ER,” of course.
After a video montage detailed the actor’s storied career — everything from “From Dusk till Dawn” to “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” to his humanitarian work in Sudan — the Oscar winner himself took the stage.
For such a well-known prankster, the speech stayed surprisingly sincere — and even sweet! — with only a few knocks at Sony and his own movie misses.
His wife, Amal, one of the night’s best dressed, was the target of most of his affection. Clooney, a man who has had many a woman on his arm, spoke proudly of his barrister spouse, noting “it’s a humbling thing when you find someone to love.”
And ladies, in typical fashion, swooned the world over.
Every woman in America just got weak in the knees as Clooney goes on and on about his wife. #swoon #GoldenGlobes
— Air in Gear (@eringhere) January 12, 2015
Swoony swoon swoon RT Clooney: "It's a humbling thing when you find someone to love. Even better if you've been waiting your whole life."
— Preetha (@chnkymcnugget) January 12, 2015
After that Clooney speech, women swoon and men think about stepping up their game. #GoldenGIobes
— Deborah Johnson (@deborah91473) January 12, 2015
Damn it. I've loved to hate them, but that ode to #amal was pretty darn sweet. #swoon #cecilbdemilleaward #Clooney #GoldenGIobes
— Jenna Fidellow (@22Winslow) January 12, 2015
...and I thought I couldn't love George Clooney anymore...lolololol #swoon #heartmelts #thatgrinandwink
— Sheila Lee (@saved4evr) January 12, 2015
Read George Clooney’s full speech:
Thank you. I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be up here. I thought they were going to roast me, but to be up here on this stage with Jules and Don — I spent such a long part of my life and career with them, and it’s been an unbelievable honor to watch them grow and mature. And it’s probably been fun for them to watch me not grow and not mature over the same period of time.Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press. You have always been very kind to me. Thank you for keeping small films alive. Big ones do fine. It’s the little ones that need an audience. We want to find our “Birdman.” Now it is always fun to come here and catch up with old friends and now that we’ve seen that everybody has been hacked it’s also a good chance for us to meet face to face and apologize for all the snarky things we said about each other. I’m sorry, Don.So after coming here for several years and having lost a great – much more than I won, you start to see a pattern that happens on nights like this. Alright, so you’re on your way in and you’re at the red carpet and you’re a nominee, everybody is congratulating you. I mean, you’re on top of the world. Literally, everybody. And then within a couple of hours, four out of the five of you don’t win. Literally, 80 percent of the people in this room don’t win. And then you are a loser. And I’m telling you, you go to the after-party and nobody will look you in the eyes. You go to work the next day and the guys in the crew come over like, “I’m sorry, pal. Get them next time.” For the record: If you are in this room, you’ve caught the brass ring. You get to do what you’ve always dreamed to do and be celebrated for it, and that just, it ain’t losing.I don’t remember what awards Lauren Bacall won. I just remember her saying “You know how to whistle Steve, just put your lips together and blow.” And I have no idea what kind of hardware Robin Williams took home but I sure remember carpe diem and “Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.” I’ll never forget that.So congratulations to all of you for having a very good year. I’ve had a pretty good year myself. And I’m not just referring to the fabulous reviews of “The Monuments Men.” (turns to Don Cheadle) I’ll get you back. Listen, it’s a humbling thing when you find someone to love. Even better if you’ve been waiting your whole life and when your whole life is 53 years. Amy, start the jokes. Amal, whatever alchemy it is that brought us together I couldn’t be more proud to be your husband.And just one last thing I would say is just to reiterate what we have all been talking about today was an extraordinary day. There were millions of people that marched not just in Paris but around the world. And they were Christians and Jews and Muslims. They were leaders of countries all over the world and they didn’t march in protest. They marched in support of the idea that we will not walk in fear. We won’t do it. Je suis Charlie. Thank you.
MORE GOLDEN GLOBES
PHOTOS: Golden Globes red carpet 2015