You can’t deny that George Clooney adores – nay, worships – his father. Nick Clooney is a former Ohio television journalist and current TCM host/film archivist/activist. Nick is part of the Reel Journalism program, which aims to expose students and regular people to the myriad ways journalism and journalists are shown on film. Of course, George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck was an obvious choice, and George joined his father on the stage to introduce the film.

As People reports, the two engaged in some witty banter, some of which is lost on me. George keeps on making jokes about how he’s looking for a new daddy. At least, I think that’s the gist of it. You decide:

George Clooney has made an offer few can refuse: He has placed himself up for adoption.

“I always wanted to be adopted, but I couldn’t find anyone,” said the star, speaking at a Newseum event in Washington, D.C., with his father, former Ohio news anchor Nick Clooney, and veteran journalist Bill Small on either side of him.

“Will you adopt me?” George said to Small. “I’m very wealthy. I’ll take care of you.”

Talk of adoption started after Nick Clooney’s observation that his son’s 2005 film, Good Night, and Good Luck, about iconic CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow, is now being shown in journalism schools across the country.

“This film has legs,” said the elder Clooney, who then asked his son for his opinion.

“I don’t care for that,” said the jocular George – prompting Nick to respond: “I never cared for this kid – his sister’s great.”

Walking off stage before the screening of Good Night, and Good Luck – as part of his father’s Reel Journalism film program – Clooney, 47, then quipped that his father, 75, was an old man who needed a walker.

“You aren’t my walker,” Nick Clooney shot back. “But you are my retirement plan.”

From the wings: “I was,” George said. “I was.”

After the movie, the Regis and Kelly-like banter continued. When George said that they made the movie for $6.5 million, his dad asked where the money goes. “Right to me,” George said. “We shoot for $500,000, then I take $6 million …”

Nick Clooney then asked where that money goes. “To my new dad,” George said. But Small turned down George’s invitation. “I was hoping [billionaire entrepreneur] Mark Cuban would make an offer,” Small said.

Looking stunned, George said, “Wow. I got a dump like that.”

From People magazine

What’s that again? Is that last one an insult to Mark Cuban or to his father? I couldn’t tell. But this sounds like a really good program, there are lots of great films associated with journalism and journalists, and Good Night and Good Luck is one of them. However, whenever I hear the title, I always think of Jon Stewart’s joke about it at the Oscars: “Good Night and Good Luck isn’t just a movie, it’s how George Clooney ends every date.”

Nick Clooney, George Clooney and Bill Small are shown at the American University School of Communication on 1/26/09. There’s also another photo of Clooney’s father Nick from 2007. Credit: WENN.

Every few months, a reporter will ask Angelina Jolie’s estranged father Jon Voight if he’s met his grandchildren yet and he’ll say that he hasn’t, but that he hopes to someday. It kind of makes you feel sorry for the guy. He’s 70 and he’s not getting any younger.

Angelina and her dad famously fell out in 2002 after he said in an interview that she had “severe emotional problems.” They had a strained relationship growing up, and Angelina’s brother has said that their dad cheated on their mom before they divorced and was a cruel parent.

The National Enquirer reports in a side article that Jolie ran into Voight at an after party for the Golden Globes and completely ignored his attempts to talk to her. I guess we know it’s not likely he’ll be spending time with his grandchildren anytime soon:

Angelina Jolie gave dad Jon Voight the cold shoulder at the Golden Globes after-party at the Beverly Hilton’s Circa 55 Restaurant on Jan. 11. When Jon approached Angie’s table, she ignored him and continued to chat with a girlfriend. Jon waited patiently for nearly 20 minutes, but finally gave up and moved on.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, February 2, 2009]

This story appeared in one of the Enquirer’s side columns which cover what the celebrities are up to and are generally not that interesting. I’m surprised the Enquirer didn’t run it as a whole feature about how their father daughter relationship is still rocky, but maybe they think it’s old news at this point. It really seemed like Angelina was at least on good enough terms with her dad to make small talk, if not plan outings with the grandkids. Some wounds take a long time to heal, though, and given how much it still upsets just to mention her departed mom she may not be ready to deal with the man who caused her mom so much pain.

Here are Brad and Angelina signing autographs in Paris last night. Credit: Fame

Hello! Magazine has a new interview with Barack Obama’s step-grandmother in Kenya. 87 year-old Sarah Onyango Obama raised Obama’s now-deceased father, Barack Sr., after his mother left. The President Elect calls her “Granny Sarah,” and she is known as “Mama Sarah” in her small village in Kenya. Things have changed for Mama Sarah since Barack won the election. The road leading up to her village has been fixed by order of the Kenyan Prime Minister and she now has a security team and a fence around her house.

Sarah has met Obama several times and is excited to be going to the inauguration in the US along with members of her family. She’s kept in touch with her step grandson over the years and says she has some advice for him about working for peace in the world. She was last in the US for Obama’s inauguration to the Senate in 2004 and met his daughters, Sasha and Malia, at that time and again when they visited Kenya in 2006 with their family.

Mama Sarah is blessed to have the future US President in her family, but she says there’s still one person she wants to meet – US Senator and Barack’s former rival, Hillary Clinton. Sarah spoke to Hello! through an interpreter:

There have been a lot of changes since I visited you last March. You have a fence, police protection – you are like an African queen…
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

So you are going to the inauguration?
“Yes, we are leaving for Washington soon. We received one invitation for every member of the family who is going. It is a very important inauguration. We know people are going to be happy.”

How long will you stay?
“More than four to five days. Our stay is being coordinated by Barack’s office in Washington.’

What would you like to see in Washington?
“I like the statues. But I would just like to walk around and see many places.”

Are you going to stay at the White House?
“We don’t have final details. I will stay in the White House or at a place nearby, that’s what I was told.”

But would you like Barack to give you a private tour of the White House?
“Of course! I expect both of them, Barack and Michelle, to give me a tour of the White House.”

What about their daughters, Malia (ten) and Sasha (eight)? When did you last meet them?
“I met my great-granddaughters when I went to Barack’s inauguration when he became the senator of Illinois. Then I met them again when they came to visit me here at my home.”

When you next see your grandson, the President-elect, what are you going to tell him?
“I am going to ask him to work hard to achieve world peace and to stop all the fighting in many places around the world. We need peace!

“I am also going to ask him to work hard for a better economy around the world…

Who is one person you would like to meet in the US beside your grandson and his family?
“Hillary! I want to meet Hillary. I would like to thank her for helping Barack to win the elections. Then, I would ask her to continue to help him and to work with Barack to ensure that he will not disappoint the people who elected him. I think Hillary and I will get along very well.”

[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, January 20, 2008]

Obama’s grandmother seems like a spry lady. She must have followed the election closely and know that Hillary fought Barack tooth and nail in the primaries but eventually came around to support him. There’s a kind of forgiveness in her desire to meet Hillary, the presumptive Secretary of State, and ask her to continue to work with Obama for the common good.

I thought this story was really sweet. Obama could have easily forgotten his Kenyan relatives, but he kept in touch with them over the years and is even making arrangements to have them come to the inauguration. I can’t wait to see the photos and watch the coverage on television during this historic time in the US. We’re on vacation in Miami right now and although I’m a little heartbroken to have missed the election (I did vote though absentee ballot though!) this is also a great time to be in the US. There are countless growing problems in the US and in the world but it’s reassuring that we’ll soon have a leader with a message of hope and redemption. He sure has a lot of work to do though.

Actor Jon Voight and his daughter, Angelina Jolie, have been estranged since 2002. The two have had an on-and-off relationship for years, but they seemed to have patched things up when they co-starred in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider back in 2001. Then Voight had to tell a reporter he believed that Angelina had “severe emotional problems,” and after that their relationship was severed- seemingly for good. Now, Voight is desperate to make things up with Angelina and have a relationship with his six grandchildren, whom he has never met. Although Angelina and her dad are rumored have spoken on the phone, they are not thought to have met in person in over six years.

Jon Voight is desperate to end his bitter feud with his superstar daughter Angelina Jolie.

The pair fell out in August 2002 after Voight claimed that his daughter had “serious emotional problems”. Jolie later indicated that she no longer wished to pursue a relationship with her father, and said, “My father and I don’t speak. I don’t hold any anger toward him. I don’t believe that somebody’s family becomes their blood. Because my son’s adopted, and families are earned.”

But Jon is now eager to reconcile with Angelina and meet his six grand­children – three of whom are adopted – and her partner Brad Pitt for the first time.

Voight has said, “I’m always trying to reach her and send her my love.”

A source tells Britain’s Daily Express newspaper, “There’s nothing Jon wants more than to have his family back together again.

“It kills him to be shunned by his children. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to put this rift behind him.

“As Jon grows older he’s realizing the importance of family, and longs to be a part of his daughter and grandchildren’s lives. It breaks his heart to be kept away.

“Since Angelina’s mother [Marcheline Bertrand] died, Brad Pitt has been gently urging her to reconcile with her father, if not for her sake, then so the children can have their grandfather in their life.”

[From Showbiz Spy]

Jon would have a lot more ground to stand on if he would stop blabbing to the media about Angelina and just try to patch things up in private. From what Angelina has said in interviews, her father’s infidelity had a deep, lasting effect on both her and her brother. That kind of hurt isn’t easy to get over. But it does seem cruel to keep an aging man from his grandchildren. In my family at the moment, my sister and our mother aren’t speaking, and it absolutely broke my mom’s heart not to see her grandkids at Christmas. Whatever the situation between the adults, the kids deserve to have grandparents in their lives. But who knows what kind of guy Jon Voight really is in private?

Talk show host Regis Philbin has a disabled son, Danny, who is unemployed and trying to make ends meet by selling handcrafts. Danny is from Regis’ first marriage. He was born with a spinal cord defect and grew up at Angel View Crippled Children’s Foundation in California. He is now wheelchair bound after undergoing a double amputation made necessary by his condition. Regis also has daughter Amy with his first wife, and daughters Joanna and Jennifer with his second wife, Joy.

Danny Philbin has a college degree from California State University and used to hold a position at the Pentagon. He has been out of work for three years now and is struggling to get by in Cathedral City, California. Danny’s wife spoke to the National Enquirer, and said that her husband is too proud to ask his wealthy dad for help at all, even though they’re so broke they have to resort to borrowing money for groceries.

“Our finances have gotten so bad we had to file for debt consolidation, and we barely have enough money to eat. Sometimes we have to borrow money from friends to buy food!” Judy [Philbin] told The Enquirer.

“To make ends meet, Danny has taken odd jobs. He worked for a while at a bookstore and more recently, he’s been working 12-hour days making decorated light switch covers to sell at weekend craft fairs.

“But at this point, we don’t even have enough money to pay the $70 fee for a booth at a craft fair!”

Judy is appealing to her famous father-in-law through The Enquirer because she says: “Danny is too afraid to ask his father for help.”

In our Dec. 15 issue, we reported the disabled 43-year-old was selling craft items to help pay medical bills, while his wife was doing in-home health care in Cathedral City, Calif.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, January 5, 2008]

What’s more is that like many families their debt problems were worsened when Judy lost her job and her health insurance, resulting in high medical expenses.

Judy says her husband is “hurting emotionally, but he just won’t open up to his father.” She also says he’s in a lot of pain and his condition is getting worse.

We don’t know their situation beyond this brief story so it doesn’t seem fair to judge Regis for not supporting his son. It’s possible that Regis has no idea that his son is broke without health insurance. From what Judy is saying, Danny is just too stubborn and proud to ask for Regis’ help at all. Family relationships are complicated and maybe Regis and Danny had a falling out at some point and don’t speak. There’s probably much more going on than we’re hearing and it’s possible Regis loaned Danny money in the past and there are hard feelings. It’s sounds like Danny and his wife are really struggling though and maybe Regis will try to help them after this story gets out.

The latest National Enquirer, with Marc Anthony’s supposed reunion with his ex-wife on the cover, has photos of Danny and his wife.

Update: Regis’ son has commented on this article, below. While we cannot verify that it is the same person, the IP address does come from the same area that the National Enquirer says he lives and the content of the comments make them seem genuine. He says we do not know his situation at all and that it is unfair to pass judgment. A lot of people are facing hard times and we hope this works out ok for him.

Regis Philbin is shown at the Academy Awards on 2/22/08. Credit: PRPhotos

Heidi Montag’s mom just gave an interview to Us Weekly in which she describes Heidi’s new “husband” Spencer Pratt as someone who sounds exactly like an abusive husband. Though Darlene Egelhoff never uses those words, she definitely uses the terminology, describing how Spencer has isolated Heidi from all of her friends and family, and how she thinks Spencer may have drugged Heidi to get her to marry him.

“He’s manipulative and seems to have power over Heidi,” Darlene Egelhoff, 46, told Us in an exclusive interview from her home in Crested Butte, Colorado the day after Montag, 22, blew off Thanksgiving with her family to stay with Pratt in Cabo San Lucas., the site of her Nov. 20 elopement. “I would like to see a blood test from Mexico. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had her drugged

“…Spencer has tried to cut everyone out of her life,” Egelhoff tells Us. “I’ve been honest with Heidi, and it’s caused our relationship to decline. I’m more devastated about that than the marriage, because I’m confident the marriage won’t work out.”

Egelhoff – who divorced Montag’s dad when she was just 3 and admits she rushed into things too – says they used to be inseparable.

“She was my Velcro, always attached to me,” says Egelhoff. “I want the best for my daughter – and he’s definitely not it. I think Spencer wants to possess Heidi more than marry her.” So how long does she give their marriage? “Six months,” she says. “I think it’s the biggest mistake Heidi’s ever made,” Egelhoff adds.

[From Us Weekly]

The fact that Heidi and her mom used to be “inseparable” may indicate that Heidi is clingy and will take anyone that makes her feel safe. Spencer has been described as incredibly controlling by just about everyone that’s ever talked about him. In fact I have yet to hear anyone say one good thing about him. The guy has such anger management issues and just seems so all-out diabolical that it’s hard not to wonder if he’s capable of really bad things.

Hopefully Heidi and Spencer will pull an Eddie Murphy/Tracy Edmonds and choose not to make the wedding legal.

Here’s Heidi & Spencer at The “Road To A Cure” Gala in LA last night. Images thanks to Fame.

The Cruises and the Beckhams are really taking their paparazzi-friendly relationship up a few notches. The Beckhams arrived in New York on Tuesday and joined Tom Cruise for a matinee of Katie Holmes’ play “All My Sons” on Wednesday afternoon before heading out for dinner. Though that’d be enough of the photographers for most couples, the group spent much of Thursday out and about having what sounds like a pretty fun Thanksgiving.

Suri Cruise had something special to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: a few famous playmates.

Suri, 2, and the family – including parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and siblings Connor, 13, and Isabella, 15 – were joined by David and Victoria Beckham and their three sons, Brooklyn, 9, Romeo, 6, and Cruz, 3, to spend Thanksgiving in New York City.

The Beckhams left their three sons with a babysitter Wednesday afternoon to attend a matinee performance of Holme’s Broadway play, All My Sons, with Cruise, and then picked Holmes up for a double date at Il Cantinori.

The next morning, the entire clan woke up early to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan before taking a walk through Central Park to see the Big Apple Circus and ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

[From People]

A horse drawn carriage? And a circus? Are you trying to get Alec Baldwin to scream at you in public? Actually Tom Cruise vs. Alec Baldwin could be amazing – it’s quite the even match. Still it sounds like a pretty fun and busy Thanksgiving. Here are pictures of the Cruises and Beckhams yesterday. Images thanks to Fame.

Madonna decided to make a bit of a scene and ensure she got a lot of tongues wagging by flirting with boyfriend/soul mate Alex Rodriguez, who was front and center for her Miami concert yesterday. And just to up the class, Madge showed up two hours late and didn’t apologize, and at one point told the audience to smell their armpits. A happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Was that the look of love Madonna and Alex Rodriguez were beaming at each other Wednesday night? It sure looked like it to some folks at Madge’s Sticky & Sweet concert at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. As A-Rod sat in a front row between Rod Stewart and his amour’s manager, Guy Oseary, Madge fixed her gaze on him and sang, “You Must Love Me.” He smiled at her, and the Material Girl got all teary-eyed.

Many in the crowd nodded knowingly when, before her rendition of “I’m So Far Away,” she told fans, “I’m sure you can relate about a long-distance love affair.” In a couple of hotter moments, Madge gyrated in A-Rod’s direction while winking at him and later went pneumatic on a speaker while staring his way.

Through it all A-Rod smiled, applauded and even rose to his feet when Madge – apparently in need of more crowd participation – shouted, “C’mon you mother——-, stand up and stop trying to look bored. Put your hands in the air and smell your armpits.” Apparently nothing Madge can do offends her fans or A-Rod.

[From the New York Daily News]

I still find the idea of Madonna and anyone doing anything pretty much nausea-inducing at this point. The combination of her bodybuilder physique and perfectionist ice queen personality makes it hard for me to believe she’s nice to cuddle up to. At some point I bet this realization is going to hit A-Rod like a ton of bricks.

Speaking of which, Rodriguez did indeed spend Thanksgiving with his two daughters, ex-wife Cynthia, and her family in Miami. While I don’t want to give Alex too much credit, I doubt that was the most comfortable meal he’s eaten and it’s good that he did that. It also says a hell of a lot about Cynthia Rodriguez and her family to invite the ex-husband who publicly humiliated her (and made an ass of himself) into their home for the holiday. I’m sure they’re doing it for the kids, but though a lot of divorced couples say they plan on doing that, very few actually go through with it.

And what’s a better way to top off a nice Thanksgiving meal than with a heartwarming, armpit-raising Madonna concert?

Here’s Madonna performing in Atlantic City on Sunday. Images thanks to Fame.

The Gyllenhall parents are apparently suffering some financial difficulties, as revealed in court documents regarding their divorce. Since they’re getting divorced they probably have other issues also, although I guess they won’t be fighting over the kids.

Jake Gyllenhaal and his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, may be famous actors with equally A-list squeezes, but it looks like their parents haven’t been reaping the benefits of their children’s success.

According to divorce documents obtained by TMZ, Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner are in deep financial trouble. The couple, who separated last January, apparantly acquired some serious debt during the course of their marriage, including mortgage payments, home equity lines of credit against their two homes, several credit cards and “various outstanding loans.”

Naomi, a screenwriter, says she had to take out a loan during the writer’s strike because she had no money coming in.

Gyllenhaal allegedly told Foner of their finances, “I have been clear that if worse comes to worse, I will let all of this collapse into ruin, just as I believe letting the markets crash and burn are the right approach.”

Uh huh. How about just asking your kids for help?

OK!

Jake and Maggie could probably help their parents our financially, and that is probably the right thing to do for the people who raised you, clothed you and fed you for 18 years or so, but I can sort of see the other side of this. Once you begin to help someone financially it can be a slippery slope of endless handouts, and going beyond that person, but also to others who might be looking to your generosity. Also, if they assisted in paying off the mortgage on that home, would that then be some kind of statement supporting whichever parent was living there at the time?

The other issue is that perhaps they weren’t aware of the financial strife their parents were in.

Hopefully their divorce and financial issues can pass without further drama.

Naomi Foner and Stephen Gyllenhaal are shown in the header at a screening of Brokeback Mountain on 11/29/05. Jake Gyllenhaal is shown with his mom below on 6/14/07. Credit: WENN

Angelina Jolie says that she’s ready to quit working and “fade away.” She’s made frequent comments lately about how her kids are her first priority and she doesn’t feel as inclined to act as she used to. Now she’s made it perfectly clear that she has a few upcoming projects planned but after that she doesn’t want to work anymore.

Angelina Jolie says she plans to give up acting to be a full-time mother.

“I don’t plan to keep acting very long. I’m ready to do a few things now and fade away and get ready to be a grandma one day,” she tells BBC News in a new interview. “I’m not so worried that I want to keep this pace up and try to be something and be a celebrity.”

She says she’s lucky to take on great roles but “everything comes in seasons. I hopefully won’t be needing to do that later in my life anyway,” she adds.

The 33-year-old Changeling star — who says she won’t work for a year after she returns to work in February — stresses, “I don’t think I’ll ever say I’m never, ever gonna work because maybe there’s that interesting project where I feel creative.

“I like being home a lot,” the mother of six adds. “First and foremost, I have a lot of children, and I need to make sure they’re growing right and they’ve got us there for them.”

[From Us Weekly]

She’s still giving a bit of a mixed message. You can’t “fade away” completely when you keep the door open to possibly working if the right project comes along. That just means people are constantly going to try to tempt her with the perfect film. And I don’t think it’s possible for her to live the low-key life she’s describing. The woman is the mother of Brad Pitt’s children. They travel with a cavalcade of staff wherever they go. Even if she and Brad were both to quit acting, I don’t think they’d be able to fade into oblivion. People are curious about Brangelina and the more they hide the more everyone else will seek.

If I were to bet on it, I’d say Angelina will slow down the frequency of her work but still maintain a Hollywood presence.

Here’s Angelina at the red carpet release party for the DVD of “Kung Fu Panda” on November 9th. Images thanks to Bauer-Griffin.