Hollywood's elite have turned out at the Dolby Theatre, home of the Oscars, to pay tribute to George Clooney, this year's American Film Institute lifetime achievement award recipient.
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Diane Keaton, last year's AFI honoree, took the stage early to marvel at Clooney's distant relationship with former president Abraham Lincoln and rib him over that Killer Tomatoes sequel he's never quite lived down.
Laura Dern remembered cutting her teeth with Clooney in failed horror project Grizzly II: The Concert.
Jimmy Kimmel regaled with stories of "rascal" Clooney's infamous practical jokes, which have apparently included sending packages to Brad Pitt labelled "the porn that you ordered."
Friends stars Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox went ahead and took credit for Clooney's rise thanks to their hit NBC show being the lead-in for ER all those years ago.
Clooney had his wife Amal by his side and they were flanked by actor Bill Murray and Clooney's father Nick.
In video packages filmed at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, where Clooney is in pre-production on his upcoming Catch-22 adaptation, the Oscar-winner recalled how his cousin, the late actor Miguel Ferrer, coaxed him out to the west coast for a stab at acting.
The clip that drew the biggest burst of applause was Joel and Ethan Coen's O Brother, Where Art Thou?
"I've played four idiots for them," Clooney said of his work with the filmmakers.
"They saw in me the brilliance of my idiocy."
Clooney's ties to journalism (via his father's newsroom background) and commitment to philanthropy were highlighted.
AFI trustee Howard Stringer evoked Clooney's 2005 Oscar-nominated biopic Good Night, and Good Luck., which centred on pioneering newsman Edward R. Murrow.
Calling the drama "eerily prophetic," Stringer deemed it a movie that "should be required for modern journalists, as well as modern politicians."
"We learned to question things from my father," the night's honoree said of the elder Clooney, who offered his own toast near the end of the evening that brought his son close to tears.
And for the first time publicly, Amal Clooney also spoke about her husband. "Coming here I knew there would be lots of people who could speak to George's talent," she said.
"So I thought I should say a few words about his character. He is a gentleman in every sense of the word and a way that seems so rare these days and perhaps outdated. Everyone who knows him will tell you he has not forgotten his Kentucky manners. On every set I visit his crews tell me he stands up for the most vulnerable."
Other speakers included Murray and Cate Blanchett and, via pre-taped well-wishes, Julia Roberts and former president Barack Obama.
"I love being a part of this industry and community," Clooney said when he took the stage.
"I'm very proud of the much overdue changes I'm seeing now, and above all I want to thank everyone who came out tonight to say such beautiful things."
Actress Shirley MacLaine presented him with the AFI honour.
Australian Associated Press