Clooney honored by MoMA as actor, director and humanitarian

George Clooney’s co-stars, friends and collaborators gathered virtually to share anecdotes and praise his contributions as actor, director, humanitarian and colleague -- not to mention Sexiest Man Alive twice over.

Among those paying tribute to Clooney at the Museum of Modern Art’s annual film benefit Monday night was David Letterman, who recalled something Clooney had once said to him “that I carry with me today.”

Clooney had told him his humanitarian efforts in Darfur hadn’t turned out quite as he’d hoped, but added that it didn’t matter. “What matters is you just keep trying,” Letterman quoted Clooney as saying. “If it doesn’t work the first time, try something else.”

“And I thought, ‘This is such a simple, eloquent way to express the importance of helping others,’” Letterman said. “I’ve never forgotten it and I never will.”

The tributes mixed praise with humor. Actor David Oyelowo, who appears in Clooney’s new Netflix film “The Midnight Sky,” told him, “I’m so grateful to be in your orbit.” He also quipped how Clooney is humble -- but sometimes falsely so, “because he will get the fact that he was (People’s) Sexiest Man Alive TWICE into almost every conversation.”

Julianna Margulies, who co-starred with Clooney in the TV drama “ER” early in his career, told the story of how she’d told him she loved to drive, and he’d asked her, “Have you ever driven a Porsche?” And then he handed her his keys and said “Let’s go take a spin.”

“And I thought, ‘Who’s this guy who’s letting me drive his Porsche? This guy can’t be for real,’” she said. “I would read the telephone book for you, my friend.”

Clooney joins a group of previous MoMA honorees that includes Martin Scorsese, Tom Hanks,...