Clooney: 'My aunt kept me from drugs'

Rex Features

George Clooney has credited his aunt for teaching him to steer clear of drugs.

1950s singer Rosemary Clooney saw her career go downhill when she became hooked on prescription drugs - something the actor kept in mind when he turned down painkillers for his back while filming Syriana in 2005.

"My father had a difficult time for years when she was addicted to Percodan," he said. "My aunt's addiction haunted me when I injured my back.

"The doctors gave me a tub of Vicodin, but I didn't take any. I thought: 'This is a bad time to decide to be a drug addict'. It's all timing - when I'm 80, I'm all for being a drug addict, but not now."

> Click here to read our review of Clooney's current movie Burn After Reading