Forces TV

George Clooney's First Role - Street Hawk's Villain of the Week

George Clooney might now be a critically-acclaimed actor who owns his owns his own tequila company and is a humanitarian heavyweight but the Hollywood star started off life as a small-time actor and villain of the week in 80s TV classic Street Hawk.

Known for his work on hit American drama ER and blockbuster films such as Ocean’s Eleven and Fantastic Mr Fox, the actor started working in television in 1978 on the TV mini-series Centennial.

Coincidentally, his first major role came in 1984 on E/R, an American sitcom not be confused with ER, the medical series where he made his name ten years later.

But his most important, career-defining role came a year later in 1985, in an episode of Street Hawk, “A Second Self”.

George played Jessie’s friend Kevin from his old racing days, but there’s obviously something more sinister afoot due to the entire recurring male cast always having something sinister going on.

Spoilers

(If you haven’t seen Street Hawk in the past 30 years, stop reading and set your alarm for 10pm on Friday. The below contains spoilers for the intricate, subtle and shocking plot. It’s far more than a show about a guy on a motor bike)

Powerful stuff. Award winning.

Rex Smith, star of Street Hawk, told The Daily Record that he knew George before the show and reccommended he audition for the part.

"I do think he could return the favour by including me as one of the crew, perhaps in Oceans 17!"

George turns up out of the blue to the surprise of both our hero Jessie and any modern viewer before injuring him in a race and pulling off some of his trademark charm.