George Clooney Tears Up Accepting Lifetime Achievement Award in Venice, Thanks Amal

George Clooney Tears Up Accepting Lifetime Achievement Award in Venice, Thanks Amal George Clooney has stood on plenty of stages, but Wednesday night in Venice, he needed a moment before he could speak.

The actor and director accepted the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the opening ceremony of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 2, and by the time he reached the podium, both he and wife Amal Clooney were visibly emotional. The honor was presented by his longtime friend and occasional co-star Laura Dern , whose history with Clooney goes back more than four decades to their early, ill-fated work together on the horror sequel Grizzly II: Revenge , shot in Hungary when both were just starting out.