As one of Hollywood’s leading men, he has earned a string of glittering prizes for his commanding on-screen presence.
But for more than a decade, one treasure has eluded Oscar-winning actor George Clooney after he waded into a long-running diplomatic row over the Elgin Marbles, named after the Scots nobleman who removed them from the Parthenon building in Athens.
Now, Clooney has stoked the debate further after insisting that he and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal, will personally ‘keep pushing until it happens’, even though UK law prohibits their removal from the British Museum where they have been housed since the early 19th century.
Amid delicate talks between the Greek government and chairman of the British Museum, George Osborne, over the future of the 2,500-year-old marbles, the actor declared confidently that they will head to Greece.
In an interview with the Greek newspaper Ta Nea, Clooney reportedly said: ‘They’re going to come back. I know they are.’
He added: ‘My wife and I both have worked to get the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece. We’ll keep pushing until it happens. There’s no question about it.’
George Clooney says he and his wife Amal will personally ‘keep pushing’ until the Elgin Marbles are returned to Greece
The actor’s comments mark a continuation of his outspoken support for Greece taking back the sculptures – a position he first brought to international attention more than a decade ago.
During a trip to Berlin in February 2014 to promote the film The Monuments Men – a film about Allied efforts to restore looted Nazi treasures to their true owners – Clooney stated that the Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Greece. ‘It is the right thing to do,’ he said.
The actor’s comments drew criticism from then London mayor Boris Johnson, who suggested that ‘someone urgently needs to restore George Clooney’s marbles’.
He added that Clooney was ‘advocating nothing less than the Hitlerian agenda for London’s cultural treasures’, referencing Nazi plans to plunder the British Museum during the Second World War.
Clooney later dismissed Mr Johnson’s comments as ‘too much hyperbole washed down with a few whiskies’.
At the time, Clooney’s wife was among a panel of experts advising Greece on possible legal options to pursue the return of the marbles.
Their recommendation, detailed in a 600-page report, was ultimately not adopted by the Greek government.
However, it was later published as a book under the title Who Owns History?, which Mrs Clooney called a ‘powerful cry for justice.’ She praised the work for laying out ‘the case for reuniting the Parthenon Marbles in Athens once and for all’.
Her husband’s latest remarks are understood to have been made last week in New York, where Clooney is currently starring in the Broadway adaptation of Good Night, and Good Luck, the 2005 film he also directed and co-wrote.
The Elgin Marbles on display at the British Museum in London
The 7th Earl of Elgin, who brought the Elgin Marbles to Britain
According to reports, Clooney recently told Janet Suzman-the chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles-that ‘the Parthenon Sculptures must be returned to their original owner’.
Earlier this year, Clooney wrote to Suzman, saying: ‘There are a lot of historical artefacts that should be returned to their original owners, but none more important than the Parthenon Marbles.’
Despite ongoing talks between Greek ministers and former Chancellor Mr Osborne, no solution to the ongoing dispute appears to be in sight.
The British Museum is prevented by the British Museum Act 1963 from disposing of the artefact held in its collection, meaning it could at best offer Greece a temporary loan. Greece are unlikely to agree to that, as any loan would require a legal recognition of the British Museum’s ownership.
The fifth-century-BC statues have been housed in the British Museum since 1817 after they were removed from the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis in Athens by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, the then Ottoman ambassador.
In an online statement, the trustees of the British Museum say that Elgin acted with the full knowledge and permission of the legal authorities of the day in both Athens and London.
‘The sculptures on display in London convey huge public benefit as part of the museum’s worldwide collection,’ they add.
The statement reiterates that the trustees have never been asked for a loan of the Parthenon sculptures by Greece, ‘only for the permanent removal of all of the sculptures in its care to Athens’.
