George Clooney to receive Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. would really have had to stretch to give George Clooney a Golden Globe nomination this year, what with his latest movie, “The Monuments Men,” not being all that great.

So, apparently fearing a Clooney-free ceremony, the HFPA did the next best thing, announcing Monday that the group will present the actor/filmmaker with its honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2015 Golden Globes on Jan. 11 for his “impact on the world of entertainment.”

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FOR THE RECORD

An earlier version of this post said Clooney had won three Golden Globes. He has won four.

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The HFPA has given Clooney four Globes and 13 nominations over the years. His wins came in different categories: lead actor in a comedy/musical for “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” supporting actor in “Syriana,” lead actor in a drama for “The Descendants” and as a producer on best picture winner “Argo.”

Clooney’s Globes have plenty of company on his mantle or trophy case or wherever he displays them. The 53-year-old icon has also won two Academy Awards and been nominated in seven Oscar categories, earning him the distinction of being nominated in more categories than anyone else in Oscar history. He has also won four SAG Awards and one BAFTA.

Woody Allen won the HFPA’s DeMille award last year, a controversial choice in the wake of Dylan Farrow’s open letter repeating assertions, denied by Allen, that the filmmaker sexually assaulted her when she was a child.

Twitter: @glennwhipp