Barbara Walters Picks Amal Clooney as ‘Most Fascinating Person of the Year’

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Amal Alamuddin Clooney Advises On Return Of Parthenon Marbles
Amal Alamuddin Clooney attends a press conference at the Acropolis Museum in Athens on October 15, 2014 in Athens, Greece.Milos Bicanski—Getty Images
By Laura Stampler

Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer who married George Clooney earlier this year, was tapped as Barbara Walter’s most fascinating person of the year.

Although the former Ms Alamuddin’s career successes are bountiful—clients have included Julian Assange and Kofi Annan, and she has worked extensively on human rights in the Middle East—Walters said it was her wedding that could be considered her crowning achievement.

“You could say hers was the wedding of the year, but let’s put it into perspective,” Walters said. Getting Clooney to the altar “was really one of the greatest achievements in human history.”

After all, in 1995 the actor did tell Walters that he would never get married again.

From Goofy Teen to Dashing Groom: See George Clooney's Life in Pictures

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Nerds of the world take heart: This is how the future "Sexiest Man Alive" looked in middle school. Chris Bott—Splash News/Corbis
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Clooney played George Burnett on "The Facts of Life" from 1985-1987. Ron Tom—NBC/Getty Images
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Clooney married Talia Balsam in 1989. They divorced three years later.Ron Galella—WireImage
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Clooney premiered in his breakout role as Dr. Doug Ross on ER in 1994.Sven Arnstein—NBC/Getty Images
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In 1996 Clooney appeared in From Dusk Till Dawn, his first successful movie.
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Clooney was voted People's Sexiest Man Alive for the first time in 1997 (he would win again in 2006).Sunset/Warner Bros.
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Clooney tore his dura mater while filming Syriana in 2005, causing spinal fluid to leak out of his nose. He had to undergo two surgeries to repair it. Warner Brothers
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In 2006 Clooney was the first person in Oscars history to be nominated for best director (Good Night and Good Luck) and best actor (Syriana) in different movies in the same year.Reed Saxon—AP
Clooney was on the cover of TIME Magazine in 2008.TIME
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Clooney won the Bob Hope Humanitarian Emmy in 2010 for his work for the victims of the Haitian earthquake.Kevin Winter—Getty Images
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In 2014 Clooney proposed to girlfriend Amal Alamuddin, despite claims that he would never marry again. Andres Solaro—AFP/Getty Images

With the marriage, Walters ranked the new Mrs. Clooney among Jackie Onassis and Princess Di. When it come Clooney’s fellow “most fascinating” people, she joins the likes of Mother Teresa and J.K. Rowling.

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[ABC]

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