George Clooney. [Photo Credit: AP News]

George Clooney just makes sense in Venice.

Like many people, he considers it one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Unlike most, however, he also owns a 15-bedroom villa a few hours away on Lake Como that famously co-starred in “Ocean’s Twelve.”

In the nearly 30 years since he attended his first Venice Film Festival with “Out of Sight,” he’s become something of a fixture. It’s a place where he’s enjoyed many significant moments, from his wedding at the Aman Venice to the debut of “Good Night, and Good Luck,” which earned him his first Oscar nomination for best director.

Last year he attended with “Jay Kelly,” in which he plays a movie star who travels to Italy for a lifetime achievement award. Life will imitate art this year as Clooney receives the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award on the festival’s opening day.

Here is a look back at some of Clooney’s most memorable Venice moments.

1998: ‘Out of Sight’- As legend has it, Clooney’s long term love affair with Venice began with the festival’s premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s Elmore Leonard adaptation “Out of Sight.” Then 37 and doing press alongside Jennifer Lopez, the actor would also make another big jump soon: Leaving “ER” the following February.

2003: ‘Intolerable Cruelty’- This Coen brothers joint, co-starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, premiered out of competition at the 60th Venice Film Festival, alongside titles like “Matchstick Men,” “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” and “The Dreamers.” Clooney’s nearby Italian residence was already as famous as him, and a stakeout spot for amateur and professional paparazzi.

In a profile that fall, while shooting “Ocean’s Twelve,” Vanity Fair writer Ned Zeman observed: “That an affable, self-effacing Kentucky-born Hollywood actor is fast becoming the most popular public figure in Italy says a little about Italy and a lot about Clooney, who isn’t Italian, doesn’t speak Italian, and lives here only in summertime.”