ROSEMARY CLOONEY - CLOONEY LEARNS FROM AUNT ROSEMARY'S MISTAKES

Late singer ROSEMARY CLOONEY's misfortunes have become life lessons for her nephew GEORGE CLOONEY, who insists, as a result, he'll never spiral into depression like his aunt did.

The movie hunk admits he uses his beloved aunt's hardships as ways to avoid the pitfalls of showbusiness - after watching her go through hell.

He says, "In 1951, she was on top of the world, on the cover of every magazine... She went on the road for five years, came back, and rock 'n' roll had come in. ELVIS (PRESLEY) was king and rock 'n' roll was male-driven.

"She didn't become any less talented of a singer. Things changed... And she was devastated. She started to believe that she'd lost her talent. She had nervous breakdowns, got screwed up on drugs, had a bad manager who made bad investments, blew a lot of money...

"Luckily she had the staying power to reinvent herself and come back. But she was knocked down for about 20 years.

"So what you learn from that - the really good lesson - is: 'You're never as good as they say you are and you're never as bad as they say you are.'"