George Clooney, for decades considered the most eligible of Hollywood bachelors as he dated a succession of lovelies, is now set to tie the knot with British-Lebanese lawyer, activist and author Amal Alamuddin in September. He is 53; she is 36.

After 14 unwedded years with his ex-girlfriend, 41-year-old Vanessa Paradis, with whom he has a daughter and son, Johnny Depp moved on and became involved with 28-year-old Amber Heard — and seemingly suddenly felt compelled to propose. They'll marry this fall. Johnny is 51.

Of course, those couples have their love stories and there are all kinds of reasons they are just right for each other. But it's also true that when it comes to aging actors in Hollywood, the time-honored younger-woman-at-your-side method of freshening your image has never been bigger.

Call it the Warren Beatty template. Excruciatingly handsome in his prime, the star dubbed "The Original Playboy" by GQ has a list of stunning and glamorous ex-girlfriends including such names as Natalie Wood, Julie Christie, Jacqueline Onassis, Cher, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda, Britt Ekland, Joan Collins, Madonna and Diane Keaton — out of some 12,775 Beatty conquests, if we are to go by Beatty biographer Peter Biskind.

But when he reached age 55, he married Annette Bening after a whirlwind romance that began on the set of their "Bugsy" movie. They subsequently had four babies. What could be more revitalizing than cuddling a your own tiny, sweet-smelling, diaper-clad offspring? It was time. Beatty smoothly moved into the fatherhood/Hollywood power couple stage of life.

Does Clooney's impending marriage herald a new stage in his? Media outlets from tabloids to established publications and mainstream broadcasts have been filled with speculation and statements from "friends" about his purported political intentions. London's Daily Express went so far as to quote a relative of the actor-cum-human rights activist saying, "Being married will make him look more serious." Hm — as if testifying about Darfur in front of congress wasn't serious enough? Anyway, time will tell.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of his peers brightening up the scenery of their personal lives with a young Mrs. or Ms. And you can talk about cougars all you want — but for every Madonna, Mariah or J-Lo who partners with a younger man, you're bound to find at least five male celebs who've hooked up with much younger mates.

Alec Baldwin, 56, and yoga instructor Hilaria Thomas, 30, recently celebrated two years of wedded bliss. They welcomed daughter Carmen Gabriela a year ago next month. Hilaria's parents could have taken her to see Alec in "Beetlejuice" when she was four years old.

Jeff Goldblum, 61, has been in a relationship with former Olympic rhythm gymnast Emilie Livingston, 31, for more than two years.

There are Kelsey Grammer and 25 years younger Kayte Walsh; Michael Douglas and 25 years younger Catherine Zeta Jones; David Hasselhoff, 61, and 32-year-old Hayley Roberts; Nicolas Cage, 50 and his wife of 10 years, Alice Kim, 30. The list goes on and on and on. Heck, you don't even have to wait to get grey around the temples to go for the much-younger girl. Bradley Cooper and Ryan Phillippe are each 39 years of age — and both have 22-year-old girlfriends, Suki Waterhouse and Paulina Slagter, respectively.

Perhaps the May-December tradition in Hollywood is all the more entrenched due to the fact that filmmakers continually cast leading men in their fifties or older opposite women in their mid-thirties or younger. In an article complete with eye-catching graphs entitled Leading Men Age, But Their Love Interests Don't in Vulture last year, the filmographies of 10 top box office actors were analyzed. Results showed that even as Denzel Washington went past 60, for example, his onscreen love interests never went past age 35. Other actors followed the same pattern with an occasional exception when cast opposite a female top box office Oscar winner — like Richard Gere's chart, which showed all younger women with one significant spike: Susan Sarandon in "Shall We Dance?" Of the 10, only Tom Hanks played opposite women within 10 years of his age consistently.

Only Tom has a 26-year marriage with a woman his own age — Rita Wilson — as well. Coincidence?

Harrison Ford, 71, is married to 49-year-old Calista Flockhart as you no doubt recall. And he's back to playing Han Solo (albeit with a two-week production break in "Star Wars: Episode VII" due to his broken leg). As he once famously told this column speaking of old guys in youthful roles, "It's all smoke and mirrors anyway."

But only if you're a guy.