The Biography Channel - Clint Eastwood Biography

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[h3]With a diverse career that spans over six decades, from television and blockbuster movies, to writing film scores, and winning Academy Awards, Clint Eastwood has established himself as one of the most respected actors and directors of his time. [/h3]

Eastwood’s decision to get into acting came in 1953 whilst he was serving as a G.I. and boot camp swimming instructor in the US Army. Based in Northern California, he was encouraged by fellow Army friends, David Janssen and Martin Milner, to move to Los Angeles and try acting. They saw that he had the rugged good looks and mysterious aura that might impress the big shots in Hollywood.

There was also a new girl in his life, Maggie Johnson, who was going to be moving back to her hometown of LA shortly after graduating from the University of Berkeley. She also had a hand in persuading him to head south to Hollywood. Smitten, the 23-year-old Eastwood married her just six months after they met. It was a marriage that would last 26 years, an impressive length of time for any Hollywood couple.

A few months after arriving in LA in 1954, Eastwood landed a contract with Universal Studios earning $75 a week playing small parts in B-grade movies such as Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Tarantula (1955). He was later dropped, on the same day as [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/509:0/Burt_Reynolds.htm]Burt Reynolds[/urlnew], because his Adam’s apple was too big!

Eastwood brushed off the dismissal and persisted with his acting career. In order to support himself financially, Eastwood earned a living for the next few months digging swimming pools in the Hollywood Hills. He managed to secure one-off appearances in TV episodes such as Death Valley Days (1956) and West Point (1957).

Then, in 1958, whilst going to visit a friend of Maggie’s at CBS, it seemed his luck had finally changed. He was approached by a man in a suit, a studio executive. He took a long look at Eastwood and asked, “Are you an actor?” It turned out that they were looking for someone to play the second lead in a western series called Rawhide and Eastwood looked just like a cowboy. He could be the handsome cattle-driver, Rowdy Yates! Eastwood accepted and filming started shortly after.

Rawhide was one of forty other Western TV series in competition on our screens at the time it begun. It became a lasting success and its longevity brought Eastwood financial security and fame. The series, which ran from 1958 – 1966, also featured a number of other notable actors including [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/586:0/Charles_Bronson.htm]Charles Bronson[/urlnew], Mary Astor, [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/9:0/Dean_Martin.htm]Dean Martin[/urlnew], and [url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/317:0/Cesar_Romero.htm]Cesar Romero[/url].
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A fashionable thing for TV stars to do during this period was to release a pop record (providing you could actually sing!). When Rawhide limped into its seventh series, Clint Eastwood was keen to diversify and decided to put his vocals recording three pop songs, called Unknown Girl, Rowdy, and For You, and For Me, For Evermore. An LP was later released called Rawhide’s Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favourites, which was perhaps not the most memorable and inspiring record of 1962.

After Rawhide, Eastwood landed the role as “The Man With No Name” in the Dollars’ trilogy, which would lead him to stardom in the ‘spaghetti westerns’. Italian director, [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/269:0/Sergio_Leone.htm]Sergio Leone[/urlnew] desperately wanted to cast [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/122:0/Henry_Fonda.htm]Henry Fonda[/urlnew] or Charles Bronson for the lead, but he was on a very tight budget and simply couldn’t afford them. Eastwood agreed to take $15,000 and off he went to Spain, poncho in toe, to film A Fistful of Dollars (1964). Leone’s trademark style of using little dialogue, extreme close-ups and a sense of gritty realism, suited Eastwood’s style of acting perfectly and the film was a surprise box-office smash.

The next two films in Leone’s trilogy, For a Few Dollars, (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, (1966), received considerably more funding due to the success of the first film. All three of Leone’s films were a commercial success in both Europe and the US. On returning home from Spain and Italy in 1966, Eastwood had become a fully-fledged movie star, the only post-1960 Hollywood cowboy.

Eastwood went on to star in another western, Hang ‘Em High (1967) and then, in Coogan’s Bluff (1968), where he played a deputy chief who doesn’t get on with his boss, and doesn’t do things by the book. This film marked the beginning of a long and prosperous collaboration with director, Don Siegel.

After starring with [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/645:0/Richard_Burton_formerly_Jenkins_.htm]Richard Burton[/urlnew] in Where Eagles Dare (1968), and performing in the musical, Paint Your Wagon, Eastwood became irritated about how much money was being wasted during the making of such productions. He longed for more creative control of the movies in which he starred and so he decided to form his own production company. In 1968, Malpaso Productions was born.

Malpaso – known as ‘bad step’ in Spanish - is derived from the name of a creek, south of Carmel, where Eastwood spent much of his life. The name came to him after recalling the time his agent warned him not to agree to work on the Dollars’ trilogy, saying it would be a ‘bad step’. An ironic but funny choice.

Malpaso’s first film, directed by Don Siegel, was The Beguiled: The Storyteller (1971), ranked by many critics as a veritable work of art. Based on the novel by Thomas Cullinan, it tells the story of an injured Civil War bluecoat who is given sanctuary in a girl’s finishing school. 1971 was a productive year for Eastwood. Not only was Don Siegel directing Malpaso’s first movie, Eastwood finally got to direct his first film, a thriller called Play Misty For Me (1971), in which he plays an affable DJ stalked by an obsessed female fan.
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Eastwood then starred in what was his most famous debut since the ‘Man With No Name’: Inspector Harry Callahan, the toughest, trigger-happy cop in town, armed with a .44 Magnum and an explosive personality. The film was Dirty Harry (1971).

[quote]"I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a 44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clear off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"[/quote]

This tough-guy, anti-hero approach cemented Eastwood’s reputation as an electrifying talent but also as an actor who only appears as the archetypal violent American. Moreover, according to some critics, films like Dirty Harry, which was released during the Vietnam War, had underlying political connotations.

Eastwood has always maintained that all of his films are apolitical and what he has in mind when making a film is whether it's going to be entertaining and compelling. He’s been quoted as saying:

[quote]"People jumped to conclusions about Dirty Harry without giving the character much thought, trying to attach right-wing connotations to the film that were never really intended. I think it was interpreted as a pro-police point of view, as a kind of rightist heroism, at a time in American history when police officers were looked down on as 'pigs', as very oppressive people - I'm sure there are some who are, and a lot who aren't."[/quote]

Eastwood is, however, open about being a Republican and in 1968, attended [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/808:0/Richard_Nixon.htm]President Nixon’s[/urlnew] landslide victory celebrations along with fellow actors, [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/1384:0/John_Wayne.htm]John Wayne[/urlnew], [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/1591:0/Charlton_Heston.htm]Charlton Heston[/urlnew] and Glen Ford. Eastwood has also given his support to environmental causes, proving he’s a conservationist as well as a conservative!

Before, and after Dirty Harry, Eastwood’s love life was often the subject of much discussion among his peers and in the media. Photographs show him with a string of beautiful women by his side, but never with his wife, Maggie. Unsurprisingly, he was dubbed a womanizer and a “sexual cowboy”. Maggie had heard the rumours about her husband’s extra-marital affairs but never questioned him. She later said in one interview, “Other women? I was never realistic about some things. I used to always hope for the best…I didn’t dwell on it because it would probably have driven me insane. I just preferred to hang in there and not worry too much about it”.

After 15 years of marriage, Maggie finally persuaded her husband to give her a child. In 1968, their son, Kyle Clinton was born. But as Maggie was to find out in 1972, he had already fathered a child to Roxanne Tunis, an occasional extra on Rawhide, four years earlier (1964). They had both kept the birth a secret, and Eastwood promised to provide Roxanne continued financial stability for her and their daughter, Kimber.
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In the same year that Maggie found out about Clint’s other family, another woman entered her husband’s life. Sondra Locke, who rose to fame in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), was cast by Eastwood to star with him, in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), which he also directed. It was during the production of this film that they began a romantic relationship. Locke was to star in five further movies with him, including The Gauntlet (1977), Any Which Way You Can (1980), Bronco Billy (1980), Sudden Impact (1983), and Every Which Way But Loose (1978), the latter being the third biggest box office hit for Warner Brothers (following The Exorcist), earning more than $60 million. Eastwood treated himself to a $100,000 Ferrari.

Having lived for the past two years with Sondra Locke, who was also married to someone else, Eastwood and Maggie Johnson finally decided to separate in January 1979. It was an amicable split, unlike the one Clint was to face nine years later with Locke, who leaked her lawsuit to the world’s media showing her entitlement for his two houses in LA and a chunk of his $140 million fortune.

In 1986, Eastwood ran for mayor of Carmel in Northern California, one of America’s richest communities. It was reported that his decision for running was due to a series of clashes he had had with the council because they refused planning permission to renovate his restaurant, the Hog’s Hearth. Once elected (he won with three quarters of the votes), he promised to take two years out of making films, to concentrate on his new role as mayor. Like many politicians, he didn’t live up to his promises, and went ahead and did two poorly received films: Heartbreak Ridge (1986) and The Dead Pool (1988).

During this period, Eastwood had two further children, this time with former air stewardess, Jacelyn Reeves. Scott Eastwood was born in 1986 and Kathryn Eastwood in 1988. He then had one more child out of wedlock in 1992, with actress Frances Fisher. Their daughter is called Francesca-Fisher-Eastwood. That same year Eastwood won an Academy Award for Best Director for Unforgiven ([urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/515:0/Gene_Hackman.htm]Gene Hackman[/urlnew], [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/872:0/Morgan_Freeman.htm]Morgan Freeman[/urlnew]), considered by many to be one of the greatest Western films of all time.

The 1990s also saw Eastwood appear in The Line of Fire (1993), A Perfect World (1993), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Absolute Power (1997), and True Crime (1999)
In March 1996, Eastwood married for the second time, to former TV anchor, Dina Ruiz, whom he met in 1992 after the success of Unforgiven. They have a daughter together, called Morgan and currently live a happy, settled life at their Pebble Beach residence near Carmel.

More recently, Clint directed two out of the four actors in performances that won them Oscars: [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/590:0/Sean_Penn.htm]Sean Penn[/urlnew] (Best Actor for Mystic River (2003) and [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/703:0/Tim_Robbins.htm]Tim Robbins[/urlnew] (Best Supporting Actor for Mystic River (2003) in 2004, and Hilary Swank (Best Actress for Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Morgan Freeman (Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby (2004) in 2005.
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Now in his seventies, Clint Eastwood took the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director for Million Dollar Baby, beating [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/96:0/Martin_Scorsese.htm]Martin Scorcese’s[/urlnew] big budget [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/485:0/Howard_Hughes.htm]Howard Hughes[/urlnew] saga, The Aviator. 2006 was also a fantastic year as Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima were very well received, with Letters winning a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, before being nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Looking back over Eastwood’s impressive career, there is no doubt that his success on both sides of the camera has assured him his place in cinema history. At 77, the lean, laconic, legend shows no signs of hanging up his Stetson just yet, with more projects still in the pipeline.

[i]Anya Hohnbaum[/i]
Clint Eastwood biography

- Clint Eastwood is an anagram for 'old west action'. (Jeopardy)

- When Eastwood was four years old, his mother discovered he was allergic to cats and dogs. He started collecting snakes, and at one point had 13.

- He wore the same poncho, without ever having washed it, in all three of his "Man with No Name" Westerns.

- The boots that Clint wore in Unforgiven are the same boots that he wore in the TV series Rawhide. These boots are now a part of Clint’s private collection and were on loan to the 2005 Sergio Leone exhibit at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, California.

- His name has made it into popular music, with Damon Alburn’s band, Gorillaz dub-rap-rock mutation "Clint Eastwood" being a great hit.

- If Clint had to look unpleasant or mean in the Dollars’ trilogy he would just take a couple of draws of his cigar and he was right there. He hated smoking.

- Clint is a partial owner of the Pebble Beach Golf Country Club in Monterey Peninsula, California. Every year the PGA tour plays at the golf club, for a celebrity golf tournament where celebrities team up with the professionals. Clint has taken part in this every year from 1962-2002 making him the longest running participant. He now serves as Host.

- Weighed 11 lbs 6 oz at birth.

- Awards: Won 4 Oscars and 5 Golden Globes.

- Height: 6' 4".

- Billed by Life magazine in 1971 as ‘the world’s most famous movie star’.

- Aged 74, he became the oldest person to win the Best Director Oscar for Million Dollar Baby in 2004.

- His favourite actor is James Cagney.

- At the 2005 National Board of Review awards dinner in New York City, Clint, a Republican, joked that he would kill filmmaker Michael Moore if Moore ever showed up at his home with a camera (an evident reference to Moore's controversial interview with Clint’s friend, actor/Second Amendment advocate Charlton Heston, for the movie Bowling for Columbine (2002)). After the crowd laughed, Clint said, "I mean it." Moore's spokesman said, "Michael laughed along with everyone else, and took Mr. Eastwood's comments in the light-hearted spirit in which they were given." Publicly, Clint has not commented further.
Clint Eastwood biography

[b]As Actor:[/b]

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Blood Work (2002)

Space Cowboys (2000)

True Crime (1999)

Absolute Power (1997)

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

A Perfect World (1993)

In the Line of Fire (1993)

Unforgiven (1992)

The Rookie (1990)

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

Pink Cadillac (1989)

The Dead Pool (1988)

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Pale Rider (1985)

City Heat (1984)

Tightrope (1984)

Sudden Impact (1983)

Honkytonk Man (1982)

Firefox (1982)

Any Which Way You Can (1980)

Bronco Billy (1980) .

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Every Which Way But Loose (1978)

The Gauntlet (1977)

The Enforcer (1976)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

Magnum Force (1973)

High Plains Drifter (1973)

Joe Kidd (1972)

Dirty Harry (1971)

Play Misty for Me (1971)

The Beguiled (1971)

Kelly's Heroes (1970)

Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

Paint Your Wagon (1969)

Where Eagles Dare (1968)

Coogan's Bluff (1968)

Hang 'Em High (1968)

The Witches (1967)

Rawhide (1959)

Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958)

Lafayette Escadrille (1958)

Escapade in Japan (1957)

The First Traveling Saleslady (1956)

Away All Boats (1956)

Star in the Dust (1956)

Never Say Goodbye (1956)

Tarantula (1955)

Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955)

Francis in the Navy (1955)

Revenge of the Creature (1955)

[b]As Director:[/b]

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Mystic River (2003)

Blood Work (2002)

Space Cowboys (2000)

True Crime (1999)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

Absolute Power (1997)

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

A Perfect World (1993)

Unforgiven (1992)

The Rookie (1990)

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

Bird (1988)

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Pale Rider (1985)

Sudden Impact (1983)

Honkytonk Man (1982)

Firefox (1982)

Bronco Billy (1980)

The Gauntlet (1977)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

Breezy (1973)

High Plains Drifter (1973)

Play Misty for Me (1971)

The Beguiled: The Storyteller (1971)

[b]As Producer:[/b]

As Producer

Tony Bennett: The Music Never ends (2008, in production)

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Budd Boetticher: An American Original (2005)

Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005)

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Mystic River (2003)

Blood Work (2002)

Space Cowboys (2000)

True Crime (1999)

Monterey Jazz Festival: 40 Legendary Years (1998, Exec. Producer)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

Absolute Power (1997)

The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995)

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

A Perfect World (1993)

Unforgiven (1992)

The Rookie (1990)

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988, Exec. Producer)

Bird (1988)

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Pale Rider (1985)

Tightrope (1984)

Sudden Impact

Honkytonk Man (1982)

Firefox (1982)
Clint Eastwood biography

"Unknown Girl" (single, 1961)

"Rowdy" (single)

"For You, For Me, For Evermore" (single)

Rawhide's Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites (LP)

Paint Your Wagon

Kelly's Heroes

"Cowboy in a Three Piece Suit" (single, 1981)

"Make My Day" (single, 1984) with T.G. Sheppard