Sondra Locke

Sondra Locke
at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Shelbyville, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer, director
Years active	1968–1999
Spouse	Gordon Anderson ​ (m. 1967)​
Partner	Clint Eastwood (1975–1989)

Sondra Locke (born May 28, 1944 or 1947) is an American actress, singer and film director. She made her film debut in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. From 1976 to 1983, she appeared in six films with then partner Clint Eastwood, starting with The Outlaw Josey Wales, and ending with the fourth Dirty Harry film, Sudden Impact, where she played a serial killer seeking revenge for a past rape.

Early life

She was born and raised in Shelbyville, Tennessee, the daughter of Raymond Smith, a military man, and Pauline Bayne Locke, a pencil factory worker. Her parents separated before she was born, and her mother quickly married construction company owner Alfred Taylor Locke, whose name she took. Locke has a younger half-brother, Don (born 1946). Locke was the valedictorian of the Shelbyville Central High School class of 1962. She attended Middle Tennessee State University for a year, before dropping out to pursue an acting career.

Career

In 1967, Locke won a nationwide talent search for the role of Mick Kelly in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. The film was released in 1968, and her performance garnered her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, as well as two Golden Globe nominations (one for Best Supporting Actress and the other for Most Promising Newcomer). Despite this early success, it was eight years before Locke had another notable film role. In the early 1970s, she appeared in such independent films as The Second Coming of Suzanne and Willard. She also guest starred on several television shows, including Barnaby Jones and Kung Fu. In the Night Gallery episode "A Feast of Blood," she played the victim of a curse planted by Norman Lloyd; the recipient of a brooch that devoured her.

In 1976, Locke played the supporting role of a pioneer woman who falls in love with the eponymous character in The Outlaw Josey Wales. This marked the first of six collaborations with her real-life partner at the time, Clint Eastwood. With Eastwood as her leading man, Locke went on to star in a number of box office hits. She played a foul-mouthed prostitute on the run from the mob in the action film The Gauntlet, a spoiled heiress who joins a traveling Wild West show in Bronco Billy, a country singer in the comedy Every Which Way But Loose and its sequel, Any Which Way You Can, and a revenge-seeking murderess in the highest-grossing Dirty Harry film, Sudden Impact.

Locke made her directing debut with the 1986 comedy Ratboy and later directed the critically acclaimed thriller Impulse (1990). She later directed the made-for-television movie Death in Small Doses and the low-budget independent film Do Me A Favor. After 13 years away from acting, she returned in two little-exposed independent films in 1999. Locke hasn't worked in the film industry since then.

Personal life

Marriage

Locke married sculptor Gordon Anderson on September 25, 1967. Anderson is homosexual and Locke says their marriage was never consummated, although they have been close friends for many years and remain legally married.

Domestic partnership

Sondra Locke had a fourteen-year relationship with actor Clint Eastwood. They cohabited from 1975 to 1989. During the early years of the relationship, Locke had two abortions and a tubal ligation.

Lawsuits

In 1989, Locke sued Eastwood for palimony, after he changed the locks on their house and placed her belongings in storage. They settled in 1990, with Eastwood giving her a directing contract with Warner Bros. in exchange for her dropping the suit. However, the studio never hired her to direct and rejected all of the 30+ film projects she proposed. In 1996, Locke hired entertainment attorney Neil Papiano and sued Eastwood for fraud, alleging that he had compensated Warner Bros. for the contract. The case was left in the jury's hands, with analysts predicting that Locke would win. In 1999, Eastwood and Locke agreed to settle out of court for a reportedly large amount. The details of the settlement were not publicly disclosed. The case is used in some modern law school contracts textbooks to illustrate the legal concept of good faith.

Cancer and later life

In 1990 Locke underwent a double mastectomy due to breast cancer. During her treatment, Locke began a relationship with Dr. Scott Cunneen, the Chief of Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. They began cohabiting in 1996, but are no longer together.

In 1997 she published an autobiography titled The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly.

In 2001, Locke purchased a large, six-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills, an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains.

Filmography

Acting

Films

• The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
• Cover Me Babe (1970) (limited release)
• Willard (1971)
• The Gondola (1973) (made-for-TV)
• A Reflection of Fear (1973)
• The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974) (limited release)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
• Death Game (1977) (limited release)
• The Shadow of Chikara (1977) (limited release)
• The Gauntlet (1977)
• Every Which Way But Loose (1978)
• Friendships, Secrets and Lies (1979) (made-for-TV)
• Tales of the Unexpected (1979) (made-for-TV)
• Bronco Billy (1980)
• Any Which Way You Can (1980)
• Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story (1982) (made-for-TV)
• Sudden Impact (1983)
• Ratboy (1986)
• The Prophet’s Game (1999) (direct-to-video)
• Clean and Narrow (1999) (direct-to-video)

Television guest appearances

• Night Gallery (1972) 1 episode
• The F.B.I. (1972) 1 episode
• The ABC Afternoon Playbreak (1973) 1 episode
• Cannon (1973 and 1975) 2 episodes
• Kung Fu (1974) 1 episode
• Planet of the Apes (1974) 1 episode
• Barnaby Jones (1975) 1 episode
• Joe Forrester (1976) 1 episode
• Tales of the Unexpected (1984) episode "Bird of Prey"
• "Amazing Stories (TV series)" (1985) episode "Vanessa in the Garden"

Director

• Ratboy (1986)
• Impulse (1990)
• Death in Small Doses (1995) (TV)
• Do Me a Favor (1997) (direct-to-video)

References

Notes

Bibliography

• McGilligan, Patrick (1999). Clint: The Life and Legend. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-638354-8.. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)

External links

• Sondra Locke at IMDb