Clint Eastwood

For other uses, see Clint Eastwood (disambiguation).

Clint Eastwood
Eastwood in May 2009
Born	Clinton Eastwood, Jr.
Occupation(s)	Actor, film director, film producer, composer
Years active	1955–present
Spouse(s)	Maggie Johnson (1953–1978) Dina Ruiz (1996–present)
Partner(s)	Sondra Locke (1975–1989) Frances Fisher (1990–1995)

Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor, film director, film producer and composer. He has received five Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and five People's Choice Awards—including one for Favorite All-Time Motion Picture Star.

Eastwood is primarily known for his alienated, morally ambiguous, anti-hero acting roles in violent action and western films, particularly in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Following his role on the long-running television series Rawhide, he went on to star as the Man With No Name in the Dollars trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns and as Inspector Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry film series. These roles have made him an enduring icon of masculinity. Eastwood is also known for his comedic efforts in Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and Any Which Way You Can (1980), his two highest-grossing films after adjustment for inflation.

For his work in the films Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004), Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director, producer of the Best Picture and received nominations for Best Actor. These films in particular, as well as others such as Paint Your Wagon (1969), Play Misty for Me (1971), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), In the Line of Fire (1993), The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and Gran Torino (2008) have all received great critical acclaim and commercial success. Eastwood has directed the majority of his starring vehicles, as well as other films he has not acted in such as Mystic River (2003) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), which earned him Academy Award nominations as Best Director.

He also served as the non-partisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California from 1986–1988, tending to support small business interests on the one hand and environmental protection on the other.

Early life

Eastwood was born in San Francisco, California, in 1930 to Clinton Eastwood Sr. (June 11, 1906 - July 22, 1970), a steelworker and migrant worker, and Margaret Ruth (Runner) Eastwood (September 1, 1909 - February 7, 2006), a factory worker. He was a large baby (11 pounds and 6 ounces) and was named "Samson" by the nurses in the hospital. Eastwood has English, Scottish, Dutch and Irish ancestry and was raised in a "middle class Protestant home". His younger sister, Jean, was born on January 14, 1934. His family moved often, as his father worked at different jobs along the West Coast. The family settled in Piedmont, California, where Eastwood attended Piedmont Junior High School and Piedmont Senior High School.

Eastwood was a bored student and records indicate he had to attend summer school. Despite his athletic and musical talents, Eastwood shunned school teams and the band. He was told he would make a good basketball player, but he was interested in individual pursuits like tennis and golf, a passion he retains today. He transferred to Oakland Technical High School, where the drama teachers encouraged him to take part in school plays, but was not interested. According to Eastwood, all he had on his mind were "fast cars and easy women". He took auto mechanic courses and studied aircraft maintenance, rebuilding both aircraft and car engines. Eastwood also became a pianist; according to a friend, he "would actually play the piano until his fingers were bleeding".

After his family moved to Malibu, Eastwood had to move in with a friend, Harry Pendleton, to finish high school in Oakland. He was invited to a house party in Malibu, where he met the film director Howard Hawks, who with John Ford would influence his career. Eastwood rejoined his family in Seattle when he was 19 and he worked at the Weyerhaeuser Company pulp mill in Springfield, Oregon with his father. He worked briefly as a lifeguard after obtaining a certificate from a Red Cross course, and played ragtime piano at a bar in Oakland.

Eastwood intended to enter Seattle University and major in music, but in 1950, during the Korean War, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was stationed at Fort Ord where his certificate as a lifeguard got him appointed as a life-saving and swimming instructor. Eastwood excelled as an instructor and was promoted to corporal. He visited Carmel for the first time and remarked that "someday I'd like to live here", although he confessed he had gained unwanted attention from a 23 year old school teacher, a one night stand, who stalked him and threatened to kill herself.

In October 1951, Eastwood was aboard a Douglas AD-1 military aircraft that crashed into the Pacific Ocean north of San Francisco's Drake's Bay. The aircraft had departed from Seattle, bound for Mather Air Force Base at Sacramento. When the intercommunications system failed, the aircraft was forced to ditch in the sea two miles off Point Reyes. Eastwood escaped serious injury, and using an inflatable raft, he swam to shore. The crash was headline news on October 1, 1951 in the San Francisco Chronicle. Eastwood testified at an investigating hearing, and this kept him from going to Korea with the rest of his unit. During his military service, Eastwood became friends with future actors Martin Milner and David Janssen.

Eastwood left Fort Ord in the spring of 1951 and moved back up to Seattle where he worked as a lifeguard for some time. However, as he had little money and few friends in Seattle, he moved down to Los Angeles.

Career

1950s

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in Revenge of the Creature

Eastwood made his screen debut as a lab assistant in the 1955 film Revenge of the Creature (shot in 1954). That same year, he appeared in Lady Godiva of Coventry, donning a medieval costume, and then won a role playing "Jonesy", a sailor in Francis in the Navy, receiving $300 a week for the four weeks of shooting. He again appeared in the move Tarantula, with a small role as a squadron pilot. Eastwood put four hours work into the film Never Say Goodbye (1956), in which he again plays a white coated technician uttering a single line and again had a minor uncredited role as a ranch hand (his first western film) in Law Man, also known as Star in the Dust. He had a small role in the TV film Allen in Movieland, starring Tony Curtis and Benny Goodman. Although his records at Universal revealed his development, they terminated his contract on October 25, 1955.

Eastwood landed a major role in the Ginger Rogers - Carol Channing western comedy, The First Traveling Saleslady (1956). In the film, he played a recruitment officer for Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. He would also play a pilot in Escapade in Japan (1958). He landed a small role as temperamental army officer for a segment of ABC's Reader's Digest series, broadcast in January 1956, and later that year, a motorcycle gang member on a Highway Patrol episode.

In 1957, Eastwood played a cadet who becomes involved in a skiing search and rescue in the 'White Fury' installment of the West Point series.

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Eastwood as Rowdy Yates in Rawhide

He also appeared in an episode of the prime time series Wagon Train and a suicidal gold prospector in Death Valley Days. In 1958 he played a Navy lieutenant in a segment of Navy Log and in early 1959 made a notable guest appearance as a cowardly villain, intent on marrying a rich girl for money, in Maverick. Eastwood had a small part as an aviator in the French picture Lafayette Escadrille, and played an ex-renegade in the Confederacy in Ambush at Cimarron Pass, opposite Scott Brady. Around the time the film was released Eastwood described himself as feeling "really depressed" and regards it as the lowest point in his career. He seriously considered quitting the acting profession and returning to school to start doing something with his life.

In 1958, Eastwood won the part of Rowdy Yates in Rawhide. He had successfully beaten competition and had got the break he had been looking for. Filming began in Arizona in the summer of 1958. After it's series premiere in the fall of 1959, Rawhide became a hit, reaching the top 20 in the TV ratings by it's third week. The show ran for seven years, and Eastwood would appear in a total of 217 episodes until 1965.

1960s

An executive saw Eastwood on Rawhide and thought he looked like a cowboy, and at 6 ft 4 inches (193 cm) was a strong physical presence. In late 1963, Eastwood was invited to audition for Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, though he was not the first actor approached to play the main character. A variety of actors, including Charles Bronson, Steve Reeves, Richard Harrison, Henry Fonda, James Coburn and Ty Hardin were considered for the part. The producers established a list of lesser-known American actors, and asked the afforementioned Richard Harrison for advice. Harrison suggested Clint Eastwood, whom he knew could play a cowboy convincingly. Harrison later said: "Maybe my greatest contribution to cinema was not doing Fistful of Dollars, and recommending Clint for the part". The film was to be shot in Spain and would become a benchmark in the development of the spaghetti westerns. Eastwood was instrumental in creating the Man With No Name character's distinctive visual style that would appear throughout the Dollars trilogy.

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Eastwood wearing the poncho and hat in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

He bought the black jeans from a shop on Hollywood Boulevard, the hat from a Santa Monica wardrobe firm, and the trademark black cigars came from a Beverly Hills shop, though Eastwood himself is a non-smoker. Since the film was an Italian/German/Spanish co-production, there was a major language barrier on the set. Eastwood communicated with the Italian cast and crew mostly through stuntman Benito Stefanelli, who acted as an interpreter for the production. Leone commented, "I like Clint Eastwood because he has only two facial expressions: one with the hat, and one without it".

Leone hired Eastwood to star in his trilogy, followed by For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Leone depicted a more lawless and desolate world than traditional westerns. All three films were hits, particularly the third, making Eastwood a major star, redefining the image of the American cowboy, though his character was actually a gunslinger and bounty hunter.

Stardom brought more roles in the "tough guy" mold. Eastwood was paid $800,000 in 1968 for the war epic Where Eagles Dare opposite Richard Burton. The same year, he starred in the American revisionist western Hang 'Em High and the action film Coogan's Bluff, in which he played a lonely deputy sheriff who came to the big city of New York. The latter film, directed by Don Siegel, was controversial for its portrayal of violence, but it launched a collaboration between Eastwood and Siegel that lasted more than ten years, and set the prototype for the macho hero that Eastwood would play in the Dirty Harry films. In 1969, Eastwood branched out by starring in his first and only musical, Paint Your Wagon. He and fellow non-singer Lee Marvin played gold miners who share the same wife (Jean Seberg). The film, which received mixed reviews, was one of the top ten box-office hits of the year.

1970s

Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry

In 1970, Eastwood appeared in the war movie, Kelly's Heroes with Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas, and in the Siegel-directed western, Two Mules for Sister Sara with Shirley MacLaine. Both movies combined tough-guy action with offbeat humor. In The Beguiled, another movie directed by Siegel, Eastwood played a wounded Union soldier held captive by the sexually repressed matron of a southern girls' school.

1971 proved to be a professional turning point in Eastwood's career. His own production company, Malpaso, gave Eastwood the artistic control that he desired, allowing him to direct his first film, Play Misty for Me, a thriller in which he played a man who is haunted by an crazed female admirer (Jessica Walter) whose obsession with him turns from seductive to violent. Nevertheless, it was his portrayal of the hard-edged police inspector Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry that propelled Siegel's most successful movie at the box-office. The film has been credited with inventing the "loose-cannon cop genre" that is imitated to this day. Eastwood's tough, no-nonsense cop touched a cultural nerve with many who were fed up with crime in the streets.

In 1974, Eastwood teamed with Jeff Bridges in the buddy action flick Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. The movie was written and directed by Michael Cimino, who had previously written Magnum Force (1973), the first of four Dirty Harry sequels.

Eastwood directed two allegorical westerns during the 1970s: High Plains Drifter (1973) and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). High Plains Drifter was the first of five films that co-starred his friend Geoffrey Lewis, and Josey Wales was the first of six films that co-starred Eastwood's partner Sondra Locke. During this time, he also began collaborations with character actors Bill McKinney, Albert Popwell, Pat Hingle, George Kennedy, William O'Connell, Sam Bottoms, Roy Jenson, and Dan Vadis, would would appear in his films into the 1980s.

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with Beverly D'Angelo, Geoffrey Lewis, and Clyde the orangutan in Every Which Way but Loose

In 1975, Eastwood brought another talent to the screen: rock-climbing. In The Eiger Sanction, in which he directed and starred, Eastwood — a 5.9 climber — performed his own rock-climbing stunts. This film has become a cult classic among rock-climbers. The third Dirty Harry film, The Enforcer (1976), co-starred Tyne Daly as Eastwood's female partner.

In 1977, Eastwood directed and starred in The Gauntlet, in which he played a down-and-out cop who falls in love with a prostitute whom he's assigned to escort from Las Vegas to Phoenix in order for her to testify against the mob. Steve McQueen and Barbra Streisand were originally cast as the film's stars. However, fighting between the two forced them to drop out of the project, with Eastwood and Locke replacing them.

In 1978, Eastwood starred in Every Which Way But Loose an uncharacteristic, offbeat comedy role. Eastwood played Philo Beddoe, a trucker and brawler who roamed the American West, searching for a lost love, while accompanying his best brother/manager Orville and his pet orangutan, Clyde. Arguably, Clyde stole the show. While it was panned by the critics, the movie became a blockbuster hit, becoming the second-highest grossing film of the year. In 1979, Eastwood starred in the fact-based movie Escape from Alcatraz, his last collaboration with Don Siegel. He portrayed prison escapee Frank Morris, who was sent to the tough prison Alcatraz in 1960, devised a meticulous plan to escape from "The Rock," and, in 1962, broke out with two other prisoners and entered San Francisco Bay.

1980s

Eastwood in 1981

In 1980, Eastwood starred in two films: first playing the main attraction in a traveling Wild West Show in Bronco Billy; he reprised his role in the sequel to Every Which Way But Loose entitled Any Which Way You Can. Despite bad reviews from critics, the sequel also became another box-office success and was among the top five highest-grossing films of the year. In 1982, Eastwood directed, produced and starred in the Cold War-themed Firefox. The fourth Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact (1983), is widely considered to be the darkest, "dirtiest" and most violent film of the series. Also, it was the highest-grossing film of the franchise, making Eastwood a viable star for the 1980s. This would be the last time he starred in a film with frequent leading lady Sondra Locke. President Ronald Reagan referred to his famous "Go ahead, make my day." line in one of his speeches.

Eastwood co-starred with real-life son Kyle in the litte-seen film Honkytonk Man (1982), and with daughter Alison in the successful provocative thriller Tightrope (1984), in which Eastwood starred as a cop who is lured by the promise of kinky sex while investigating the murders of prostitues in New Orleans.

Eastwood starred in the period comedy City Heat (1984) with Burt Reynolds and the military drama Heartbreak Ridge (1986), both of which were well-received both critically and commercially. He revisited the western genre directing and starring in Pale Rider (1985), an homage to the western film classic Shane, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

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"Go ahead, make my day."

Eastwood's fifth and final Dirty Harry film, The Dead Pool (1988), was a commercial success, but was generally panned by critics. It co-starred Liam Neeson, Patricia Clarkson, and a young Jim Carrey, who later appeared with Eastwood in the poorly received comedy Pink Cadillac (1989) alongside Bernadette Peters.

During this time, he began working on smaller, more personal projects, first directing Bird (1988), a biopic starring Forest Whitaker as jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker, a genre of music that Eastwood has always been personally interested in. Eastwood received two Golden Globes—the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his lifelong contribution and the Best Director award for Bird, which also earned him a Golden Palm nomination at the Cannes Film Festival.

1990s

In 1990, Eastwood directed and co-starred with Charlie Sheen in buddy cop action film The Rookie, featuring Raul Julia and Sonia Braga as the film's villains. That same year he starred as a character closely based on the legendary film-maker John Huston in White Hunter, Black Heart, an adaptation of Peter Viertel's roman à clef about the making of the classic The African Queen. The latter received some critical attention but only a limited release. Overall, neither film was well-received. He turned down the title role in the film adaptation of Dick Tracy, and the part went to Warren Beatty.

Eastwood rose to prominence yet again in the early 1990s. He revisited the western genre in the self-directed 1992 film, Unforgiven, taking on the role of an aging ex-gunfighter long past his prime. The film, also starring such esteemed actors as Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris, laid the groundwork for such later westerns as Deadwood by re-envisioning established genre conventions in a more ambiguous and unromantic light. A great success both in terms of box office and critical acclaim, it was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Eastwood and Best Original Screenplay for David Webb Peoples. It won four, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. As of 2009, Unforgiven is the last western film that Eastwood has made.

In 1993, Eastwood played Frank Horrigan, a guilt-ridden Secret Service agent in the thriller In the Line of Fire, co-starring John Malkovich and Rene Russo and directed by Wolfgang Petersen. As of 2009 it is his last acting role in a film he did not direct himself. This film was a blockbuster and among the top 10 box-office performers in that year. That same year Eastwood directed and starred with Kevin Costner in A Perfect World. In 1995, Eastwood received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the Academy Awards. He continued to expand his repertoire by playing opposite Meryl Streep in the love story The Bridges of Madison County (1995). Based on a best-selling novel, the film received critical acclaim and was also a hit at the box-office, grossing $182 million.

In 1997, Eastwood directed and starred in the political thriller Absolute Power. The film's ensemble cast included Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert, Judy Davis, and E.G. Marshall. Afterward, Eastwood turned to more directing work, including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), which starred John Cusack, Kevin Spacey and Jude Law Alison Eastwood and Geoffrey Lewis.

His next film, the drama True Crime (1999), was badly received. Eastwood was offered Al Pacino's role in Any Given Sunday, but turned it down because the studio would not let him direct the film.

2000s

In 2000, Eastwood directed and starred in Space Cowboys, which also starred Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner. In the film, he plays Frank Corvin, a retired NASA engineer called upon to save a dying Russian satellite. The film was also one of the year's commercial hits. In 2002, Eastwood played an ex-FBI agent on the track of a sadistic killer in Blood Work, which was derived from a book by Michael Connelly. In 2003, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild and directed the crime drama Mystic River about murder, vigilantism, and sexual abuse starring Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins and Lawrence Fishburne. The film was a commercial success and won two Academy Awards, as well as nominations for Best Director and Best Picture.

Eastwood in 2005

In 2005, Eastwood found critical and commercial success when he directed, produced, scored, and starred in the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby. Eastwood played a cantankerous trainer who forms a bond with the female boxer (Hilary Swank) he reluctantly trains after being persuaded by his lifelong friend (Morgan Freeman). The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as earning Eastwood a Best Actor nomination and a win for Best Director. Swank and Freeman also won Oscars for their performances, and the trio was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Eastwood also received a Grammy nomination for the score he composed for the film. Million Dollar Baby grossed more than $216 million at the box office and was his highest-grossing film at the time.

In 2006, Eastwood directed two films about the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The first one, Flags of Our Fathers, focused on the men who raised the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi. The second one, Letters from Iwo Jima, dealt with the tactics of the Japanese soldiers on the island and the letters they wrote to family members. Both films were highly praised by critics and garnered several Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture for Letters from Iwo Jima. In 2008, Eastwood directed Angelina Jolie in Changeling.

Later that year, he ended his "self-imposed acting hiatus" with Gran Torino. Eastwood directed, starred, held a producer role, and co-wrote the theme song for the film. It grossed close to $30 million during its wide-release opening weekend in January 2009, making Eastwood, at age 78, the oldest leading man to reach #1 at the box office. Gran Torino grossed over $268 million worldwide in theaters and is the highest-grossing film of Eastwood's career so far without adjustment for inflation. Eastwood has said that it will most likely be the last time he acts in a movie.

On May 30, 2009, Eastwood was honored at the Spike Guys' Choice Awards with the "Brass Balls" award for his lifetime contributions to film. In December 2009, he was named "badass of the year" by GQ Magazine. Eastwood's latest directorial effort is Invictus (2009), with Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as rugby team captain Francois Pienaar. The film earned Eastwood a Golden Globe nomination as Best Director.

Other projects

Eastwood's handprints on Hollywood Boulevard

Eastwood has his own Warner Bros. Records-distributed imprint, Malpaso Records, as part of his deal with Warner Bros. This deal was unchanged when Warner Music Group was sold by Time Warner to private investors. Malpaso has released all of the scores of Eastwood's films from The Bridges of Madison County onward. It also released the album of a 1996 jazz concert he hosted, titled Eastwood after Hours — Live at Carnegie Hall.

Eastwood had tried for some time to direct an episode of Rawhide, even being promised at one point the possibility of doing so. However, because of differences between the president of the studio and show producers, Eastwood's opportunity fell through. In 1985, he made his only foray into TV direction to date with the Amazing Stories episode Vanessa In The Garden, starring Harvey Keitel and Sondra Locke; this was his first collaboration with writer/executive producer Steven Spielberg (Spielberg later produced A Perfect World, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters from Iwo Jima). Eastwood has chosen a wide variety of films to direct, some clearly commercial, others highly personal. Eastwood produces many of his films, and is well known in the industry for his efficient, low-cost approach to making films; he has said that "everything I do as a director is based upon what I prefer as an actor." Over the years, he has developed relationships with many other filmmakers, working over and over with the same crew, production designers, cinematographers, editors, and other technical people. Similarly, he has a long-term relationship with the Warner Bros. studio, which finances and releases most of his films. However, in a 2004 interview appearing in The New York Times, Eastwood noted that he still sometimes has difficulty convincing the studio to back his films. In the 2000s, Eastwood also began composing music for some of his films. He is one of the subjects profiled in the documentary Fog City Mavericks, which interviews Eastwood alongside other fellow San Francisco Bay Area filmmakers such as George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. As producer, director, and actor, Eastwood has worked exclusively with legendary film poster designer Bill Gold. Gold designed (and often photographed) posters for 35 Clint Eastwood films, from Dirty Harry (1971) to Million Dollar Baby (2004).

Eastwood and Warner Bros. have purchased the film rights to James R. Hansen's First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, the authorized biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong. No production date has been announced. As of September 2009, he is in talks to direct Peter Morgan's Hereafter for Warner Bros. Eastwood had announced that he has all but retired from acting, although maintained that "if a good western script turns up, you never know..." In 2008, he starred in Gran Torino, which was not a western. Eastwood currently donates funds toward the new CSUMB campus library. In early 2007, Eastwood announced that he will produce a Bruce Ricker documentary about jazz legend Dave Brubeck. The film is tentatively titled Dave Brubeck – In His Own Sweet Way. It will trace the development of Brubeck's latest composition, the Cannery Row Suite. This work was commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival and premiered at the 2006 festival. Eastwood's film crews captured early rehearsals, sound checks, and the final performance. Ricker and Eastwood are currently working on a documentary about Tony Bennett, as well, titled The Music Never Ends.

Politics

Eastwood registered as a Republican in order to vote for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and he supported Richard Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns, but later criticized Nixon's morality during Watergate (see the February 1974 edition of Playboy). He usually describes himself as a libertarian in interviews, fiscally conservative yet socially liberal. At times, he has supported Democrats in California, such as the liberal and environmentally-concerned Representative Sam Farr in 2002. Indeed, Eastwood contributed $1,000 to Farr's successful re-election campaign that year and on May 23, 2003, the iconic actor-director hosted a $5,000-per-ticket fundraiser for California's Democratic governor, Gray Davis. Later that year, Eastwood offered to film a commercial in support of California's embattled governor, while in 2001, the star visited Davis' office to support an alternative energy bill written by another Democrat, California State Assemblyman Fred Keeley.

In general, Eastwood has favored less governmental interference in both the private economy and the private lives of individuals. He has disapproved of a reliance on welfare, instead feeling that government should help citizens make something of themselves via education and incentive. He has, however, approved of unemployment insurance, bail-outs for homeowners saddled with unaffordable mortgages, a continued American automobile industry, electric and hybrid cars, free prescription drugs, government-ordained educational standards, environmental conservation, land preservation, alternative energy, and moderate gun control measures such as California's Brady Bill. A longtime liberal on civil rights, Eastwood has stated that he has always been pro-choice on abortion (see the March 1997 edition of Playboy). He has also endorsed the notion of marriage equality (i.e. allowing gays to marry), just as he had once contributed to groups supporting the Equal Rights Amendment for women. Eastwood disapproved of America's wars in Korea (1950–1953), Vietnam (1964–1973), and Iraq (2003–present), believing that the U.S. should not be overly militaristic or playing the role of global policeman. In all, he considers himself too individualistic to be either right-wing or left-wing, having sometimes described himself as a "political nothing" and a "moderate" (see the February 1974 edition of Playboy). Eastwood has also stated that he doesn't see himself as conservative, but that he isn't "ultra-leftist," either.

Eastwood with President Ronald Reagan in the late 1980s

Eastwood made one successful foray into elected politics, becoming the Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California (population 4,000), a wealthy small town and artist community on the Monterey Peninsula, for one term. During his tenure, he completed Heartbreak Ridge and Bird.

In 2001, he was appointed to the California State Park and Recreation Commission by Democratic Governor Gray Davis. He was reappointed in 2004 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom he supported in the elections of 2003 and 2006 (although Eastwood disapproved of the recall of Davis in 2003). Soon afterwards Governor Schwarzenegger announced a proposal to close 80 percent of California State Parks.

Eastwood, the vice chairman of the commission, and commission chairman, Bobby Shriver, Schwarzenegger's brother-in-law, led a California State Park and Recreation Commission panel in its unanimous opposition in 2005 to a six-lane, 16-mile (26 km), toll road that would cut through San Onofre State Beach, north of San Diego, and one of Southern California's most cherished surfing beaches. Eastwood and Shriver also supported a 2006 lawsuit to block the toll road and urged the California Coastal Commission to reject the project, which it did in February 2008.

Take Pride in America Spokesman Eastwood in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

In March 2008, Eastwood and Shriver, whose terms had expired, were not reappointed. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) asked for a legislative investigation into the decision to not re-appoint Eastwood and Shriver, citing their opposition to the toll road extension. According to the NRDC and The New Republic, Eastwood and Shriver were not reappointed again in 2008 because both Eastwood and Shriver opposed the freeway extension of California State Route 241, that would cut through the San Onofre State Beach. This extension is likewise supported by Governor Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger's press release appointing Alice Huffman and Lindy DeKoven to replace Eastwood and Shriver makes no mention of a reason for the commission change.

Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Eastwood (along with actor and director Danny DeVito, actor and director Bill Duke, producer Tom Werner and producer and director Lili Zanuck) to the California Film Commission in April 2004.

During the 2008 United States Presidential Election, Eastwood endorsed John McCain for President, citing the fact that he had known McCain since 1973. He donated $2,300 towards McCain's campaign funds Although sympathetic towards her bid for the presidency, Eastwood expressed disappointment with Hillary Clinton for engaging in a duck-hunting photo op, saying, "I was thinking: 'The poor duck, what the hell did she do that for?' I don't go for hunting. I just don't like killing creatures. Unless they're trying to kill me. Then that would be fine." Upon the election of Barack Obama, Eastwood stated "Obama is my president now and I am going to be wishing him the very best because it is what is best for all of us."

Personal life

Relationships

Eastwood cooperated with biographer Richard Schickel, who stated in his book that Eastwood lost his virginity at age 14.

On December 19, 1953, Eastwood married swimsuit model and college student Maggie Johnson in South Pasadena, six months after meeting on a blind date. During their marriage, Johnson became very ill with hepatitis. After she recovered, Eastwood changed his mind about not wanting children, and fifteen years after their wedding, they had son Kyle Eastwood (born May 19, 1968). The couple also had daughter Alison Eastwood (born May 22, 1972), but separated shortly after her birth. Johnson eventually filed for a legal separation in 1978. Eastwood was ordered to pay her $25 million - $1 million for each year they were married. After a long-running court proceeding, Eastwood and Johnson finalized their divorce in May 1984. Kyle Eastwood's daughter, Graylen Eastwood, was born on March 28, 1994.

During his marriage to Johnson, Eastwood had an affair with dancer Roxanne Tunis, who worked as an extra on Rawhide. They had a daughter, Kimber Eastwood, born on June 17, 1964. Over the years, Eastwood financially supported Tunis and their daughter, and would secretly visit them every 3-4 months, according to Kimber. Her existence was unknown to the public or even Eastwood's family until reported by the National Enquirer in 1989. Kimber's only son, Clinton, was born on February 21, 1984.

According to biographers Marc Eliot and Patrick McGilligan, Eastwood also had affairs with costars Inger Stevens (Hang 'Em High), Jean Seberg (Paint Your Wagon), Jo Ann Harris (The Beguiled), actresses Peggy Lipton and Rebecca Perle, and swimming champion Anita Lhoest.

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Eastwood and Sondra Locke in their 1977 film The Gauntlet

Eastwood had a fourteen-year relationship with actress Sondra Locke, who co-starred with him in six films: The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet, Every Which Way but Loose, Bronco Billy, Any Which Way You Can, and Sudden Impact. They met in 1972 and began living together after filming Josey Wales, while both were married. Locke became pregnant by Eastwood twice, and had two abortions and a tubal ligation. Their relationship ended acrimoniously in 1989. Locke filed a palimony suit against Eastwood after he locked her out of their house and placed her belongings in a storage facility. The litigation dragged on for a decade. After dropping her suit in exchange for a directing deal with Warner Bros., Locke sued Eastwood again for fraud Her autobiography, The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly includes a harrowing account of their years together. Locke and Eastwood finally resolved the dispute with a non-public settlement in 1999.

During his cohabitation with Locke, Eastwood had an affair with flight attendant Jacelyn Reeves, with whom he had a son, Scott, and a daughter, Kathryn. The fact that Scott and Kathryn Reeves were the actor's children was not revealed to the public until it was reported by a Carmel reporter in the mid-1990s. Since then, the son (now known as Scott Eastwood) has grown close to his father and has also become an actor.

After breaking up with Locke, Eastwood moved in with actress Frances Fisher, whom he met in 1988 while filming Pink Cadillac. They appeared together in Unforgiven, and had a daughter, Francesca Fisher-Eastwood, born on August 7, 1993. Fisher moved out of their shared home in 1995 but remains on friendly terms with Eastwood and appeared with him in True Crime.

Eastwood with wife Dina in 2007

Eastwood married anchorwoman Dina Ruiz on March 31, 1996, in Las Vegas when Eastwood surprised her with a private ceremony at a home on the Shadow Creek Golf Course. She is 35 years his junior. Kyle Eastwood served best man. The couple's daughter, Morgan Eastwood, was born on December 12, 1996.

Speaking in 2008 of his fatherhood in his late 70s, Eastwood said: "I'm a much better father now than when I was younger because then I was working all around the world and I was desperate to find the brass ring, so I worked constantly. Now my daughter takes precedence over everything and, even though I've done a lot of work in the past year, I haven't ignored her and have been involved in her school activities. I go to all the softball games and look ridiculous out there because almost everybody's got a much younger father than she does. But it's fun. I think you appreciate everything a lot more when you get to my age. I never started out thinking I would have a big family. But now, it's very important to me, and family relationships take precedence over work."

Leisure

In 1975, Eastwood publicly proclaimed his participation in Transcendental Meditation when he appeared on The Merv Griffin Show with the founder of Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

The Hog's Breath Inn in Carmel, once owned for many years by Eastwood

Eastwood owns the exclusive Tehàma Golf Club, located in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The invitation-only club reportedly has around 300 members and a joining price of $500,000. He is also an investor of the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Links. He loves to play golf and donates his time every year to charitable causes at major tournaments. Eastwood is also the owner of the Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant, located in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Eastwood is an audiophile, known for his love of jazz. He owns an extensive collection of LPs which he plays on a Rockport turntable. His interest in music was passed on to his son Kyle, now a jazz musician. Eastwood co-wrote "Why Should I Care" with Linda Thompson and Carole Bayer Sager which was recorded by Diana Krall.

He has voiced a lack of interest in hunting, saying, "I don't go for hunting. I just don't like killing creatures. Unless they're trying to kill me. Then that would be fine."

Eastwood is an experienced pilot and sometimes flies his own helicopter to the studio to avoid traffic.

Image and popularity

See Clint Eastwood in popular culture

Filmography

Main article: Clint Eastwood filmography

Awards and honors

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Clint Eastwood

Eastwood is one of two people to have been twice nominated for Best Actor and Best Director for the same film (Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby) the other being Warren Beatty (Heaven Can Wait and Reds). Along with Beatty, Robert Redford, Richard Attenborough, Kevin Costner, and Mel Gibson, he is one of the few directors best known as an actor to win an Academy Award for directing. On February 27, 2005, at age 74, he became one of only three living directors (along with Miloš Forman and Francis Ford Coppola) to have directed two Best Picture winners. He is also, at age 74, the oldest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Director.

Eastwood directed five actors in Academy Award–winning performances: Gene Hackman in Unforgiven, Tim Robbins & Sean Penn in Mystic River, and Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby.

Clint Eastwood received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1996 and received an honorary degree from AFI in 2009.

Eastwood has received numerous other awards, including an America Now TV Award as well as one of the 2000 Kennedy Center Honors. He received an honorary degree from University of the Pacific in 2006, and an honorary degree from University of Southern California in 2007. In 1995 he received the honorary Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in film producing. In 2006, he received a nomination for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Million Dollar Baby. In 2007, Eastwood was the first recipient of the Jack Valenti Humanitarian Award, an annual award presented by the MPAA to individuals in the motion picture industry whose work has reached out positively and respectfully to the world. He received the award for his work on the 2006 films Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.

On December 6, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Eastwood into the California Hall of Fame located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts.

In early 2007, Eastwood was presented with the highest civilian distinction in France, Légion d'honneur, at a ceremony in Paris. French President Jacques Chirac told Eastwood that he embodied "the best of Hollywood".

On September 22, 2007, Eastwood was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music at the Monterey Jazz Festival, on which he serves as an active board member. Upon receiving the award he gave a speech, claiming, "It's one of the great honors I’ll cherish in this lifetime." He was also honored with the "Cinema for Peace Award 2007 for Most Valuable Movie of the Year" for "Flags of our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima".

Eastwood received the 2008 Best Actor award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures for his performance in Gran Torino.

On April 29, 2009, the Japanese government announced that Eastwood was to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, which represents the third highest of eight classes associated with this award.

On November 13, 2009, Clint Eastwood was made French Legion of Honor Commander, which represents the third highest of five classes associated with this award. He was previously made French Legion of Honor Knight in 2007.

Academy Awards

Won

• 1992 Best Director – Unforgiven
• 1992 Best Picture – Unforgiven
• 1994 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
• 2004 Best Director – Million Dollar Baby
• 2004 Best Picture – Million Dollar Baby

Nominated

• 1992 Best Actor – Unforgiven
• 2003 Best Director – Mystic River
• 2003 Best Picture – Mystic River
• 2004 Best Actor – Million Dollar Baby
• 2006 Best Director – Letters from Iwo Jima
• 2006 Best Picture – Letters from Iwo Jima

Discography

Eastwood is also a musician, pianist and composer. He composed the film scores of Mystic River, Grace Is Gone (2007), and Changeling, and the original piano compositions for In the Line of Fire. One of his songs can be heard over the credits of Gran Torino.

Albums

Year	Album
1963	Rawhide's Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions			Album
		US Country	US	CAN Country
1961	"Known Girl"	—	—	—	singles only
1962	"Rowdy"	—	—	—
	"For You, For Me, For Evermore"	—	—	—
1980	"Bar Room Buddies" (with Merle Haggard)	1	—	1	Bronco Billy Soundtrack
	"Beers to You" (with Ray Charles)	55	—	—	singles only
1981	"Cowboy in a Three Piece Suit"	—	—	—
1984	"Make My Day" (with T. G. Sheppard)	12	62	11	Slow Burn (T. G. Sheppard album)
2009	"Gran Torino" (as Walt Kowalski with Jamie Cullum)	—	—	—	single only

Bibliography

• Clint Eastwood Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)

• 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)
• Schickel, Richard (1996). Clint Eastwood: A Biography. Knopf. ISBN 9780679429746, ISBN 0-679-42974-3. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)

Further reading

• Engel, Leonard (2007). Clint Eastwood, Actor and Director: New Perspectives. University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874809008, ISBN 0-87480-900-2. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
• Johnstone, Iain (2007). The Man with No Name: The Biography of Clint Eastwood. Plexus Publishing, Limited. ISBN 9780859653879, ISBN 0-85965-387-0. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
• McGilligan, Patrick (1999). Clint: The Life and Legend. Perseus Books Group. ISBN 9780786708437, ISBN 0-7867-0843-3. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
• Schickel, Richard (1996). Clint Eastwood: A Biography. Knopf. ISBN 9780679429746, ISBN 0-679-42974-3. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
• Thompson, Douglas (2005). Clint Eastwood: Billion Dollar Man. John Blake. ISBN 1857825721, ISBN 978-1-85782-572-5. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)

External links

• Clint Eastwood Icon Photo Gallery at AMCTV.com
• Clint Eastwood Archive, collection of posters and photographs
• Charlie Rose show: An hour with Clint Eastwood
• 2007 In-depth interview with Clint Eastwood from The Observer
• Entertainment Weekly Photo Gallery: Clint Eastwood
• Last Man Standing: On Clint Eastwood The Nation