Clint Eastwood

'Clint Eastwood' (qv) was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, the son of Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and 'Ruth Wood' (qv), a housewife turned IBM operator. He had a comfortable, middle-class upbringing in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in music and mechanics, but was an otherwise bored student; this resulted in being held back a grade. When Eastwood was 19, his parents relocated to Washington state, and young Clint spent a couple years working menial jobs in the Pacific Northwest. Returning to California in 1951, he did a stint at Fort Ord Military Reservation and later enrolled at Los Angeles City College, but dropped out after two semesters to pursue acting. During the mid-'50s he landed uncredited bit parts in such B-films as _Revenge of the Creature (1955)_ (qv) and _Tarantula (1955)_ (qv) while simultaneously digging swimming pools and driving a garbage truck to supplement his income. In 1958, he landed his first consequential acting role in the long-running TV show _Rawhide (1959)_ (qv) with 'Eric Fleming' (qv). Though only a secondary player for the first seven seasons, Clint was promoted to series star when Fleming departed--both literally and figuratively--in its final year, along the way becoming a recognizable face to television viewers around the country.Eastwood's big-screen breakthrough came as The Man with No Name in 'Sergio Leone' (qv)'s trilogy of excellent spaghetti westerns: _A Fistful of Dollars (1964)_ (qv), _For a Few Dollars More (1965)_ (qv), and _The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)_ (qv). The movies were shown exclusively in Italy during their respective copyright years with 'Enrico Maria Salerno' (qv) providing the voice for Clint's character, finally getting American distribution in 1967/68. As the last film racked up phenomenal grosses, Eastwood, 37, rose from television nonentity to sought-after box office attraction in just a matter of months. Yet again a success was the late-blooming star's first U.S.-made western, _Hang 'Em High (1968)_ (qv). He followed that up with the lead role in _Coogan's Bluff (1968)_ (qv) (the loose inspiration for the TV series _McCloud (1970)_ (qv)), before playing second fiddle to 'Richard Burton' (qv) in the World War II epic _Where Eagles Dare (1968)_ (qv) and 'Lee Marvin' (qv) in the bizarre musical _Paint Your Wagon (1969)_ (qv). In _Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)_ (qv) and _Kelly's Heroes (1970)_ (qv), Eastwood leaned in an experimental direction by combining tough-guy action with offbeat humor.1971 proved to be his busiest year in film. He starred as a predatory Union soldier in _The Beguiled (1971)_ (qv) to critical acclaim, and made his directorial debut with the classic erotic thriller _Play Misty for Me (1971)_ (qv). His role as the hard edge police inspector in _Dirty Harry (1971)_ (qv), meanwhile, boosted him to cultural icon status and helped popularize the loose-cannon cop genre. Eastwood put out a steady stream of entertaining movies thereafter: the westerns _Joe Kidd (1972)_ (qv), _High Plains Drifter (1973)_ (qv) and _The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)_ (qv) (his first of six onscreen collaborations with then live-in love 'Sondra Locke' (qv)), the Dirty Harry sequels _Magnum Force (1973)_ (qv) and _The Enforcer (1976)_ (qv), the road adventures _Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)_ (qv) and _The Gauntlet (1977)_ (qv), and the fact-based prison film _Escape from Alcatraz (1979)_ (qv). He branched out into the comedy genre in 1978 with _Every Which Way but Loose (1978)_ (qv), which became the biggest hit of his career up to that time; taking inflation into account, it still is. In short, _The Eiger Sanction (1975)_ (qv) notwithstanding, the '70s were uninterrupted success for Clint.Eastwood kicked off the '80s with _Any Which Way You Can (1980)_ (qv), the blockbuster sequel to Every Which Way but Loose. The fourth Dirty Harry film, _Sudden Impact (1983)_ (qv), was the highest-grossing film of the franchise and spawned his trademark catchphrase: "Make my day." Clint also starred in _Bronco Billy (1980)_ (qv), _Firefox (1982)_ (qv), _Tightrope (1984)_ (qv), _City Heat (1984)_ (qv), _Pale Rider (1985)_ (qv) and _Heartbreak Ridge (1986)_ (qv), all of which were solid hits, with _Honkytonk Man (1982)_ (qv) being his only commercial failure of the period. In 1988 he did his fifth and final Dirty Harry movie, _The Dead Pool (1988)_ (qv). Although it was a success overall, it did not have the box office punch the previous films had. About this time, with outright bombs like _Pink Cadillac (1989)_ (qv) and _The Rookie (1990)_ (qv), it seemed Eastwood's star was declining as it never had before. He then started taking on low-key projects, directing _Bird (1988)_ (qv), a biopic of 'Charlie Parker' (qv) that earned him a Golden Globe, and starring in and directing _White Hunter Black Heart (1990)_ (qv), an uneven, loose biopic of 'John Huston' (qv) (both films had a limited release).Eastwood bounced back--big time--with his dark western _Unforgiven (1992)_ (qv), which garnered the then 62-year-old his first ever Academy Award nomination (Best Actor), and an Oscar win for Best Director. Churning out a quick follow-up hit, he took on the secret service in _In the Line of Fire (1993)_ (qv), then accepted second billing for the first time since 1970 in the interesting but poorly received _A Perfect World (1993)_ (qv) with 'Kevin Costner' (qv). Next up was a love story, _The Bridges of Madison County (1995)_ (qv), where Clint surprised audiences with a sensitive performance alongside none other than 'Meryl Streep' (qv). But it soon became apparent he was going backwards after his brief revival. Subsequent films were credible, but nothing really stuck out. _Absolute Power (1997)_ (qv) and _Space Cowboys (2000)_ (qv) did well enough, while _True Crime (1999)_ (qv) and _Blood Work (2002)_ (qv) were received badly, as was _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)_ (qv), which he directed but didn't appear in.Eastwood surprised yet again in the mid-'00s, returning to the top of the A-list with _Million Dollar Baby (2004)_ (qv). Also starring 'Hilary Swank' (qv) and 'Morgan Freeman' (qv), the hugely successful drama won four Academy 'Awards' (qv), including Best Picture and Best Director for Clint. He scored his second Best Actor nomination, too. Eastwood's next starring vehicle, _Gran Torino (2008)_ (qv), earned almost $30 million in its opening weekend and was his highest grosser unadjusted for inflation. 2012 saw him in a rare lighthearted movie, _Trouble with the Curve (2012)_ (qv), as well as a reality show, _Mrs. Eastwood & Company (2012)_ (qv). And between screen appearances, Clint chalked up a long and impressive list of credits behind the camera. He directed _Mystic River (2003)_ (qv) (in which 'Sean Penn' (qv) and 'Tim Robbins' (qv) gave Oscar-winning performances), _Flags of Our Fathers (2006)_ (qv), _Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)_ (qv) (nominated for the Best Picture Oscar), _Changeling (2008)_ (qv) (a vehicle for screen megastar 'Angelina Jolie' (qv)), _Invictus (2009)_ (qv) (again with Freeman), _Hereafter (2010)_ (qv), _J. Edgar (2011)_ (qv), _Jersey Boys (2014)_ (qv), _American Sniper (2014)_ (qv) (2014's top box office champ), _Sully (2016)_ (qv) (starring 'Tom Hanks' (qv) as hero pilot 'Chesley Sullenberger' (qv)) and _The 15:17 to Paris (2018)_ (qv). His latest project, in which he stars as an unlikely drug courier, is _The Mule (2018)_ (qv), and after that he directed _Richard Jewell (2019)_ (qv).Outside of work, Eastwood has led a hysterically convoluted existence and is described by biographer 'Patrick McGilligan' (qv) as a cunning manipulator of the media. His large number of partners and children are now reported matter-of-factually, but for the first three decades of his celebrity, his personal life was kept top secret, and several of his families were left out of the official narrative. The Hollywood kingpin refuses to disclose his exact number of offspring even to this day. He had a long time relationship with equally enigmatic co-star Locke (deceased 2018), and has fathered at least eight children by at least six different women in an unending string of liaisons, many of which overlapped. He has been married only twice, however -- with a mere three of his progeny coming from those unions.Eastwood has real estate holdings in Bel-Air, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Burney (in northern California), Idaho's Sun Valley and Kihei, Hawaii.::Scott- msa0510@mail.ecu.edu