Clint Eastwood

Born on: May 31, 1930

Born in: San Francisco, California

Nationality: American

Career: Director, Actor, Producer, and Composer

 

Clinton Eastwood is one of the most established Hollywood actors, who mesmerized the audience in the 20^th century. The winner of five Academy Awards, he also dons the hat of a director, producer and even a composer. Eastwood is mainly known for his roles as the tough guy, the anti-hero, in films like ‘Dollars Trilogy’ and ‘Dirty Harry’. He has also received acclaim as a director, for movies like ‘High Plains’, ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’. For his contribution to cinema, Eastwood was given the ‘Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award’, in the year 1995.

 

Clint Eastwood was born on 31^st May 1930, in San Francisco, California. He is the son of Clinton Eastwood Sr., a steelworker, and Margaret Ruth, a factory worker. He was raised in a middle-class family, following Protestant religion, and has Scottish, English, Dutch and Irish ancestry. Since Eastwood’s father had a variety of jobs along the West Coast, his family moved often. During his teenager years, his family settled in Piedmont, California and he graduated from Oakland Technical High School (1949).

 

After graduating from high school, Eastwood spent his time working as a gas station attendant, a firefighter, and so on. He also played ragtime piano at a bar in Oakland. He was drafted into the military services in 1950. However, the crash of his plane in the Pacific, north of San Francisco, prevented him from engaging in active combat. Though Eastwood did not have any serious injuries, he had to stay back to testify at a hearing probing the cause of the crash. During this time, he made some friends in the army, like Martin Milner and David Janssen.

 

The film career of Clint Eastwood started in the year 1955, with minor roles in B-grade films like ‘Revenge of the Creature’, ‘Lady Godiva’, Tarantula, ‘Francis in the Navy’, etc. It was after three years, in 1958, that he got his first lead role in a feature film, ‘Ambush at Cimarron Pass’. Though the movie was a major flop, he did gain some recognition. The next year, he was seen in the TV show ‘Rawhide’, with Eric Fleming, which made him a household name across the country. The decade of 1960s proved lucky for Eastwood.

 

He was seen in Sergio Leone's loose trilogy of westerns, including 'A Fistful of Dollars', 'For a Few Dollars More' and ' The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. All the three movies were extremely successful, especially the third one, and made Eastwood one of the ‘Hollywood stars’. The rest of the decade saw him in movies like ‘'Where Eagles Dare', 'Coogan's Bluff' and 'Paint Your Wagon'. Eastwood started the 1970s with ‘Two Mules for Sister’ and ‘Kelly's Heroes’. In 1971, he made his directorial debut with ‘Play Misty for Me’.

 

Eastwood reached the pinnacle of success with his portrayal of the hard-edged police inspector ‘Harry Callahan’, in ‘Dirty Harry’ (1971). The movie was had four subsequent sequels, ‘Magnum Force’ (1973), ‘The Enforcer’ (1976), ‘Sudden Impact’ (1983), and ‘The Dead Pool’ (1988). Dirty Harry was followed by ‘Joe Kidd’, ‘Magnum Force’ and ‘High Plains Drifter’ (also directed). Eastwood’s first ‘purely directorial’ venture, in which he did not act, was ‘Breezy’ (1973). Another one of his memorable roles was that in ‘Escape from Alcatraz’ (1979).

 

Eastwood played the role of an actor, producer as well as director for the first time in ‘Fireflox’ (1982), followed by ‘Honkytonk Man’ (1982), ‘Sudden Impact’ (1983), Pale Rider (1985) and Heartbreak Gunnery (1986). The 1988 film ‘Bird’ was one of the few movies in which he played the roles of only director and producer. It was the same year that he won the first award of his life, Cecil B. DeMille Award. The next year, he received Golden Globe Award for 'Best Director - Motion Picture', for ‘Bird’.

 

Eastwood’s last brush with western genre was in the year 1992, when he directed as well as acted in ‘Unforgiven’. The movie won him Academy Award for 'Best Director', Directors Guild of America Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film’ and Golden Globe Award for 'Best Director - Motion Picture'. In 1993, he was seen in ‘In the Line of Fire’, a major commercial success. The next success came with ‘The Bridges of Madison County’, a romantic movie released in 1995. The next year, in 1996, he was given AFI Life Achievement Award.

 

In 2000, Eastwood was seen in ‘Space Cowboys’, which he also produced and directed. This was followed by ‘Blood Work’ and ‘Mystic River’, with the latter getting him César Award for 'Best Foreign Film'. In 2004, he released another major hit ‘Million Dollar Baby’. The movie was a great success and won him Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and Chicago Film Critics Association Award for ‘Best Director’, apart from Directors Guild of America Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film’. His latest films ‘Flags of Our Fathers’ and ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ came out in 2006.

 

Eastwood has married twice in his life. His first marriage was with Maggie Johnson, with whom he has two kids - Kyle (born 1968) and Alison (born 1972). His second marriage was with Dina Ruiz, which continues till date. The couple has a child, Morgan (1996). Between his two marriages, he was involved in a live-in relationship with Sondra Locke, from 1976 to 1988. Apart from his three kids, from the two marriages, Eastwood has four other children.

 

They are - Kimber (born 1964) with Roxanne Tunis, Scott (born 1986) and Kathryn (born 1988) with airline hostess Jacelyn Reeves and Francesca Ruth (born 1993) with Frances Fisher - his co-star in ‘Unforgiven’. He also has two grandchildren - Clinton (born 1984) from Kimber and Graylen (born 1994) from Kyle. Eastwood owns the exclusive Tehama Golf Club and Mission Ranch Hotel (Monterey County) and is the co-owner of ‘Pebble Beach Golf Club’.

 

 

1988 - Cecil B. DeMille Award

1989 - Golden Globe Award for 'Best Director - Motion Picture', for ‘Bird’

1992 - Academy Award for 'Best Director' and Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film, both for ‘Unforgiven’

1993 - Golden Globe Award for 'Best Director - Motion Picture', for ‘Unforgiven’

1995 - Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

1996 - AFI Life Achievement Award

2004 - César Award for 'Best Foreign Film', for ‘Mystic River’; Academy Award for 'Best Director', Directors Guild of America Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film’ and Chicago Film Critics Association Award for ‘Best Director’, all the three for ‘Million Dollar Baby’

2005 - Golden Globe Award for 'Best Director - Motion Picture', for ‘Million Dollar Baby’

 

 

1955 - Revenge of the Creature (uncredited), Francis in the Navy, Lady Godiva (uncredited), Tarantula (uncredited)

1956 - Never Say Goodbye (uncredited), Star in the Dust (uncredited), Away All Boats (uncredited), The First Traveling Saleslady

1957 - Escapade in Japan (uncredited)

1958 - Lafayette Escadrille, Ambush at Cimarron Pass

1959 - Rawhide (TV)

1964 - A Fistful of Dollars

1965 - For a Few Dollars More

1966 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

1967 - The Witches

1968 - Hang 'Em High, Coogan's Bluff, Where Eagles Dare

1969 - Paint Your Wagon

1970 - Two Mules for Sister, Kelly's Heroes

1971 - The Beguiled, Play Misty for Me (also directed), Dirty Harry

1972 - Joe Kidd

1973 - High Plains Drifter (also directed), Magnum Force, Breezy (director)

1974 - Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

1975 - The Eiger Sanction (also directed)

1976 - The Outlaw Josey Wales (also directed), The Enforcer

1977 - The Gauntlet Ben Shockley (also directed)

1978 - Every Which Way But Loose

1979 - Escape from Alcatraz

1980 - Bronco Billy (also directed), Any Which Way You Can

1982 - Firefox (also directed and produced), Honkytonk Man (also directed and produced)

1983 - Sudden Impact (also directed and produced)

1984 - Tightrope Wes Block (also produced), City Heat

1985 - Pale Rider (also directed and produced)

1986 - Heartbreak Gunnery (also directed and produced)

1988 - The Dead Pool, Bird (director and producer)

1989 - Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (executive producer), Pink Cadillac Tommy Nowak

1990 - White Hunter Black Heart John Wilson (also directed and produced), The Rookie Nick Pulovski (also directed)

1992 - Unforgiven (also directed and produced)

1993 - In the Line of Fire, A Perfect World Chief (also directed and produced)

1995 - The Bridges of Madison County (also directed and produced), The Stars Fell on Henrietta (producer)

1997 - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (director and producer), Absolute Power (also directed and produced)

1999 - True Crime (also directed and produced)

2000 - Space Cowboys (also directed and produced)

2002 - Blood Work (also directed and produced)

2003 - Mystic River (director and producer)

2004 - Million Dollar Baby (also directed and produced)