Birthday:
31 May 1930, San Francisco, California, USA
Height:
6' 2" (1.88 m)
Biography
Perhaps the icon of macho movie stars, Clint Eastwood
has become a standard in international cinema. Born in San Francisco, he
is the son of Clinton Eastwood, Sr., a factory worker, and Ruth Wood
(née Runner). The family frequently moved around Northern California
when Clint was growing up before settling in Oregon. He moved to Seattle
in 1951 and worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor for the military
for two years, before returning to California.
In 1955 Clint began working as an actor with uncredited bit parts in B-movies. He almost gave up acting before getting his big break on the TV series "Rawhide" (1959), where he was a supporting cast member for six years. While still on the show, Eastwood was cast in his first substantial role, as "The Man with No Name" in the low-budget Italian western A Fistful of Dollars (1964). This was followed by For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966); none of the three films were released in America until 1968. His next film was Hang 'Em High (1968). He took a co-starring role in the unconventional musical Paint Your Wagon (1969), then combined tough-guy action with offbeat humor in Kelly's Heroes (1970) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970).
1971 proved to be a turning point in Eastwood's career and one of his best years in film, if not the best. He starred in three high-caliber films, starting with The Beguiled (1971), as a wounded soldier who stumbles into a sexually repressed all-girls boarding school. The film was directed by his mentor, Don Siegel. Eastwood then directed his first movie, Play Misty for Me (1971), a thriller about psychotic sexual obsession. That same year, he played the hard edge police inspector in Dirty Harry (1971), which invented the loose-cannon cop genre that has been imitated even to this day, and made Eastwood a superstar at last. Eastwood had a constant stream of quality films in the following years, teaming up with Jeff Bridges in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), starring in the "Dirty Harry" sequels Magnum Force (1973) and The Enforcer (1976), the American revisionist westerns High Plains Drifter (1973) and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), the action-packed road adventure The Gauntlet (1977), the hugely successful comedy Every Which Way But Loose (1978), and the fact-based thriller Escape from Alcatraz (1979).
Clint kicked off the eighties with Any Which Way You Can (1980), the blockbuster sequel to "Every Which Way but Loose". The fourth 'Dirty Harry' film, Sudden Impact (1983), became the highest grossing film of the series. Clint also starred in Firefox (1982), Tightrope (1984), Pale Rider (1985), and Heartbreak Ridge (1986), which were all big hits at the box office and got good reviews. His fifth and final "Dirty Harry" movie, The Dead Pool (1988), was only a minor commercial success and panned by critics. Shortly after his career declined with the outright bomb comedy Pink Cadillac (1989) and the disappointing cop film The Rookie (1990). It was fairly obvious that Eastwood's star was declining as it never had before.
But Eastwood quickly bounced back, first with his western Unforgiven (1992), which garnered him his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor, and wins for Best Director and producer of the Best Picture. Then he took on the secret service in In the Line of Fire (1993), another huge hit. The Bridges of Madison County (1995), a love story with Meryl Streep, was a surprise hit at the box office and was hailed as one of his best performances. The quality of his next four films varied: Absolute Power (1997) and Space Cowboys (2000) were well-received, while True Crime (1999) and Blood Work (2002) were badly received.
In what is arguably the finest film of his career, Eastwood directed and starred opposite Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (2004). A critical and commercial triumph, the movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as earning Eastwood a second nomination for Best Actor and win for Best Director. After this he starred in Gran Torino (2008), and the film's $30 million opening weekend in January 2009 made Eastwood the oldest leading man to reach #1 at the box office.
After starring in iconic movies for four decades, Clint Eastwood has proved himself to be the longest-running movie star. Although he is aging now and focusing more on directing, his career as a director continues to thrive with the award-winning films Mystic River (2003), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), and Changeling (2008) which starred Angelina Jolie.
Eastwood has managed to keep his scandalous personal life private and has rarely been featured in the tabloid press. He had a fourteen-year relationship with actress Sondra Locke and has seven children by five other women
In 1955 Clint began working as an actor with uncredited bit parts in B-movies. He almost gave up acting before getting his big break on the TV series "Rawhide" (1959), where he was a supporting cast member for six years. While still on the show, Eastwood was cast in his first substantial role, as "The Man with No Name" in the low-budget Italian western A Fistful of Dollars (1964). This was followed by For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966); none of the three films were released in America until 1968. His next film was Hang 'Em High (1968). He took a co-starring role in the unconventional musical Paint Your Wagon (1969), then combined tough-guy action with offbeat humor in Kelly's Heroes (1970) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970).
1971 proved to be a turning point in Eastwood's career and one of his best years in film, if not the best. He starred in three high-caliber films, starting with The Beguiled (1971), as a wounded soldier who stumbles into a sexually repressed all-girls boarding school. The film was directed by his mentor, Don Siegel. Eastwood then directed his first movie, Play Misty for Me (1971), a thriller about psychotic sexual obsession. That same year, he played the hard edge police inspector in Dirty Harry (1971), which invented the loose-cannon cop genre that has been imitated even to this day, and made Eastwood a superstar at last. Eastwood had a constant stream of quality films in the following years, teaming up with Jeff Bridges in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), starring in the "Dirty Harry" sequels Magnum Force (1973) and The Enforcer (1976), the American revisionist westerns High Plains Drifter (1973) and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), the action-packed road adventure The Gauntlet (1977), the hugely successful comedy Every Which Way But Loose (1978), and the fact-based thriller Escape from Alcatraz (1979).
Clint kicked off the eighties with Any Which Way You Can (1980), the blockbuster sequel to "Every Which Way but Loose". The fourth 'Dirty Harry' film, Sudden Impact (1983), became the highest grossing film of the series. Clint also starred in Firefox (1982), Tightrope (1984), Pale Rider (1985), and Heartbreak Ridge (1986), which were all big hits at the box office and got good reviews. His fifth and final "Dirty Harry" movie, The Dead Pool (1988), was only a minor commercial success and panned by critics. Shortly after his career declined with the outright bomb comedy Pink Cadillac (1989) and the disappointing cop film The Rookie (1990). It was fairly obvious that Eastwood's star was declining as it never had before.
But Eastwood quickly bounced back, first with his western Unforgiven (1992), which garnered him his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor, and wins for Best Director and producer of the Best Picture. Then he took on the secret service in In the Line of Fire (1993), another huge hit. The Bridges of Madison County (1995), a love story with Meryl Streep, was a surprise hit at the box office and was hailed as one of his best performances. The quality of his next four films varied: Absolute Power (1997) and Space Cowboys (2000) were well-received, while True Crime (1999) and Blood Work (2002) were badly received.
In what is arguably the finest film of his career, Eastwood directed and starred opposite Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (2004). A critical and commercial triumph, the movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as earning Eastwood a second nomination for Best Actor and win for Best Director. After this he starred in Gran Torino (2008), and the film's $30 million opening weekend in January 2009 made Eastwood the oldest leading man to reach #1 at the box office.
After starring in iconic movies for four decades, Clint Eastwood has proved himself to be the longest-running movie star. Although he is aging now and focusing more on directing, his career as a director continues to thrive with the award-winning films Mystic River (2003), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), and Changeling (2008) which starred Angelina Jolie.
Eastwood has managed to keep his scandalous personal life private and has rarely been featured in the tabloid press. He had a fourteen-year relationship with actress Sondra Locke and has seven children by five other women
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