Clint Eastwood

Biografia

Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, the son of Clinton Eastwood Sr., a manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood, 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. Eastwood's parents relocated to Washington state in 1949, and Clint worked menial jobs in the Pacific Northwest until returning to California for a stint at Fort Ord Military Reservation. He enrolled at Los Angeles City College, but dropped out after two semesters to pursue acting. During the mid-'50s he found uncredited bit parts in such B-films as La vendetta del mostro (1955) and Tarantola (1955) while simultaneously digging swimming pools to supplement his income. In 1958, he landed his first consequential acting role in the long-running TV show Gli uomini della prateria (1959) with Eric Fleming. Though only a secondary player for the first seven seasons, Clint was promoted to series star when Fleming departed 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's trilogy of excellent spaghetti westerns: Per un pugno di dollari (1964), Per qualche dollaro in più (1965), and Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966). The movies were shown exclusively in Italy during their respective copyright years with Enrico Maria Salerno providing the voice for Clint's character, finally getting American distribution in 1967. As the last film racked up phenomenal grosses, Eastwood, 37, rose from undistinguished TV actor 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, Impiccalo più in alto (1968). He followed that up with the lead role in L'uomo dalla cravatta di cuoio (1968) (the loose inspiration for the TV series Uno sceriffo a New York (1970)), before playing second fiddle to Richard Burton in the World War II epic Dove osano le aquile (1968) and Lee Marvin in the bizarre musical La ballata della città senza nome (1969). In Gli avvoltoi hanno fame (1970) and I guerrieri (1970), 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 La notte brava del soldato Jonathan (1971) to critical acclaim, and made his directorial debut with the classic erotic thriller Brivido nella notte (1971). His role as the hard edge police inspector in Ispettore Callaghan: il caso Scorpio è tuo! (1971), meanwhile, gave him cultural icon status and helped popularize the loose-cannon cop genre. Thereafter, Eastwood put out a steady stream of entertaining movies: the westerns Joe Kidd (1972), Lo straniero senza nome (1973) and Il texano dagli occhi di ghiaccio (1976) (his first of six onscreen collaborations with then live-in love Sondra Locke), the Dirty Harry sequels Una 44 magnum per l'ispettore Callaghan (1973) and Cielo di piombo, ispettore Callaghan (1976), the road adventures Una calibro 20 per lo specialista (1974) and L'uomo nel mirino (1977), and the fact-based prison film Fuga da Alcatraz (1979). He branched out into the comedy genre in 1978 with Filo da torcere (1978), which became the biggest hit of his career up to that time. Taking inflation into account, it still is. In short, notwithstanding Assassinio sull'Eiger (1975), the '70s were an uninterrupted success for Clint. Eastwood kicked off the '80s with Fai come ti pare (1980), the blockbuster sequel to Every Which Way But Loose. The fourth Dirty Harry film, Coraggio... fatti ammazzare (1983), was the highest-grossing film of the franchise and spawned his trademark catchphrase, "Make my day." Clint also starred in Bronco Billy (1980), Firefox - Volpe di fuoco (1982), Corda tesa (1984), Per piacere... non salvarmi più la vita (1984), Il cavaliere pallido (1985) and Gunny (1986), all of which were solid hits, with Honkytonk Man (1982) being his only commercial failure of the period. In 1988 he did his fifth and final Dirty Harry movie, Scommessa con la morte (1988). Although it was a success overall, it did not have the box office punch the previous films had. About this time, with outright bombs Pink Cadillac (1989) and La recluta (1990), it seemed Eastwood's star was declining as it never had before. He started taking on low-key projects, directing Bird (1988), a biopic of Charlie Parker that earned him a Golden Globe, and starring in and directing Cacciatore bianco, cuore nero (1990), an uneven, loose biopic of John Huston. (Both films had a limited release.) Eastwood bounced back with his dark western Gli spietati (1992), 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 Nel centro del mirino (1993), then accepted second billing for the first time since 1970 in the interesting but poorly received Un mondo perfetto (1993) with Kevin Costner. Next up was a love story, I ponti di Madison County (1995), where Clint surprised audiences with a sensitive performance alongside none other than Meryl Streep. But it soon became apparent he was going backwards after his brief revival. Subsequent films were credible, but nothing really stuck out. Potere assoluto (1997) and Space Cowboys (2000) did well enough, while Fino a prova contraria (1999) and Debito di sangue (2002) were received badly, as was Mezzanotte nel giardino del bene e del male (1997), which he directed but didn't appear in. Eastwood surprised yet again in 2005, when he returned to the top of the A-list with Million Dollar Baby (2004). Also starring Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, the hugely successful drama won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Clint. He scored his second Best Actor nomination, too. Eastwood's next starring vehicle, Gran Torino (2008), earned almost $30 million in its opening weekend and was his highest grosser unadjusted for inflation. 2012 saw him in a rare lighthearted movie, Di nuovo in gioco (2012), as well as a reality show, Mrs. Eastwood & Company (2012). Between screen appearances, Clint chalked up an impressive list of additional credits behind the camera. He directed Mystic River (2003) (in which Sean Penn and Tim Robbins gave Oscar-winning performances), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Lettere da Iwo Jima (2006) (nominated for the Best Picture Oscar), Changeling (2008) (a vehicle for screen megastar Angelina Jolie), Invictus - L'invincibile (2009) (again with Freeman), Hereafter (2010), J. Edgar (2011), Jersey Boys (2014), American Sniper (2014) (2014's top box office champ), Sully: Miracle on the Hudson (2016) (starring Tom Hanks as hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger) and Ore 15:17 - Attacco al treno (2018) (based on the thwarted Thalys train attack of 2015). His latest project, in which he stars as an unlikely drug courier, is Il corriere - The Mule (2018). Eastwood's individuality outside of work has been extremely convoluted, to put it mildly. He managed to keep his personal life top secret for the first three decades of his celebrity. (To this day the Hollywood kingpin refuses to disclose exactly how many families he's started.) He had a long time relationship with frequent '70s/'80s co-star Locke, who published a scathing memoir in 1997, and has fathered at least eight children by at least six different women. He has only been married twice, however -- with a mere three of his progeny coming from those unions. Clint Eastwood lives in L.A. and owns property in Monterey, northern California, Idaho's Sun Valley and Maui, Hawaii.