Clint Eastwood Biography

news-details Clint Eastwood, actually named Clinton Eastwood Jr., was born on May 31, 1930 in San Francisco. Despite the fact that his father was only a steelworker, Eastwood is well known as an American movie actor and director, famous for his "tough guy" roles. Previously did a stint in the United States Army, he then moved to Los Angeles to study at Los Angeles College, where he primarily studied business administration, but eventually dropped out.

There he tried to get into the movie business by becoming an actor and appearing in such B-films, as "Tarantula" (1955) and "Francis in the Navy" (1955). His first break, indeed, came in 1959 when he landed in the long-running TV series, "Rawhide." Playing the role of Rowdy Yates, he made the show his own that it became a household name around the country. In 1964 Italian director Sergio Leone asked Eastwood to take part in his film direction entitled "A Fistful of Dollars" (Per un pugno di dollari), which soon followed by "For a Few Dollars More" (Per qualche dollaro in pi�) released in 1965. A year after, Leone asked him to one more time played in his film entitled "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo), where he found one of his best known trademark roles, the mysterious "man with no name." Those three films were hits, particularly the third, which made Eastwood becoming an instant international star, redefining the traditional image of the American cowboy.

After that Eastwood went on playing in any other films, like �Where Eagles Dare� (1968), before he at the end decided to branch out his acting played in "Paint Your Wagon" (1969) which was still a Western, but a musical and in "Kelly's Heroes" (1970) that combined tough guy action with offbeat humor. Not afraid of trying something new, Eastwood came to his career peak in 1971 when he starred in that year film productions, mainly in the thriller "Play Misty for Me" and "The Beguiled." However, it was his role in Don Siegel's 1971 film entitled �Dirty Harry,� as the eponymous Harry Callahan, a San Francisco detective tracking the serial killer Scorpio that later on became his most memorable role. Appeared to be true, the film had been credited with inventing the 'loose-cannon cop genre' remains imitated to this day. Moreover, many people also believed Eastwood's portrayal of the tough and no-nonsense cop had touched a nerve with many who were just plain fed up with crime in the streets.

Then he kept continuing to take cop, playing in �Dirty Harry� sequels, �Magnum Force� (1973), �The Enforcer� (1976) and �Sudden Impact� (1983), which all made him a viable star for the 80s. Later on Eastwood played in the film fifth and final sequel titled �The Dead Pool� (1988) that was an overall success, but did not have the box office punch like his previous films had achieved. The ups and downs in film production had affected Eastwood's career in such ways that it was declining as it never had before and thus everything seemed even more difficult for him who was believed to be a undoubtedly tough guy. Though, his regress became clearer as his films where he starred in, like �Pink Cadillac� (1989) and �The Rookie� (1990), were less successful. Facing such reality, he started taking on more personal projects, such as directing �Bird� (1988), a biopic of Charlie Parker; and directing and starring in "White Hunter" and "Black Heart" (1990), an uneven, loose biography of John Huston. What a surprise that Eastwood could at the end surprisingly rise to stardom again in the 1990s.

After all, he starred in and directed the gritty, cynical western, "Unforgiven" released in 1992, playing the role of an aging ex-gunfighter, long past his prime. Received public attention, the film was nominated for nine Oscars, and won four, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. The following years, he committed in the thriller "In the Line of Fire" as a guilt-ridden Secret Service agent before he expanded his repertoire again with the love story, �The Bridges of Madison County� (1995), and took on more work as director. Many of his film directions had been well received, including "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (1997), "Mystic River" (2003), and "Million Dollar Baby" (2004), for which he for the second time won Oscars for Best Director and Producer after winning a double Oscar for the same category in 1992 for his film entitled �Unforgiven.�

Passing the late 70s failure, Eastwood had learnt a lot that he won't give up his acting career just like that, rather he insisted to make it number one and develop directing as his second career. Has chosen a wide variety of films to direct, some clearly commercial, others highly personal, he frequently directs films he does not appear in. And far from the greater critical acclaim he generally received for his directing than that for his acting, Eastwood has proven to be a highly respected American director. To tell the truth, not only he produces many of his movies, but is well known in the industry for his efficient and low cost approach to make films. Furthermore, he has also started to write music for some of his films. What distinguish him from many other celebrities is that he knows who he really is and what he should and shouldn't do, by means of which he always keeps maintaining his personality and remains the quintessential cowboy with mannerisms to match in all his movies no matter what critics say about it.

As for his personal life, Eastwood has been noted as a "great lover." He's been married twice, had five daughters and four sons with five different women. His children among others are Kimberly with actress Roxanne Tunis; Kyle and Alison with his ex-wife Maggie Johnson whom she married on December 19, 1953 and divorced in 1978; Francesca with Frances Fisher, his co-star in �Unforgiven�; Morgan with wife Dina Ruiz whom he married since March 31, 1996; Rosina Mary Glen; Scott and Kathryn with Jacelyn Reeves and one adopted son named Lesly.

Beyond his directing and acting career, Eastwood also worked on political field. He once was elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California on April 8, 1986, receiving 72% of the vote. Moreover, he has also become one of the most prominent opponents of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the disability rights movement, after his restaurant in Carmel was hit with an ADA enforcement lawsuit. In May 2000, he testified before Congress in support of a bill that would have added procedural protections for small business owners, which was believed as his dominant motivation to make �Million Dollar Baby.�

No matter what, the film has won Eastwood Directors Guild of America honor, led him up to his fellow nominee Martin Scorsese who lost all his sixth Guild nominations for Best Director for the Howard Hughes epic "The Aviator" (2004). More than that, "Million Dollar Baby" also guides the film director to instantly dominate the 77th Annual Academy Awards held in Los Angeles on February 27, 2005, an event where the man won an Oscar for Best Director and Producer as the film itself won such category, as Best Picture, Best Actress for Hilary Swank, and Best Supporting Actor for Morgan Freeman. This victory becomes the second for Eastwood who in 1992 won a double Oscar for the same category for his film entitled "Unforgiven."

Opted to stay behind the camera, Eastwood afterwards went to film WWII drama "Flags of Our Fathers" and a complementary picture to it, "Letters from Iwo Jima", both released in 2006. Not only received positive reviews from critics, these two features also satisfyingly garnered a number of major film awards with the latter landing him an Oscar nomination in best director slot by 2007. Kept being productive, the man next jumped in to direct Angelina Jolie in "The Changeling" (2008) while taking the producer's seat in two musical documentaries entitled "Tony Bennet: The Music Never Ends" and "Dave Brubeck -- In His Own Sweet Way."