Clint Eastwood

Clinton Eastwood, Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor, Academy Award winning film director, film producer and composer. Eastwood is famous for his "tough guy" roles, including Dirty Harry and the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns. As a director, Eastwood has become known for high-quality dramas imbued with a pessimistic tone, such as Unforgiven, Mystic River, and Million Dollar Baby.

Film career

Eastwood began work as an actor, appearing in B-films such as Tarantula and Francis in the Navy. In 1959, he got his first break with the long-running Television series, Rawhide. As Rowdy Yates, he made the show his own and became a household name across the country. But Eastwood found bigger roles with Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (Per un pugno di dollari) in 1964, and soon followed it with For a Few Dollars More (Per qualche dollaro in più) (1965). In these and his third film with Leone, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo) (1966) he found one of his trademark roles, the mysterious "man with no name". All three films were hits, particularly the third, and Eastwood became an instant international star, redefining the traditional image of the American cowboy.

Related Topics:
Actor - B-film - Tarantula - Francis in the Navy - 1959 - Television - Rawhide - Sergio Leone's - A Fistful of Dollars - 1964 - For a Few Dollars More - 1965 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - 1966

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Stardom brought more roles, though still in the "tough guy" mold. In Where Eagles Dare (1968) he had second billing to Richard Burton but was paid $800,000. However, he also began to branch out. Paint Your Wagon (1969) was a Western, but a musical. Kelly's Heroes (1970) combined tough guy action with offbeat humor. 1971 proved to be one of his best years in films. He directed and starred in the thriller Play Misty for Me (1971), and The Beguiled (1971). But it was his role that year as the hard-edged police inspector Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry that gave Eastwood one of his most memorable roles. The film has been credited with inventing the "loose-cannon cop genre" that remains imitated to this day. Many have said that Eastwood's portrayal of the tough, no-nonsense cop touched a nerve with many who were just plain fed up with crime in the streets.

Related Topics:
Where Eagles Dare - 1968 - Paint Your Wagon - 1969 - Western - Musical - Kelly's Heroes - 1970 - 1971 - Play Misty for Me - The Beguiled - Dirty Harry

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Eastwood continued to take cop, western and thriller roles, including sequels to Dirty Harry: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988). The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) was an important contribution to the western genre. As the late '70s approached, he found more solid work in comedies such as Every Which Way But Loose (1978).

Related Topics:
Magnum Force - 1973 - The Enforcer - 1976 - Sudden Impact - 1983 - The Dead Pool - 1988 - The Outlaw Josey Wales - Western - Comedies - Every Which Way But Loose - 1978

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It was the fourth Dirty Harry film, Sudden Impact (1983), that made Eastwood a viable star for the '80s. President Reagan even used his famous "make my day" line in one of his speeches. His fifth and final Dirty Harry movie, The Dead Pool (1988), was a success overall, but it did not have the box office punch his previous films had achieved. After much less successful films such as Pink Cadillac (1989), and The Rookie (1990), Eastwood started taking on more personal projects such as directing Bird (1988), a biopic of Charlie "Bird" Parker, and starring in and directing White Hunter, Black Heart (1990), an uneven, loose biography of John Huston, which received some critical acclaim, although Katharine Hepburn contested the veracity of much of the material.

Related Topics:
Sudden Impact - 1983 - President - Reagan - The Dead Pool - 1988 - Pink Cadillac - 1989 - The Rookie - 1990 - Bird - Charlie "Bird" Parker - White Hunter, Black Heart - Biography - John Huston - Katharine Hepburn

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Eastwood rose to stardom yet again in the 1990s. He starred in and directed the gritty, cynical western, Unforgiven in 1992, taking on the role of an aging ex-gunfighter, long past his prime. The film was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Actor for Eastwood, and won four, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. The following year, Eastwood gave a fine performance as a guilt-ridden Secret Service agent in the thriller In the Line of Fire. He expanded his repertoire again with the love story, The Bridges of Madison County (1995), and took on more work as director, much of it well received, including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), Mystic River (2003), and Million Dollar Baby (2004), for which he won a rare second Best Director award, and at 74 the oldest active director to do so, by beating out Martin Scorcese, who still has never won an Oscar despite his long career.

Related Topics:
1990s - Unforgiven - 1992 - Gunfighter - Oscars - Best Actor - Best Picture - Best Director - Secret Service - In the Line of Fire - The Bridges of Madison County - 1995 - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - 1997 - Mystic River - 2003 - Million Dollar Baby - 2004 - Martin Scorcese

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Eastwood developed directing as a second career, and has, indeed, generally received greater critical acclaim for his directing than for his acting. He has chosen a wide variety of films to direct, some clearly commercial, others highly personal. Unlike many actors who also direct, Eastwood frequently directs films in which he does not appear. Eastwood has become a highly respected American director. Eastwood also produces many of his movies, and is well known in the industry for his efficient, low-cost approach to making films. Over the years, he has developed relationships with many other filmmakers, working over and over with the same crew, production designers, cinematographers, editors and other technical people. Similarly, he has a long-term relationship with Warner Bros. studio, which finances and releases most of his films. In more recent years, Eastwood also has started to write music for some of his films.

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Eastwood will next take the director's chair in the World War II film, Flags of our Fathers .

Related Topics:
World War II - Flags of our Fathers

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Eastwood received Kennedy Center Honors in 2000.

Related Topics:
Kennedy Center Honors - 2000

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