Clint Eastwood Posters and Movies

About Clint Eastwood

By Cathy Richey, the Cathy Factor

Clint Eastwood


Many believe Cliint Eastwood is the icon of macho movie stars, and a living legend. Clint Eastwood has become a standard in international cinema. He was born on May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clint Sr., a steelworker, and Ruth, a factory worker. The family moved around Northern California before settling in Oregon when Clint was a teenager.

Despite having athletic and musical talents, he shunned playing on sports teams or in the school band. After graduating high school in 1948, he moved to Seattle and worked as a lifeguard before being drafted into the military in 1950. After completing his service, he moved to Los Angeles where he found work digging swimming pools.

Eastwood developed an interest in film, and started trying out for bit parts in movies. He found work as an actor with brief appearances in such B-films as Tarantula (1955) and Revenge of the Creature (1955), which led to credited supporting roles in Francis in the Navy (1955), The First Traveling Saleslady (1956), Lafayette Escadrille (1958) and Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958). He got his breakthrough at the end of the decade with the TV series "Rawhide" (1959), where he was a cast member for six years. As Rowdy Yates, he made the show his own and became a household name around the country.

But Eastwood found even bigger and better things with A Fistful of Dollars (1964), and For a Few Dollars More in 1965. But it was the second sequel to A Fistful of Dollars where he found one of his trademark roles in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The movie was a big hit and he became an instant international star. Eastwood landed some excellent roles thereafter: Where Eagles Dare (1968) found him second fiddle to Richard Burton but to the tune of 800,000 dollars in this classic World War II movie. He also starred in Coogan's Bluff (1968), the western Hang 'Em High (1968) and the musical Paint Your Wagon (1969). Eastwood went in an experimental direction again with Kelly's Heroes (1970) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), both of which combined tough-guy action with offbeat humor.

1971 proved to be one of his best years in film. He directed his first movie, the thriller Play Misty for Me (1971), in which he played a man being stalked by a crazed female admirer whose obsession with him turns from seductive to violent. That same year, he played the hard edge police inspector in Dirty Harry (1971) that gave Eastwood one of his signature roles and invented the loose-cannon cop genre that has been imitated even to this day.

Eastwood also found work in American westerns like High Plains Drifter (1973), which he also directed. He had constant quality films over the next few years, teaming up with Jeff Bridges in the buddy action flick Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), and starring the Dirty Harry sequels Magnum Force (1973) and The Enforcer (1976I), and the popular western The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), the action flick The Gauntlet (1977), and the hugely successful comedy Every Which Way But Loose (1978) with Clyde the orangutan.

Eastwood found even more solid work with the fact-based thriller Escape from Alcatraz (1979). The sequel to Every Which Way but Loose, Any Which Way You Can (1980), was also a blockbuster despite negative reviews from critics. It was the fourth Dirty Harry sequel, Sudden Impact (1983) (the highest grossing film of the series) that made him a huge star for the eighties.

Clint also starred in Firefox (1982), Tightrope (1984), Pale Rider (1985), and Heartbreak Ridge (1986), which were all big hits but did not become classics. His fifth and final Dirty Harry movie, The Dead Pool (1988), was a minor commercial hit but criticized by critics. Shortly after his career declined with the outright bomb comedy Pink Cadillac (1989) and the disappointing cop adventure The Rookie (1990), it was obvious Eastwood's stardom was declining as it never had before.

But Eastwood surprised yet again. First with his western, Unforgiven (1992), which garnered him an Oscar for best director and producer of the best picture, and nomination for best actor. Then he took on the secret service in In the Line of Fire (1993), another huge hit.

Next up was The Bridges of Madison County (1995), a popular love story with Meryl Streep. Over the next few years, the quality of his films was up and down. He directed and starred in the well-received Absolute Power (1997) and Space Cowboys (2000), True Crime (1999), and Blood Work (2002).

Eastwood rose to prominence once again, starring opposite Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman in what is said to be the best film of his career: the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby (2004). A critical and commercial triumph, the movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as earning Eastwood a nomination for Best Actor and a win for Best Director.

After this he took a four-year acting hiatus before starring in Gran Torino (2008). This film grossed $30 million during its opening weekend in 2009, making him the oldest leading man to reach #1 at the box office, and another one of his biggest hits.

After starring in iconic movies for five consecutive decades, Clint Eastwood has proved himself to be the longest-running movie star. Going out on top, he recently said he may never act again, but he will continue to direct films.