Clinton (Clint) Eastwood   [1930]

On April 8, 1986, Clint Eastwood was overwhelmingly elected, with 72.5 % of the vote, to be the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, or better known as just Carmel, a well known and wealthy community on the Monterey Peninsula in California. As a busy man, he quickly tired of the details he had to be involved in as mayor, and did not run for a second term. One of his best known decisions, during his mayoral tenure, was the repeal of a municipal law that forbade citizens and visitors to eat ice cream on the sidewalks of Carmel.

But Clint Eastwood, or Clinton Eastwood, Jr., his birth name, was a lot more than just mayor of Carmel. He became one of Hollywood’s famous actors, a super star, and he even received more recognition as a film director, later in his career. He was awarded three Golden Globe Awards for Best Director of a film, three Academy Awards for Best Director of a film, the Cecile B. De Mille Award, and the AFI Achievement Award.

Clint Eastwood was born in San Francisco on May 30, 1930. His mother, Margaret Ruth Runner, was of Dutch and Irish descent. She passed away in 2006, at age 97. His father, Clint Eastwood, Sr., was of Scottish and English ancestry. He passed away in 1990, at age 84. Clint Jr. grew up in an apparently normal family, although the family moved frequently, as his father worked in a variety of jobs along the West Coast.

Clint Eastwood graduated from Oakland, California, Technical High School in 1949. He then attended Los Angeles City College, studying business subjects. In the early fifties he served in the United States Army, probably as an enlistee during the Korean War. In the mid fifties he decided to seek an acting career. He made a few brief appearances in minor films including the films, “Revenge of the Creature”, and “Tarantula and Francis in the Navy”. In 1958, he got his first starting role in a feature film, “Ambush at Cimarron Pass”. A year later, in 1959, he was selected to play Rowdy Yates, in the long-running television series, “Rawhide”. This turned out to be his major break. His part in the series made his name a household name.

In the 1960’s, he played major roles in such films as “A Fistful of Dollars”, in 1964, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, in 1966, “Where Eagles Dare”, in 1968, and in “Paint Your Wagon”, in 1969.

In the 1970’s, Eastwood continued his acting career in such major films as “Kelly’s Heroes”, in 1970, “Two Mules for Sister Sara”, in 1970, “Dirty Harry”, in 1971, “Magnum Force”, in 1973, “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”, in 1974, “The Enforcer”, in 1976, and “Every Which Way But Loose”, in 1978. He also became involved in directing films by establishing his own production company, Malpaso. He directed and starred in “Play Misty for Me”, in 1971. He also directed “High Plains Drifter”, in 1973, “The Eiger Sanction”, in 1975, and “The Outlaw Josey Wales”, in 1976.

In the 1980’s, Eastwood starred in “Any Which Way You Can”, in 1980, “Sudden Impact”, in 1983, “Pale Rider”, in 1985, “The Dead Pool”, in 1988, and “Pink Cadillac”, in 1989. He directed “Bird”, in 1988.

In the 1990’s, Eastwood starred in “The Rookie”, in 1990, “In the Line of Fire”, in 1993, and in “The Bridges of Madison County”, in 1995. He starred and directed “White Hunter and Black Heart”, in 1990, “Unforgiven”, in 1992, and “A Perfect World”, in 1993. He also directed “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”, in 1997.

In the first decade of the twenty first century, Eastwood starred in “Blood Work”, in 2002. He starred and directed “Million Dollar Baby”, in 2004. He also directed “Flags of our Fathers”, in 2006, and “Letters from Iwo Jima”, also in 2006.  

In 2009 Eastwood starred in "Gran Torino", and directed the film "Invictus". In 2010, he directed the film "Hereafter", and in 2011 he was the director of "J. Edgar", the film about the life of J. Edgar Hoover.

Although Eastwood never won an Academy Award for acting, he was nominated twice for acting in the films, “Unforgiven”, in 1992, and “Million Dollar Baby”, in 2004. He did, however, receive considerable recognition for being awarded several awards for film directing, as well as being awarded the Cecil B. De Mille Award in 1988, and the American Film Institute [AFI] Life Achievement Award, in 2004.

For film directing, Eastwood won the Golden Globe Award as Best Director for the movie, “Bird”, in 1989. The movie, “Unforgiven”, earned him the Academy Award for Best Director, and, the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, in 1992 and in 1993 respectively. And about a decade later, the movie, “Million Dollar Baby”, earned him the Academy Award for Best Director, and also the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, in 2004 and in 2005 respectively.

Eastwood received several other awards, including three honorary degrees. The honorary degrees were awarded by the University of the Pacific in 2006, by the University of Southern California in 2007, and by the Berklee College of Music. The latter was an Honorary Doctorate of Music, awarded at the Monterey Music Festival in 2007. In 1994, he received the honorary Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in acting. In 2006, he was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Sound Track Album for a Motion Picture.

In 2007, Eastwood was the first recipient of the Jack Valenti Humanitarian Award, and also in 2007, Eastwood was presented with the highest civilian distinction in France, the Legion d’Honneur.  In 2008, he received the Venice film Festival Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement. And in 2009, he received the "Order of  the rising Star" from Emperor Hirohito, most likely for the film "Letters from Iwo Jima".

Eastwood’s personal life has almost been as busy as his professional career. He has been married twice, first to Maggie Johnson from 1953 to 1978, and later to Dina Ruiz since 1996. He also had four significant others during periods of his adult life. Eastwood had six children, four daughters and two sons. Only three of the children were borne by his two wives, the other three children were borne by three significant others. His oldest daughter is Kimber L. Eastwood, born in 1964, and his oldest son is Kyle C. Eastwood, born in 1968. His other children are: Alison Eastwood, born in 1972, Scott C. Reeves, born in 1986, Francesca R. F. Eastwood, born in 1993, and Morgan Eastwood, born in 1996.

 

 

REFERENCES

Clint Eastwood, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Eastwood

Clint Eastwood, http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019744/bio

Clint Eastwood Biography, 
http://movies.aol.com/celebrity/clint-eastwood/88601/biography

 

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