Clint Eastwood - ©Theda Bara

The name I present to you in this post is Clint Eastwood, one of the greatest icons of the seventh art. Clint made history in the 60s as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, coming in second place in the ranking of the 100 greatest stars of all time.

Clint Eastwood, a native of San Francisco, lived a nomadic life with his parents, who were always moving from city to city. He spent much of his adolescence in Oregon and moved to Seattle in 1951. At the age of 21, he joined the army, where he worked as a lifeguard and swimming instructor. While still in the army, he made a friend who recommended him for his first film job, at Universal Pictures.

Back in California, Clint began his long and historic career. In 1955, he made his acting debut in an uncredited role: “Revenge of the Creature”. He also appeared in several so-called “B” films, all without his name in the credits. He almost abandoned his acting career, but in 1959 he landed a supporting role in the CBS television series “Rawhide”, playing the character: “Rowdy Yates”, a series that lasted six years and ended up stealing the lead role from Gil Favor (1925-1966), who played the protagonist: “Eric Fleming”.

The invitation that would change his career came in 1964. Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone (1929-1989) called the actor to play “High Plains Drifter”, character: “Strange”, which only premiered in 1973, but which started not only the “Dollars” Trilogy, but also an entire genre: the “Italian bang bang” or “spaghetti western”. Clint and Leone also made: “For a Dollar in More” (1965), released in the United States in 1967, with the character “Manco”, and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966), where he once again played “The Stranger”, the nameless gunman. This film was released in theaters in the United States in 1968, but it was enough to elevate the actor to star status, earning him the respect of several American and Italian filmmakers.

Despite being known for the tough way he appears in his films, Clint never became unpopular among his fans and, over time, he proved that he was also a man with a unique artistic sensitivity. The first example of this was perhaps “Bird” (1988), a drama starring Forest Whitaker (1961-) that tells the story of musician Charles Parker Jr. (1920-1955). The filmmaker demonstrates all his passion for jazz and music in the film. In the 1980s, as if his work as an actor, director and producer were not enough, Eastwood composed soundtracks for many of his films.

In 1986, Clint became involved in Californian politics, was elected mayor of the city of Carmel and was invited to be more active in the Republican party, but chose not to pursue a political career, much to the delight of the seventh art.

In 1992, he directed and starred in “Unforgiven” as: “William Will Munny”, which is considered by many to be the last great Western, and a “grand finale” for the genre that made him famous. The film won four Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture. Three years later, he directed and starred in the romantic drama “The Bridges of Madison County” (1995) character: “Robert Kincaid”, alongside “Meryl Streep” (1949-) character: “Francesca Johnson”, and moved many people in theaters.

The “bad phase”, which was never really bad, ended after “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), nominated for seven Oscar categories, winning four: Best Picture; Best Director (Clint Eastwood’s character: “Frankie Dunn”); Best Actress, Hilary Swank (1974-) character: “Maggie Fitzgerald” and Best Supporting Actor, Morgan Freeman (1937-) character: “Eddie Dupris”.

Clint Eastwood was nominated for an Oscar nine times and won five statuettes. He won the Oscar four times: two for Best Director and two for Best Picture, but never won the Oscar for Best Actor. Clint was honored in 1995, receiving the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Oscar in recognition of his long career in cinema. 

Clint Eastwood has never accepted having a star on the Walk of Fame. The actor says he does not think it is necessary to have his name placed on a stone plaque on a public street.  

Clinton Eastwood Jr. was born on May 31, 1930, in San Francisco, California, United States, and is now 94 years old.

Clint Eastwood has been married twice, first to American actress Maggie Johnson Eastwood (1931–), a union that lasted more than three decades, from 1953 to 1984. The couple has two children, jazz musician and singer Kyle Eastwood (1968–) and film director Alison Eastwood (1972–); his second marriage was to American journalist Dina Marie Fisher Ruiz Eastwood, known professionally as Dina Eastwood (1965–), from 1996 to 2014. The couple has one daughter, American actress and producer Morgan Eastwood (1996–).