Clint Eastwood is one of the richest and most recognizable movie stars
in Hollywoodland. He is famous not only for his starring roles in
movies but also for his work behind the camera as a director. He
still owns the poncho that he wore in many of the western films that
made him famous and declares that it has never been washed; he is
afraid it would fall apart so he keeps it stored in a safe place.
Clint has been involved in more films than you can count and the
genres are from one end of the spectrum to the other.
When approached about making Sergio Leone's trilogy insiders
supposedly remarked that it was a "bad step" for his career, which
translated in Spanish is called Malpasco. Ironically there is a
Malpasco Creek located near Clint's home in Carmel-of-the-Sea, so he
decided to name his movie enterprise Malpasco Productions. Because of
his roles in the trilogy, he became an international sensation;
Hollywood said that playing the character with no name made Clint
Eastwood a bona-fide movie star. The background was the American West
but filming was done in the Italian countryside.
Both Robert Mitchum and Steve McQueen were considered to play the
detective in "Dirty Harry " and so was Frank Sinatra, but Sinatra had
an issue with his hand and could not handle a firearm. Once Eastwood
was approached and chosen the series became movie history; Harry
Callahan, the anti-cop, was featured in five different films. During
the filming in 1971 the director Don Siegel became ill so Clint
stepped in for him until he recovered; it was his first attempt at
directing and he found that it was a passion.
Fast forward, he now is the winner of five Golden Globe Awards and
four Academy Awards; he also had the honor of receiving the Screen
Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also been honored by
other countries, in France in 1994 he became a Commander of the "Ordre
des Arts et des Lettres" and in 2000 he became the recipient of the
Italian Venice Film Festival Golden Lion award as a lifetime
achievement.
In 1986, after a difference of opinion with government officials,
Clint Eastwood entered the race for Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, which
he won, and served for two years. Specifically he ran for office
because of a previous ban on the sales of ice cream cones (ice cream
parlors) and fast food, which he was able to have overturned. He
decided to not run for another term and retired as a politician.
He often flies his helicopter to filming sites, he is a composer and
pianist, and he enjoys golf and is an investor in Pebble Beach Golf
Links. He speaks Italian fluently and has traced his descendants back
to the Mayflower. Clint has seven children with five different
mothers; their ages range from fifty five years old to twenty three
and they appear often at functions and stay in touch with their
legendary father.
Brenda S. Brown
