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Actor, director, producer; born Clinton Eastwood, Jr., on May
31, 1930, toClinton, Sr. and Ruth Eastwood. He has one older
sister, Jean. Aftertraveling and looking for work throughout
California during the Depression,the family settled in Oakland,
where Eastwood graduated from OaklandTechnical High School in
1948.
Eastwood worked odd jobs as a hay bailer, logger, truck driver,
andsteel-furnace stoker. In 1950, he was called to military duty
with the ArmySpecial Services, based at Ford Ord in Monterey,
California. While in thearmy, Eastwood met actors David Janssen
and Martin Milner, who convincedhim to move to Los Angeles in
1954 after he finished his military duty.Eastwood took a screen
test and signed a contract with Universal for seventy-five
dollarsa week. His first roles were in the science fiction films
Revenge of theCreature (1955), and Tarantula (1955). Eastwood's
rugged lookslanded him the role of Rowdy Yates in the CBS TV
series Rawhide(1959), which ran for eight seasons.
In 1964, he went to Italy to star in a trio of westerns directed
by SergioLeone. The role Eastwood took – the cool, laconic "Man
with No Name" – had been turned down by James Coburn and Charles
Bronson. The films includedA Fistful Of Dollars (1964) (a remake
of the classic Yojimbo),For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The
Good the Bad and theUgly (1966). Nicknamed "spaghetti westerns"
due to their Italianproduction, these films gained worldwide
popularity and Eastwood becameinternationally known.
Back in the United States, he directed his first film, the
thriller PlayMisty For Me (1971), and starred in the leading
role. His nextimportant project was a series of violent action
movies portraying HarryCallahan, a contentious San Francisco
cop. The Dirty Harry seriesproved immensely popular with the
public and included five films over aperiod of seventeen years,
including Dirty Harry (1971), MagnumForce (1973), The Enforcer
(1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool(1988).
Eastwood gained critical acclaim for directing, including the
CharlieParker biography, Bird (1988); and for directing and
producing the1992 western, Unforgiven, which won an Academy
Award for BestPicture. He directed and starred in A Perfect
World (1993); TheBridges of Madison County (1994) with Meryl
Streep; and AbsolutePower (1997). He directed (but did not
appear in) Midnight in theGarden of Good and Evil (1997); and
produced, directed and starred inthe thriller, True Crime
(1999). August of 2000 saw the release of his latest directorial
and acting project, Space Cowboys, costarring James Garner,
Donald Sutherland, and Tommy Lee Jones. In 2003, Eastwood nabbed
the feature-film rights to the biography First Man: A Life of
Neil A. Armstrong. He is set to direct and produce the project
but does not intend to star. The same year, he released the
directorial effort Mystic River starring Sean Penn and Tim
Robbins.
Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, California, in 1986,
serving twoyears
Back in the United States, he directed his first film, the
thriller PlayMisty For Me (1971), and starred in the leading
role. His nextimportant project was a series of violent action
movies portraying HarryCallahan, a contentious San Francisco
cop. The Dirty Harry seriesproved immensely popular with the
public and included five films over aperiod of seventeen years,
including Dirty Harry (1971), MagnumForce (1973), The Enforcer
(1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool(1988).
Eastwood gained critical acclaim for directing, including the
CharlieParker biography, Bird (1988); and for directing and
producing the1992 western, Unforgiven, which won an Academy
Award for BestPicture. He directed and starred in A Perfect
World (1993); TheBridges of Madison County (1994) with Meryl
Streep; and AbsolutePower (1997). He directed (but did not
appear in) Midnight in theGarden of Good and Evil (1997); and
produced, directed and starred inthe thriller, True Crime
(1999). August of 2000 saw the release of his latest directorial
and acting project, Space Cowboys, costarring James Garner,
Donald Sutherland, and Tommy Lee Jones. In 2003, Eastwood nabbed
the feature-film rights to the biography First Man: A Life of
Neil A. Armstrong. He is set to direct and produce the project
but does not intend to star. The same year, he released the
directorial effort Mystic River starring Sean Penn and Tim
Robbins.
Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, California, in 1986,
serving twoyears
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