Like most superstars, Clint Eastwood's success can be attributed to equal parts good fortune, tenacity, and talent. Eastwood may have been too young to fight in World War II, but he managed to miss out on action in Korea too. On leave as a G.I., his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and steely-eyed Clint swam three miles to shore. He later was made boot camp swimming instructor and missed out on action in Korea (confined to base). Encouraged to try acting by two of his Army buddies, David Janssen and Martin Milner, he landed a contract at Universal Studios in 1954, earning 75 USD a week playing bit parts in B-grade movies like Revenge of the Creature and Tarantula. He was dropped when some studio execs decided his Adam's apple was too big. The determined Eastwood swallowed his pride and, over the next few years, he dug swimming pools between playing bit parts in movies and on TV. While visiting a friend at CBS, Eastwood was spotted by a network exec who cast him as cattle driver Rowdy Yates in the long-running western series Rawhide. That, in turn, led to spaghetti stardom in a string of Sergio Leone westerns, beginning with A Fistful of Dollars ("A Fistful of Dollars").


In the Line of Fire (1993): $7,000,000
City Heat (1984): $5,000,000
Every Which Way But Loose (1978): $12,000,000 (15% of gross)
Paint Your Wagon (1969): $500,000 + % of profits
Where Eagles Dare (1968): $750,000
Hang 'Em High (1968): $1 million
Le streghe (1967): $20,000 + new Ferrari
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966): $250,000 +10% of Western Hemisphere gross + new Ferrari
Per qualche dollaro in più (1965): $50,000
Per un pugno di dollari (1964): $15,000
Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958): $750
The First Traveling Saleslady (1956): $750
Star in the Dust (1956): $75/week
Francis in the Navy (1955): $100/week

Is a partial owner of the Pebble Beach Golf Country Club in Monterey Peninsula, California. 1998: Received an honorary Cesar award in Paris, France, for his body of work. He wore the same poncho, without ever having washed it, in all three of his "Man with No Name" Westerns. 1986: Elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It has often been claimed that he ran for office as a Republican. In fact, although he was registered as a Republican in California, the position of mayor is non-partisan. When Don Siegel fell ill during production of Dirty Harry (1971), Eastwood stepped in as director during the attempted-suicide/jumper sequence. 1950-1954: Drafted and served in the United States Army, assigned to Special Services. He was a swimming instructor. It's interesting, given his penchant towards directing or starring in westerns, that his name, Clint Eastwood, is an anagram for 'old west action.' Mentioned in the theme song of the 1980s TV hit "The Fall Guy" (1981). 6/8/02: Sworn in as Parks Commissioner for the state of California at Big Basin Redwood Park, Santa Cruz. Holding up his new commissioner's badge, he told the crowd, "You're all under arrest.". 2000: Received the Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Redubbed his own dialogue for the American releases of Per un pugno di dollari (1964) ("A Fistful Of Dollars"), Per qualche dollaro in più (1965) ("For A Few Dollars More"), and Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966) ("The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"). When directing, he simply says "okay" instead of "action" and "cut." (source: "Sunday Morning Shootout"). He was a contract player at Universal International. He and another young actor named Burt Reynolds were released from their contracts and left the studio on the same day. They were both fired by the same director. Eastwood was fired when the director didn't want to use him in a movie because "his Adam's Apple was too big." Reynolds, who was serving as a stunt man, was fired after he shoved the director into a water tank during an argument over how to do a stunt fall. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945- 1985". Pages 294-302. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. He was voted the 16th "Greatest Movie Star of All Time" by Entertainment Weekly. Eastwood was only two rankings behind his own all-time favorite film actor, James Cagney. Has 7 children by 5 different women: Kimber Eastwood (born 17 June 1964) with Roxanne Tunis, Kyle Eastwood (born 19 May 1968) and Alison Eastwood (born 22 May 1972) with Maggie Johnson, Scott Eastwood (born 21 March 1986) and Kathryn Eastwood (2 February 1988) with Jacelyn Reeves, Francesca Fisher-Eastwood (born 7 August 1993) with Frances Fisher and Morgan Eastwood (born 12 December 1996) with Dina Eastwood. He was reluctant to have children with his wife at first (although he did have a child from an affair), but then she became very ill with hepatitis. Once she recovered, he changed his mind, and almost 15 years after they married, their first child together was born. He has always disliked the reading of political and social agendas in his films, which has occurred from Dirty Harry (1971) to Million Dollar Baby (2004). He has always maintained that all of his films are apolitical and what he has in mind when making a film is whether it's going to be entertaining and compelling. Was named the top box-office star of 1972 and again in 1973 by the Motion Picture Herald, based on an annual poll of exhibitors as to the drawing power of movie stars at the box-office, conducted by Quigley Publications. A sample of his whistling can be heard on the track "Big Noise" from his son Kyle Eastwood's jazz CD "Paris Blue" (2004). At the The 72nd Annual Academy Awards (2000) (TV) in 2000, presented the Best Picture statuette to American Beauty (1999). Wife Dina Ruiz (Dina Eastwood) is a former local television news anchor/reporter in California. He directed 10 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Gene Hackman, Meryl Streep, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, and himself (in Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004)). Hackman, Penn, Robbins, Freeman and Swank won Oscars for their performances in one of Eastwood's movies. 2000: Received an honorary Doctorate from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Wesleyan is also home to his personal archives. In early 2005 he announced that he would supply the voice for a "Dirty Harry" video game. Favorite actor is James Cagney. Some of his favorite actors are Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum and James Stewart. Has his look-alike puppet in the French show "Les guignols de l'info" (1988). He, Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Mel Gibson, Richard Attenborough and Kevin Costner are the only directors best known as actors who have won an Academy Award as Best Director. Claimed that the trait he most despised in others was racism. He and former partner Sondra Locke made six films together: Any Which Way You Can (1980), Bronco Billy (1980), Every Which Way But Loose (1978), The Gauntlet (1977), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Sudden Impact (1983). He objected to the end of Dirty Harry (1971) when Harry throws his badge away after killing the Scorpio Killer, arguing with director Don Siegel that Harry knew that being a policeman was the only work for which he was suited. Siegel eventually convinced Eastwood that Harry threw his badge away as a symbol that he had lost faith in the justice system. 2005: At the National Board of Review awards dinner in New York City, Eastwood joked that he would kill filmmaker Michael Moore if Moore ever showed up at his home with a camera (an evident reference to Moore's controversial interview with Eastwood's friend, actor/Second Amendment advocate Charlton Heston, for the movie Bowling for Columbine (2002)). After the crowd laughed, Eastwood said, "I mean it." Moore's spokesman said, "Michael laughed along with everyone else, and took Mr Eastwood's comments in the lighthearted spirit in which they were given." Publicly, Eastwood has not commented further. 1972: He attended President Richard Nixon's landslide victory celebration in Los Angeles, along with John Wayne, Charlton Heston, and Glenn Ford. Voted for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, Ross Perot in 1992, and John McCain in 2008. 2006: His performance as "Dirty" Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry (1971) is ranked #92 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. February 7, 2006: His mother, Ruth Eastwood, died at age 96. His performance as Blondie in Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966) is ranked #50 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Was friends with Robert Donner. Was offered Al Pacino's role in Any Given Sunday (1999), but turned it down because Warner Bros. wouldn't let him direct it also. Presented the Golden Globe Award for Best Director to Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain (2005). Served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was stationed at Ft. Ord, California, across from Monterey (over the hill from where he now lives and has served as mayor, Carmel-by-the-Sea). He was a swimming instructor. His first screen appearance was an uncredited role in Revenge of the Creature (1955), as the goofy white-coated lab assistant who does the silly mouse gag in the lab scene with the monkey. His only line in the film is, "I've lost my white mouse". He was not nominated for an Academy Award, either as an actor or as a director, until age 62. 1968: Met John Wayne for the first time at the Republican National Convention. Voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California in 2003 and 2006. 1969: Attended a celebration of John Wayne's 40-year career at Paramount Studios, along with Lee Marvin, Rock Hudson, Fred MacMurray, James Stewart, Ernest Borgnine, Michael Caine and Laurence Harvey. 1972: Had to fill in for Charlton Heston at the The 44th Annual Academy Awards (1972) (TV) until Heston arrived. The producers of Dirty Harry (1971) originally didn't want Eastwood, since they felt he was too young at 41. After older stars like John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Robert Mitchum turned the film down, Eastwood was cast. He last played Harry Callahan aged 57 in The Dead Pool (1988), which was the age the character was supposed to be in the first film according to the original screenplay. Used to shop at Market Basket a lot when it was still open. 5/11/07: Received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Southern California. Learned mountain climbing for The Eiger Sanction (1975) because he felt the scenes were too dangerous for him to pay a stuntman to do for him. He was the last climber up The Totem Pole in Monument Valley, and as part of the contract, the movie crew removed the pitons left by decades of other climbers. The scene where he was hanging off the mountain by a single rope was actually Eastwood, and not a stuntman. T12/6/06: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Eastwood into the California Hall of Fame located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts. In the late 1980s he discussed remaking the classic Sam Peckinpah western Ride the High Country (1962) with Charlton Heston. William Goldman said of Eastwood that he was the only person to be a star in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. By "star" Goldman means Variety's list of top ten actors of the decade. Former longtime companion Sondra Locke filed a palimony lawsuit against him after their break-up in 1990. The settlement included a financial payment and a contract between Locke and Warner Bros. She sued him again in 1996 for fraud. They settled out of court in 1999, for a reported large amount, details of which were not publicly disclosed. Although he can handle pistols with either hand equally well, he is left-eye dominant, evident when he shoots a rifle as in Joe Kidd (1972) or Unforgiven (1992), but is right handed, as seen when he wears or handles one pistol. Served as Mayor of Carmel California for one term with a salary of $300.00 per year. Turned down the title role in Dick Tracy (1990) that went to Warren Beatty. Attended the The 65th Annual Academy Awards (1993) (TV) with his mother Ruth and stepfather John. Though he has lapsed out of organized religion, he practices meditation twice a day. Stepfather, John Belden Wood, died on February 18, 2004 at age 90. He was married to Clint's mother for almost 32 years. He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts on February 25, 2010 for his services and contributions to the arts.