50 Fun Facts About Clint Eastwood

In which city was Clint Eastwood born on 31 May 1930?

His full name is Clinton Eastwood Jr.

As a young Army draftee in 1951, Eastwood survived what accident off the California coast?

He and the pilot used a life raft and swam about two miles to shore near Point Reyes.

Eastwood's first credited screen role, in 1955, was a minor part in which Universal monster sequel?

He was uncredited as a squadron pilot in Tarantula the same year, and played a sailor named Jonesy in Francis in the Navy.

Which character did Eastwood play in the CBS Western Rawhide from 1959?

He was the ramrod under Eric Fleming's trail boss Gil Favor, and took over as trail boss in the final season.

The cattle drovers of Rawhide were driving their herd from Texas to which town?

Frankie Laine sang the theme; the show ran to 217 black-and-white episodes.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964) was an unofficial remake of which Akira Kurosawa film, leading to a lawsuit?

Kurosawa wrote to Leone: 'it is a very fine film, but it is my film'; Toho ended up with 15 percent of the receipts.

What was Eastwood paid for eleven weeks on A Fistful of Dollars, plus a Mercedes-Benz?

Leone insisted he smoke cigars as part of the 'mask' of the character, credited simply as Joe.

Under what pseudonym was Ennio Morricone credited on A Fistful of Dollars?

Sergio Leone hid behind 'Bob Robertson' on the same credits, to make the film seem American.

The Dollars Trilogy was mostly shot in the desert landscapes of which country?

Almería became the standard backdrop of the spaghetti Western; the film had cost about $200,000.

Which 1970 war film was the last Eastwood appeared in that was not produced by his own Malpaso company?

He founded Malpaso with his earnings from the Dollars films.

What was Eastwood's directorial debut, released in 1971?

He and his late agent Irving Leonard had planned it as the film that would give him full artistic control.

Who directed Dirty Harry (1971), the first of five films about Inspector Harry Callahan?

Siegel also directed Escape from Alcatraz, the last of their collaborations; Unforgiven is dedicated to him and Leone.

Which handgun did Dirty Harry make famous?

The 'Do I feel lucky?' speech ranks 51st on the AFI's list of 100 movie quotes.

Dirty Harry's villain Scorpio was loosely inspired by which real Bay Area murderer?

Andy Robinson played him; John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman had all passed on the Callahan role.

Which US president quoted Dirty Harry's line 'Go ahead, make my day' from Sudden Impact?

The Enforcer, the third film, had already earned $100 million worldwide.

In Every Which Way but Loose (1978), Eastwood's brawler Philo Beddoe travels with a pet of what species?

Clyde helped the film to $104.3 million in North America, the fourth-biggest of 1978, despite savage reviews.

Which town elected Eastwood mayor in April 1986?

He served a single two-year term, until April 1988.

What was an earlier working title of Unforgiven (1992), from David Webb Peoples' 1976 screenplay?

It was also called The Cut-Whore Killings; the finished film cost $14.4 million and grossed over $159 million.

Who won Best Supporting Actor for playing Sheriff 'Little Bill' Daggett in Unforgiven?

The film also took Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing, and joined the National Film Registry in 2004.

Unforgiven's closing credits carry a dedication to which two directors and mentors?

Leone gave him the Man with No Name; Siegel gave him Dirty Harry.

Mystic River (2003) was the first film on which Eastwood was credited with what?

Sean Penn and Tim Robbins both won Oscars for it; the story is from a Dennis Lehane novel set in Boston.

Million Dollar Baby was adapted from stories by F.X. Toole, the pen name of what kind of man?

Jerry Boyd's collection was Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner; the film won four Oscars including Best Picture.

Which actress won Best Actress for playing boxer Maggie Fitzgerald opposite Eastwood's Frankie Dunn?

Morgan Freeman took Best Supporting Actor and Eastwood, at 74, his second Best Director Oscar.

How is Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) unusual for a Hollywood war film?

Ken Watanabe plays General Kuribayashi; the film won the Oscar for Sound Editing and was nominated for Best Picture.

Walt Kowalski, Eastwood's character in Gran Torino (2008), is a widowed veteran of which war?

The film, set in Highland Park, Michigan, was the first mainstream American movie with a significant Hmong cast.

What car does Thao try to steal from Walt Kowalski, kicking off the story of Eastwood's 2008 film?

The film grossed $270 million worldwide, and Eastwood sang on the title track with Jamie Cullum.

Which director dropped out of American Sniper in August 2013 before Eastwood took over?

Bradley Cooper played Chris Kyle; the film grossed over $547 million, Eastwood's biggest, and won the Oscar for Sound Editing.

Roughly how much did American Sniper earn worldwide?

It received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Bradley Cooper.

Which 1968 war film paired Eastwood with Richard Burton?

A year later he sang in the musical Paint Your Wagon alongside Lee Marvin.

In which 1969 musical did Eastwood sing, co-starring with Lee Marvin?

He is a lifelong jazz enthusiast and pianist and later composed scores for his own films.

Escape from Alcatraz (1979) was the last of Eastwood's films directed by whom?

It was their fifth collaboration after Coogan's Bluff, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Beguiled and Dirty Harry.

Which 1974 film paired Eastwood with a young Jeff Bridges as a pair of thieves?

Bridges earned an Oscar nomination; Michael Cimino directed.

What decoration did France award Eastwood in 2007, elevating him to Commander two years later?

He was elevated to Commander of the order two years later.

In which 1976 Western did Eastwood direct and star as a Missouri farmer avenging his murdered family?

He had made High Plains Drifter in 1973 and would make Pale Rider in 1985.

Which 2024 courtroom drama, released when Eastwood was 94, is regarded as his final film as director?

Cry Macho (2021) was his last leading role, at 91.

In The Mule (2018), Eastwood plays a horticulturalist in his eighties who becomes a courier for whom?

It was his first acting role since Trouble with the Curve six years earlier.

Rawhide peaked at what position in the US TV ratings, from October 1960 to April 1961?

The show aired Friday nights on CBS for seven seasons before a final Tuesday-night run in 1965.

Which Malpaso film starred Eastwood as a rodeo showman opposite Sondra Locke in 1980?

Locke appeared in six of his films between 1976 and 1983.

The Enforcer (1976), the third Dirty Harry film, earned how much worldwide?

The original Dirty Harry had cost $4 million and taken about $36 million domestically.

Which 1995 romance cast Eastwood opposite Meryl Streep as a National Geographic photographer?

He directed it as well, adapting Robert James Waller's bestseller.

In Space Cowboys (2000), four ageing ex-test pilots are sent into orbit to repair what?

Eastwood directed and co-starred with Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner; the film grossed about $129 million on a $60-65 million budget.

Who played Nelson Mandela in Eastwood's rugby drama Invictus (2009)?

It was the third Eastwood-Freeman collaboration after Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby; Matt Damon played Springboks captain Francois Pienaar.

Sully (2016) dramatises the Hudson River landing of which airliner?

Tom Hanks played Chesley Sullenberger. The film drew fire for portraying the National Transportation Safety Board as prosecutorial and closed-minded.

In the Line of Fire: Eastwood's agent is haunted by failing to save which president?

Frank Horrigan is the last active agent from the Dallas detail of 1963. John Malkovich played the ex-CIA assassin stalking the current president.

Cry Macho (2021), Eastwood's final acting role, was filmed in which US state?

Shot in November and December 2020, it cast the 90-year-old as a former rodeo star fetching a boy from Mexico. Arnold Schwarzenegger had been attached to star in 2011.

High Plains Drifter (1973) was shot on the shores of which California lake?

The supernatural Western built its mining town, Lago, on the lake's southern shore. Ernest Tidyman, who wrote Shaft, supplied the screenplay.

In Pale Rider, what do the miners call Eastwood's stranger once he dons a clerical collar?

The title nods to Death riding a pale horse in Revelation, and it was Eastwood's only Western of the 1980s, taking over $41 million.

Who starred as Christine Collins, the mother handed the wrong boy, in Eastwood's Changeling (2008)?

Eastwood felt her face suited the 1920s setting. Ron Howard was originally to direct the true story of the Wineville Chicken Coop murders.

Eastwood's 1988 film Bird was a biopic of which jazz musician?

Forest Whitaker played Parker. Eastwood won the Golden Globe for Best Director, but the film earned only $11 million.

Which famous role did Eastwood turn down, saying 'That's Sean's deal'?

After Connery quit, Eastwood was offered 007 and declined, calling it someone else's gig. He made the Western Joe Kidd instead.