Little bit of everything . . .: Clint Eastwood . . . Just Cause

Wow, TV was well pants last so I watched Million Dollar Baby & Gran Torino, for the umpteenth time hehe, whick prompted me to
do a little blog about one of my all time Fav

Actors & Directors, the legend himself
Mr Clint Eastwood

Perhaps the icon of macho movie stars, Clint Eastwood

has become a standard in international cinema.

He was born in San Francisco, and is the son of Clinton Eastwood Sr. and Ruth Wood (née Runner). The family frequently moved around Northern California when Clint was growing up before settling in Oregon. He moved to Seattle in 1951 and worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor for the military for two years, before returning to California.

In 1955 he began working as an actor with uncredited bit parts in B-movies. He almost gave up acting before getting his big break on the TV series "Rawhide" in 1959, where he was a supporting cast member for six years. While still on the show, Eastwood was cast in his first substantial role, as 'The Man with No Name' in the low-budget Italian western 'A Fistful of Dollars' in 1964. This was followed by For a 'Few Dollars More' in 1965 and 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' in 1966, none of the three films were released in America until 1968. Then his next film was 'Hang 'Em High' in 1968. He took a co-starring role in the unconventional musical 'Paint Your Wagon' in 1969, then combined tough-guy action with offbeat humor in 'Kelly's Heroes' in 1970 and 'Two Mules for Sister Sara' in 1970.

1971 was a turning point in his career. He directed his first movie, the thriller 'Play Misty for Me' in 1971, in which he played a man being stalked by a crazed female admirer whose obsession with him turns from sexual to violent. That same year, he played the hard edge police inspector in 'Dirty Harry' (God I loed Dirty Harry) in 1971, which invented the loose-cannon cop genre that has been imitated even to this day, and made Eastwood a superstar at last. He then found work in American revisionist westerns like 'High Plains Drifter' in 1973, which he also directed. Eastwood had a constant stream of quality films over the next few years, teaming up with Jeff Bridges in 'Thunderbolt and Lightfoot' in 1974 starring in the 'Dirty Harry' sequels 'Magnum Force' in 1973 and 'The Enforcer' (Great Movie) in 1976, the quintessential western 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' 1976, the shoot-'em-up road adventure 'The Gauntlet' (Check this one out) in 1977, the hugely successful comedy 'Every Which Way But Loose' (With Clyde, you gotta love Clyde) in 1978 (This film's as old as me yikes) and the fact-based thriller 'Escape from Alcatraz' in 1979, (I had the DVD but it's totally worn out, love this film)

Clint kicked off the eighties with a sequel to Every Which Way, 'Any Which Way You Can' in 1980, which was also a blockbuster. The fourth Dirty Harry sequel, 'Sudden Impact' in 1983, became the highest grossing film of the series. Clint also starred in 'Firefox' in 1982, 'Tightrope' in 1984, 'Pale Rider' in 1985, and 'Heartbreak Ridge' in 1986, which were all big hits at the box office and got good reviews. His fifth and final Dirty Harry movie, 'The Dead Pool' in 1988, was a minor commercial hit but severely panned by critics. Shortly after his career declined with the outright bomb comedy 'Pink Cadillac' in 1989 and the disappointing cop film The Rookie (1990). It was fairly obvious that Eastwood's star was declining as it never had before.

But Eastwood quickly bounced back, first with his western 'Unforgiven' in 1992, which garnered him his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor, as well as wins as Best Director and producer of the Best Picture. Then he took on the secret service in 'In the Line of Fire' in 1993, another huge hit. He played against type in 'The Bridges of Madison County' in 1995, a surprisingly successful love story with Meryl Streep. Over the next few years, the quality of his films was up and down. He directed and starred in the well-received 'Absolute Power' in 1997 and 'Space Cowboys' in 2000, as well as the badly received 'True Crime' in 1999 and 'Blood Work' in 2002.

In what is arguably the finest film of his career, Eastwood directed and starred opposite Hilary Swank in 'Million Dollar Baby' 2004. A critical and commercial triumph, the movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as earning Eastwood a second nomination for Best Actor and win for Best Director. After this he took a four-year acting hiatus before starring in 'Gran Torino' in 2008. This film grossed $30 million during its opening weekend in January 2009, making him the oldest leading man to reach #1 at the box office, Come on peeps . . . What a guy!!!

After starring in iconic movies for four decades, Clint Eastwood has proved himself to be the longest-running movie star. Although he is aging now and focusing more on directing, his career as a director continues to thrive with the award-winning films 'Mystic River' in 2003 'Flags of Our Fathers' in 2006, 'Letters from Iwo Jima' in 2006, and 'Changeling' in 2008 which starred Angelina Jolie ( that is one hot chick)

He has managed to keep his scandalous personal life private (Lucky, cause that's un-heard of in the world of show biz, since he's such a BIG name actor) and he has rarely been featured in the tabloid press. He had a fourteen-year relationship with actress Sondra Locke and has seven children by five other women. (Dawg)