As Dirty Harry, The Man With No Name, and an angry old grump who wants people off his lawn, Clint Eastwood has evoked a grizzled macho-ism on screen for decades. His many memorable roles and time spent behind the camera as a director placed Eastwood solidly into the history books of Hollywood. While manly men have emerged from movies, Eastwood has something macho stars like Burt Reynolds, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or even John Wayne couldn’t match. He’s extremely stubborn about doing things his own way, and because he’s created such a legacy for himself, he can get away with it. In the audience’s mind, Eastwood will always be a tough guy. Interestingly enough, he’s had enough macho experiences off-screen to make his screen persona legit.
Eastwood came up through Hollywood slowly, earning his first role in Revenge of the Creature before finally finding his big break with the 1959 television series, Rawhide. In 1964, he accepted a role in Sergio Leone’s Italian western A Fistful of Dollars, and its international success made him a star. In the 1970s, Eastwood began turning his attention to directing, and eventually found even more success and critical acclaim behind the camera. While Eastwood’s macho-ism has morphed as he aged, he will always be one of Hollywood’s most famous manly men, with his characteristic squint and gravelly voice inspiring fans for years to come. What’s behind the man audiences see on screen, however, is just as macho.
He Survived A Plane Crash In The Pacific Ocean
Having been drafted into the Army during the Korean War, Eastwood took advantage of the fact he could get free military airplane rides. “In those days, you could wear your uniform and get a free flight,” he said. Traveling from Seattle to Monterey in 1951, 21-year-old Eastwood found himself the only passenger in Douglas AD bomber. Unfortunately, the trip did not go smoothly. “Everything went wrong,” he remembered. “Radios went out, oxygen ran out and they finally… The pilot flew it around for quite a while, and we ran out of fuel up around Point Reyes, California. And went in the ocean.” Although everyone escaped the water landing alive, they had to swim more than a mile to the shore.
To make matters worse, the water was frigid since the incident happened in late fall, and there were potentially dangerous creatures in the water. “Found out many years later that it was a white shark breeding ground, but I’m glad I didn’t know that at the time or I’d have just died, just had apoplexy or something,” Eastwood said. Throughout the experience, Eastwood knew perishing was a possibility, but he decided to focus on the positives he could identify. “I just thought in the back of my mind… Well some people have made [it] through these things so maybe we’ll have a luck and when we hit the water,” he recalled. “And the water felt much more comfortable because in the air the sound of the engine not running was very disconcerting.”
He Did His Own Stunts In The Climbing Film ‘The Eiger Sanction’
According to Eastwood’s long-time stunt double Buddy Van Horn, Eastwood was always eager to complete his own stunts. “He’s a pretty physical guy and likes to do his own stunts,” Van Horn said. “Some of the things he does were pretty easy to get banged up. I’ve tried to talk him out of it sometimes but not very successfully most of the time.” One film in which Eastwood did many of his own stunts was The Eiger Sanction, a film which required several intense mountain climbing sequences. While training turned out to be extremely difficult for Eastwood, he forced himself to be successful. “Then he reacted characteristically – he got pissed off,” remembered climbing advisor Mike Hoover. “He pulled in his chin and gritted his teeth and with absolutely no technique at all, just blood and guts, he moosed his way up.”
After one crew member who was an experienced climber perished after being struck by a falling rock, Eastwood considered shutting down production. Others working on the film, including several climbers, urged him to continue so the fallen climber’s passing and the work he had completed would not be meaningless. Continuing on, however, required Eastwood to complete one of the most dangerous stunts in the film; dangling over an abyss, cutting his line, and falling. In order to make it look like his character cut his line and fell to his doom, Eastwood had to cut the rope he dangled from while trusting his safety line would keep him safe. Of course, the actor would only fall a few feet and movie magic would fill in the rest, but for Eastwood, the stunt was psychologically difficult. “I could see this pasture way down below, and I could hear the cowbells ringing,” he remembered. “And I thought, ‘Why am I not sitting out there with those cows sunbathing?'”
He Saved A Man’s Life From Choking
An avid golfer, Eastwood owns a golf club in Carmel, CA, and can often be spotted at tournaments. In 2014, he attended the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and added another notch to his macho belt. At a party for volunteers, he saw tournament director Steve John choking on what he later discovered was a piece of cheese. “I looked in his eyes and saw that look of panic people have when they see their life passing before their eyes,” Eastwood remembered. “It looked bad.”
He performed the Heimlich Maneuver on John without stopping to think. “I was looking at him and couldn’t breathe,” John said. “He recognized it immediately and saved my life.” In addition to being grateful of Eastwood’s selfless act, John also expressed amazement at the actor-director’s strength. “I can’t believe I’m 202 pounds and he threw me up in the air three times,” John recalled.
He Jumped Off A Bridge In ‘Dirty Harry’ And Rode On The Hood Of A Car For ‘Magnum Force’
In addition to completing all his own mountain climbing stunts for The Eiger Sanction, Eastwood did many of his own stunts in other films as well. For The Gauntlet, Eastwood chased a helicopter on a motorcycle. In Magnum Force, he rode on an out-of-control car by riding on the hood. Audiences can clearly see it is Eastwood himself jumping off a trestle bridge and onto the top of a moving bus below in Dirty Harry.
Not to say the actor wasn’t aware of the danger of these stunts, but rather he wanted viewers to not feel cheated by someone else doing his work. According to stunt double Buddy Van Horn, however, Eastwood was willing to let him complete a stunt if the possibility of getting hurt was too great. “I think a lot of the actors like to do certain things to a point you can let ’em do it safely – that’s fine,” Van Horn said “There have been times when I’ve tried to talk people out of doing things, most of the time I’m successful. The times with Clint when he got a few bumps and bruises I didn’t think he needed.”
He’s Spent Hundreds Of Hours Flying His Own Helicopter Around
While working on Paint Your Wagon in Oregon in 1969, Eastwood traveled to the set each day in a helicopter. Spending so much time in the aircraft led Eastwood to develop an interest in flying, and he managed to convince the pilot to let him take the controls. Despite his interest, other projects and opportunities kept Eastwood from working toward earning a pilot license, something he eventually came to regret. In the 1990s, Eastwood met helicopter pilot and movie aerial coordinator Craig Hosking who taught him to fly during breaks in their separate filming schedules. Once Hosking felt Eastwood had logged enough hours, he allowed him to fly solo, and Eastwood earned his pilot license. He purchased a Aerospatiale AStar helicopter for himself at an air show in Paris and has since flown several hundred hours. “…I’ve seen Clint choose to take the helicopter somewhere – even on long trips – when he could have taken a corporate jet,” Hosking remembered.
Eastwood claims to love the freedom the helicopter brings him. “You can go and stop places where you normally wouldn’t go,” he said. “I can land on a friend’s property and have lunch, or stop in little meadows and take a walk or run on the way to somewhere.” He also said he enjoyed the anonymity of flying solo with no one on the ground being able to identify the celebrity flying over their heads. Despite the macho persona Eastwood built up over his career and the fact he’s able to fly his own personal helicopter with ease, the delicate details of the world he witnesses from the pilot seat bring him joy. “…There’s nothing prettier than flying low over the spring wildflowers when they’re in bloom,” he said.
He Was A Steelworker And A Lumberjack
Eastwood worked a number of physical labor jobs before making his break in Hollywood, and in addition to working in a Seattle steel mill and digging swimming pools, he spent some time working as a logger. Although it was hard, dangerous work, he enjoyed being outdoors among the trees and mountains of Oregon. He claimed it wasn’t a career option and didn’t stay at the job long, but originally accepted the job for the pay. “I was earning good bachelor money, but mentally I was still drifting. I had an idea I wasn’t going to settle for tree-felling or sawmilling as my life’s work, but the way wasn’t too clear…”
Eastwood may also have decided to move on from the dangerous work since he almost perished on the job. “I heard a shout and looked up and saw the crane driver and I hadn’t quite got in organized,” he remembered. “A nasty load of giant logs hung suspended over my head. I don’t think I’ve reacted faster in my life. Yet even as I started to run, down came the logs. Any one of them could have crushed the life out of me. I just barely jumped clear…”
He Worked As A Bouncer At A Military Officers’ Club
While serving in the military, Eastwood was stationed at Ford Ord near Carmel, CA, and worked as a swim instructor at the camp’s swimming pool. “So long as I kept my nose clean and ran the place efficiently, I was on my own,” he recalled. “It was a real sweet set up. Come 6 pm I’d knock off and go into Carmel and meet some girl.” In order to make a little more money, Eastwood secretly took a night job off the base working for the Spreckles Sugar Company.
“What I hadn’t reckoned on was I’d need a little sleep now and then. After four months I was the weariest swimming instructor in the army. I found myself falling asleep in the pool and drinking more water than was good for me,” he said. Realizing he needed a change, Eastwood quit his instructor job and found work as a bouncer at the nearby junior non-commissioned officers’ club. “It could be fairly wild in there,” he remembered. “Maybe six or seven girls and 150 guys! The men weren’t supposed to drink anything but beer, which was free, but a few of the smart guys would smuggle in some hard liquor and mix it in the beer. And that caused trouble. I had to bounce quite a few of them. Being big was a help.”
He Sang A Country Hit With Merle Haggard
Among the many roles Eastwood has stepped into throughout his life, musician is one of them. In addition to composing the scores of several of his films and starring in the western musical Paint Your Wagon, he has enjoyed a singing career for decades. Although anyone who’s familiar with Eastwood’s gravelly voice might immediately scoff at the idea of him holding a tune, Eastwood forged ahead with a music career even when others recommended he quit.
He created several compilation albums, a handful of singles, and recorded an album for the show that launched his acting career, Rawhide. In 1980, Eastwood teamed up with country legend Merle Haggard to create “Bar Room Buddies,” a song in which Haggard sings the high notes while Eastwood “pours the beers.” The song became a No. 1 hit on the Hot Country Singles chart, as well as Eastwood’s biggest hit.
He Directs Movies Without Rehearsals And Ignores The Studio’s Suggestions
When Eastwood is making a movie, it’s his movie and no one is allowed to interfere. He doesn’t create shot lists when making his films, nor storyboards, nor hold rehearsals. He refuses to say “Cut” at the end of a shot or “Action” in an attempt to get the most out of his actors. “When you say ‘Action’ even the horses get nervous,” Eastwood said. Morgan Freeman claimed Eastwood would “shoot a foot of film until the script is done” and then refuse make any changes once the film is complete, no matter what notes the studio might give him.
According to one story, a screenwriter attempted to give him suggestions after a test screening only to be completely shut down by Eastwood. “If they’re so interested in the opinion of a grocery-store clerk in Reseda, let them hire him to make the movie,” Eastwood reportedly said.
He Became A Director And Composer Because He Thought He Could Do A Better Job
Eastwood’s love of music led him to sign on to star in 1969’s Paint Your Wagon, a western musical co-starring Lee Marvin. Although he had no problem with singing, multiple production problems led him to become disgruntled with the filmmaking process on the movie. “They started out with a real dramatic story and then made it [fluffy],” he said. “When they changed it around, I tried to bail out. It wasn’t my favorite. I wasn’t particularly nervous about singing on film. My dad was a singer, and we’d have sing-arounds.”
Delayed production, problems with the demands of the original playwright, Marvin’s drinking habits, and budget issues all frustrated Eastwood. In later interviews, he claimed the film showed him “how not to make a movie,” and he vowed if he ever directed a film, he’d do a better job. Years later, he had his chance. Believing he could do things better helped Eastwood step not only into the role of director but also as a composer. “I had a lot of composers come in and work for me and they always wanted to dramatize certain things and take it over the top sometimes and I didn’t want it over the top,” he said. “So I did a couple myself to see if I could get it the way I wanted it better without having to explain it to someone else at great detail.”
He Made Actress Angelina Jolie Swoon
Although some people never considered Eastwood to be traditionally Hollywood-handsome, many women found themselves attracted to the actor-director. He’s played romantic men on screen and in real life and has married twice. Eastwood also got together with five different women to make seven children. Even Angelina Jolie, considered one of Hollywood’s most attractive people, found herself drawn to Eastwood while he directed her in the 2008 film, Changeling.
“I tend to gush when I talk about him,” she told a reporter. “He’s everything you hope he would be. He’s one of those people you hear so much about. He seems like this amazing alpha-male – he’s so decisive, and he’s so strong, and he’s so cool. And you meet him and he’s exactly that! And you are just in awe!” Eastwood also impressed Jolie by his attitude toward his actors and crew members, treating them equally and with respect. “I have never seen a director more kind to his crew, more appreciative of every single crew member,” she remembered. “He’s gracious. He’s patient with them… he’s the leader you’d hope for in any aspect of life.”
He Successfully Ran For Mayor Of Carmel-By-The-Sea in 1986
In 1985, Eastwood got into a dispute with the city council of Carmel, CA, about an office building he wanted to erect on property in town. Eastwood sued and won a settlement that entitled him to build within the city limits, but only if he used less glass than wood. Despite winning, the conservative and traditional mindset of the council and many of Carmel’s citizens angered Eastwood. The town was so modest, it didn’t have street signs or allow the sale of ice cream cones. In 1986, Eastwood decided to run for mayor so he could change things about the town to make it more modern and open to new ideas, developments, and businesses. He won by a landslide and as first act in office, he allowed residents to sell and buy ice cream cones once again.
Eastwood’s win brought more tourists to town, angering some of Carmel’s residents who now had to fight for parking spaces and deal with traffic jams. He did not give his more famous role as an actor more attention than his duties as mayor, however, and worked to improve Carmel during his term. He created more stairways to create more beach access, built up the collection of the local library, and built more toilets for public use. When his term ended, Eastwood decided not to seek reelection, instead wanting to focus on his family. After stepping down, he continued to manage the Mission Ranch, a historic establishment he saved from being torn down by developers and restored with his own money.
He Remained Patient No Matter How Many Takes A Director Wanted
While filmmaking can be notoriously tedious, at least one director Eastwood worked with commented on his willingness to complete multiple takes if the director thought them necessary. While filming 1974’s Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, director Michael Cimino noted Eastwood would sometimes make suggestions about camera angles or the work of his fellow actors, but Eastwood always let the director remain in charge of the production.
Cimino remembered Jeff Bridges complaining about not getting a scene right after the crew had already begun striking the equipment. Bridges wanted another take so Cimino asked an assistant director to tell Eastwood to stop changing out of his wardrobe and return to the set. They caught Eastwood as he was leaving for the day, but when he was told they wanted to do the shot again, Eastwood simply nodded, drove back to his trailer, changed back into costume, and returned to the set. Cimino remembered repeatedly asking Eastwood if he had any suggestions for changes, but Eastwood always replied that he wanted Cimino to film however he envisioned the movie. “He didn’t change one period, one comma, one word in the script,” Cimino recalled.
He Doesn’t Consider Himself An Overly Macho Guy
Eastwood made a career for himself playing characters many people view as macho, and he knows this helped shape his career. “Over my career I played some bad*ss characters,” he told a film student interested in how the actor separated his characters from his own persona. “So, people sometimes think I should have a .44 magnum. But that’s not true. I don’t have that.” However, Eastwood admits he has no problem with guns and in fact enjoys using them. “I do fire them and I do enjoy target shooting and all that sort of thing,” he said. “I’m not much of a hunter. I don’t like [hunting] animals, but I love to shoot.”
He noted his roles also called for him to be macho due to the genre they fell under. “Conflict is sort of the basis of drama,” Eastwood explained. “And I’ve played a lot of conflict characters or that enter into conflict so it’s kind of a natural thing for an actor.” When asked if he’d ever consider playing less macho roles and possibly explore his softer side, Eastwood claimed, “I am a very sensitive person, you know.”