Clyde Beaten By Trainers ?

[masterchief]

I was reading a review on Amazon for "Every Which Way But Loose" and one review said:

Poor "Clyde", October 29, 2003
Reviewer: zane from Seattle, WA  
Interesting that none of these reviews mentions the fact that Clyde (who was named Buddha by his trainers) was beaten so severely (for stealing doughnuts on the set) by his trainers that he died of brain hemorrhage. They replaced him, quietly, for the sequal. Primates are brutally dominated by their trainers in order to do the smallest actions (like smiling, which is a sign or fear in the wild). It isn't entertaining, it's cruel. Don't spend money on films that exploit animals. Grow up.

Is anyone able to spread any light if it is true; and If it is, Did Mr.Eastwood know it was going on ?

The link is:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000060MWP/qid=1086199582/sr=1-12/ref=sr_1_12/102-0929261-0847323?v=glance&s=dvd

EDIT:: I seached into google, and I got this from one of the pages that came up:

"Any Which Way You Can:" The Death of Clyde

The orangutan name Clyde was born in a zoo but, in 1982, he became "surplus" when the zoo began a new program of orangutan breeding. Until the early 1980's, many zoos had maintained both Sumatran and Borneo orangutans and had interbred them. But when zoos became more purist about breeding, older hybrid orangutans were not suitable for Species Survival Programs (zoo programs to breed endangered species in captivity and to keep them genetically sound.) Clyde, a hybrid, did not fit in with the zoo's plans for the future. He and two other orangutans - CJ and Bubba - were about to find new careers in "show business."

Clint Eastwood had already starred in one film - "Any Which Way But Loose" - with an orangutan co-star trained by Las Vegas animal trainer Bobby Berosini. When a new Eastwood movie was announced, the largest supplier of animals for Hollywood films won the contract. The company did not own an orangutan so its owner scanned the industry papers for zoo surplus... and found Clyde.

Clyde became the "star" of "Any Which Way You Can." But, what most of Clyde's fans did not know was that Clyde barely survived the making of the film. In fact, he had been dead for nearly six months by the time he gained fame through the movie. The assistant to Gentle Jungle's head trainer told the media that the trainer beat Clyde to make him docile during the filming. He told reporters that one day before filming, the trainer ordered him and another trainer to help him take Clyde to an isolated spot because he wanted to "have a little talk with him."2 When Clyde became inattentive, the trainer repeatedly beat him with a cane and an ax handle. Clyde tried protecting himself with his arms and rolling in a circle, trying to avoid the blows which were ultimately fatal. He died of cardiac arrest a month after the beating.

The page is found at:
http://www.pawsweb.org/site/resources/factsheet_movies_tv.htm

Is this for real, and did Clint know about this ? Plus, what is everyone else's thoughts ?

[Dannyman]

That's horrible!  

If Clint knew about that and did nothing that is really wrong. I can't beleive how people can do that to animals.

Hey maybe one of the fighting scenes was Clint and Clyde's trainer  

[Doug]

My opinion: It's not true.  Like they say, just because it's in print (or on the Internet) don't make it so.  Look, one of the "sources" is the National Enquirer.  

[philo]

I agree with Doug, I had heard about this but the quotes listed contain too many mistakes. As far as I know there was never a real Clyde. Manis was the name of the main one in Every which way but loose. I do have some stills of Clint with several Orang's together from that first film.

Philo .

[Dannyman]

From the National Enquirer!  



Hey, I'm sure she'll lose that eating prison food.

Anyways, if this is one of the sources I don't beleive it all.

[Matt]

The site Masterchief posted claims that "Clyde" was around in 1982, but also claims he died within a month of a beating that took place during the filming of Any Which Way You Can, which was released in 1980. Besides for that discrepancy, the title of Every Which Way But Loose is given as Any Which Way But Loose. And as Doug noted, the only source given is "The National Enquirer".

Eastwood's love for animals is well publicized. He has even been known to pick up and remove a bug on a set rather than have it killed. I can't imagine that anything like this would happen on one of his films with his knowledge.

We've written Gentle Jungle Inc. and have sent them a link to the article Masterchief posted and have asked them to comment on it. If we hear back, we'll post the reply. In the meanwhile, we don't need everyone's thoughts on this but, if you have any facts you'd like to present, please do so.

[KC]

This story is old; the National Enquirer item cited dates to 1985.

I've been checking in the print biographies of Eastwood. Neither Schickel, Eastwood's authorized biographer, nor Patrick McGilligan, author of the most negative life of Eastwood, makes any mention of it (and you would think McGilligan would if there were any slight possibility it might be true). Daniel O'Brien mentions it in passing (Clint Eastwood, Film-Maker, p. 148):

Years later, rumours surfaced that both orang utans used for Every/Any had been ill-treated by their trainers in order to make them perform, something of an embarrassment for professed animal lover Eastwood.

O'Brien has no notes and no bibliography, so there's no way to check up on the "rumours" he mentions.

There's a fuller account in British journalist Michael Munn's Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner from 1992. Munn based parts of his book on interviews with Eastwood's associates in the movie business, but he too doesn't provide notes or a bibliography. Also, he seems to imply, wrongly, that the animals used in the second film, Any Which Way You Can, were trained by the same team that trained the original "Clyde" in Every Which Way But Loose: the husband and wife team of Bobby and Joan Berosini; in fact, the Berosinis only worked on the first film. (Obviously, since the name Clyde was used for the animal in the first film, the "Clyde" in the second film wasn't actually NAMED that before being cast; another discrepancy in the National Enquirer story.)

Anyway, this, in summary, is what Munn has to say (p. 178-179):

Several years later [i.e. after the release of Any Which Way You Can ] a report appeared in newspapers alleging that Clyde and the other orang-utans trained by the Berosinis were mistreted, although, whatever the truth of this, no one could suspect Eastwood himself of having had a hand in the mistreatment of any animal. The story died ...

Munn continues by describing a later (1991) brouhaha about the Berosinis and orang utans, involving footage shot in their Las Vegas act with a hidden camera. A court case followed: the clandestine photographer was sued for "invasion of privacy." Eventually, a jury ruled that Berosini had done nothing more to the animals than was required for "necessary discipline." As for Eastwood ...

Eastwood was aware of the case when it went to court, and a spokesman for him told the press, "He was never aware of any abuse of the animals, while he worked with them."

I did find a long account of this case on an anti-PETA site that seems to thoroughly clear the Berosinis. However, the writer obviously has his own ax to grind with PETA, so use your judgment ... here is the link:

http://www.pathwai.org/Berosini.htm

At any rate, this story involves the Berosinis, so it doesn't tell us anything about the trainers of the orang utans used in Any Which Way You Can.

[Conan]

My opinion: It's not true.  Like they say, just because it's in print (or on the Internet) don't make it so.  Look, one of the "sources" is the National Enquirer.  

  I agree 100 percent.  NE maybe isn't as bad as The Globe or Sun, but its still a shameless, scandal rag.

[philo]

Eastwood has said in several interviews that after a while Manis would go to him just as he would his trainer. He also commented that Orang's do have a short threshold for doing retakes. I'm sure if a beating were the only way to get a performance then Eastwood would have known and stopped it.


Philo .

[philo]

Thanks to movie animals a UK site. I felt this should be posted in this thread.



Link to the site   www.movie-animals.co.uk/ NewFiles/Credits.html

Philo .