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1

Eastwood News / Blog Post & a New "Old" Photo taken by the blogger

« on: August 06, 2008, 08:01:20 AM »

Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Is Clint Eastwood A Super Cool Laid-Back Cinema Star Or Gun-Happy Dude?


Clint Eastwood.

He pumped gas on Santa Monica Boulevard in those days long ago when he was only dreaming of being a star. Nothing to be ashamed of -- plenty of wanna be and soon-to-be stars did ordinary jobs while they made their rounds of the casting agents.

Sonny Bono drove a meat truck and would double park his rig and go into the places in Old Hollywood where music was made and try to get something going. And evidently he finally did.

Clint and Burt Reynolds got canned from Universal Pictures on the same day. They said the two dudes didn't have the chops to make it in the flickers on on TV.

To tell you the truth, I always though that Clint looked a little rough in his early days. He needed to get some maturity into his face to radiate star quality.

As you can see by the rugged look on Clint in the photo on the right, taken by your humble blogger- to-be more than 30 years ago, Clint grew up and into a superstar look.

We always found Clint to be a real cool dude. He liked to go to an Italian restaurant run by folks from Yugoslavia called Dan Tana's. We'd see him after what looked like a long day at the studio and he was usually with an attractive woman.

Now, you might think a Hollywood photograbber would fall all over himself to get Clint with any new chick but no. We would stare down at the camera around our neck and pretend to adjust the aperture or something. Clint would get the clue and the lady would veer off while Clint came up to us and posed for a couple of pictures. The attached picture is one of those. Then, the couple would continue on into the restaurant. We always assumed Clint didn't want to eat alone and invited a script girl or something to join him -- just a friendly gesture toward someone who had been helpful to him on the set.

PHOTO BY HOWARD DECKER
Posted by Howard of Hollywood at 12:01 AM

Click on the link for the photo.

http://hollywoodgoneby.blogspot.com/2008/08/is-clint-eastwood-super-cool-laid-back.html

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Eastwood News / Clint's Cameraman

« on: April 13, 2008, 01:17:47 PM »

An interesting article about Clint Eastwood's longtime cameraman, Steve Campanelli

He makes Clint's day

It's the job of a lifetime to film the legendary Eastwood's worksGlen Schaefer, The Province
Published: Sunday, April 13, 2008

Steve Campanelli was well established as a camera operator in Vancouver before he got the call for his dream job -- manning the camera for actor-director Clint Eastwood.

"Growing up as a kid, he was my idol," says Campanelli at his favourite downtown cafe. "I named my dog Clint -- we had him for 16 years. I was a huge fan of the spaghetti westerns, Dirty Harry."

There's still a lot of that Clint-obsessed teen in the 49-year-old Campanelli -- 14 years and 11 Clint Eastwood movies after that call.

Steve Campanelli (right) teaches diretor Clint Eastwood a cameraman's trick for checking whether the shots is framed properly on the set of Letters from Iwo Jima.

Campanelli came to Vancouver in the mid-1980s, riding a boom in TV and film work that had him working with the unknown Johnny Depp on TV's 21 Jump Street and with the pre-Pulp Fiction John Travolta on a Look Who's Talking sequel.

After graduating from Montreal's Concordia University, he started in the camera department on such movies as Meatballs 3 and got a big bank loan for a then-newfangled Steadicam rig (which allows a cameraman to walk and shoot without the camera jiggling).

When Eastwood was heading to Alberta in the early 1990s to film Unforgiven, Camparelli sent in his resumé, but was told he didn't have enough features on his resumé.

In 1994 came a call from cinematographer Jack Green about doing The Great Panda Adventure in China. Not a Clint Eastwood movie, but Green was also Eastwood's regular cinematographer.

"I jumped at the chance -- that was one step closer to Clint."

When Eastwood called Green about their next job, The Bridges of Madison County, Green told Eastwood about the hard-working Canadian, and Eastwood made some calls to get Campanelli the paperwork to work in the U.S.

"Next thing I know I'm in a corn field in Iowa and there comes Clint Eastwood. This was beyond my wildest dreams -- I just wanted to meet him and get an autograph."

On a film set, the cinematographer supervises the lighting and shadows, while the camera operator places and moves the camera in consultation with the cinematographerpher and the director.

Eastwood lets the people he trusts do their jobs. Campanelli's first test was on a crucial scene in Bridges, when Eastwood, as the photographer who falls in love with Meryl Streep's farm wife, breaks down and cries in the farmhouse kitchen.

"Clint said 'We're gonna do this once and that's it, so get it right.' So there was a bit of pressure."

The crew around Eastwood are often the ones who help actors get used to the director's quick-shooting style. While many filmmakers do take after take, Eastwood will often roll the cameras on a rehearsal and simply go with the spontaneous performances he gets there.

"The actors aren't really sure what they're going to do yet, they don't have time to think about it."

Campanelli is amid the actors with his nimble Steadicam rig. "Clint tells me: 'You're part of the performance.'"

For another Eastwood crying scene in Million Dollar Baby, he simply circled his finger upwards as a signal, and Campanelli rolled.

That intimate, near-wordless working style continued on Eastwood's recently wrapped thriller Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich.

"Clint talks very softly, and sometimes I could see Angelina being a little confused so I would go up to her and say, 'This is what he wants.' She would always look at me after he explained something."

Campanelli relocated to Los Angeles in 1998, but still works in Vancouver whenever possible. He just wrapped the Keanu Reeves science-fiction remake The Day the Earth Stood Still here, and last year he was on Bowen Island shooting the thriller A Tale of Two Sisters.

And after working with Eastwood through the incredibly creative years that included Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, Campanelli has another dream. He wants to direct a low-budget drama called Beautiful People in Vancouver. "I'm coming to the table with everything I've learned from Clint Eastwood in the last 14 years."

Filmmaking isn't all Campanelli learned. Director and crew are always talking about golf, so Campanelli finally learned the game a few years back, and played a round with the boss during a break on Mystic River. After a couple of holes, Eastwood gave the novice golfer a tip. "He said, 'When you take your backswing, just go low and slow.' Every time I play golf now, I hear his voice going 'low and slow.' "

Meanwhile, Campanelli will join the still-energetic 78-year-old in Michigan in July to shoot Gran Torino, in which Eastwood will also star.

"I told Clint I will still operate his movies even if I become a successful director, 'cause it's the best job in the world. He said ,'Darn right you will.' He's a man of few words."

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/etoday/story.html?id=b33a4893-c3b4-4fab-a363-0e8d7f67faff&k=92924&p=1

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Eastwood News / When Clint Eastwood calls, legends oblige

« on: September 22, 2007, 01:36:10 PM »

By Adam Tanner
Sat Sep 22, 8:59 AM ET
 

CARMEL, California (Reuters) - When Clint Eastwood calls, even the biggest celebrities are happy to oblige, giving the actor an especially strong pull in putting together high-profile projects.

 
On Friday, legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, 86, visited Eastwood in the scenic California coastal town of Carmel and invited the actor and Oscar-winning director to join him on a blues jam as the cameras rolled.

Even the reclusive Neil Armstrong has joined the former "Dirty Harry" star for a round of golf, as Eastwood considered whether to make a movie about the first man on the moon.

After filming an interview with Brubeck for an upcoming film, Eastwood, a good amateur pianist, discussed his passion for directing and promoting jazz. The oldest director to win an Academy Award, Eastwood remains full of energy and has a full plate of projects in the works.

"I'm pretty vigorous, I can go as long as a lot of others," Eastwood, 77, told Reuters.

"I'm sort of concentrating on (directing) at this point in my life and I love it because I learn something new every time," he said at his Mission Ranch hotel. "Something new makes your life interesting."

"I do it because you learn something all the time, you're a constant student of life, student of what you do, which for me is make films."

"I would always hope that the last film that I did would be the very best," he said. "The last film I did was 'Letters from Iwo Jima.' I felt I was in the groove on that one, and 'Million Dollar Baby' and 'Mystic River."'

TOUR DE FORCE

Next month, Eastwood starts filming "The Changeling" starring Angelina Jolie, about a woman whose child is kidnapped. When the child is returned, she suspects a swap has taken place.

"It's a great tour de force for a woman ... with John Malkovich and a lot of very good actors," Eastwood said.

Eastwood has also considered making a movie based on Armstrong's 2006 biography, "First Man."

"I don't know if I'll do that. That's a hard one -- never conquered the script on that," he said. "To tell the drama of it is going to be difficult."

"I've met with him, played golf with him. He's a very nice guy but he likes his privacy and I can't blame him for that," said Eastwood, who also prefers to be left alone and often shuns interviews.

When two attractive young women approached, Eastwood was initially reluctant to talk, but then posed for a photo. "I may be an elderly fellow, but not that elderly," he joked.

On Saturday, the Berklee College of Music awards Eastwood an honorary doctorate of music at the 50th anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival. "They figure I know the difference between A-sharp and B-flat," he joked.

Berklee President Roger Brown said Eastwood deserves recognition for making the 1988 drama "Bird" about saxophonist Charlie Parker and documentaries such as his current Brubeck film. "I'm interested in promoting this great American art form, true American art form, and keep it going," Eastwood said, adding that in the late 1940s he played piano at an Oakland bar for food, beer and tips.

In the early 1960s, Eastwood recorded an album of cowboy songs, years later had a hit country duet with Merle Haggard, and a decade ago presided over a Carnegie Hall jazz tribute concert. "I played in Carnegie Hall, and I didn't practice, practice, practice. I'm lucky," he said.

On Friday, Brubeck launched into blues chords after suggesting that Eastwood might improvise alongside him. But even with just a few people and the cameras watching, the long-time film star was comfortable letting someone else have the spotlight.

Eastwood reached over from an adjacent chair to the high notes and cautiously picked out a few spare notes. After a while he sat back and let the jazz maestro have center stage.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070922/people_nm/eastwood_dc_2

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Eastwood News / 1967: Eastwood plots schedule (a look back)

« on: September 21, 2007, 05:51:57 PM »

Note  mention of  "The Changeling" and when it will begin filming.

By ARMY ARCHERD, Thurs., Sep. 20, 2007, 1:55pm PT


1967: Eastwood plots schedule
A look back at the legendary filmmaker


July 26, 1967
GOOD MORNING: Clint Eastwood is plotting his next year-and-a-half in civvies. He inked a U-pact for contemporary "Coogan's Bluff." He's currently outdoors in "Hang 'Em High" (UA) and anxious for a wardrobe change after 250 hours of "Rawhide." And three westerns abroad ... Incidentally he reveals "The Good, the Bad And the Ugly" the third of the foreign-filmed oaters, makes his first (profit) participation. (And needless to say, he hopes for as much success as on "Fistful of Dollars" and "A Few Dollars More.") ... Eastwood, incidentally adds, "I never complain about all those hours of the series, although I felt like it sometimes, but I was tired of reading about other actors complaining. It's funny, they break their necks to get into the business and then spend the rest of the time griping." (2007 update: "Where the hell has the time gone!" Clint Eastwood laughed when I read him my 40-year-old column. "I can't believe I started 54 years ago. I'm still cooking and I still learn something every day and I enjoy keeping active and productive -- and no thought of retiring. ... When I made 'Play Misty For Me' in 1970 I thought, 'If I do OK, maybe I can go back BEHIND the camera. " (It was his first directorial stint). On Oct.15 he starts directing "Changeling" starring Angelina Jolie, a 1928, L.A.-set true story. Will he also write the score? "One thing at a time," he laughed. "Let's shoot it first. " But music remains another of his loves and on Saturday at the 50th anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival, Eastwood will receive an honorary doctorate in music from Boston's Berklee College of Music. "I wish I had gone to it," Clint admitted, "I would have loved it, but L.A. City College was as high as I went." He also recently received congrats co-producing PBS' Tony Bennett special, "The Music Never Ends." Clint will again participate in the A&T Pro-Am Pebble Beach golf tourney -- he started playing there with Bing Crosby and is on the board of the foundation. No matter how busy Eastwood is, he reminds me, "My family takes precedence.")

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=Variety100&articleid=VR1117972374&content=jump&jump=army&category=1924&cs=1

5

Eastwood News / Clint Attends Event in Carmel

« on: September 10, 2007, 06:10:46 AM »

Clint attended Audi Best Buddies Challenge  on September 7, 2007.  See photos at Wire Image:


http://www.wireimage.com/SearchResults.aspx?igi=287713&s=clint%20eastwood&sfld=C&vwmd=e

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Eastwood News / Dina Eastwood's Cousin

« on: August 05, 2007, 06:46:40 AM »

Excerpt from her blog - Posted July 27, 2007:

AC: Finally, you didn't think Aunty would let you out of here without mentioning your connection of one of the GREATEST Bandit Icons of all time, Clint Eastwood. What has Cousin-In-Law Clint been up to lately?

TINA: LOL--you've "outed" me, Aunty Cindy! Yes, my cousin, Dina Ruiz Eastwood, is married to Clint, which makes for some very interesting family reunions! My favorite memory is from a pool party. He was telling my husband how great a particular movie was. My husband said, "We were going to rent it, but Tina thinks it's going to be too violent for her." Clint turns to me and explains it's more a drama, not all that violent, etc., and all the while, I'm biting my tongue from saying, "Excuse me! Consider the source here! You're Dirty Harry!" But to be fair, we later rented it, and it was great. He was right. Imagine that!

I can also tell you that it's really hard to talk to him on the phone without giggling because he does this dead-on Clint Eastwood imitation...

As to what he's up to, we saw them a few weeks ago at a family reunion, and I heard talk about a new movie he's filming in LA this fall. And as a side note, Dina told me she bought every copy of my book they had in her local store, and gave them to teen girls in her neighborhood. Generous and kind--that sums the two of them up perfectly!

http://romancebandits.blogspot.com/2007/07/guest-blogger-tina-ferraro-buzzes-about.html

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Eastwood News / Dina Eastwood Interview

« on: June 29, 2007, 04:49:31 AM »

A really nice Dina Eastwood interview with Clint  adding his two cents worth at the end of the interview.

http://www.carmelmagazine.com/archive/07sp/dina-eastwood.shtml

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Eastwood News / Dina Eastwood Speaks at Commencement

« on: May 25, 2007, 09:10:32 PM »

Dina Eastwood stars at Ohlone commencement

Alumna, movie star's wife, warns graduates, 'Nothing will go as planned'
By Todd R. Brown, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 05/25/2007 02:32:35 AM PDT

FREMONT — Ohlone College turned up the star power at its graduation ceremony Thursday night, bringing in alumna Dina Ruiz Eastwood — wife of movie star Clint — to give the commencement speech.

"Nothing will go as planned," she told about 585 associate degree recipients. "I was one of those overachievers. I thought I had the complexion connection."

Yet the self-described quarter-Asian, quarter-black graduate of Mission San Jose High School said her hopes of going to USC or UCLA were dashed by financial challenges.

Instead, she went to Ohlone and eventually became a TV news anchor and the wife of a California superstar.
"I'm a stay-at-home mom. The PTA is my excitement of the week," she said, adding that one thing she's learned is, "Putting in 40 hours aweek with no homework is fantastic."

The 41-year-old said she was proud to address what she called the most diverse community college graduating class in the nation.

Among the tasseled students was Melanie Inouye, 20, who earned a liberal arts degree and is pondering the dental hygienist program at Chabot College in Hayward.

"I just want to thank my parents for everything," the Fremont resident said, wearing turquoise eye shadow that complemented her satiny, emerald robes. "I'm just excited about graduating."

Her fellow Ohlone basketball teammate, Danesha Wright, 19, earned the same degree and is heading to the University of San Francisco on an athletic scholarship despite being just 5 foot 2.

"My game is like Allen Iverson's," the West Oaklander said, tight braids hanging below her cap. "I create open shots."

In the audience was Elizabeth Subasa, 76, who came up from San Diego to watch her grandson Ian graduate with double honors in math. So was she proud?

"What do you think?" she said. "Yes, sir."

Dina Eastwood, the daughter of a science teacher at her high school, grew up in Mission San Jose and went to Ohlone for a few semesters before earning a broadcasting bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University, with stops at Chabot and elsewhere along the way.

She eventually became a reporter and news anchor for a Salinas TV station in the'90s, and she credited Ohlone with helping her stay in journalism after a college internship expired.

"I remember crying my eyes out and driving up to Ohlone to see if they had any TV production classes," she said by phone earlier Thursday, adding that she lucked out and found an audition for a news anchor position on a local cable show.

So she re-enrolled for a semester and segued to a full-time reporting job a few months later.

Raised in an apartment house on Ellsworth Street, Eastwood recalled that the community college a block away on Mission Boulevard was the last place she wanted to wind up.

"To us it was just a continuation high school. I was very unhappy about it. It ended up being great for me," she said. "Ohlone totally served me when I thought I'd soaked everything out of it I could."

Eastwood lives with her husband of 11 years in Pebble Beach, where they have a daughter, Morgan, age 10. Eastwood also is "mom" to four of her husband's previous children; three more are grown.

They met when she interviewed the star in 1993, the year his presidential assassination drama, "In the Line of Fire," came out.

"I actually said, 'Oh, he's really cute, he's a really cool guy.' My boss put in the tape and said, 'You two are going to get married.' I said, 'That's weird.' Our age difference was so great (Clint Eastwood turns 77 next week). I didn't see us together."

Besides, Dina Eastwood said, she was "crazy about somebody," and Clint Eastwood's girlfriend had a baby on the way. But those relationships ended, and he asked her out a year later.

The actor-director could not attend the graduation ceremony, having committed to a charity golf tournament in Carmel — "I can't even reach him tonight," Dina said — but she called him a "very accessible person" rather than a standoff celebrity.

On the downside, she said being in the perennial limelight gives her little time alone.

"A lot of people who can't get ahold of Clint, they get ahold of me," she said. "There's a lot of calls and a lot of
e-mails. That's c'est la vie."

Eastwood drove around her old neighborhood before the commencement and observed: "Nothing's changed. It's kind of wonderful."

She also said she got a charge out of the media perks of returning to the old'hood.

"I'm proud to be interviewed by The Argus," she said. "That's my hometown paper."

http://origin.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_5984732

9

Eastwood News / Reader's Digest - May 2007

« on: May 12, 2007, 07:31:00 PM »

Best Man of Action
 
By Kenneth Miller
From Reader's Digest
May 2007
 
An Astounding Journey
 
Nearly a quarter-century after Harry Callahan dared a thug to start shooting -- and gave the phrase "Go ahead, make my day" a whole new meaning -- the violence in Clint Eastwood's movies has a subtlety and impact that Dirty Harry could only dream of. Now, after spending the better part of his career playing the tough guy on-screen, Eastwood has become the gentle giant behind the scenes, directing a spate of critically acclaimed and award-winning films. His 2006 companion movies, Letters From Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, take an unflinching look at war. Letters is a work of extraordinary empathy, one of the first American films to tell a World War II story from the perspective of Japanese soldiers. Unlike the propaganda pictures of the time, it grants as much humanity and complexity to Iwo Jima's defenders as to the GIs who raised Old Glory atop Mount Suribachi.

In the short span of one year, Eastwood released two notable films. Not many 76-year-olds can conceive of that kind of success. But it's not just the output, it's the distance that Eastwood has come. The action hero has transformed himself into an artist, a creator of stereotype-busting movies that provoke serious thought and deep emotions in audiences around the world.

"The journey he's made from his raffish beginnings is just astounding," says film critic Richard Schickel.

So how did he get here? Did Dirty Harry take an anger-management class? Eastwood bristles at the idea that he ever shared the shoot-'em-up instincts of his early characters. "I'm an actor playing a role," he told biographer Douglas Thompson. "It's a fantasy."

Photo: Eddie Adams/Corbis Outline

Straight Shooter
Four decades ago, when peace and love were all the rage, Eastwood made his mark in A Fistful of Dollars playing a hard-eyed, poncho-wearing drifter whose Colt .45 does most of his talking. Then came the ruthless San Francisco plainclothesman of the Dirty Harry movies, who favors a .44 magnum. But in real life, Eastwood literally wouldn't hurt a fly: "When we see a bug at our house," his wife, Dina, has said, "we coax it out the window."

Other aspects of his personality are more in line with his screen persona. What audiences love about Eastwood is that he embodies a certain ideal of American manhood: quietly confident, stubbornly independent, street-smart, self-amused and -- even in his darkest roles -- essentially decent. "That humanness comes through in all his work, both as a director and an actor," says Gene Hackman, who first paired with him in Unforgiven (1992).

Like the protagonists of many of his films, Eastwood also possesses a relentless urge to claim new territory. "I was always reaching out for something different," he told one interviewer. "Half the fun of making a movie is doing something that's outside your experience."

In an industry based on illusion, Eastwood has risen to Hollywood's zenith largely by daring to be himself.

The Long Ride
The classic Eastwood character -- detective or desperado, boxing coach or soldier -- is a blend of dependable professional and intractable wanderer. That mix has roots in Eastwood's own life.

During the Depression, his father, a bond broker, traveled California and Washington State pursuing jobs that never seemed to last. Clint attended at least half a dozen schools, and excelled at none of them. (Had he been a kid today, he has said, he might have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.) He wore a leather jacket, tinkered with cars and hung with a tough crowd. Still, he learned to value hard work as a source of pride and self-sufficiency. He bagged groceries and delivered papers, toiled as a logger and steelworker, fought forest fires and dug swimming pools. A jazz fanatic, he taught himself piano and played for pizza and tips at an Oakland bar.

Drafted into the Army during the Korean War, Eastwood did a hitch at Fort Ord, south of San Francisco, where his fellow soldiers suggested that with looks like his, he really ought to try out for the movies. After enrolling at Los Angeles City College, he did. His chiseled cheekbones and six-foot-four frame won him bit parts in Revenge of the Creature, Tarantula and a picture starring Francis the Talking Mule, but soon he was back to spadework. Then in 1959 he landed the part of Rowdy Yates, sidekick to the trail boss, in a new TV western series called Rawhide. He held on to the role for seven years.

Eastwood's ambitious side, though, grew frustrated with the show's constraints. (In private he described his character as "Rowdy Yates, idiot of the plains.") In 1964, during a break in production, he found an escape route: the lead role in a low-budget cowboy movie, filmed in Spain by an iconoclastic Italian named Sergio Leone. Surreal and visually innovative, with minimal dialogue, A Fistful of Dollars featured Eastwood as a mysterious gunman who plays two criminal gangs off each other.

The film became a smash in Europe, and he quickly shot two sequels with Leone. (All three premiered in the United States in 1967.) A new genre was born -- the spaghetti western. The success of the films allowed Eastwood to finally quit his day job.

But he was not about to trade one trap for another. After a few more turns as an actor (Hang 'Em High, Coogan's Bluff), he moved into the director's chair. His debut, 1971's Play Misty for Me, was a radical departure from his earlier films -- the complex story of a womanizing DJ stalked by a psychopathic female fan.

He alternated such experimental work with reliably crowd-pleasing fare, including the comedy Every Which Way But Loose, in which he shared top billing with an orangutan named Clyde.

Aiming High
The longer Eastwood has worked, the more thoughtful and daring his projects have become. "Every movie I make teaches me something," he has said. "That's why I keep making them." Since becoming eligible for Social Security benefits, he has made such must-see (and Academy Award-laden) films as Unforgiven, about a gunslinger haunted by his past; Mystic River, about the repercussions of child abuse; and Million Dollar Baby, about a struggling female boxer and the broken-down trainer who takes her on.

Eastwood has always declined to be pigeonholed as an actor, a filmmaker or a man. After liberal critics denounced Dirty Harry as a "fascist," Eastwood came out with Magnum Force, in which Harry battles a cabal of vigilante cops. When Million Dollar Baby was released in 2004, social conservatives complained that the film endorsed assisted suicide for its paralyzed protagonist. Unruffled, East-wood replied that his movie simply affirmed a basic American theme: an individual's right to live, or die, as she sees fit. Though a registered Republican, Eastwood makes no secret of his support for reproductive choice, his opposition to the Iraq war -- or, when discussing his last two movies, to war, period. The best political label for him, he says, is libertarian, with a small l.

When he's directing a movie, Eastwood is like the teacher who's on top of everything and brings out the best in everyone. His film sets are legendary for orderliness and efficiency. "One of the first things he told me was, 'No great work can be done amidst chaos,' " says Emmy Rossum, whose performance as a troubled teenager in Mystic River helped launch her career.

Eastwood often composes the musical themes for his movies. "So many directors run around, trying to show off their authority," says Gene Hackman. "Clint's not like that. He's a great listener and approaches everything in a practical way."



Behind the Scenes
Off duty, Eastwood is unpretentious and private. He stays away from Hollywood, opting for the company of old friends in his adopted hometown, Carmel, California, halfway between L.A. and San Francisco. (He served as mayor from 1986 to 1988; after local authorities passed an ordinance banning public consumption of ice cream cones, he ran for office and turned the old administration out.)

He still drops by the Hog's Breath Inn, the rustic eatery he once owned on San Carlos Street. "He doesn't make a big show of entering a restaurant," says Schickel, a longtime friend. "He kind of slopes in, wearing his chinos and his little jacket."

But come on, he's Clint Eastwood. Eventually people notice. "We were playing golf one morning in Canada while we were making Unforgiven," Hackman recalls, "and there was a crowd of about 50 people watching us. Clint was the first to tee off, and he missed the ball totally. Well, they laughed, but he didn't get mad. He just turned and gave a slight bow. That, I think, exemplifies him."

Eastwood, in fact, sees a well-played round of golf as an analogy for a well-lived life. "You have to trust your swing," he told interviewer Charlie Rose. "Don't worry about what anybody else is doing out there. You'll do okay with your own game. And somebody else will do okay with theirs."

His taste for independence is mirrored in his romantic history. Though his first marriage lasted 25 years and produced two children, he has acknowledged that he strayed widely; he has another four kids by various paramours. In his own way, though, he's really a family man. He's on friendly terms with most of his exes and offspring, and several of the youngsters have appeared in his movies. Son Kyle, 39, a composer, often scores his father's films.

A late but enthusiastic convert to monogamy, Eastwood has been married since 1996 to Dina Ruiz, 41, a former newscaster whom he met when she interviewed him for a station in Salinas, California. They have a ten-year-old daughter, Morgan.

Caring for a tween helps to keep him fit, as does jogging several miles daily, following a spartan diet, and pumping formidable quantities of iron. "I saw him outmatch men a quarter of his age," says Ryan Phillippe, who appeared in Flags of Our Fathers. "I remember everyone was at the gym and Clint had just finished on the bench press. [Actor] Barry Pepper sidled over to see if he could lift what Clint was lifting, and he couldn't move the bar."

But Eastwood's most potent youth elixir is his work. On the Flags set, he wore an officer's uniform in case he was caught on-camera, and referred to himself as Colonel Kumquat. He took his turn behind the camera during difficult scenes, standing in a small landing boat battered by waves. "Just being in his presence," Phillippe jokes, "makes you feel like less of a man."

"I probably would have retired years ago if I hadn't found interesting things to do," Eastwood said recently. "They keep saying yes to you, so you keep on going.""

http://babonbd.blogspot.com/2007/04/best-man-of-action.html

10

General Discussion / Clint's Pet Pot-Belly Pig

« on: May 12, 2007, 06:50:58 AM »

I found a thread last night in this forum about Clint's pets and thought I would mention not too long ago I found an interview (can't find it now) by Dina where she spoke of his/their pets.  Anywhooo, the  pot-belly is called Penelope. 

11

General Discussion / New Eastwood Movie!!! [on fantasy blog--Moderator]

« on: May 06, 2007, 05:19:08 AM »

Gotcha!! 

Sorry folks, but I think you'll at least have a good laugh: 

http://mogulmovies.blogspot.com/2007/05/may-6-movies-released-1-piece-of-my.html

2-DAKOTA NORTH

The Cast: Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Ryan Gosling

The Director: Clint Eastwood
The Producer: Brad Pitt
The Screenwriter: Jack Hammer

The Plot: Before you start down the road to Vengeance, first dig two graves. Sam Jarman’s advice is apt and to the point but Dakota North (A.Jolie) has good reason to want revenge. Raped and left for dead, her husband Daniel (E.Hawke) murdered and their home burned to the ground by Carson (S.Penn) and his band of cutthroats; revenge is the only thing keeping her going as Jarman (K.Bacon), an ex-cavalryman, nurses her back to health.

Riding down the long road to vengeance Dakota trails Carson across more than a thousand burned and blood-soaked miles. Seeing over and over the evidence of the man’s depravity. Her thirst for vengeance growing with every passing day.

When she finally catches up to him she attacks carefully, using a Henry rifle to whittle away one cutthroat at a time until it’s down to her and Carson. Wanting him to know who killed him Dakota steps out in front of him, but Slocum (R.Gosling), the animal who raped her is still alive, though wounded, and draws a bead on her back. Suddenly Jarman’s Springfield cracks out killing the back-shooter. But this draws Carson’s fire as the butcher’s .45 slugs rip through Jarman’s belly, dropping him into the dirt. Fast as lightning Dakota’s revolver thunders twice, ending Carson’s killing spree forever.

Comforting the man who saved her life as his own slips painfully away, silent tears run down Dakota’s face as she slowly realizes that the second grave was not for her, but for Jarman. The price of revenge was much higher than she thought.

The Comment: A wonderful western. But can westerns still work in box office in our days?

12

General Discussion / Baby Pics of Clint

« on: April 30, 2007, 04:34:48 PM »

I'm not sure if there's ever been any baby photos of Clint posted here.  If not, I found some at the following link in addition to some other photos I've never seen before.  That said, I hope someone can translate Polish. 

http://www.eastwood.stopklatka.pl/kalendarium.html

13

General Discussion / Fan meets Clint on set of "Flags of our Fathers"

« on: April 28, 2007, 06:54:50 PM »

A very nice post from a guy, along with his young son, describing his encounter with Clint on the set.  Clint also agreed to a photo with the child which is posted as well.

http://www.spielbergfilms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5227&highlight=clint+eastwood

14

Eastwood News / Eastwood to Receive Honorary Degree

« on: April 27, 2007, 03:46:26 PM »

http://www.montereyherald.com/state/ci_5767127

Ted Koppel, Clint Eastwood to receive honorary degrees from USC
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 04/27/2007 02:21:27 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES- Ted Koppel and Clint Eastwood are about to become doctors—honorary doctors, that is.
Each will receive honorary doctorate degrees from University of Southern California at the school's graduation ceremony on May 11, the university announced Friday. Koppel will also deliver the commencement address.
The award-winning journalist will be given a doctor of laws degree from the private Los Angeles institution. Eastwood will be awarded a doctor of humane letters degree. Other recipients of honorary degrees at the university's 124th graduation ceremony are Arvid Carlsson, a Nobel laureate who will receive a doctor of science degree, and California Supreme Court justice Joyce Kennard, who will get a doctor of laws degree.

15

Eastwood News / Clint to Receive Spirit of Independence Award

« on: April 19, 2007, 05:19:03 PM »

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070419005288&newsLang=en

Clint Eastwood to Receive Spirit of Independence Award at 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival

I'm new here and unfamiliar how to post links on this specific board.  If I haven't done it correctly, please let me know.

Have been a huge fan of Clint's for many, many years.