"Whatever success I've had is due
to a lot of instinct and a little luck."
It seems unlikely that anybody watching "Rawhide" on CBS way back when would've predicted that the young actor playing cowpoke Rowdy Yates would become one of the screen's most accomplished filmmakers and one it its most iconic stars. But here's Clint Eastwood 60 years later, still making movies and sometimes starring in them, a testament to talent, longevity and luck.
He was born in San Francisco in 1930, and his family moved around a lot, which might've contributed to his affection for road movies. (He's made a lot of them.) He paid his dues in small parts and on "Rawhide", where he learned about directing by watching everything that was going on. He got his big break when he took a chance and went to Spain to make "A Fistful of Dollars" for Sergio Leone, and he's been working on the big screen ever since, behind the camera and in front of it.
To get a sense of what he's done, and the curious way his movies sometimes match up, consider these Eastwood double features. All were directed by Eastwood, unless otherwise noted.
"A Fistful of Dollars" (1964)
"For a Few Dollars More" (1965)
Both directed by Sergio Leone
Eastwood, Leone and composer Ennio Morricone team up and invent a new genre: the spaghetti western.
"Where Eagles Dare" (1968)
"Kelly's Heroes" (1970)
Both directed by Brian G. Hutton
World War Two was never like this.
"The Beguiled" (1970/Don Siegel)
"Play Misty For Me" (1971)
A Civil War soldier and a radio jazz DJ discover the perils of promiscuity.
"Dirty Harry" (1971/Don Siegel)
"Sudden Impact" (1983)
Do you feel lucky?
"High Plains Drifter" (1973)
"Pale Rider" (1985)
Ghost stories (Spoiler Alert!) with Clint as the ghost.
"The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976)
"Unforgiven" (1992)
Two westerns. Quintessential Clint.
"Bronco Billy" (1980)
"Honkytonk Man" (1982)
Road movies revolving around a favorite Eastwood theme: surrogate familes.
"Absolute Power" (1997)
"Space Cowboys" (2000)
Escapist entertainment with Clint as a jewel thief who witnesses a murder, and an ancient astronaut.
"Mystic River" (2003)
"Million Dollar Baby" (2004)
Movies from the dark side. Two of Clint's best.
"Flags of Our Fathers" (2006)
"Letters From Iwo Jima" (2006)
The war in the Pacific, from both sides.
"Gran Torino" (2008)
"Trouble With the Curve" (2012/Robert Lorenz)
Clint plays a retired autoworker and a baseball scout losing his eyesight. Not bad for an old guy.
Clint turns 92 this year. His latest picture, "Cry Macho", was released last September. There's virtually no precedent for a filmmaker directing movies and playing leads in them simultaneously at that age.
Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, who died in 2015, was still making films at 100, and it wouldn't be a total surprise if Clint were to get there, too. He works quickly and efficiently. He's famous for getting what he wants in one or two takes. His movies generally make money. And he seems to know how to pace himself. A career like Eastwood's doesn't happen purely by accident.
One thing's for sure: He's come a long way from "Rawhide" and Rowdy Yates.
