Who is Clint Eastwood?
From being born in a middle class family to being a highly successful actor-director-producer, Clint Eastwood has had a great career in Hollywood. It is hard to believe that this prolific actor had an extremely humble beginning. He struggled with various odd jobs before trying his luck in acting. Tasting success with the Western TV series Rawhide, he achieved international fame with Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) during the 1960s and in the Dirty Harry film series in the 1970s and 1980s. The Dollars Trilogy and the Dirty Harry series established his image as a tough guy. Clint ventured into directing films in 1971 and made a mark with his unique style. Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004); he had also received nominations for Best Actor for these films. He received Academy Award nominations for Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) as well. Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and its sequel, Any Which Way You Can (1980) are considered as his biggest commercial successes (inflation adjusted). He has starred in most of his self-directed films, and also directed several films without appearing in them.
Career
Early Career & Struggles
He appeared for a screen test at Universal Studios and got a 40-week contract, but after just one renewal and small roles in such movies as Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Tarantula (19550, his contract was not renewed.
After that, he appeared in several TV series before getting the big break he was looking for - the role of Rowdy Yates in TV Western Rawhide (1959-65). The series reached the top 20 in TV rating within three weeks and proved a major success for several years before being cancelled in the 1965-66 season. It served as a career breakthrough for Eastwood.
Meanwhile, he appeared in minor roles in such films as Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955), Never Say Goodbye (1955), Escapade in Japan (1957), Lafayette Escadrille (1958), and Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958). In 1959, he made a guest appearance on Maverick. Cast opposite James Garner, he played the role of a cowardly villain.
