Once a hay bailer, logger, truck driver, and steel-furnace stoker, Clint's down to earth life experience exudes from his earthly characters he portrays. Not flash and glitter, just true grit, force and testosterone that would make any criminal surrender facing his Magnum .357.
The Army Special Services called on him in 1950 where he was based at Ford Ord in Monterey, California. Clint met two other actors in the service, David Janssen and Martin Milner who influenced him to try Los Angeles in 1954 after his military service.
With one screen test his rugged looks got him a contract with Universal for a whopping sum of $75 a week. His very first film appearance was Francis in the Navy (1955). His next two movies were sci-fi films Revenge of the Creature (1955), and Tarantula (1955).
Eastwood's role as Rowdy Yates in the CBS TV series Rawhide (1959) ran for eight seasons and landed him some success.
Director Sergio Leone, convinced Eastwood in 1964 to take the staring roles in a trio of "spaghetti western" films (known due to their Italian production) and these titles launched his calm, confident character – a man with no name – in A Fistful of Dollars (1964 – a classic remake of Yojimbo), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966). These films made his face internationally known. With nearly seven films prior to these Clint was now making movies on a regular basis.
With major westerns like Hang’em High (1968), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1969), High Plains Drifter (1973 - director) and The Outlaw Josey Weles (1976 - director) was changing American western films.
In 1968 his musical singing ability was tested in the musical/comedy Paint Your Wagons. A great film with Lee Marvin who plays a drunken gold miner and Clint, a green horn, learns about love and greed. If you haven’t seen this one – it’s a totally different role for Eastwood – and entertaining about the gold rush and the settling of the West. Another major western to his credit is the gun-toting preacher in Pale Rider (1985 - Director; Producer).
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