| This article is part of a series on Clint Eastwood |
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| Background · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s · 1990s · 2000s · Politics · Personal life · Awards and honors · Filmography · Discography · Malpaso Productions | |
The personal life of Clint Eastwood:
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Eastwood told biographer Richard Schickel that he lost his virginity at age 14.[1][2] He has fathered at least seven children by five women and been described as a "serial womanizer."[1][2][3] According to biographers Marc Eliot and Patrick McGilligan, Eastwood always had a strong sexual appetite and had affairs with many women, including actresses Catherine Deneuve, Jean Seberg, Peggy Lipton, Kay Lenz, Jamie Rose, Inger Stevens, Jo Ann Harris, Jane Brolin, Jill Banner, script analyst Megan Rose, and swimming champion Anita Lhoest.[4] Biographers and friend Paul Lippman have indicated that Eastwood was particularly sexually promiscuous in the 1970s. He purchased the Hog's Breath Inn in Carmel in the early 1970s, and he used his apartment nearby to meet young ladies for "nooners" and "five in the afternooners." [5] According to Lippman, "Eastwood seemed to get a bang out of this kinkier side to himself and rarely concealed it, often gloated about it."[5]
Eastwood married Maggie Johnson on December 19, 1953, six months after they met on a blind date.[6] While separated from Johnson, Eastwood had an affiar with dancer Roxanne Tunis, with whom he had his first child, Kimber (born June 17, 1964); he did not publicly acknowledge her until 1996.[7] After a reconciliation, he had two children with Johnson: Kyle Eastwood (born May 19, 1968) and Alison Eastwood (born May 22, 1972). Eastwood filed for divorce in 1979 after a long separation, but the $25 million (US$52.9 million in 2012 dollars[8]) divorce settlement was not finalized until May 1984.[9][10]
Eastwood entered a relationship with actress Sondra Locke in 1975, and they lived together for fourteen years despite the fact that she remained married (in name only) to her gay husband, Gordon Anderson.[11][12] They co-starred in six films together: The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet, Every Which Way but Loose, Bronco Billy, Any Which Way You Can, and Sudden Impact. Early on in the relationship, Locke had two abortions and a subsequent tubal ligation.[13][14] The couple separated acrimoniously in 1989; Locke filed a palimony suit against Eastwood after he changed the locks on the home they shared. She sued him a second time, for fraud, regarding an alleged phony directing contract he gave her in settlement of the first lawsuit.[15] Locke and Eastwood went on to resolve the dispute with a non-public settlement in 1999.[16] Her memoir The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly includes a harrowing account of their years together.[17]
During his cohabitation with Locke, Eastwood had an affair with flight attendant Jacelyn Reeves. According to biographers they met at the premiere of Pale Rider where they conceived a son, Scott Reeves (born March 21, 1986).[18] They also had a daughter, Kathryn Reeves (born February 2, 1988), although neither of them were publicly acknowledged until years later.[19] Kathryn served as Miss Golden Globe at the 2005 ceremony where she presented Eastwood with an award for Million Dollar Baby.[20]
In 1990 Eastwood began living with actress Frances Fisher, whom he had met on the set of Pink Cadillac (1989).[21] They co-starred in Unforgiven and had a daughter, Francesca Fisher-Eastwood (born August 7, 1993).[22] The couple ended their relationship in early 1995,[23] but remain friends and later appeared together in True Crime.
Eastwood subsequently began dating Dina Ruiz, an anchorwoman 35 years his junior, whom he had first met when she interviewed him in 1993.[22] They married on March 31, 1996, when Eastwood surprised her with a private ceremony at his home on the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.[24] The couple's daughter, Morgan Eastwood, was born on December 12, 1996. Ruiz commented, "The fact that I am only the second woman he has married really touches me."[25] Eastwood says that she has brought his family close together, and Ruiz maintains a friendly relationship with Eastwood's other children and their mothers.[2] He professes to be a much better father now than when he was younger and constantly at work.[26]
Eastwood has two grandchildren: Clinton (born 1984) and Graylen (born 1994), by Kimber and Kyle respectively.[27]
Eastwood, an audiophile, has had a strong passion for music all his life, particularly jazz and country and western music.[28] He dabbled in music early on, and in late 1959 he produced the album Cowboy Favorites, which was released on the Cameo label.[28] The album included some classics such as Bob Wills's San Antonio Rose and Cole Porter's Don't Fence Me In. Despite his attempts to plug the album by going on a tour, it never reached the Billboard Hot 100.[28] In 1963, Cameo producer Kal Mann told him that "he would never make it big as a singer".[29] Neverless, during the off season of filming Rawhide, Eastwood and Brinegar—sometimes joined by Sheb Wooley—toured rodeos, state fairs, and festivals. In 1962, their act, entitled Amusement Business Cavalcade of Fairs, earned them as much as $15,000 a performance.[29] Eastwood has his own Warner Bros. Records-distributed imprint, Malpaso Records, as part of his deal with Warner Brothers. This deal was unchanged when Warner Music Group was sold by Time Warner to private investors. Malpaso has released all of the scores of Eastwood's films from The Bridges of Madison County onward. It also released the album of a 1996 jazz concert he hosted, titled Eastwood after Hours — Live at Carnegie Hall. Eastwood owns an extensive collection of LPs, which he plays on a Rockport turntable. His interest in music was passed on to his son Kyle, now a jazz musician. Eastwood co-wrote "Why Should I Care" with Linda Thompson and Carole Bayer Sager, which was recorded by Diana Krall.[30]
Eastwood, a life-long non-smoker, has been conscious of his health and fitness since he was a teenager, and practices healthy eating. As a young man making a name for himself during the production of Rawhide, Eastwood would be featured in magazines and journals, which often documented his healthy lifestyle. In the August 1959 edition of TV Guide, for example, Eastwood was photographed doing push-ups. He gave tips on fitness and nutrition, telling people to eat plenty of fruit and raw vegetables, to take vitamins, and to avoid sugar-loaded beverages, excessive alcohol, and overloading on carbohydrates.[31]
On July 21, 1970, Eastwood's father died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 64.[32] The death, described by Fritz Manes as "the only bad thing that ever happened to him in his life", came as a shock to Eastwood, as his grandfather had lived to be 92. It had a profound impact on Eastwood's life; from then on he became more productive, working with a greater sense of urgency and with more speed and efficiency on set.[33] Although Eastwood had always been a health and fitness enthusiast, he became more so after his father's death. He abstained from hard liquor, adopted a more rigorous health regime, and sought to stay fit.[33] However, he still favored cold beer and opened a pub called the Hog Breath's Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1971.[34] Eastwood eventually sold the pub and now owns the Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant, also located in Carmel-by-the-Sea.[35]
In 1975, Eastwood publicly proclaimed his participation in Transcendental Meditation when he appeared on The Merv Griffin Show with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation.[36] He has meditated every morning for years.[37] Eastwood is an experienced pilot, and sometimes flies his own helicopter to the studio to avoid traffic.[38][39]
Eastwood owns the Tehàma Golf Club, located in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The private club reportedly has around 300 members and a joining price of $500,000. He is an investor of the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Links.[40] He loves to play golf, and donates his time every year to charitable causes at major tournaments.[41]