His name, "Clint Eastwood" is an anagram for 'old west action.'
- Interesting, given his penchant towards directing or starring in westerns.

He weighed 11 lbs. 6 oz. at birth.

He is of a mixed heritage that includes Dutch, Scottish, Irish and mostly English, blood.
He's a vegetarian.

He got his first acting role in "Rawhide" (1959) while visiting a friend at the CBS lot.
A studio exec spotted him because he "looked like a cowboy."

He was a contract player at Universal International. He and another young actor named Burt Reynolds were released from their contracts and left the studio on the same day.

Eastwood was 6'4" as a young man, but due to his age and recent back problems he is now (as of 2006) closer to 6'1".

He at first refused to have children with his wife, Maggie (although he did have a daughter in 1964 from an affair). Years later, when Maggie became very ill, he changed his mind. Once she recovered, almost 15 years after they married, their first child together (Kyle) was born.

He has 7 children: Kimber Eastwood (born 17 June 1964), Kyle Eastwood (born 19 May 1968), Alison Eastwood (born 22 May 1972), Scott Eastwood (born 21 March 1986), Kathryn Eastwood (2 February 1988), Francesca Fisher-Eastwood (born 7 August 1993) and Morgan Eastwood (born 12 December 1996).

He is also the father of Heather Eastwood (born July 19, 1988).

His first granddaughter, Graylen (Kyle's daughter) was born in 1994.

Last daughter, Morgan Eastwood, with second wife, Dina (Ruiz) Eastwood was born December 12, 1996. Morgan's beautiful mother, Dina, was 31 years old and Clint was 66 years old. An age difference of 35 years.
                   *Author's note: "I've always respected that man, now at my age of 60, I worship him".

He wore the same poncho, without ever having washed it, in all three of his "Man with No Name" Westerns.
                * Something should be noted here but the author is dumbfounded.

The boots that Clint Eastwood wore in "Unforgiven" are the same boots that he wore in the TV series Rawhide. These boots are now a part of Clint Eastwoods private collection and were on loan to the 2005 Sergio Leone exhibit at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, California. In essence these boots have book-ended Clint Eastwood's career in the Western genre.

When he first gained popularity with his first three major films Per un pugno di dollari (1964), Per qualche dollaro in pił (1965) and Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966). Jolly Films (who produced Per un pugno di dollari (1964)) created a film called The Magnificent Stranger which was actually two episodes of "Rawhide" (1959) edited together. Eastwood sued and the film was withdrawn.
Elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.  
It has often been claimed that Eastwood ran for office as a Republican. In fact, although he was registered as a Republican in California, the position of mayor is non-partisan. [1986]

Sworn in as parks commissioner for state of California at Big Basin Redwood Park, Santa Cruz, California, on June 8, 2002. Holding up his new commissioner's badge, he told the crowd, "You're all under arrest."

Eastwood owns the exclusive Tehama Golf Club located in Carmel Valley, in Monterey County.
The invitation only club reportedly has around 300 members with a membership fee of $500,000.
Owns the inn, Mission Ranch, in Carmel, California.
He is a partial owner of the Pebble Beach Golf Country Club in Monterey Peninsula, California.
Every year the PGA tour comes to Pebble Beach, California, to host a celebrity golf tournament where celebrities team up with the professionals. Clint has participated in this every year from 1962-2002 and has been the longest running participant. He now serves as Host.
 

 Partner with Sondra Locke from 1975 thru 1988
(co-habitated from 1977-1988)

He and former girlfriend Sondra Locke made six films together: Any Which Way You Can (1980), Bronco Billy (1980), Every Which Way But Loose (1978), The Gauntlet (1977), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Sudden Impact (1983).

In 2002 he sued a biographer for publishing allegations that he physically abused Sondra Locke during their relationship, and forced her to have several abortions.

He strongly denied accusations of physical and sexual abuse made in Sondra Locke's autobiography.

Ranked #2 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]

Received an honorary Cesar award in Paris, France for his body of work. [1998]

He was the 2000 recipient of John F. Kennedy Center Honors.

Received the Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. [2000]

Current wife, Dina Ruiz (Dina Eastwood), is a former local television news anchor/reporter in California.                         

His name is used as the title of the hit Gorillaz song and video "Clint Eastwood" (2001).

Mentioned in the theme song of the 1980s TV hit "The Fall Guy" (1981).

Until his pride was displaced by discovery of a larger version of same tree in 2002, Eastwood used to be proud owner of tree believed to be the nation's largest known hardwood - a bluegum eucalyptus.

Redubbed his own dialogue for the American releases of:

 Per un pugno di dollari (1964) ("A Fistful Of Dollars")

Per qualche dollaro  in pił (1965)  ("For A Few Dollars More")

Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) ("The Good, The Bad and The Ugly").

 

When he directs, he insists that his actors wear as little makeup as possible and he likes to print first takes. As a result, his films consistently finish on schedule and on budget.

When directing, he simply says "okay" instead of "action" and "cut."
(source: "Sunday Morning Shootout").

As a director, he has always refused, and refuses to this day, to test screen his films before their release.       

When Don Siegel fell ill during production of "Dirty Harry" (1971), Eastwood stepped in as director during the attempted-suicide/jumper sequence.

                                                                           
Clint was apparently such an organized director that he finished his movie "Absolute Power" (1997) days ahead of schedule.
         One of only three living film-makers who have directed two best picture Oscar winners. The others are Francis Coppola and Milos Forman.

His production company is Malpaso Productions, which he formed in 1968.

The name Malpaso is derived from a creek south of Carmel, in California, where Eastwood has spent much of his life. 

His biography is included in: "World Film Directors" Volume Two, 1945- 1985" John Wakeman, editor. Pages 294-302. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

He was going to play the villain Two-Face on the "Batman" (1966/II) TV series, but the show was canceled before the project began.

He was voted the 16th "Greatest Movie Star of All Time" by Entertainment Weekly.
Eastwood was only two rankings behind his own all-time favorite film actor, James Cagney.

Although he has been associated with it throughout his career, he personally detests violence and has carefully shown the horrific consequences of violence in his more recent films such as Unforgiven (1992), A Perfect World (1993), Absolute Power (1997), Mystic River (2003), and Million Dollar Baby (2004).

He has always disliked the reading of political and social agendas in his films, which has occurred from Dirty Harry (1971) to Million Dollar Baby (2004). He has always maintained that all of his films are apolitical and what he has in mind when making a film is whether it's going to be entertaining and compelling.

Has been named to Quigley Publications' annual Top 10 Poll of Money-Making Stars 21 times, making him #2 all-time for appearances in the top 10 list. Only John Wayne, with 25 appearances in the Top 10, has more. Eastwood, who first appeared in the Top Ten at #5 in 1968, finished #2 to Wayne at the box office in 1971 after finishing #2 to Paul Newman in 1970. After his first two consecutive #1 appearances in 1972 and 1973, he dropped back to #2 in 1974, trailing Robert Redford at the box office. Clint was again #2 in 1979, 1981 and 1982 (topped by Burt Reynolds all three years), before leading the charts in 1983 and '84. He last topped the poll in 1993.
                           
Was named the top box-office star of 1972 and again in 1973 by the Motion Picture Herald, based on an annual poll of exhibitors as to the drawing power of movie stars at the box-office, conducted by Quigley Publications.

Clint Eastwood was the only nominee for the Best Actor Oscar in 2004 to play a fictitious character. All four other nominees portrayed real people in their respective films.   
A sample of his whistling can be heard on the track "Big Noise" from his son Kyle's jazz CD "Paris Blue" (2004)

In early 2005 he announced that he would supply the voice for a Dirty Harry video game.   

He objected to the end of Dirty Harry when Harry throws his badge away after killing the Scorpio Killer, arguing with director Don Siegel that Harry knew that being a policeman was the only work he was suited to. Siegel explained and eventually convinced Eastwood that Harry threw his badge away as a symbol that he had lost faith in the police system.

At the The 45th Annual Academy Awards (1973) (TV), he presented the 1972 Best Picture Oscar to Albert S. Ruddy, the producer of The Godfather (1972). Thirty-two years later, they would jointly accept the 2004 Best Picture Oscar at the The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) (TV), along with fellow "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) co-producer Tom Rosenberg.

At the The 72nd Annual Academy Awards (2000) (TV) in 2000, presented the Best Picture statuette to "American Beauty" (1999).

Was named the #1 top money-making star at the box office in Quigley Publications' annual poll of movie exhibitors five times between 1972 and 1993. Bing Crosby, Burt Reynolds and Tom Hanks also have been named #1 five times, while Tom Cruise holds the record for being named #1 six times.

At age 74, he became the oldest person to win the Best Director Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby" (2004).
Along with Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Mel Gibson, Richard Attenborough and Kevin Costner one of 6 people to win and Academy Award for "Best Director", though they are mainly known as actors.
He directed 8 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Gene Hackman, Meryl Streep, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden, Morgan Freeman, Hilary Swank and himself (in Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004)). Hackman, Penn, Robbins, Freeman and Swank won Oscars for their performances in one of Eastwood's movies.
For two consecutive years he directed two out of the four actors in performances that won them Oscars: Sean Penn (Best Actor for Mystic River (2003)) and Tim Robbins (Best Supporting Actor for Mystic River (2003)) in 2004, and Hilary Swank (Best Actress for Million Dollar Baby (2004)) and Morgan Freeman (Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby (2004)) in 2005.

Received an honorary Doctorate from Wesleyan University in Connecticut (2000). Wesleyan is also home to his personal archives.

              
He was voted the 43rd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.

Favorite actor is James Cagney.

Some of his favorite movies are, The 39 Steps (1935), Sergeant York (1941), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) & Chariots of Fire (1981).

Some of his favorite actors are Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum and James Stewart.

In the late 1990s, he referenced Play Misty for Me (1971), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Bronco Billy (1980),Honkytonk Man (1982), Unforgiven (1992) & A Perfect World (1993) as the favorites of the films he had done. 

President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994

Claimed that the trait he most despised in others was racism.

Appeared on TG Sheppard's hit "Make My Day," which made #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1984.


At the 2005 National Board of Review awards dinner in New York City, Eastwood joked that he would kill filmmaker Michael Moore if Moore ever showed up at his home with a camera (an evident reference to Moore's controversial interview with Eastwood's friend, actor/Second Amendment advocate Charlton Heston, for the movie "Bowling for Columbine" (2002)). After the crowd laughed, Eastwood said, "I mean it." Moore's spokesman said, "Michael laughed along with everyone else, and took Mr. Eastwood's comments in the lighthearted spirit in which they were given." Publicly, Eastwood has not commented further.

Took acting class from Michael Chekhov in Hollywood.

Under his direction in 2003 and 2004 respectively, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman both won Best Supporting Actor Oscars. They were both first time winners, and had previously starred alongside each other in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994).

Two actors (Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman) have each won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in consecutive years for playing characters in Eastwood's movies. Robbins won in 2003 for Mystic River while Freeman won in 2004 for his role in Million Dollar Baby.

In 1972 Eastwood attended President Richard Nixon's landslide victory celebration in Los Angeles,
along with John Wayne, Charlton Heston, and Glenn Ford.

Was appointed to serve on the National Council of the Arts by President Nixon in 1972.

Admitted to voting for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, and Ross Perot in 1992.

Has ruled out the possibility of playing Dirty Harry again, saying he has "outgrown him age-wise."                                    
His performance as "Dirty" Harry Callahan in "Dirty Harry"  (1971)  is ranked #92 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

At a press conference for his movie "Mystic River" (2003), Eastwood condemned the Iraq war as a "big mistake" and defended Sean Penn's visit to Baghdad, saying he might have done the same thing but for his age.

Eastwood declined an offer from President George Bush to campaign for him in the 1992 Presidential election. He told an interviewer the next year, "I think what the ultra-right wing conservatives did to the Republicans is really self-destructive, absolutely stupid."

                                                  
His beloved mother, Francesca Ruth Eastwood,
died on Feb. 7, 2006, at the age of ninety-seven.

His performance as Blondie in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1966) is ranked #50 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

He claims that he wound up getting the role in Sergio Leone's "Per Un Pugno Di Dollari" (1964) because James Coburn wanted $25,000. Eastwood accepted the role for $15,000.

                                             
Took title role of Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry (1971) after Frank Sinatra dropped out.

In 1963, he recorded an album called "Rawhide's Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites".

He is a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage.

Eastwood is registered as a Republican in California. Despite this he hosted a fundraiser for Gray Davis in the 2003 recall, and offered to make a commercial for the unpopular Democratic Governor.