CLINT EASTWOOD RIDING HIGH

Speaking out for the first time in detail about his private life, actor Clint Eastwood reveals his beliefs and principles, as well as his faults and failings

Banal bio from Thompson (Madonna Revealed, 1991--not reviewed), stitched together from interviews the author has conducted with Eastwood over the years. (Typical sentence: ``But clich‚s and stereotypes aside, Eastwood enjoyed magic moments, the good, the bad and the ugly of movie-making.'') Thompson underlines the silent, self-effacing, loner-stud aspect of Eastwood's career. The star was a California kid whose father was a bonds salesman who pumped gas during the Depression. Eastwood himself had many outdoor jobs early on, including wielding a logger's axe, and even today, he enjoys ``cars, motorbikes, playing pool, hanging out in bars and jazz clubs, camping, skiing, golfing, riding and pumping iron.'' The actor was, of course, mayor for two years of his beloved Carmel, California, a town now dubbed ``Clintville,'' where the boutiques sell ``Make My Night'' panties. Eastwood married Maggie Johnson, a fellow college student, at age 23, in an apparently ``open marriage'' that lasted 31 years, with Eastwood often seriously chasing his costars. He began acting in B- pictures, had a seven-year lead in TV's Rawhide, and smashed to the top in three Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. On the set, when directing, he's a soft-spoken, friendly control-freak with ``a kind of third eye open all the time.'' His sets are very ``Zen.'' Less Zen was an out-of-court settlement of a palimony suit by Sondra Locke--his pal for 13 years, who never divorced her first husband- -for an undisclosed figure in the many millions, which saved Eastwood much ink about his hippety-hop love life. Interviews with various Eastwood cohorts keep the pages lively, but the more lasting taste is rather ashy--or trashy. (Thirty-four b&w photographs) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

First published in Great Britain last year with the title Clint Eastwood: Sexual Cowboy , this gossipy biographical sketch was assembled from interviews with Eastwood and others conducted by the author, a Hollywood insider. The best parts provide behind-the-scene stories, such as the U.S. Marines' withdrawing support of Heartbreak Ridge (1986) because of profanity in the film and Marsha Mason discussing her juicy role as the ex-wife. Also interesting are details about Eastwood's early career and before, including his descriptions of his well-known swim to shore after the plane that was flying him and other green soldiers to the Korean War ditched in the ocean. But the long, tedious monologs by Eastwood and Sondra Locke discussing their breakup are of limited appeal. Though dated, the best comprehensive biography is still Iain Johnstone's The Man with No Name: Clint Eastwood ( LJ 10/15/81), which was adapted from a BBC-TV production. Still, Eastwood's roundup of Oscars this year will incite patron interest. Recommended for general collections.
- Richard W. Grefrath, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.