II.

Early Career

Clinton Eastwood, Jr., was born in San Francisco, California. He first gained recognition as an actor in the Western television series Rawhide (1959-1966). Eastwood became a film star with his role as a hired killer in the movie Per un pugno di dollari (made in Italian by director Sergio Leone and dubbed in English as A Fistful of Dollars, 1964). The film is part of a genre known as a spaghetti Western, referring to its Italian origins. Eastwood recreated the character, referred to only as The Man with No Name, in the movies Per qualche dollaro in più (For a Few Dollars More, 1965) and Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, 1966). Other films of the late 1960s starring Eastwood included the Western Hang ‘Em High (1968), the drama Coogan’s Bluff (1968), and the comedic musical Paint Your Wagon (1969).