Think you know the Clint Eastwood biography? Few actors have had the mass appeal of Eastwood, who evolved from a classic Hollywood tough guy into one of the industry's most accomplished film directors.

Early Life
Clint Eastwood was born Clinton Eastwood, Jr., on May 31, 1930, in San Francisco, California. His father was a steel worker who moved up and down the West coast in search of work. After graduating high school, Eastwood spent time working in a pulp mill.

In 1950, Eastwood was drafted into the Army to fight in the Korean war. Eastwood was on board a fighter jet that crashed into San Francisco Bay the weekend before his deployment. Despite thick fog, he swam several miles back to shore. Instead of deploying with his unit, Eastwood was kept in San Francisco to answer questions about the crash. His ability to survive and to swim in the open ocean impressed the Army, and Eastwood spent the next four years as a Special Forces swimming instructor.

Acting Calls
Eastwood performed in one play in high school and hated the experience. He became interested in acting through two Army friends, David Janssen and Martin Milner, and the three got an apartment in Los Angeles after they were discharged.

Eastwood got a contract with Universal, landing small roles in B-films like Tarantula (1955), Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958). When his Universal contract ran out, he faced constant rejection. His break came when a CBS producer spotted him on the studio lot and thought he had the right look for a new TV series called Rawhide (1959). Eastwood played Rowdy Yates for the next six years.

Spaghetti Westerns
Television paid the bills, but Eastwood longed to return to film. He traveled to Italy, where director Sergio Leone was producing a series of highly violent, low-budget Westerns for European markets. Eastwood starred in several Leone films that are now regarded as classics, including A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Eastwood's work won him international acclaim.

Eastwood was impressed by the amount of freedom Leone had to make pictures, so he decided to form his own production company, allowing him to direct and star in his own films. Eastwood's Malpaso Company began by making low-budget Westerns, such as Hang 'Em High and High Plains Drifter. Malpaso also created the Dirty Harry films and Escape from Alcatraz.

Personal Life
Eastwood married Maggie Johnson on December 19, 1953, and had two children with her. They divorced on May 14, 1984. He married his current wife, Dina Ruiz, on March 31, 1996. Clint and Dina have one child together, Morgan, born December 12, 1996.

Between the marriages, he lived with Sondra Locke for 14 years, but they never married. He has a total of seven children, born between 1968 and 1996. He has two grandchildren, Graylen born in March 1994, and Clinton, born in February 1984).

When he was 74, he won the Best Director Oscar for Million Dollar Baby (2004), becoming the oldest person to win the award. Eastwood won his first Best Director Oscar in 1993, for Unforgiven. Clint movies nominated for Best Director Oscars are Mystic River and Letters from Iwo Jima.