New Clint Eastwood Biography Reveals the Man Behind the Legend

The book covers decades of career of an American original who captured on screen the complex moral universe of the country

infobae

July 8, 2025

The reader will feel nothing but happiness after immersing themselves in the filmography and figure of Clint Eastwood, an artist whose longevity and uniqueness have marked American cinema for more than six decades. The new biography written by Shawn Levy offers a comprehensive look at the career and life of Eastwood, who celebrated 95 years in May and has directed 40 feature films to date. The work, entitled Clint, delves into the successes, contradictions and complexities of a man who has been, simultaneously, a global star and a leading author, something unprecedented in the history of Hollywood since the advent of sound films.

Levy's book is distinguished by its balanced approach, moving away from both hagiography and ruthless criticism. It acknowledges Eastwood's creative and personal mistakes, but also reaffirms his status as an "honest American icon to the core." This new approach seeks the middle ground, addressing both achievements and controversies. Eastwood did not give interviews for the book, so there are no unpublished revelations, but Levy makes up for it with insightful and detailed narration.

The structure of the book alternates between the chronicle of the production of each film, quotes from representative reviews —including several from the author of the article himself—, analysis of the box office and evaluations of the place of each work in the Eastwood canon. Among the most forceful observations, the opinion on Breezy, the third film directed by Eastwood, stands out: "Disgust. Just disgusting." On City Heat, where Eastwood shares the screen with Burt Reynolds, the sentence is just as blunt: "Oh my God, what a bad movie!"

The biography is not limited to the filmography. It examines the filmmaker's contracts, box office takings, personal life — including his troubled relationship with Sondra Locke, who sued Eastwood for alimony — his diet and political views. His tenure as mayor of Carmel, California, and his appearance at the 2012 Republican National Convention, where he debated with an empty chair, are remembered. Eastwood, a self-defined libertarian, has been a figure who challenges the myth of a homogeneously liberal Hollywood, showing enthusiasm for the American style of violence and, at the same time, a severe criticism of its consequences.

[Shawn Levy's biography explores Clint Eastwood's uniqueness as an icon of American cinema.]

Eastwood's rise began in the middle class during the Depression. After minor roles in little-remembered films, his opportunity came on television, but it was Italian cinema that catapulted him to fame. The three spaghetti westerns directed by Sergio Leone in the mid-1960s — A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly — were initially scorned by American critics, who called them trash. Subsequent films in the United States, under the direction of Don Siegel and with the first appearance of Dirty Harry, did not receive a better reception either. The public, on the other hand, responded enthusiastically, and over time both Leone and Siegel achieved critical recognition. Eastwood consolidated his status by absorbing their influences and perfecting a style capable of extracting psychological depth and thematic nuances from materials considered pulp.

Eastwood's work has been celebrated for its clean and economical cinematic style, which has earned him recognition as the last great exponent of classic American cinema. He has won the Oscar for best director and best picture twice, for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. Characters such as Dirty Harry and the Man with No Name have become cultural icons, along with phrases such as "Go ahead, make my day" and his characteristic strabismus.

Levy highlights how the themes of Eastwood's mature work have become more complex and contradictory over time. On Unforgiven, she considers that she is "frank about the cost paid by the person who takes a life". Although that film conveys a sense of closure, Eastwood continued to reinvent himself. Since the age of 70, he has directed 19 films and starred in six, exploring genres as disparate as the New Age ghost story, the jukebox musical or the action drama The 15:17 in Paris. At least three of these films are considered excellent, half a dozen are close to that level and others seem designed to defy expectations.

[Eastwood's oeuvre ranges from spaghetti westerns to complex dramas, marking six decades of cinema.]

Eastwood's latest works, which represent almost half of his filmography as a director, delve into a moral vision where evil is absolute and decency relative. The villains are unmistakable, while the heroes, especially when he plays them himself, are flawed and often unsympathetic. Violence appears as a necessity, but its consequences rarely cease to be tragic.

Levy's method of analyzing each film, combining production history, criticism and impact analysis, turns the biography into a vibrant chronicle of American cinema and of an unrepeatable figure. As Levy himself states at the beginning of the book, "man and his films are one and the same", and no other figure has represented the cultural and political climates of contemporary America in such a complex way.