80/80 - The first American born Eastwood

The first American born with the surname Eastwood was Lewis Eastwood who made his appearance in 1746. His parents had come to the New World from England where the Eastwood's were property owners with roots stretching back to Ireland.

Lewis had five children - one of these children was Asa who was Clint Eastwood's great, great, great grandfather. In 1817 Asa became the first Eastwood to answer the call of the wilderness after his various business interests had failed. He scooped up his family and set out for Onondaga County where he had purchased a 100 acre farm.

He set off with his family - three daughters, five sons and his wife. One of his sons was a five month old baby. Asa kept a journal and these exist so we have some idea of what life was like for this ancestor of the man with no name.


"We were within three miles of our destination, when night overtook us. We drove by guess, and the wagon became upset in a dirt hole. We used the wagon top for a tent and made beds on the carpet. The wolves howled at a fearsome rate, the wood being full of them."


These early hardships of the settlers was often reflected in Eastwood's films - think Pale Rider for one. And Clint is now a true American legend but his ancestry is as interesting as any of his films.

Suggested reading: Clint by Patrick McGilligan features several interesting chapters that cover Clint's entire family tree since the first Eastwood arrived in America.

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Weekly Stats Report: 26 Apr - 2 May 2010
Project: THE TAINTED ARCHIVE
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	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
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Returning Visitors	30	33	36	21	22	26	21	189	27

80/80 - The Rowdy Years

If not for Rawhide Clint Eastwood might have faded away into obscurity, just another actor who never quite made it. The actor has stated in several interviews that when the series came along he was all but ready to quit acting.


He always thought of the show as his show and according to friends he would refer to it that way in private, but Eric Fleming was very much the star, with Eastwood initially cast as his sidekick.

As actors the two men couldn't have been more different - Where Fleming was awkward, sullen and often difficult to work with the young Eastwood was eager for as much screen time as possible. So where Fleming, who thought. the show was beneath his talents was glad to be pushed into the background, Eastwood was only too happy to take centre stage. And that's what happened after the first season when the writers started concentrating more on the Kid's character.

The show ran from 1959 - 1966 and from the start there was tension between Eastwood and Fleming - on the very first day of filming, in Arizona in 1958, there was an unscripted showdown between Eastwood and Fleming. When the two argued they went behind a wagon and sorted it out man to man. Fleming was two inches taller that Eastwood and twenty pounds heavier but Clint, reportedly put him on his arse with one blow to the jaw. It took the intervention of studio bosses to get the two actors to even speak together. Years later Eastwood denied that he had a fist fight with Fleming but studio legend has it otherwise.

The rivalry between the two actors though helped Eastwood give his character an edge and has his character grew, then so too did Fleming's character ossify. This was partly because Eastwood was becoming more and more popular with younger viewers, but largely because Fleming was growing difficult - In his book Clint: The Life and Legend, author Patrick McGilligan stated that Fleming was a torturous actor - all slow burns and rolling eyebrows. He was stiff - Charles Larson, one of the regular writers, said that he was told to make Fleming's speeches short and Charles Marquis Warren, the show's creator called Fleming a miserable human being.

As the show went on then so Eastwood's character developed - initially Rowdy had been a gawky foil to Fleming's stronger paternal role but eventually Eastwood would dominate - his character carried entire episodes to himself, Incident of the Running Man or deliver a memorable monologue in Incident of the Promised Land. Incidentally the latter episode was directed by Ted Post who Eastwood would work with several times in his film career.

Eventually though Eastwood became tired of being associated with Rowdy Yates, feeling that he was ready for more mature roles. He was after all now in his thirties and still playing this perpetual kid character. A trip to Europe to film a cheap Italian backed western was just around the corner and the rest is history.



NEXT - THE FIRST AMERICAN BORN EASTWOOD

80/80 - An American Life

80/80 - The man with a great name

"You have to keep selling yourself. You have to run around peddling a commodity that is you. You have to believe in yourself in the same way a salesman believes in a vacuum cleaner.' Clint Eastwood in a 1959 interview.

At the end of this month Clint celebrates his 80th birthday and so May is Eastwood month on the Archive - among out 80 posts for Clint's 80th we'll be reviewing every film, looking at Clint's passion for jazz, his many love affairs, his political life and much much more.

We'll even be given a potted history of the first Eastwood to be born in America - the Eastwood dynasty started here.

So let's kick off by brushing over all those small roles in forgettable B-pictures, covering this period in a few paragraphs. And although we will be looking at Eastwood's life before fame and his early acting roles, it is when he crossed over into Rawhide that was year zero for the actor we know today. Any anyone wanting to know about Clint's early roles should visit the excellent Clint Eastwood archive

In May 1954 Clint Eastwood tried out for the movie, Six Bridges to Cross. It was the young actor’s first real audition and it didn’t go well. Director Joseph Pavney thought the young actor was terrible and rejected him for any of the roles on offer. Eastwood also failed to win parts in - Brigadoon, The Constant Nymph, Bengal Brigade and The Seven Year Itch in May 1954, Sign of the Pagan (June), Smoke Signal (August) and Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops. It wasn’t until Eastwood auditioned for Jack Arnold that he had any success. He was given a small role as a lab technician in Revenge of the Creature, which was the forgettable sequel to The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

In 1955 Eastwood appeared in his first western – as a ranch hand (uncredited) in Stars in the Dust. For the rest of the decade Eastwood bummed around on contract, appearing in small roles in equally small motion pictures. And by the time Rawhide came about the actor stated that, he was just about ready to quit acting. But he persisted and auditioned for a part in Rawhide, reading Henry Fonda’s monologue from The Ox Bow Incident and the rest is history.

Next RAWHIDE and the time Eastwood and lead actor Eric Fleming had a furious fist fight that was covered up by the show's producers.

5'Oclock already

Following my remarks on country music in the last post, Charles Whipple AKA western writer, Chuck Tyrell sent me the link to this video for a country song that is most definitely cool. Mind you I quite like Alan Jackson and have this track on a greatest hits collection, but all the same I thought I'd embed it here for cowboys and drinking men everywhere.




NEXT - WE KICK OFF THE EASTWOOD MONTH 80/80

That genre curse

For years, probably since time began, we've been slotting everything into neat little genres - that one's a thriller, that's a mystery, this is a post-modern experimental abstract narrative (hey, that sounds clever) and this is horror. In the book world author's have long been arguing that there should be no genres and everything should be marketed as general fiction. The thinking behind this is that someone may be prejudiced against a certain genre and yet would enjoy some titles marketed in the genre if only they tried them. And not only books - it's the same with films and music.

I can see the point in the argument - for instance I don't really like country music, finding it too sweet for me and yet I absolutely love Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson. Merle Haggard Ryan Adams, Don Williams and Willie Nelson and yet all these guys are marketed as country. Even though there is a world of difference between the bite of Johnny Cash and the whimper of say, Kenny Rogers. So maybe it's not country music I dislike but a certain type of country music.

Another example - you won't find me dead watching a romantic movie and yet because Clint's in it I watched Bridges of Madison County and loved it, old softie that I am. The same thing with the Eastwood directed Breezy about a love affair between different generations. But old squinty eyes is one thing and I still don't think I'll be trying Barbara Cartland any time soon.

Where is this all heading?

Well recently I was involved in a debate on a western fiction forum and many people were moaning that westerns should actually be marketed as historical fiction. Westerns, they said, were not taken seriously. And again that is largely a valid point but whilst some westerns could indeed qualify as historicals I wouldn't be comfortable if any of my westerns were called historicals. I could get away with the title, Americana maybe but not historicals. Maybe that's a good alternative genre title to western - "Americana literature", but then that's too pompous. And reminds me of the time they started marketing horror as dark fantasy and that fell flat on its face. Most readers of horror fiction found that a little too pompous. And besides my westerns already have a sub-genre of their own, Taffy Westerns.

So I guess we are stuck with genre titles and people will miss much good work because they have a dislike of that specific genre. I'm not particularly keen on science fiction and fantasy and yet I enjoy Phillip Dick, Michael Moorcock, Robert Howard and it's the same with horror, the majority of it I avoid but I'm a huge Stephen King, James Herbert and Clive Barker fan. I don't like cozy crimes and yet I dig a lot of Agatha Christie and admit to a weakness for Lord Peter Whimsey.

I guess my preferred genres are the westerns and harder edged crime writing, and yet I regularly enjoy writers such as Tom Sharpe (god know what genre he's in), Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen.

So what I propose is that Archive readers make a pledge to try a film, book, album whatever, outside of their usual genre, pick a genre that you think you hate. You never know you may be surprised and discover some great work that will stay with you for life, maybe even change the way you think. And if you wish email me a short review ( garydobbs@hotmail.co.uk) and I'll post it here on the Archive.

NUFF SAID!!!!!!!!!!

NEXT ON THE ARCHIVE - MAY SEES CLINT EASTWOOD CELEBRATE HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY AND THE ARCHIVE, BEING HUGE HUGE FANS OF THE MAN, ARE CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF OUR SECOND FAVOURITE AMERICAN WITH THE ARCHIVE EASTWOOD MONTH. 80 FOR 80 - THAT'S 80 EASTWOOD CENTRIC POSTS COMING UP.

Make his day and be here for the entire Eastwood month.


"This is the Tainted Archive, the most powerful blog in the world and will waste tons of your time. Now I'm not sure if you've read it all. So it's time to get reading, punk."