Personal life of Clint Eastwood

A 1993 photograph of Clint Eastwood This article is part of
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Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood has had numerous casual and serious relationships of varying length and intensity over his life, many of which overlapped. He has eight known children by six women,[1] only half of whom were contemporaneously acknowledged. Eastwood refuses to confirm his exact number of offspring,[2] and there have been wide discrepancies in the media regarding the number. His biographer, Patrick McGilligan, has stated on camera that Eastwood's total number of children is indeterminate and that "one was when he was still in high school."[3]

Eastwood's first marriage was to manufacturing secretary-turned-fitness instructor Margaret Neville Johnson in December 1953, having met her on a blind date the previous May. During the courtship, he had an affair that resulted in his daughter Laurie (born 1954), who was adopted by Clyde and Helen Warren of Seattle. While the identity of Laurie's biological mother is not public record, McGilligan said the mother belonged to a theatre group Eastwood participated in.[4] Eastwood continued having affairs while married to Johnson, including a 1959 to 1973 liaison with stuntwoman Roxanne Tunis that produced a daughter, Kimber (born 1964). Tunis and Eastwood would keep up a "healthy relationship" until her death in 2023.[5]

Johnson tolerated the open marriage with Eastwood, and eventually they had two children, Kyle (born 1968) and Alison (born 1972). In 1975, Eastwood and married actress-director Sondra Locke began living together; she had been in a marriage of convenience since 1967 with Gordon Leigh Anderson, an unemployed homosexual. Locke claimed that Eastwood sang "She made me monogamous" to her and confided he had "never been in love before."[6] Nine years into their cohabitation, Eastwood officially divorced Johnson; Locke, however, would remain married to Anderson until her death in 2018. According to Bill Brown, publisher of the Carmel Pine Cone, Eastwood considered Locke the love of his life,[7] yet he has never addressed her death.

In an unpublicized affair, Eastwood sired two legally fatherless children, Scott (born 1986) and Kathryn (born 1988) with Jacelyn Reeves, a flight attendant. When Locke and Eastwood separated in 1989, Locke filed a palimony lawsuit and later sued for fraud, reaching a settlement in both cases.

During the early-to-mid-1990s, Eastwood had a relationship with actress Frances Fisher that produced a daughter, Francesca (born 1993). Eastwood was married for the second time in 1996 to news anchor Dina Ruiz, who gave birth to their daughter Morgan that same year. Ruiz and Eastwood's marriage lasted until 2014. He has been seen with other women since then.

Eastwood's spokespeople, managers, and press agents have long denied any knowledge of his life.[8][9] Eastwood dated restaurant hostess Christina Sandera from 2014 until Sandera's death due to arrhythmia on July 18, 2024,[10] though he did not utter a word in public about their alliance prior to announcing that she had died. He is currently in a relationship with an unidentified girlfriend.[11]

  1. ^ Wallace, Debra (February 2, 2022). "Meet Clint Eastwood's Kids! See the Acting Legend's 8 Children and Their Mothers". Parade.
  2. ^ Weinraub, Bernard (March 1997). "Clint Eastwood - Interview - Western Movie Star". Playboy. Archived from the original on June 24, 2010.
  3. ^ "L'album secret de Clint Eastwood" (Interview). Les grands reportages. 2012. Event occurs at 50:06 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ McGilligan, p. 54
  5. ^ Gelhoren, Giovana (August 10, 2023). "Clint Eastwood's Reaction to His Former Mistress' Death Shows How Strong Their Connection Was". SheKnows.
  6. ^ Radner, Hilary (2017). The New Woman's Film: Femme-centric Movies for Smart Chicks. Taylor & Francis. p. 60. ISBN 9781317286479.
  7. ^ Slaughter, Sylvia (May 28, 1989). "Sondra vs. Clint in palimony suit". The Sunday Tennessean – via Newspapers.com. Don Locke also believes that Clint Eastwood still truly loves his sister, but that he could no longer take her 'addiction' to Gordon. Bill Brown, publisher of The Pine Cone newspaper in Carmel and a golfing pal of Eastwood's, agrees: 'Clint told me not too long ago that Sondra was the love of his life.'
  8. ^ Winship, George (August 19, 1993). "A starlet is born to Eastwood, Fisher". Record Searchlight – via Newspapers.com. 'We only represent him on his movies,' Virginia Boyer of Warner Bros. studio said Wednesday. Eastwood's longtime agent, Leonard Hirshan of the William Morris Agency, also denied any knowledge of the star's life.
  9. ^ Jones, Oliver (September 9, 2013). "Clint Eastwood & Dina Eastwood's Marriage Drama". People. Eastwood's longtime manager, Leonard Hirshan, says he has no knowledge of his client's personal life.
  10. ^ Santaflorentina, Hayley (July 24, 2024). "Clint Eastwood's Longtime Partner Christina Sandera's Cause of Death Revealed". E! Online.
  11. ^ Duncan-Smith, Nicole (October 10, 2024). "'He's Not Wasting Precious Time': 94-Year-Old Clint Eastwood Sparks Controversy After Finding New Love Months After the Sudden Death of His Ex". Atlanta Black Star.