Summary
WhileThe Good, The Bad, And The Uglymight beClint Eastwood’s most famous role, the actor was already both established and older than viewers might assume by the time he starred in the Spaghetti Western. As an actor and a director, Clint Eastwood has had the unique privilege of starring in three distinct eras of the Western genre. As a young emerging actor in the 1950s, Eastwood appeared in Technicolor Westerns such asStar in the DustandAmbush at Cimarron Pass.Rawhidecemented the actor’s status as a genre mainstay, but he soon helped revolutionize the Western’s image.
Most ofClint Eastwood’s iconic Westernswere Spaghetti Westerns, European productions that were notable for their comparatively graphic violence, their moral ambiguity, and their subversive approach to the genre’s tropes. In the decades after Spaghetti Westerns made him famous, Eastwood went on to star in and direct Revisionist Westerns likeUnforgivenandCry Macho, which further deconstructed the mythos of classic Hollywood Westerns. While some ofClint Eastwood’s best Western characterscame from this later era, Spaghetti Westerns remain the sub-genre with which he is most closely associated. This is thanks to The Man With No Name.
How Many Westerns Clint Eastwood Actually Appeared In
Clint Eastwood has appeared in some of the most famous Westerns of all time, but how many movies in the genre has he actually appeared in?
In 1964, director Sergio Leone cast a 34-year-old Eastwood as Blondie inA Fistful of Dollars. This box office hit was soon followed by 1965’sFor a Few Dollars More, but it was the final movie in Leone’sDollarstrilogy that remains Eastwood’s most beloved screen outing.Clint Eastwood was 36 when he filmed 1966’sThe Good, The Bad And The Ugly, an epic Western set during the American Civil War. An even bigger hit than its predecessors,The Good, The Bad, and The Uglywas met with mixed reviews upon release due to the Spaghetti Western sub-genre’s controversial critical status.
In the decades since, Leone’s masterpiece was critically reappraised andThe Good, The Bad, and The Uglyis now considered one of the best Westerns ever, if not one of the most accomplished movies in history. Theentire Man With No Name trilogyholds up well, but the appeal of Eastwood’s Blondie is best distilled in the final chapter of the series. A genuinely unsettling villainous turn from Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach’s uproarious comic relief ensure thatThe Good, The Bad, and The Uglyis better balanced than the trilogy’s earlier movies, as its commentary remains razor-sharp.
TV’s Rawhide Made Eastwood A Household Name
AlthoughRawhidewas part of the reason the actor’s Spaghetti Westerns gained such a large audience, Eastwood was glad to take on projects that completely deconstructed the idealized vision of the old West offered by his breakthrough TV hit.
Eastwood was already famous beforeThe Good, The Bad, and The Uglysince, by the time he began shooting the final chapter of the trilogy, he had starred in TV’sRawhidefor years.Rawhideran for seven seasons from 1959 to 1965, airing 217 episodes during this time. While Eastwood played a central role in the series, the part of Rowdy Yates wasn’t one that fits his now iconic screen persona. Far from the taciturn, sardonic Man With No Name, Rowdy was a young ramrod who was the show’s feckless, impulsive antihero. Eastwood famously didn’t love playing Yates at 30.
By the timeRawhideended Eastwood hated that Yateshad become the show’s de facto hero. The Man With No Name trilogy allowed the star to play a more complex, morally ambiguous antihero after years of starring as a broad, somewhat goofy matinée hero. As such, althoughRawhidewas part of the reason the actor’s Spaghetti Westerns gained such a large audience, Eastwood was glad to take on projects that completely deconstructed the idealized vision of the old West offered by his breakthrough TV hit.
Blondie Is Still Clint Eastwood’s Defining Performance As An Actor
Eastwood’s Screen Persona Was Epitomized In The Man with No Name
While the star went on to offer more nuanced and poignant turns later in his career,The Man With No Name is still Eastwood’s career-defining performance. As Blondie, Eastwood encapsulated the steel-eyed charisma and stoic sense of humor that still informs most of his performances to this day. Blondie’s amoral outlook was an early antecedent ofUnforgiven’s William Munny, while his deadpan sense of humor can be seen in everything fromPale Riderto theDirty Harrymovies. As a result,The Good, The Bad, And The UglyremainsClint Eastwood’s most iconic movie and his definitive performance.
