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Olive Sturgess, whose many acting credits through the 1950s and ’60s included numerous TV Westerns and the Roger Corman horror spoof The Raven starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson, died February 19 in Los Angeles. She was 91.

Her death was announced by her family.

Although her TV career included guest roles in such comedies as The Donna Reed Show and Petticoat Junction, her forte was the television Western, a genre that was wildly popular in the ’50s and ’60s. During those years, Sturgess made guest appearances on Cheyenne, U.S. Marshal, Sugarfoot, The Texan, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Lawman, Buckskin, Rebel, Laramie, Wagon Train, Maverick, The Rebel, Tall Man, Outlaws, Bonanza, Wide Country, Destry, and The Virginian. In 1965 she appeared in the Western feature film Requiem for a Gunfighter.

In an undated interview on the Western Clippings website, Sturgess reflected on the early days of her career.

When Clint Eastwood became a familiar face to U.S. television viewers via his portrayal of ramrod Rowdy Yates in the CBS Western drama "Rawhide," no one save for maybe his mother saw his handsome mug on their television screen and said, "This man is going to be a transformational figure in motion pictures." No one could've predicted that he'd fly to Spain during his 1964 hiatus from "Rawhide" and make a one-of-a-kind Western with an upstart Italian director named Sergio Leone, thus launching an entire subgenre that would turn him into an international movie star. They certainly couldn't have guessed that he'd also redefine the cop film as a due-process-flouting hardass named Harry Callahan. And then to become a celebrated filmmaker in his own right? Crazy talk.

Clint Eastwood has defied expectations and categorization. At the moment that he was riding high on Westerns and his Dirty Harry persona, he...

When it comes to Westerns on the small screen, few are as iconic as Norman Macdonnell and John Meston's "Gunsmoke." Based on the radio drama of the same name, the show debuted on CBS in 1955 and went on to become one of the longest-running television scripted series in American television history, producing over 600 episodes. Sadly, though, "Gunsmoke" rode off into the sunset after 20 seasons, but like all good gunslingers who can't stay down, it came back with a bang. "Gunsmoke" produced five television films after the series ended, and thanks to reruns and streaming, new generations continue to discover the classic TV Western.

"Gunsmoke" takes place in Dodge City, Kansas, and follows U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) and his deputies as they protect the town from outlaws, outsiders, troublemakers, and other wrong sorts. The series is also notable for featuring some bona fide Hollywood legends in early career roles,...

Jan Shepard, the actress who graced both the big screen and TV during Hollywood’s Golden Age, has passed away at 96. Born Josephine Angela Sorbello on March 19, 1928, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, Shepard wasn’t just a name in the credits—she was a dynamo of talent.

Her career spanned decades, from classic films to the era of cowboy-filled TV shows. Shepard passed away on January 17, 2025, due to pneumonia and respiratory failure.

Jan Shepard

Though she’s no longer with us, her legacy blazes bright through her iconic roles, especially her indelible collaborations with Elvis Presley. Let’s take a look at her most iconic junctures, her remarkable career on TV, and the love story that endured longer than most Hollywood stars could ever dream of.

Jan Shepard’s iconic roles alongside Elvis Presley Elvis Presley and Jan Shepard in a scene from King Creole (Credits: Paramount Pictures)

Jan Shepard had her share of unforgettable roles,...

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Batman has one of the most enviable ensembles of recurring villains in superhero comics. Look back at the 1960s "Batman" TV series starring Adam West, though, and not a lot of those now familiar evildoers are there.

Oh, for sure, the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Riddler, Catwoman, and the Penguin (Burgess Meredith) all frequently guest star. It's because of the West series that this crew was long considered the Big Four of Batman villains; it's no coincidence that they were also the first four villains to star in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher-directed "Batman" films.

Then you had some other comic villains, like Mr. Freeze and the Mad Hatter, put in a few appearances too. But many episodes of "Batman" instead had West's Caped Crusader and Robin (Burt Ward) face villains created specifically for the show, including wannabe pharoah...

John Erwin, who voiced childhood characters like He-Man and Reggie Mantle from The Archie Show, has died at the age of 88.

Erwin passed away of natural causes “around Dec. 20” in his home in Camarillo, Calif., per a statement released by his PR firm Celebworx.

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“Working with John Erwin was a ballad of irreverence, professionalism and surprise,” Alan Oppenheimer, who voiced the evil Skeletor on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe,...

John Erwin, the voice behind such iconic animated and animal TV characters as He-Man, Morris The Cat, the snobby Reggie of the Archie cartoons and many other Saturday morning favorites of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, died last month of natural causes at his home in Camarillo, California. He was 88.

His death was announced today by his PR firm Celebworx.

Melendy Britt, who voiced the character She-Ra, superheroine sister of superhero He-Man in Filmation’s Masters of the Universe world, said in a statement, “For 40 years, John Erwin was not only my brother on screen, he was my friend.”

“To have ‘my brother’ pass on is a tremdeous sorrow even though I know life is not infinite,” Britt wrote on Facebook. “The tears I have are because John was such a special quiet man and we shared a very special relationship in those roles as twin brother and sister…He...

John Erwin, the reclusive actor who provided the voices for the heroic title character in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the vain frenemy Reggie Mantle in a series of Archie cartoons, has died. He was 88.

Erwin died of natural causes “around Dec. 20” in his home in Camarillo, California, his reps at the PR firm Celebworx announced.

For nearly a decade starting in 1969, Erwin was heard in dozens of TV commercials as the snarky Morris the Cat, the finicky orange tabby who would eat nothing but the 9Lives brand of cat food. The hugely successful campaign was created by the Leo Burnett advertising firm.

Earlier, Erwin was seen on camera when he recurred as the cattle driver Teddy on CBS’ Rawhide, starring Clint Eastwood.

For Filmmation, Erwin voiced the blond, muscular He-Man (and his alter ego, Prince Adam) on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe from 1983-...

Jan Shepard, who acted opposite Elvis Presley in 1958’s King Creole and 1966’s Paradise, Hawaiian Style, and appeared in more than 30 TV Westerns, died Jan. 17 at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. of pneumonia brought on by respiratory failure. She was 96.

In King Creole, noted as Presley’s favorite of his films, she portrayed his on-screen sister Mimi. Eight years later, Shepard played Presley’s business partner’s wife in the ’60s buddy musical comedy. In an interview from last year, Shepard said she wasn’t a fan of Presley’s ahead of working with him, but “once I met him, I just adored him.”

Per an official obituary, Presley and Shepard got on well and went to off-set lunches (where Marlon Brando once made a chance appearance). Describing him as a “big teddy bear,” Shepard once recalled that he gave her a pair of 10-cent earrings as a joke before...

Jan Shepard, who guest-starred on Rawhide, The Virginian, Gunsmoke and two dozen other TV Westerns and played opposite Elvis Presley in movies eight years apart, has died. She was 96.

Shepard died Jan. 17 at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank of pneumonia brought on by respiratory failure, her son, Hollywood prop master, Brandon Boyle, told The Hollywood Reporter. “She was a good one and will be dearly missed,” he said.

Shepard portrayed Mimi, the sister of Presley’s Danny Fisher, in the Michael Curtiz-directed King Creole (1958) and the wife of Danny Kohana (James Shigeta), who partners with Presley’s Rick Richards in a helicopter business, in Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966).

“The first time, I found him to be just the cutest kid around, a big teddy bear, a lot of fun,” she said in an interview for Boyd Magers and Michael G. Fitzgerald’s 1999 book, Westerns Women. But on their next movie,...

In 1967, Clint Eastwood's career took off overnight with the U.S. theatrical releases of "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." This trilogy of newfangled Spaghetti Westerns directed by the brilliant Sergio Leone transformed Eastwood from a TV cowboy (as Rowdy Yates on CBS' "Rawhide") to a gunslinging antihero. The genre was reborn, and Eastwood was suddenly John Wayne for the Baby Boomer generation. He expanded his range and bolstered his popularity the following year by genre-hopping from Western "Hang 'Em High" to cop flick "Coogan's Bluff" to World War II spy thriller "Where Eagles Dare." By the time 1969 rolled around, he could do just about anything — and he did the unexpected.

Though musicals and traditional Westerns were declining in popularity, Paramount thought it could give them both a jolt by mounting a big-screen adaptation of the popular Alan Jay Lerner...

A Fistful of Dollars may have been the film that turned Clint Eastwood into a star, but it's also a clear copy of the earlier released samurai epic, Yojimbo. Before A Fistful of Dollars, Eastwood had found consistent success on television in shows like Rawhide and had appeared in supporting film roles. However, A Fistful of Dollars was his first starring role in a feature film and became the actor's big break. The success of A Fistful of Dollars introduced global audiences to the Spaghetti Western and revitalized the genre, setting the stage for some of the genre's best films.

A few years before A Fistful of Dollars, legendary director Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo became a massive success in Japan before spreading to a global audience. Both films focus on a nameless antihero, with the similarities between the films' plots even leading to a lawsuit from Yojimbo's production company Toho...

Clint Eastwood's 2024 movie with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score, but was buried in theaters, has become a streaming success. Eastwood made his acting debut back in 1955, but broke through with a lead role in the Western series Rawhide and rose to fame in Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy of spaghetti Westerns during the 1960s. Eastwood became known for much more than Westerns during the 1970s and 1980s, starring as the antihero cop Harry Callahan in five Dirty Harry movies and playing against type in the comedies Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can.

In addition to his iconic onscreen roles, Eastwood is just as famous as a filmmaker, making his directorial debut in 1971 with the indie film, Play Misty For Me. Over the years, while a two-time Oscar nominee for acting, Eastwood won Best Director for his 1992 Western Unforgiven and his 2004 boxing drama Million Dollar Baby,...

Few movie stars have ever had a more unerring sense of what their fans want than Clint Eastwood. The biggest risk he ever took was, really, no risk at all. Yes, he spent one of his last hiatuses from the CBS Western hit "Rawhide" to make a very different kind of Western with Italian auteur Sergio Leone in "A Fistful of Dollars," but if that film had flopped he still would've be an in-demand television star. Instead, the low-budget, unusually-violent-for-its-time oater became an international hit (three years before its U.S. release in 1967), and made Eastwood look like something of a counterculture trailblazer for how it spit in the face of the traditional Westerns still being made by John Wayne.

Eastwood's stature as arguably the biggest star in Hollywood would be solidified in 1971 when he brandished a 44 Magnum and chased down a thrill-seeking killer in "Dirty Harry." Eastwood would make...

Clint Eastwood owes his career to Westerns. He became a familiar face to American television viewers between 1959 and 1965 as the ramrod Rowdy Yates in the popular CBS series "Rawhide" before venturing off to Spain, where, with Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, he helped turn the genre on its ear with the Spaghetti Western trilogy of "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More," and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." From that point forward, Eastwood in any kind of Western was a big deal at the box office, which was especially impressive considering that oaters were declining in popularity throughout the 1960s and into the '70s.

Ultimately, even Eastwood couldn't keep the genre afloat. After an impressive run that included "Hang 'Em High," "Two Mules for Sister Sara," "High Plains Drifter," and "The Outlaw Josey Wales," the star only made one proper Western in the 1980s ("Pale Rider...

Acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino claims that television is less memorable than movies, and uses hit western Yellowstone as a modern example. Tarantino shot to global prominence as a pioneer of American independent cinema of the 1990s, with his directorial debut Reservoir Dogs achieving critical acclaim in 1991. His follow-up Pulp Fiction's ensemble cast cemented his status as a wunderkind writer-director who excelled at juggling multiple storylines and actors, and his auteur status has helped single him out as one of the most iconic and interesting directors in the industry, and he is well-known for his stylish movies and outspoken opinions.

Per Indie Wire, in a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Tarantino spoke about his views on the state of modern television, and dubs Yellowstone as being "just a soap opera." He elaborates on his views about TV in general, and how it has become more cinematic in recent years,...

Before "Escape from Alcatraz," "Dirty Harry," and his own decades-spanning career as a director, Clint Eastwood starred in Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns. While he was still years away from his first directorial work while filming 1964's "A Fistful of Dollars," Eastwood already had a keen understanding of what he wanted from movies, as well as a willingness to speak his mind. This actually led him to rewriting a part of the movie's script. Eastwood explained the reason for this in a 1985 interview with Rolling Stone:   

"The script was very expository, yeah. It was an outrageous story, and I thought there should be much more mystery to the person. I kept telling Sergio. 'In a real A picture, you let the audience think along with the movie; in a B picture, you explain everything.' That was my way of selling my point. For instance, there was a scene...

Clint Eastwood reflects on his 69-year film career in a new interview. Eastwood made his acting debut back in 1955, broke through in the Western TV series Rawhide, and rose to fame as the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy of spaghetti Westerns during the 1960s. He made his directorial debut in 1971 with the indie, Play Misty for Me. Over the years, while a two-time Oscar nominee for acting, Eastwood won Best Director for his 1992 Western Unforgiven and his 2004 boxing drama Million Dollar Baby, both of which also won Best Picture.

During a recent interview with The Metrograph (via IndieWire), Eastwood reflected on his illustrious 69-year filmmaking career. The legendary actor and director said it's up to audiences to decide his legacy, which he doesn't personally reflect on very much. Asked if any of his films have not received the recognition they deserve, Eastwood was hard-pressed to...

Clint Eastwood started his acting career in the mid-1950s with various smaller and uncredited parts in both film and TV before landing his first major TV role as Rowdy Yates in Rawhide. This part and his co-starring role for 217 episodes helped transition his career from TV actor to internationally known film superstar, with his breakout roles in the Dollars Trilogy as 'The Man with No Name'. The 1960s were a decade that transformed Eastwood's career and turned him into one of the most important figures in the cinematic landscape.

Eastwood's starring roles in iconic Westerns A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly launched him into the mainstream and showed his undeniable star power. They showed his ability to portray an intense, quiet, yet charismatic lead that helped change not only his career but the genre as a whole, focusing on a...

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Clint Eastwood was one of the biggest movie stars in the world in 1995, but, up until that point, he was not known for appearing in family-friendly films. CBS' "Rawhide," the television series that launched him in the 1960s, and 1982's "Firefox," with its video game tie-in, are probably his two most kid-appropriate works. "Bronco Billy" and "Honkytonk Man" are also family films in a way, though, really, Eastwood only hit the bullseye with kids when he plopped Clyde the orangutan into the bare-knuckle-brawling adventures of Philo Beddoe in "Every Which Way But Loose" and "Any Which Way You Can" (both of which have no shortage of gleefully raunchy moments).

Eastwood also wasn't known for his romantic dramas, so the summer of 1995 promised to be an outlier for him with his adaptation of Robert James Waller's runaway bestseller "The Bridges of Madison County.

Big screen Westerns might've been falling out of favor at the U.S. box office in 1965 (thus paving the way for Spaghetti Westerns to become a surprise sensation when Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy rode into movie theaters throughout the course of 1967), but television Westerns were still swaggering their way to strong ratings thanks to "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," and the hybrid Western/spy/sci-fi series "The Wild Wild West." And with "Rawhide" finally drawing to a close that year (thereby allowing its star Clint Eastwood to become a modern Western star), there was suddenly room for a new, sudsy, ranch-bound saga about scheming landowners and warring heirs.

"The Big Valley" whooped it up for a solid four-season run, running out of steam in 1969 at around the same moment the television Westerns began going the way of classical big screen oaters. Until then, viewers were hooked on the doings at the Barkley Ranch,...

With a career spanning 70 years and with 11 Oscar nominations (of which he won 4) to his name, Clint Eastwood has transcended from his role as the Man With No Name to a man of many talents. Immortalized by his work in Hollywood as an actor-director-producer, Eastwood remains one of the few artists hailing from the black & white era of cinema who are still relevant to the industry today.

Flags of Our Fathers (2006) [Credit: Warner Bros.]

As the oldest recipient of a Best Director Oscar at age 74, Eastwood has a full-circle career to reflect on with a lot of overdue leisure time to cash in. However, along with visionaries like Scorsese, Spielberg, and Coppola, the legend of the Spaghetti Westerns shows no sign of stopping now, despite being 94 years old.

Clint Eastwood Brings the Iwo Jima Portrait to Life Flags of Our Fathers recreates the iconic Iwo Jima photograph [Credit: Warner Bros.]

A picture that can...

Getting your first big break in Hollywood can be tricky; the journey to superstardom relies as much upon luck and the correct combination of circumstances as it does innate talent. Even someone like Clint Eastwood — whose impressively prolific career spans several decades and has molded him into a cultural icon — struggled to make a mark when he first set out to act. When Eastwood auditioned for the first time, he was rejected -- a likely occurrence for even the biggest stars today, as the perfect opportunities often boil down to the right connections and a performance suited to the role. After Eastwood dealt with a string of unsuccessful auditions in 1954, he scored a minor, uncredited role in Jack Arnold's "Revenge of the Creature," and went on to star in similar parts that mostly amounted to brief appearances with little to no dialogue.

In an attempt to diversify his career,...

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The year was 1963, and Clint Eastwood was tired of playing a Western hero. As Rowdy Yates on CBS' "Rawhide," he was stuck in a flavorless rut of white-hat derring-do, herding cattle and being an altogether swell guy while contending with stock genre villains. There was a future in this, yes, but it would require Eastwood to play the same note over and over until he became a lasso-wielding self-parody.

So, when he wrapped his fifth season of "Rawhide," he accepted an offer to make a big screen Western with a promising Italian director in Spain. That film was "A Fistful of Dollars," and all it did was launch the "Spaghetti Western" trend, which, along with the revisionist American works of Sam Peckinpah, extended the popularity of the genre for a solid decade.

"A Fistful of Dollars" was not, on the surface,...

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60 years ago this September, Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name stepped on screen for the first time in Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." It would be a few more years until the low-budget Spaghetti Western made it to America, but the actor's star power and the director's talents were instantly recognizable for early adopters – even if critics took longer to get on board. By the time Leone had released two more Eastwood-led films, rounding out what became known as the Dollars Trilogy, Eastwood's narrowed eyes and steely attitude had become a fundamental image of the movie cowboy.

The Dollars trilogy, which continued with "For A Few Dollars More" and concluded in 1966 with "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," is now celebrated as one of the best on-screen Western sagas of all time. The genre would...

Actor and director Clint Eastwood is so often associated with Westerns that it might be a surprise to learn that his favorite movie is not a Western. Though Eastwood's first movie role was an uncredited appearance in the monster movie Revenge of the Creature, he had his career break in the Western TV series Rawhide. From then, Eastwood regularly starred in Western movies, including A Fistful Of Dollars and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. However, Eastwood's directorial debut wasn't a Western either, but the acclaimed psychological thriller, Play Misty For Me, which he also starred in.

Eastwood directed and starred in many of his own movies, which have often been critically acclaimed, including Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby, and Unforgiven, which won him his first Academy Award at age 62. Now, Eastwood has remained working in the movie industry long after many actors and directors retire, and only...

2025 will officially mark Clint Eastwood's 70th year in the film industry. That's just five years short of the average life expectancy for American men, so you could absolutely call that a magnificent run even if all he ever did was play baddies and barkeeps since the Eisenhower administration. Of course, Eastwood has done a tad more than that. In collaboration with filmmakers Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, Eastwood played a major role in reconfiguring, respectively, the Western and crime genres. He's also won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director twice (for "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby"), and, at the age of 94, will release his latest directorial effort, "Juror #2," this November.

Eastwood's been so successful for so long that it's difficult to accept that he ever truly struggled. But 94 years is a long damn time, and film stardom didn't arrive for this big-screen icon until he was in his 30s.

Clint Eastwood's Hollywood career officially began in 1955 when he made a brief, uncredited appearance as a lab technician in Jack Arnold's "Revenge of the Creature." Nine years later, unhappy as a midlevel television star on the CBS Western series "Rawhide," he jetted off to Spain to make a different kind of Western with a very different kind of director named Sergio Leone. The result, "A Fistful of Dollars," changed the face of the genre forever, and set Eastwood down the path to becoming a filmmaker in his own right.

Eastwood's directing career got off to a curiously assured start with the wildly suspenseful thriller "Play Misty for Me," in which the tough, swaggering star of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Dirty Harry" played a victimized Bay Area disc jockey. No one expected this from Eastwood, and it's fair to say no one saw this hugely...

Now who doesn’t know Clint Eastwood, an actor and director who pretty much revolutionized the face of Hollywood with his acting and directing talent. A one-of-a-kind star, it wasn’t until he was cast in Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars that he received the much-needed break that would enable him to become an enduring cultural icon of masculinity.

Clint Eastwood | Credits: Gran Torino / Warner Bros Pictures

One of the most iconic collaborations in the history of films, A Fistful of Dollars, not only put Eastwood on the map but also revolutionized the Western genre and the era of ‘Spaghetti Westerns’. However, the film wouldn’t probably have made it so far if hadn’t been for the brilliance of Eastwood, who was a compromise ‘cast’ after Leone failed to sign his first choice.

Sergio Leone on Casting Clint Eastwood in His Breakthrough Role Clint Eastwood in a...

The Western genre has been core to American entertainment since the dawn of Hollywood and the comic book industry, with legends like Zorro, the Lone Ranger and The Man With No Name being created from it. In the comic book industry, the genre led to a series of brilliant titles, ranging from ongoing books from Marvel and DC to prestige miniseries and graphic novels.

Western comics aren't as popular as they once were, but they continue to deliver readers a stream of entertaining stories -- that is, when there's a good series for them to buy. While Marvel and DC rarely revisit the genre today, they, along with other publishers, have given readers decades of stories and series to choose from. Ranging from the adventures of gunslinging outlaws to masked vigilantes bringing justice to the frontier, these stories are the very best of what a Western comic should be.

Marvel...

Before "Gilligan's Island," comedian Alan Hale, Jr. had a prolific, decades-long career on stage and screen. He made his stage debut in 1931 at the age 10, began a very busy film career in 1941, and made multiple films a year throughout the 1950s. He played the title characters in both the 1953 adventure series "Biff Baker, U.S.A." and the 1957 Western "Casey Jones." He was a regular visitor of "The Gene Autry Show," and had guest spots in many of the more popular TV shows of the day. He was in "Maverick," "Bonanza," "The Untouchables," "Gunsmoke," and "Rawhide." There was, it seemed, nothing he couldn't do. 

Hale was reported always friendly and affable, and it was his affability that landed him the role of Jonas Grumby, aka The Skipper, on Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." The Skipper had to be the outraged, wrathful friend of the bumbling title character, but also...

Clint Eastwood has been acting since the 1950s, and it's fair to say he's made some underrated gems during that time. Clint first rose to fame with an extended run on TV series Rawhide, but it was the Dollars movie trilogy by Sergio Leone that made him a star. Clint Eastwood Westerns became a subgenre unto themselves, but perhaps more than any other actor, he quickly took control of his own destiny in front of and behind the camera.

Starting with 1971's Play Misty for Me, Clint began to direct his own projects too. Being one of Hollywood's most prolific actors and filmmakers means there has rarely been a year since his breakthrough when he hasn't made a movie. That also means he's made many films that have been neglected or forgotten. Of course, some of those lesser-loved outings - like Pink Cadillac or Clint's worst action movie Blood Work...

Clint Eastwood’s always been known for his unapologetic attitude, both on and off the screen. And when it comes to his Dirty Harry movies, he’s not about to change that. Critics may have taken issue with the ethical implications of the films, but Eastwood seems to have shrugged it all off with his signature coolness. Instead of getting bogged down in debates about morality, Eastwood focuses on what he does best: delivering gritty, pulse-pounding entertainment.

Clint Eastwood’s Harry throws away his police badge | Credits: Warner Bros.

So, while some may question the ethics behind Dirty Harry, Eastwood’s response is pretty clear—he’s here to make movies, not moral lessons. In the end, it’s this unflinching approach that keeps audiences coming back for more, decade after decade.

Clint Eastwood’s Rebel Spirit: How Dirty Harry and Escape from Alcatraz Defied Critics and Defined His Legacy...

Clint Eastwood’s rise to global stardom wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Before becoming the icon he is renowned as today, the actor’s initial days in showbiz saw him working as a contract actor for Universal, which didn’t last long, as he was eventually fired for his Adam’s apple, which Universal claimed stuck out too far.

Clint Eastwood in a still from A Fistful of Dollars | Credit: United Artists

But the setback didn’t hold his career back for too long as he’d soon land his breakout role and later headlined the iconic Dollars trilogy. However, his success outside Hollywood did little to garner him roles when he returned.

Clint Eastwood’s Success Overseas Didn’t Get the Ball Rolling in Hollywood

After rising to prominence following his stint in the CBS hour-long western series Rawhide, which he wasn’t particularly fond of, the actor then...

The Dollars Trilogy chronology can be a bit confusing, but the loose connection between the three movies adds to the enjoyment of watching them. Starting with 1964's A Fistful of Dollars, Sergio Leone helped to popularize the Spaghetti Western film movement that revitalized the genre. A Fistful of Dollars also launched the movie career of then-tv star Clint Eastwood. Following A Fistful of Dollars, Leone directed the loose sequel, 1965's For a Few Dollars More. This was followed by a third Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western, 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Leone remains influential today with Star Wars taking inspiration from Eastwood's Western hero while filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino have expressed their love of Leone's work. According to the filmmaker, his films were not meant to spark a cinematic revolution, yet they inspired 200 additional Spaghetti Westerns. The three movies of the Dollars trilogy, also known as the Man with No Name trilogy,...

Back in 2018, comedian Adam Sandler made an impressive return to the comedy special scene with "100% Fresh," which fully delivered on what the title promised. Filmed at several different venues with varying crowd sizes, ranging from a more intimate Comic Strip stand-up club with dozens of fans to a massive theater with hundreds of people, the special featured Sandler doing bits of stand-up mixed with comedic songs about topics like Uber, heated toilet seats, and always remembering your phone, wallet, and keys when you're heading out somewhere. But Sandler also delivered some more nostalgic and lovely songs, such as "Bar Mitzvah Boy" and a heartfelt tribute to the late, great Chris Farley.

This year, the Sandman is back with "Adam Sandler: Love You," a brand new comedy special with all-new material and a surprising director behind the camera: Josh Safdie, one half of the Safdie brothers directing duo responsible for Sandler's intense,...

In the "Star Trek" episode "Spectre of the Gun", the U.S.S. Enterprise attempts to make contact with a xenophobic species of psychics called the Melkotians. When Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew beam to the surface, they are instantly told by a Melkotian that they are trespassing and will be punished. The Melkotian teleports them, bizarrely, to an abstract Old West village where the buildings have no walls. This is an extrapolation of Tombstone, Arizona. Kirk and company find themselves standing in for specific fighters at the notorious Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and are clearly expected to face off against Wyatt Earp (Ron Soble), Morgan Earp (Rex Holman), and Virgil Earp (William Maxwell). 

Luckily, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) discovers that the laws of physics in this bizarre Old West mindscape don't operate the same as in real life, leading him to conclude that it's all an illusion.

James B. Sikking, known for his roles as Lt. Howard Hunter on “Hill Street Blues” and the titular character’s father on “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” has died. He was 90.

Sikking died Saturday of complications from dementia, his publicist Cynthia Synder said in a statement Sunday evening.

“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farse,” Snyder shared with Variety. “His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage.”

Sikking was widely recognized for his portrayal of Howard Hunter on the police procedural series “Hill Street Blues,” which aired from 1981 to 1987 on NBC. He received an Emmy nomination in 1984 for his performance as the clean-cut, pipe-smoking lieutenant.

After “Hill Street Blues,” Sikking played Dr. David Howser, father of Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris), for all four seasons of the ABC medical sitcom from 1989 to 1993.

He portrayed a police officer again for Steven Bochco,...

James B. Sikking, an actor best known for playing Hill Street Blues‘ Swat leader Lt. Howard Hunter and the father of Doogie Howser M.D., died peacefully at his Los Angeles home, of complications from Dementia, on July 13. He was 90.

“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farce. His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage,” the late actor’s publicist, Cynthia Snyder, said in a statement. “His talent, integrity and imagination intrigued and delighted audiences.”

More from TVLineJacoby Jones, NFL Great and Dancing With the Stars Finalist,...

Clint Eastwood owes his successful career as a Western hero to his role in the TV series Rawhide. Rawhide was unique in focusing on the life of cattle drovers instead of a lone cowboy hero. Eastwood's rebellious character on Rawhide helped establish him as a Western star in the genre.

Clint Eastwood is one of the most successful Western actors in history, and he owes his success to a 65-year-old television series. Many of Clint Eastwood's Western characters are iconic, such as The Man With No Name, and he has epitomized the Western action hero for over six decades. He has acted in a variety of classic movies, demonstrating his range as an actor while remaining committed to his brand as a Western hero.

Westerns have been popular since before movies had sound, and the genre carried over to television, which was ideally suited to stories about heroic cowboys...

Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" is not the greatest Spaghetti Western ever made, but it is widely considered to be the first. As the film that made Clint Eastwood an global movie star, it is inarguably the most significant. Most importantly in today's movie marketplace, people who've never seen a Spaghetti Western likely know the title, which makes it a viable candidate for a remake.

And this is fitting because "A Fistful of Dollars" is itself a remake. In fact, it was such a brazenly beat-for-beat copy of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai classic "Yojimbo" that U.S. distributors wouldn't release Leone's film until the filmmaker settled up with the Japanese master and his backers at Toho (Kurosawa wound up making more money off this deal than he did with "Yojimbo").

Of course, "Yojimbo" wasn't an original either. Kurosawa openly acknowledged that his film was inspired by Stuart Heisler...

Clint Eastwood's "Two Mules for Sister Sara" is a lesser-known, humorous Western. The film features Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine as a comedic duo in a story filled with zingers and quips. Although not a major hit, "Two Mules for Sister Sara" marked a turning point in Eastwood's career, showcasing his versatility and willingness to share screen time.

One of Clint Eastwood's least talked about Westerns is also his funniest outing in the genre. Eastwood spent years on Western series Rawhide, before accidentally becoming a screen icon when he signed on for a low-budget Italian film called A Fistful of Dollars. This 1964 movie redefined the genre, and set the template for the Spaghetti Westerns that followed. Eastwood exited Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy as an exciting new leading man, and became one of the last movie stars to make his name with Westerns.

Throughout his American movies in the 1960s and 1970s,...

Pluto TV, Paramount’s free streaming service, has revealed its July highlights. The Pluto TV July 2024 schedule includes a new Westerns category and a Yellowstone Fourth of July marathon.

You can also expect fireworks at the Big Brother house when season 26 premieres, and with Pluto TV’s dedicated 24/7 live feeds, you won’t miss a second of the drama. Fans can also relive past seasons of the competition series on a new dedicated channel.

Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience. The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with hundreds of international media companies.

Pluto TV offers various genres, languages, and categories featuring movies, television series, sports, news, lifestyle, kids, and much more. The service can be easily accessed and streamed across mobile, web, and connected TV devices.

Pale Rider is Clint Eastwood's only foray into playing a supernatural character in a Western setting, adding a unique twist to his filmography. The movie draws inspiration from classic Westerns like Shane, while also incorporating a subtle supernatural edge to the story of a mysterious preacher. Despite being a departure from Eastwood's typical roles, Pale Rider remains one of his best-received films, blending elements of horror and Western genres.

Pale Rider is the only time in Clint Eastwood's career that he played a supernatural character. Clint Eastwood built his career on his appearances in Western, beginning with the TV series Rawhide. His work in Sergio Leone's Dollars movie trilogy not only cemented his stardom but also helped establish the spaghetti Western genre too. In the years, that followed, Eastwood made many more Westerns, including Two Mules For Sister Sara, The Outlaw Josey Wales and later signed off...

Clint Eastwood was already established and older than expected when he starred in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Most of Eastwood's iconic Westerns were Spaghetti Westerns, known for graphic violence and moral ambiguity. Blondie in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is still Clint Eastwood's defining and most iconic performance.

While The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly might be Clint Eastwoods 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 as Star in the Dust and Ambush at Cimarron Pass. Rawhide cemented the actors status as a genre mainstay, but he soon helped revolutionize the Western's image.

Western dramas have been all the rage lately, but there was a time when the genre was falling behind. That is, until Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven was released. The film takes place in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, and follows the story of William Munny, a former outlaw. The film was quite well received by both fans and critics and is still considered one of the best movies of Clint Eastwood’s career.

Clint Eastwood as William Munny in Unforgiven (1992) | Warner Bros.

However, if Clint Eastwood had taken a harsh piece of advice from one of his close associates, he wouldn’t have been a part of the film. The associate strictly told the filmmaker/actor to throw out the script without paying any attention to it and while he complied for a bit, his eyes later fell on the script and he immediately fell in love with the story. Amd the rest,...

Veteran actress Elizabeth MacRae, best known for appearing in soap operas such as General Hospital and Days of Our Lives, has died. She was 88. According to her obituary at CityViewNc.com, MacRae passed away peacefully on Monday, May 27, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. A cause of death was not provided. Born on February 22, 1936, in Columbia, South Carolina, MacRae later moved to Fayetteville with her family and then to Washington D.C., where she attended Holton-Arms, an independent college-preparatory school for girls. After graduating, MacRae decided to pursue an acting career, moving to New York City in 1956 to study with Uta Hagen at the Herbert Berghof Studio. She gained experience playing various characters in off-Broadway and summer-stock productions. She landed her first television role in 1958 in the courtroom series The Verdict Is Yours. From there, MacRae would appear in numerous TV dramas and sitcoms, including 77 Sunset Strip, Burke’s Law, Dr. Kildare,...

Elizabeth MacRae, who played girlfriends of Gomer Pyle and Festus Haggen on television and a woman who seduces Gene Hackman’s surveillance expert in The Conversation, has died. She was 88.

MacRae died Monday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she was raised, her family announced.

MacRae showed up as Lou-Ann Poovie on 15 episodes of the CBS comedy Gomer Pyle: Usmc during its final three seasons (1966-69). She was signed to work just one episode, “Love’s Old Sweet Song,” on the Jim Nabors starrer but impressed producers enough to stick around for more.

Earlier, she portrayed April Clomley, the girlfriend of deputy marshal Festus (Ken Curtis), on CBS’ Gunsmoke on four installments from 1962-64.

In The Conversation (1974), written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, MacRae played Meredith, who dances with Hackman’s Harry Caul in his apartment, sleeps with him and then swipes one of his audiotapes. The actress was among...

Eastwood's Westerns revolutionized the genre, giving it darker, cynical tones and antiheroes. The Spaghetti Westerns solidified Eastwood's status as a Western movie icon. Unforgiven was Eastwood's farewell to Westerns, a deconstruction of the Western genre itself.

Though he appeared in a wide variety of movies across his long career, looking at all of Clint Eastwood's Westerns in order showcases his impact on the genre and how the genre helped shape his journey in the movie business. Actors like Roy Rogers and John Wayne are also synonymous with Westerns, Eastwood's career was an interesting look at how the Western genre was revitalized with new approaches and eventually fell out of favor with Eastwood himself playing a role in bidding farewell to the Golden Age of the Western movie.

Eastwood got one of his earliest breaks as an actor with the Western series Rawhide. Eastwood later became a movie star...

Clint Eastwood was already 30 years old when he landed his breakout role in the CBS Western "Rawhide." The actor had spent much of the 1950s getting by on bit parts in B movies (most notably the Jack Arnold monster duo of "Revenge of the Creature" and "Tarantula"), and guest roles on TV series like "Maverick" and "Death Valley Days," so you'd think he would've been thrilled. But Eastwood was displeased with his character Rowdy Yates, who, early on in the series' run, was a wet-behind-the-ears ramrod. At his age, he was eager to play a grown, capable man with enough years behind him to allow for a bit of mystery.

Eastwood's restlessness coincided with a shift in filmmakers' approach to the Western genre. Though maestros like John Ford, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, and Budd Boetticher had allowed for moral ambiguity in their movies, the vast majority of Westerns were white...