Patrick McGilligan’s biographies include the acclaimed Oscar Micheaux: The Great and Only; the Edgar-nominated Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light; Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast; and George Cukor: A Double Life. The author of several New York Times Notable Books, he has also penned biographies of Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Robert Altman, and James Cagney, along with the oral history Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist (with Paul Buhle). McGilligan lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Certain stars encourage our appetite for scandal, but Clint Eastwood is an actor people identify with and want to like. This presents an acute problem for those who read McGilligan's carefully researched and well-written but highly unflattering unauthorized portrait of the icon's life. McGilligan vilifies Eastwood as a womanizer with two priorities: "fast cars and easy women." The author takes potshots at Eastwood's lack of education, suggesting he lied about finishing high school, then slanders his patriotism by speculating that he romanced a general's daughter to escape service in Korea. When a girlfriend became pregnant and had an abortion, Eastwood claims it "crushed his heart," provoking McGilligan to question whether he was simply trying to evoke sympathy for himself. The book is entertaining when it describes Eastwood's early period as a contract player, thrown into such potboilers as Ambush at Cimarron Pass. His TV years in Rawhide are comprehensively covered, as is his association with director Sergio Leone in the series of spaghetti westerns that launched him to superstardom. McGilligan's analysis of Eastwood's moviemaking points out that he "rips the masks off women and they are revealed as murderous harpies" in such films as Play Misty for Me and High Plains Drifter. His much publicized relationship with Sondra Locke spotlights a streak of cruelty, along with competitive behavior toward directors because "Clint hated anybody who was weak." McGilligan's tome is worth reading, however, when it delves into Eastwood's contributions as an artist who has produced a body of work that's won two Oscars and an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. Illus. not seen by PW. Agent, Gloria Loomis. (Aug. 19) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Film historian McGilligan has written about Cagney, Cukor, and Nicholson, and now he turns his pen to Clint Eastwood, who has scrupulously protected his privacy over his long career. McGilligan has produced a well-researched biography that shatters the aura of mystery around Eastwood. Starting with his subject's first ancestors to arrive in America in the 17th century, McGilligan traces Eastwood's life and career from his birth to his army stint on California's Monterey Peninsula (where he now resides) through the Sandra Locke years to his current status as Hollywood superstar. McGilligan paints a picture that belies Clint's image of the easy-going, taciturn, honorable law-and-order guy. In fact, McGilligan contends that Clint is really a womanizer who is a master of manipulation when it comes to protecting his image, and says he found many friends and associates who would not speak to him for fear of Eastwood's wrath. Until the actor/director writes his autobiography, this will stand as the definitive portrait. Over 30 biographies have been written about Eastwood over as many years, from trivia books to analyses of his films, but none has been as detailed as this work. Highly recommended. Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Salinas, CA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
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