Summary
- Clint Eastwood’s Western career was a significant part of his overall filmography, with him starring in 15 Western movies.
- Eastwood’s Western movies were often darker and more cynical than traditional Hollywood Westerns, portraying antiheroes and lacking the gloss and heroism.
- “Unforgiven” was planned by Eastwood as his farewell to Westerns and ended up being a critically acclaimed and award-winning film, solidifying his legacy in the genre.
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 Western series Rawhide. Eastwood later became a movie star thanks to Sergio Leone and his popularizing of the Spaghetti Western. The actor followed up the Dollars movie trilogy with several more Westerns, only reinforcing his ties to the genre. Unlike John Wayne’s Westerns, Eastwood’s output was often much darker, cynical and violent. The Spaghetti Westerns lacked the gloss and heroism of Hollywood’s output and Eastwood was not afraid to play antiheroes in these types of movies with his Western appearances creating an iconic image of the genre.
Clint Eastwood’s 15 Best Western Quotes
The bandits, desperados, and outlaws played by Clint Eastwood across the Western genre have uttered some of the most iconic movie quotes of all time,
Clint Eastwood Made 15 Westerns
Eastwood Also Directed 4 Westerns
In total, Clint Eastwood has made 15 Western movies. This includes some he made very early in his career, including playing an uncredited ranch hand in Star In The Dust. It also excludes some of his later work like Bronco Billy or Cry Macho, which had many Western tropes and themes but featured more modern-day settings.
From the early ’70s onwards, Eastwood increasingly became both the star and director of his projects. Though this directing career started with the thriller Play Misty For Me, he eventually stepped behind the camera for the genre that made him a star. Eastwood would end up directing four Western movies: High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, and Unforgiven.
The Western Genre’s Real-Life Showdown: Clint Eastwood & John Wayne’s Feud Explained
Though Wayne and Eastwood are forever married to the Western genre, their relationship was fractured and uneasy, leaving them with no collaborations.
Every Western Clint Eastwood Starred In
Eastwood’s Western Career Includes The Game-Changing Spaghetti Westerns And Revisionist Westerns
Eastwood may not have the volume of stars like John Wayne, but what he lacked in quantity he made up for with quality. Following the Dollars trilogy, many of his Westerns like The Outlaw Josey Wales or Unforgiven are considered genre classics.
- Star in the Dust (1956)
- The First Traveling Saleslady (1956)
- Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958)
- A Fistful Of Dollars (1964)
- For A Few Dollars More (1965)
- The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966)
- Hang ‘Em High (1968)
- Paint Your Wagon (1969)
- Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
- The Beguiled (1971)
- Joe Kidd (1972)
- High Plains Drifter (1973)
- The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
- Pale Rider (1985)
- Unforgiven (1992)
Eastwood Planned Unforgiven As His Farewell To Westerns
While Clint Eastwood’s Western output was fairly consistent during the ’60s and ’70s, he slowed down significantly following The Outlaw Josey Wales. He only made one Western in the ’80s and the ’90s, with Unforgiven being his most acclaimed. Eastwood read this script in the ’80s and decided to wait nearly a decade to make it since he felt the character needed to be older.
This paid off, with the film being both a financial success and winning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. The star had always pictured Unforgiven as his last word on the Western genre, with the film being a deconstruction and demystification of the West itself. With Eastwood announcing that the upcoming Juror #2 will be his final movie, it now seems confirmed that Unforgiven will be the final Clint Eastwood Western. While the reality of that is sad, it is a brilliant entry into the genre to end on.
