The iconic film legend and Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood on his life, his musical tastes, his busy schedule and his new Frankie Valli biopic
At the age of 84, Clint Eastwood has become something of a national treasure in America, where he appeared in his first movie nearly 60 years ago.
He has been in 66 films, produced 40, directed 37 and won five Oscars. He has been equally active in his private life, having fathered seven children, aged from 17 to 50, by five women.
His 17-year marriage to Dina Ruiz, 35 years his junior, ended last year and he has since been linked to a couple of women. His latest girlfriend is said to be Christina Sandera, who works at Clint’s Mission Ranch Hotel in California.
He’s just finished shooting American Sniper in which a Navy SEAL, played by Bradley Cooper, recounts his career.
What led to you directing what is essentially a 1960s pop musical?
Quite simply I was asked if I was interested in doing it. I hadn’t seen the play so I went and saw it three times and said I’d love to do the film. The play had been in New York for nine years and in London for five or six, and I thought it had a good international feel to it.
What did you know about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and the music of the early 1960s, before you saw the play?
I was too much of a jazz freak to have been into their music and the rock era was not my favourite. I wasn’t a big fan of the music that came out of the 60s, but I think the Four Seasons did some great stuff. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You was probably the closest thing to a classic song that came out of the 50s and 60s.
Music has played a big part in many of your films, and more so in this than nearly any other that you have made.
I don’t really think of it as a musical. What was fun for me was that it’s about musicians, much as Bird, the movie I did in 1988 about Charlie Parker was about a jazz player. The Four Seasons had all these hit songs but they were just guys from the neighbourhood – a place where, if you were a singer, you were looked down upon as strange, unless you were Sinatra.
Feel-good: Jersey Boys
What are your memories of the 1960s as an era?
There were a lot of changes going on but I was a little slow so I didn’t catch on. When everybody else was experimenting with drugs, I was drinking beer. I was still liking Charlie Parker and jazz. Along the way I developed a love for country music, where they told a story and you could actually understand the lyrics.
Was it a good time for you?
Yeah, it was a good time. I was working in Rome and in London. It was also an interesting period culturally. But I was brought up during the 40s and 50s when you had great singers like Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine, plus the women such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee.
Apart from Christopher Walken, the Jersey Boys has pretty much an unknown cast. How did you manage to find them?
Most of them had been working in the play for years so I figured why not go and take advantage of them having that experience? I have always believed that if a film works, it has to work as an ensemble and you can have the biggest names in the world but it doesn’t make any difference if the picture doesn’t work.
What made you decide to have a Hitchcock moment – giving yourself a brief cameo appearance?
It was suggested that I join in on a production number, dancing down the street to run during the end credits, but I said, “No. A man must know his limitations.” Then one of the actors suggested that during a party scene he could be watching me in the old TV series Rawhide, so we did that. That was my way of having a Hitchcock moment without actually having to do anything.
Rex
Famous role: Clint as Dirty Harry
Do you have any other projects lined up after American Sniper?
I have a couple I’ve been looking at but I’m not going to do anything for the rest of this year. I’ve done two in a row and I’m just going to stand back and smell the roses a little bit. But if a good project popped up I’d probably change my mind.
How are you enjoying single life?
My single life? I’ve been working so much I haven’t had a chance to be fancy in any way. I’ve done two pictures in a row and just finished one a couple of nights ago.
What’s your secret for keeping so fit and youthful?
I believe in plenty of sleep. What keeps me going is my interest in the work I’m doing. My secret is never letting the old man in. I keep busy and I have done since Rawhide in 1959.
What’s important to you?
Family and friends, in that order. I’m always worried about getting back to family and friends again. You are always worried about their situation and hoping they have as nice a life as you are having.
FILE- This June 19, 2012 file photo shows LeVar Burton introducing the all new Reading Rainbow adventure app to the media, publishers and parents at the "Reading Rainbow Relaunch" event in New York. Burton's campaign to bring "Reading Rainbow" to the online masses is off to an impressive start. It reached its fundraising goal within hours of its launch on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, on Kickstarter, according to the fundraising website. (AP Photo/Reading Rainbow, file) Photo: Uncredited, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeVar Burton'sfundraising effort to bring "Reading Rainbow" to the online masses is a by-the-book success.
The goal of raising $1 million by July 2 was reached within hours of the campaign's launch Wednesday on Kickstarter, according to the website. More than 23,000 donors had pledged $1.1 million and counting.
Burton was the host of "Reading Rainbow," the children's literacy program that aired on public TV through 2009.
"It was my mother who taught me that, by picking up a book, I could 'go anywhere' and 'be anything,' " Burton said in a posting on Kickstarter.
Contributors can claim rewards ranging from autographed memorabilia to a private dinner with Burton to a chance to put on the visor that the actor wore on "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
"We're not just getting pledges, but so much email love that our server froze," said Mark Wolfe, Burton's business partner. "I'm so happy to help. LeVar taught me to read," is among the typical messages, he said.
A tablet version of "Reading Rainbow" was released in 2012 and became a top-selling education app. It provides access to hundreds of books and Burton's videotaped "field trips" to historic and other places, said Wolfe, who co-founded the for-profit RRKidz company with Burton.
The Kickstarter campaign is intended to help bring an online version to more children for a $5 monthly subscription fee, Wolfe said. Many more families have access to computers than tablets, he said.
An educator-specific format will be created for schools and made available free to at least 1,500 of the neediest classrooms, RRKidz said.
Burton and Wolfe hold the global rights to "Reading Rainbow" in partnership with the show's creator, public TV station WNED in Buffalo, New York, according to a release.
Jonathan Yeo has painted Malala doing her homework (AP photo)
A portrait of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban for championing education for girls, will be auctioned in New York and sales proceeds will go to Nigerian charities focused on education and advocacy for girls and women.
Jonathan Yeo, a leading British portraitist, painted Malala in 2013 shortly after she started attending a school in Birmingham, England, where she lives now.
Christie’s auction house is offering the Malala portrait, which shows the teenager doing her homework and has a presale estimate of USD 60,000 to USD 80,000.
Malala, 16, said she will donate all the proceeds from the auction later on Wednesday to Nigerian charities focused on education and advocacy for girls and women.
Last week, the Malala Fund launched a special fund in response to the crisis in Nigeria, where more than 200 girls by terrorist group Boko Haram.
“I was shocked and saddened when I heard about the abduction of more than 200 girls by terrorists in Nigeria. I am very concerned about these innocent girls – my sisters –whose only crime was going to school and learning,” said Malala.
“I believe it is our duty to stand together in solidarity with their parents, families and relatives. We all have a voice and we must speak up and call on the international community and the government of Nigeria to intervene and bring these girls back to their homes safely. Together we can create a world where no child will be out of school and no student will fear for her or his safety,” she added.
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