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The Castaways of "Gilligan's Island" might have been marooned for years, but they weren't entirely cut off from civilization. Aside from the inexplicable number of visits they received from guests, there was their trusty Packard Bell model 8RT2 Am radio, which provided the stranded crew of the S.S. Minnow with a way to keep up with developments off the island. Throughout the show's three seasons, the characters would get news and weather updates from the radio and would even listen to various shows to keep themselves occupied.

While most fans of the series will be just as familiar with...

Once upon a time, it was commonly believed that TV stars couldn't become movie stars. It may seem an outdated and weird thing to say today, but it was a logical viewpoint at the time. It was also backed up by the evidence. Lucille Ball was the biggest TV star in history, but wasn't exactly a butts-in-seats box office draw. Neither were Milton Berle, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, or other big TV entertainers of the time. But that all changed when "Rawhide" TV star Clint Eastwood (who didn't make our list below, since his Oscars were for directing and producing,...

Clint Eastwood has proven time and time again that he's incredibly flexible when it comes to working in just about every genre, whether it be an ensemble war movie ("Kelly's Heroes"), conspiracy thriller ("Absolute Power"), or a romantic drama ("The Bridges of Madison County"). But there's no denying that the essence of his screen image is most often associated with that of the Western. It was the CBS TV series "Rawhide" that paved the way to Eastwood's career getting truly off the ground. Thanks to his role as ramrod Rowdy Yates (which he played for eight seasons), Eastwood would end up joining forces with Spaghetti Western director Sergio Leone,...

Before becoming a Hollywood legend, Clint Eastwood faced serious doubts about his acting career.

Early on, he appeared in a series of small, uncredited roles while trying to break into the industry. His first significant part came in 1958’s Ambush at Cimarron Pass, where he played Keith Williams, a former Confederate soldier, alongside Scott Brady.

The film, however, did not impress Eastwood. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he recalled, “It was probably the worst film ever made.” He described the experience as discouraging, saying, “I went to see it, and I saw that film, and I said I’m through. I’ve got to go back to school. I’ve got to do something else.

Before becoming a Hollywood legend, Clint Eastwood struggled to find his footing in movies. He took on several small, uncredited roles, slowly waiting for his chance to shine. That opportunity came in 1958 with the western Ambush at Cimarron Pass, but the experience nearly ended his career.

Eastwood played Keith Williams, a former Confederate soldier, in the film, which also starred Scott Brady.

The movie was rushed, shot in just eight days, and directed by Jodie Copelan, who was primarily a film editor and had little experience as a director. Eastwood later described the film as a disaster, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “It was probably the worst film ever made.”

Despite...

Clint Eastwood is mostly known for his work on the big screen, but "Rawhide" is arguably just as influential as any "Dollars" trilogy or Dirty Harry outing. That's certainly true in terms of Eastwood's own rise to fame; "Rawhide" not only started the actor on his journey to becoming a director, but the Western series also saved his acting career. Now, you can watch the show for free, as "Rawhide" is currently streaming on Pluto TV.

In its time, "Rawhide" was big, running for eight seasons and 217 episodes from 1959 to 1965. The CBS series saw a young Eastwood portray ramrod Rowdy Yates, who, alongside Eric Fleming's trail boss Gil Favor,...

June Lockhart, the golden-age film actress and star of TV shows “Lassie” and “Lost in Space,” has died, according to a family statement. She was 100.

Lockhart died of natural causes on Thursday, Oct. 23, surrounded by family at her home in Santa Monica, Calif.

“Mommy always considered acting as her craft, her vocation, but her true passions were journalism, politics, science and NASA,” daughter June Elizabeth said in a statement to TheWrap. “She cherished playing her role in ‘Lost in Space’ and she was delighted to know that she inspired many future astronauts, as they would remind her on visits to NASA. That meant even more to her than the hundreds...

June Lockhart, a popular actress of the 1950s and ’60s known for her roles in “Lost In Space,” “Lassie” and “Meet Me in St. Louis,” died of natural causes on Oct. 23 in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 100.

Lockhart became known for her performances as Timmy’s foster mother, Ruth Martin, on the CBS series “Lassie” from 1958 to 1964. She took over from Cloris Leachman as the Martin family moved on to the famous collie’s farm and became foster parents to both the orphaned Timmy and Lassie.

She then starred as Dr. Maureen Robinson on the CBS series “Lost in Space” from 1965 to 1968. She played a brilliant biochemist and loving mother of three who is marooned in space along with her family.

“When I wasn’t shooting Lassie, I became the mistress of Scrabble with my hairdresser and the crew,” she told Closer magazine in 2024. She also noted that “Lost in Space” was her favorite project.

Throughout his career, Clint Eastwood has been known for portraying cowboys in westerns and policemen in crime thrillers. However, he has taken it upon himself to also direct, produce, and score movies. Along the way, some of his works have been nominated for Academy Awards, including for best director, best picture, and the actors' and actresses' performances. Clint Eastwood will not only be remembered for his Best Actor award, but he will also be remembered for directing memorable films that fascinated critics and audiences. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to...

Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg have each won two Best Director Oscars. They are peers and, by all accounts, friends. But they couldn't be more different as filmmakers.

Eastwood was born in 1930. He was surly, rebellious and athletic. While preparing to get shipped out to the Korean War in the 1950s, he reportedly survived a plane crash of a Douglas Ad bomber that crashed into the Pacific Ocean in Marin County, just north of his hometown San Francisco; he swam two miles back to shore and was subsequently discharged. He later found moderate fame as cowboy Rowdy Yates in the CBS television series "Rawhide" before flying off to Spain and...

Western Entertainment Series Television (West) will launch on Monday, September 29. The network, which is broadcast’s answer to the Insp cable channel, will be the home of more than 30 classic TV westerns.

West is brought to viewers by Weigel Broadcasting, the same company behind MeTV, Heroes & Icons, and Catchy Comedy. Here’s what fans of westerns need to know about the new network dedicated to stories about gunslingers, outlaws, and do-good sheriffs.

Westerns On The West Network

West’s programming, which will run 24/7, will consist of well-beloved and iconic westerns. Fans of James Arness’ upstanding US Marshal Matt Dillon, Dan Blocker’s friendly Hoss Cartwright, and James Garner’s rambling...

West is the name of Weigel Broadcasting’s western-themed multicast network. (Courtesy image)

After weeks of speculation, Weigel Broadcasting has formally set a launch date for its western-themed multicast network West.

The network will officially launch on Monday, September 29, the broadcaster said in a statement this week. It will be the 10th multicast network launched by Weigel since it rolled out its first digital broadcast offering, MeTV, in 2003.

When it comes to western multicast networks, West will be the third major broadcast network in the market, competing against similarly-themed channels like Grit from the E. W. Scripps Company and Outlaw from Free TV Networks.

“West will be dedicated 24/7 to showcasing...

Weigel Broadcasting Co. has set Monday, September 29 for the launch of West (Western Entertainment Series Television), its new Western-focused broadcast network.

The net, which will be devoted solely to classic Western television series, will be available in 15 of the Top 20 broadcast TV markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Tampa, Phoenix, Detroit and Orlando. At launch, West will air in 46 TV markets nationwide covering 55.7% of the U.S. West will also be available on Tds cable systems and on Dish channel 372. Additional channels and carriage will be announced as available.

The library includes more than 30 series including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rawhide, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Have Gun, Will Travel, The High Chapparal, Wagon Train, The Big Valley, The Virginian and Wild Wild West.

“West will be dedicated 24/7 to showcasing the most beloved and iconic classic TV Western series, with a massive library of titles that will make...

Pat Crowley, a Golden Globe winner who starred in the 1960s sitcom Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, appeared in many film and guested on scores of shows during a 60-year career, died Sunday in Los Angeles, two days before her 92nd birthday.

Her son, Jon Hookstratten, and EVP at Sony Pictures, said his mother died of natural causes.

Crowley had more than 100 film and TV credits from 1950 to the early 2010s but probably is best known for toplining Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, the 1965-67 NBC series based on the 1960 movie starring Doris Day. She starred opposite Mark Miller as Joan Nash, a newspaper columnist who pooh-poohed the era’s traditional “housewife” tropes and didn’t care who knew it. Housework? No thanks. Cooking for the family? Nah. Joan slept till through mornings — in the same bed as her husband, a first for TV — and did her own thing.

The...

From securing an uncredited part in "Revenge of the Creature" to directing his 40th feature film at the age of 93, Clint Eastwood has had a long and storied career that's taken him to so many places within the industry. Scrolling through his filmography shows an artist whose talents have traversed across just about every genre there is. Eastwood's associated himself with musicals ("Pain Your Wagon"), cop thrillers ("Dirty Harry"), war movies ("Where Eagles Dare"), romance dramas ("The Bridges of Madison County") and road trip comedies with an Orangutan buddy ("Every Which Way But Loose"), but few genres hold as much of a claim on the actor-director than that of the western.

Edward Faulkner, the familiar character actor who received a career jump start from director Andrew V. McLaglen en route to appearing in McLintock!, Rio Lobo, The Green Berets and three other films with John Wayne, has died. He was 93.

Faulkner died Aug. 26 of natural causes at a health care facility in Vista, California, his daughter Leslie Wadsworth told The Hollywood Reporter.

A strapping 6-foot-3, the amiable Kentucky native put his horse-riding skills to the test on several TV Westerns, including Have Gun — Will Travel (13 episodes from 1958-62); Gunsmoke (six episodes from 1959-72); Rawhide (seven episodes from 1959-64); Bonanza (three episodes from 1961-66) and The Virginian (11 episodes from 1963-70).

He made his big-screen debut in G.I. Blues (1960), then portrayed fitness instructor Brad Bentley in another Elvis Presley movie, Tickle Me (1965).

Faulkner worked alongside Wayne in McLintock! (1963), The Green Berets (1968), Hellfighters (1968), The Undefeated (1969), Rio Lobo (1970) and Chisum (1970). All but two of...

Clint Eastwood has made all kinds of films throughout his career (even a gothic horror movie via Don Siegel's "The Beguiled"), but there might not be a career at all had he not been introduced to audiences worldwide as a star of Westerns. American television viewers got to know him over eight seasons of CBS' "Rawhide" through his steady portrayal of cowboy Rowdy Yates. When Eastwood got tired of television, he went to Spain to make an unusually violent Western called "A Fistful of Dollars" with Italian director Sergio Leone. The low-budget endeavor caught on first with European moviegoers, but, because the movie was so similar to Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo,...

Clint Eastwood won his second Best Director Academy Award for the 2004 sports drama Million Dollar Baby. However, actress Sandra Bullock had initially tried to launch the project with herself in the lead role before Eastwood came on board, and things changed rapidly.

I don’t know if they weren’t interested in female boxers, or whether they were just not interested in me playing a female boxer.

During an interview with The Times, Bullock spoke about the project’s early development and made the above statement, implying producers simply weren’t interested in her playing a female boxer. The project would later mark a retirement u-turn for Eastwood, and here is why the veteran returned to acting after Million Dollar Baby.

Why Clint Eastwood Skipped His Acting Retirement Plan After Million Dollar Baby

Actor Clint Eastwood first gained recognition for his performance in the Western TV series Rawhide. He later...

Clint Eastwood got his start in an uncredited role in a hokey monster movie "Revenge of the Creature" in 1955. Cut to 70 years later, he's still in the business of making movies. It was his starring role on the long-running Western series "Rawhide," where he played the first of many cowboys throughout his career, that launched him to fame. Now there are over 100 credits to his name on IMDb, not only as an actor, but as a prolific director, writer, and even composer.

As one of the last true relics of the classic Hollywood studio system, he has witnessed or been a part of nearly every major change or movement in film, making his filmography vast and varied. For as many famous and highly-rated Clint Eastwood movies — such as Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns, where he plays the now legendary Man With No Name, or his Academy Award-winning "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby...

After "Gunsmoke" paved the way for adult westerns on television, the floodgates opened up with every network trying to ride the success wave with oaters of their own like "Rawhide," "Bonanza," and "Wagon Train." Chief among them was "The Virginian," which holds the honor of being the third longest-running network western of all time. The NBC series ran for nine seasons and 249 episodes from 1962 to 1971. The distinction it holds over most of its cowboy television counterparts is that it was the first 90-minute Western series, with episodes running for 75 minutes plus commercials.

Loosely based on Owen Wister's 1902 novel "The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains," "The Virginian" had been adapted four times into feature films, with the version starring Gary Cooper considered among his best movies. Almost three decades later, James Drury performed a test drive for the character in a 1958 episode of the half-hour anthology series "Decision." Considerable...

Before he was the king of the Western genre, Clint Eastwood was an unknown commodity when he was almost cast in a Marilyn Monroe movie. During an interview, Eastwood was asked whether one of Hollywood’s most influential actresses ever inspired his acting sensibilities.

While Eastwood denied taking inspiration from Monroe, the veteran actor-director admitted he really wanted to star opposite her and almost appeared with the icon in a romantic comedy-drama. However, if Eastwood had landed the role, he would’ve been Monroe’s worst nightmare, and here is why.

Clint Eastwood Reveals the Marilyn Monroe Movie He Was Almost Cast In Clint Eastwood in Cry Macho (Credit: Warner Bros).

Clint Eastwood almost appeared in a romantic-comedy movie featuring Marilyn Monroe. During an interview with Parade, Eastwood talked about being considered for a role in Joshua Logan’s 1956 movie Bus Stop, starring Monroe in the lead role.

I was...

It's not easy to make a name for yourself in the world of film and television, especially when everyone else is trying to do the same thing. Some talent, whether they be actors, writers, or filmmakers, get lucky in their first few projects, while others won't get to see the fruits of their industry labor until much further down the line. Clint Eastwood technically made his big screen debut in 1955 in an uncredited role in "Revenge of the Creature," yet kept finding himself in bit parts over the next few years. Even "Rawhide," the television western career gig that got his foot in the door, would take up seven and a half years of his life on CBS. But not only would the experience of starring in those eight seasons serve as a testing ground as for his directorial sensibilities, it would also prompt him to travel to Spain, where...

When you live with Hollywood royalty for so long, it's almost easy to forget that, at one point, they were up-and-comers looking for a gig wherever they could get it. It's a tough industry to make a name for yourself, especially when so many others are trying to do the same. Sometimes you nab the role that gets your foot in the door on a whim, and for Clint Eastwood, his big break was the CBS western series "Rawhide." For eight seasons of television, he was a series mainstay as the ramrod turned cattle boss Rowdy Yates. If not for landing this show, which Eastwood referred to as a fluke that saved his acting career, he likely wouldn't have made an exodus to Spain and therein, become one of the great movie stars on account of Sergio Leone's genre-defining "Dollars" trilogy. It's sad to think of a world where...

Legendary filmmaker Clint Eastwood has delighted moviegoers since he gained recognition with the role of Rowdy Yates on the Western series Rawhide, which aired between 1959 and 1965 on CBS. After the show ended its eight-season run, Eastwood started taking more roles outside of the U.S., and gained international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy.

However, being an actor wasn't enough, and soon, Eastwood started getting behind the camera, as well. Throughout the '70s, Eastwood was an extremely desired actor and director, and had major success with titles like High Plains Drifter, Joe Kidd, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and more. Clint Eastwood's first project in the Western genre in almost a decade, Pale Rider, is now heading to streaming for free on Tubi on July 2, just a few days after the film's 40th anniversary.

After 1976's The Outlaw Josey Wales, Eastwood...

By the time Clint Eastwood had finished his three-movie stint with Sergio Leone, he was not only the face of the "Dollars" trilogy that introduced American audiences to spaghetti westerns, but also one of the biggest movie stars in the world. His Rowdy Yates days on the CBS western "Rawhide" were well behind him now, with the silver screen calling to him more than ever. The world was his oyster. Eastwood's time in the industry would ultimately accentuate one of his biggest characteristics as a creator, with that being a total sense of control over production. Along with his financial advisor Irving Leonard, Eastwood co-founded The Malpaso Company (now called Malpaso Productions), which has produced just about every one of his films from the Ted Post-directed western "Hang 'Em High" all the way up until 2024's stellar courtroom morality drama "Juror #2."

Malpaso would allow Eastwood to maintain some...

A new television channel is set to launch this fall, and it's perfect for fans of the Westerngenre. Despite the popular phrase "going the way of the Western" being coined years ago by the acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, the genre remains very much alive, with stories being told through both classic and modern-day lenses. Whether it is Kevin Costner's recent ambitious film Horizon: An American Saga or any of Taylor Sheridan's projects, such as Yellowstone or Landman, the Western genre is thriving across film and television. Now, old and new fans of the genre alike will be able to revisit some of the most classic Western television shows created with this new television channel.

According to a report from TV Line, Weigel Broadcasting Co., which is responsible for television networks like MeTV, Catchy Comedy, and Heroes & Icons, will launch a new channel called West during Fall 2025. The name...

West is the name of Weigel Broadcasting’s western-themed multicast network. (Courtesy image)

Weigel Broadcasting has announced a new multicast offering that will land on broadcast TV in most parts of the country later this year.

The channel, called West, will offer western television series like “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “Maverick,” “Rawhide” and “The Virginian.”

It is the 10th multicast network offered by Weigel Broadcasting since the company launched its first digital offering, MeTV, in 2003.

When it comes to western multicast networks, West will be the third major broadcast network in the market, competing against similarly-themed channels like Grit from the E. W. Scripps Company and Outlaw from Free TV Networks.

“We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the West network, a move that has been driven by years of client feedback and growing demand,” Jeff Nash, the Senior Vice President of Network Sales at Weigel Broadcasting, said in a statement.

There's a new channel showing nothing but classic Western TV series coming to town. What's more, it won't cost you a thing. West, which stands for Western Entertainment Series Television, is the latest over-the-air national broadcast channel from Weigel Broadcasting Co., the people behind MeTV and Heroes and Icons. TVLine reports that the new channel will broadcast over 30 classic oaters, including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and Rawhide.

In the 1950s and 60s, Westerns were the dominant genre on TV, much as they were at the movie theater. By 1959—a year when there were only three TV networks—there were thirty prime-time Westerns on TV. While the genre began to dry up in the late 1960s, Westerns have proved popular on TV and streaming to this day: just look at the expansive oeuvre of Taylor Sheridan. New Westerns aren't the only Westerns getting big viewership numbers, either. Gunsmoke, the longest-running Western in TV history,...

Weigel Broadcasting has announced a fall launch for West (Western Entertainment Series Television), a new network that will be devoted solely to classic Western television series.

The network will be available throughout the U.S. on Weigel Broadcasting’s television stations, with additional carriage and distribution partners to be announced.

“West will be dedicated 24/7 to showcasing the most beloved and iconic classic TV Western series, with a massive library of titles that will make this the premier Western network on television,” said Neal Sabin, Vice Chairman Weigel Broadcasting Co. “Featuring compelling story lines and narratives with universal adult appeal, the programs on West promise to transport viewers on an entertainment journey filled with excitement and adventure.”

The library includes more than 30 series including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rawhide, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Have Gun, Will Travel, The High Chapparal, Wagon Train, The Big Valley, The Virginian and Wild Wild West.

“We’re...

Without the legendary Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood wouldn't be the star as we know him today. Though he had been acting for several years — and was even the leading man in Charles Marquis Warren's classic Western TV show "Rawhide" — before his role in "A Fistful of Dollars" came along in 1964, Leone's second movie skyrocketed Eastwood's career and fame in Hollywood to unforeseen heights. He became a phenomenon in the U.S. through, ironically, a movie that was shot in Spain and directed by a non-American director. Of course, looking back, we now know that Leone was responsible for creating the Spaghetti Western subgenre, which began with "A Fistful of Dollars," the first entry in the Dollars Trilogy.

But back then, even Eastwood himself had no clue how much of a box office juggernaut and culturally influential flick "A Fistful of Dollars" would become in both the near and far future.

As classic 1950s episodes of “Gunsmoke” make it into the Nielsen streaming rankers, Weigel Broadcasting is capitalizing on the recent western revival by launching West, a new over-the-air broadcast diginet devoted to series like “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “Maverick,” “Rawhide,” “The Virginian” and more.

West — which stands for “Western Entertainment Series Television” — will launch in fall, initially on Weigel-owned broadcast stations. More carriage deals will be announced at a later date.

“West will be dedicated 24/7 to showcasing the most beloved and iconic classic TV western series, with a massive library of titles that will make this the premier western network on television,” Neal Sabin, vice chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co., said in a statement. “Featuring compelling story lines and narratives with universal adult appeal, the programs on West promise to transport viewers on an entertainment journey filled with excitement and adventure.”

This will rep the 10th channel created by Weigel, which also programs MeTV,...

Matt Dillon, Bret Maverick, Ben Cartwright and the Virginian all have a new place to hang their Stetsons.

Weigel Broadcasting Co. — whose family of networks includes MeTV, Catchy Comedy and Heroes & Icons — announced on Tuesday morning a Fall 2025 launch for West: Western Entertainment Series Television, its 10th over-the-air national broadcast television network.

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Television westerns often skewed toward a younger demographic with the likes of kid-friendly cowboy figures like "Roy Rogers" and "Hopalong Cassidy." Audiences were conditioned to see more adult westerns on the big screen. But everything changed on September 10, 1955 when famed movie star John Wayne introduced viewers to a television western series with a more mature bent: "Gunsmoke." The CBS period drama became a smash hit sensation, which not only garnered a then-record breaking 20 seasons, but paved the path for shows like "Bonanza," "Rawhide," and "The Wild Wild West"

Plenty of things changed on "Gunsmoke" over its two-decade span on the air, but the one constant throughout its entire run was the viability of its lead star. James Arness would appear in just about every episode as Marshal Matt Dillon, the lawman of Dodge City, Kansas who often found himself in all sorts of confrontations that he would be tasked with resolving.

Most Hollywood actors are lucky if they have one truly iconic character on their list of screen credits, let alone two. We might talk about Harrison Ford (Han Solo and Indiana Jones), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky and Rambo), or Keanu Reeves (Neo and John Wick), but arguably at top of the heap is Clint Eastwood with the Man With No Name and "Dirty" Harry Callahan. Not only did he make such an unforgettable impression in both roles, but those characters have also become almost synonymous with their respective genres. Can you really imagine Westerns without thinking of Clint wearing his poncho and chewing on a cheroot in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" (or cop thrillers without picturing him squinting along the barrel of his hand cannon in "Dirty Harry")? Indeed, you can even pinpoint the moment in cinema when Eastwood's two most famous characters merged, and that movie is an underrated Western called "Coogan's Bluff.

Clint Eastwood is a renowned actor and filmmaker, known for his prolific and efficient working style. He has won two Oscars for his directing work, but the legend started as an actor and became a Western icon. One of his most popular Westerns is the third movie in his Dollars trilogy, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Eastwood’s character as the Man with No Name became extremely popular, and so did Sergio Leone’s morally grey style. The movie has far-reaching influences, with one of the most popular ones being Kim Jee-woon’s The Good, the Bad, the Weird, which starred Lee Byung-hun, known for his work on Squid Game.

A Clint Eastwood movie inspired Squid Game star’s ‘Oriental Western’ Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Credits: United Artists

Clint Eastwood is a legend like no other. The veteran actor has been active...

Locations are a major part of any movie or TV show, and the right spot can go a long way toward setting the tone of any given project. Ridley Scott's "The Martian" was obviously not filmed on Mars, but the combination of the harshly beautiful Wadi Rum valley in southern Jordan and a massive sound stage worked wonders in creating the illusion. The iconic Amity Island in Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" was actually Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and ABC's mystery show "Lost" was filmed almost entirely on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.  

The importance of great filming locations, of course, also applies to Westerns. This means far more than just finding some suitably Wild West-esque area and giving the actors some guns and cowboy hats -- the location needs to be just so. Fortunately, Hollywood lucked out on this one, because it had the perfect location sitting in its proverbial back yard.

Clint Eastwood made his last two Westerns almost three decades apart, but before that, he was synonymous with the genre. Getting his breakthrough with the TV show Rawhide, he became a global star when he starred in Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western Dollars trilogy. He made the Man with No Name character famous and became a huge star.

However, Eastwood left the Italian film industry and came back to Hollywood right when Sergio Leone was gearing up for his next masterpiece. The actor was reportedly offered a role in Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West, but the Gran Torino star rejected it, as he was already done with the director’s style.

Clint Eastwood was tired of Sergio Leone’s style after The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Credits: United Artists

Sergio Leone’s The Good,...

The 1980s was a lean spell for western fans. After the critical and commercial disaster of Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate," Hollywood studios were understandably reluctant to pile lots of money into a moribund genre and notable horse operas were few and far between. With the likes of "Silverado," "Young Guns," and "Three Amigos!" to choose from, Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark" was pretty much the best of the bunch, but that was as much a modern vampire movie as a typical oater. The classic western movie looked seriously long in the tooth, and it wouldn't flourish again until Kevin Costner resurrected it with his Oscar-winning "Dances with Wolves."

Then of course there was Clint Eastwood. If ever there was a filmmaker and a star who could buck the trend, it was arguably the best western movie actor to dominate the screen. By the mid '80s, Clint had  been...

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Clint Eastwood began his career playing bit parts in monster movies, at least two of them for director Jack Arnold. He played an amusing lab technician in the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" sequel "Revenge of the Creature" in 1955, and he was a masked pilot in Arnold's "Tarantula" the same year. He was in comedy films, war pictures, and globe-trotting adventures, establishing his career and proving his versatility. He also worked, very briefly, for Universal TV, and had bit parts in a few hit shows of the mid-'50s.

It wouldn't be until 1959, when he landed the role of Rowdy Yates in the hit series "Rawhide," that he would become associated with Westerns. While "Rawhide" was in its penultimate seventh season in 1965, Eastwood was cast by Sergio Leone in his Italian Western "A Fistful of Dollars," which would go...

When Gene Roddenberry created "Star Trek" in the 1960s, he savvily pitched it as "'Wagon Train' to the stars." Television Westerns like "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," and "Rawhide" were all the rage at the time, so it was a masterstroke of broadcast salesmanship to suggest that a show about space exploration center on humankind pursuing its intergalactic manifest destiny. All of humankind. Which meant that the bridge of the Starship Enterprise would include the Asian helmsman Sulu and the Black communications officer Uhura. And a Vulcan named Spock.

This inclusiveness allowed the three-season run of "Star Trek" to palpably connect with viewers of various ethnic backgrounds. It was a show for everyone at a time when every person on the planet could suddenly look to the stars and say, "I might get there in my lifetime." The series inspired people to learn, to empathize, and to treat artificial intelligence with contempt.

Clint Eastwood is not really an auteur filmmaker, but he has a certain affinity for particular genres. His filmography is eclectic, but it covers a specific range of topics and can be easily categorized. While he is known for Westerns, he has explored various dimensions in that too, bidding goodbye to it with Unforgiven and Cry Macho.

One of Eastwood’s earliest directorials saw him experiment with the genre in a way that he has never done before or after. The revenge drama High Plains Drifter takes the familiar trope of a stranger visiting a new town and being asked to be its protector and turns it on itself. However, it is Eastwood’s atmosphere of mystique and horror that makes it more fun.

Clint Eastwood disguised a horror film as a Western in High Plains Drifter A still from High Plains Drifter | Credits: Universal Pictures

The Western is often known by its heroics.

Clint Eastwood has reportedly bid his goodbye to Hollywood with last year’s directorial Juror #2. The nonagenarian filmmaker and actor has been one of the prolific creatives in Hollywood, with over forty credits as a director. He has explored a wide variety of genres, despite being known for his Westerns and war dramas.

Eastwood’s penultimate acting role came in The Mule, the 2018 crime drama based on the real-life World War II veteran, Leo Sharp. The film was a huge hit upon release, and Eastwood also served as the director for the film. Now, The Mule is reportedly on the top 10 list of popular movies on Netflix.

Clint Eastwood’s penultimate acting role tops Netflix charts seven years after release A still from The Mule | Credits: Warner Bros.

Some filmmakers are just timeless. Clint Eastwood rode into the scene with the Western TV drama Rawhide and became a global star...

Clint Eastwood is a man of few words -- at least, he tries to be. This is what makes his appearance on the sadly erstwhile television series "Inside the Actors Studio," hosted by the late, great James Lipton, such riveting television. On a talk show where Lipton encouraged interviewees to be open and loquacious, Eastwood often resisted the host's attempts to find parallels between his private and professional life. It's an incredibly good-natured conversation, but Eastwood lets Lipton know when he's ready to move on, or skip altogether, a subject he rather not discuss.

Moving on has been a central theme in Eastwood life. When he was a young man, his father told him, "You either progress or decay," a philosophy the star has long observed as an actor and a director. Eastwood has never had much truck for artistic indulgence. Having honed his craft as a performer over eight...

Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg are two legends who made their mark in the industry as prolific filmmakers who have crafted some of the most influential films of the past few decades. While Eastwood never collaborated with Spielberg as an actor, he has directed several projects under Spielberg’s production ventures.

One of the most underrated collaborations of the duo is Spielberg’s TV series Amazing Stories. The anthology show, which followed along the lines of The Twilight Zone, saw Eastwood direct one romantic horror episode starring Harvey Keitel and Sondra Locke, written by Spielberg. The series was revived in 2020 by Apple TV+.

Clint Eastwood’s TV collaboration with Steven Spielberg on Amazing Stories is one of the books Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven | Credits: Warner Bros.

Clint Eastwood got his breakthrough on TV with the Western show Rawhide, after which he went on to star in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy.

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The year was 1966, and actor Clint Eastwood had already established himself as a global movie star with "A Fistful of Dollars," directed by Sergio Leone. Leone's film hadn't yet been released in the United States, but "Fistful" was such a hit that actors in both America and Italy were taking notice. Eastwood had previously established himself in the TV series "Rawhide," playing Rowdy Yates in 217 episodes of the show. Leone's "Fistful" took Eastwood's already-known Western hero image and updated it in a more stylish manner, borrowing (quite heavily and without permission) from Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo." 

The rest of the world immediately ran to imitate that film's success, and already-profitable Italian Westerns, nicknamed Spaghetti Westerns, continued to proliferate. At the time, a young and upcoming actor name Burt Reynolds was following a similar career arc to Eastwood. He had...

Steven Spielberg is often regarded for his invaluable contributions to cinema, but there's an argument to be made for his place in television. After his short film "Amblin'" made waves with Sid Sheinberg, the former head of Universal, Spielberg spent the late '60s and early '70s directing a number of shows including "Columbo" and "Night Gallery." Though his focus would cater toward the glamour of big screen adventures, he never lost sight of the medium that gave him the opportunities to flex his chops. Most of Spielberg's later television career consisted of executive producer credits, but there were some shows that he had an active hand in developing, with one that made a considerable splash in the mid '80s.

"Amazing Stories" was Spielberg's foray into the world of anthology television, as each episode spanned the genre-scope of fantasy, science fiction and horror. Invoking the series will undoubtedly...

Clint Eastwood began his professional screen acting career in 1955, and he was able to land multiple small roles almost right away. In his first year of employment, Eastwood appeared in an episode of "Highway Patrol" and in the TV movie "Allen in Movieland." On the big screen, he made his debut in Jack Arnold's "Revenge of the Creature," a sequel to his 1954 classic "Creature from the Black Lagoon." Eastwood only had one scene, but he left an impression as a forgetful lab technician. That same year, the young Eastwood also appeared in "Francis in the Navy," the sixth of seven ultra-successful Francis the Talking Mule movies, as well as an uncredited Saxon warrior in the period drama "Lady Godiva of Coventry." 

Eastwood rounded out 1955 by re-teaming with Jack Arnold for the creature feature "Tarantula." A relatively well-regarded matinée monster movie, "Tarantula" is about, you guessed it, a giant tarantula...

Clint Eastwood may have made his last film with Juror No.2, but he leaves behind a large legacy of incredible films. He has explored a wide variety of genres, from thrillers and comedies to war films and sports dramas. He has made several biographical films that have received immense acclaim, but he will forever be associated with the Western.

Eastwood became the cowboy of a generation when he starred in the TV show Rawhide and then in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy. He directed several Westerns, too, exploring various themes and eras in America. However, he bid a small goodbye to the genre with his Oscar-winning revisionist take on the tropes of the genre, with Unforgiven.

Clint Eastwood said everything he needed to say about Westerns with Unforgiven Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino | Credits: Warner Bros.

Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven is legendary in so many ways. For starters, it featured incredible performances from Morgan Freeman,...

Comedy, romance, drama, true crime - but enough about my life. As it turns out, Netflix also has all of that in store for you this week. Get those blue blocker glasses and eyedrops ready, fam - it's binging time again!

It's so fun when Netflix adds a baker's dozen titles. It makes me think of fudge-drizzled French crullers, apple fritters, and raspberry-glazed yeast donuts. Yeah, my diet is going just fine. Why do you ask? Oh yeah, we're here to talk about movies and shows. My bad.

This week, you'll find a few old favorites, another dark and brooding Scandinavian thriller series, a mini-series masquerading as a documentary, a true-crime series, and a documentary on an American disaster—whew, can we lighten the mood here, please?

Oh, thank goodness, I see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler popping up. We also get a new Western series and a heartfelt Korean dramatic series,...

The television landscape is always evolving with the times, which is why westerns don't exactly make it to primetime television anymore — if at all. But there was a period where venerated networks like CBS would invest in programs such as "The Wild Wild West," "Have Gun, Will Travel," and the Clint Eastwood-starring vehicle "Rawhide." Having grown up in the presence of my father, of whom westerns were as vital as water, I became intimately familiar with most of them.

The titan among these titles, however, was "Gunsmoke," which stayed on the air for an unprecedented 20 seasons as the longest-running western series of all time on any network.

If there's any image that sums up the series' iconography, it's the showdown intro that remained a "Gunsmoke" staple for its first 12 seasons. It set the tone for the kind of peril James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon would get himself into every week,...