Early life

Main article: Early life and work of Clint Eastwood

Eastwood was born Clinton Eastwood Jr. May 31, 1930, in San Francisco, California, the son of Clinton Eastwood Sr. (1906–1970) and Ruth Wood (née Runner; 1909–2006). Ruth later took the surname of her second husband, John Belden Wood (1913–2004), whom she married after the death of Clinton Sr.^[13] Eastwood was nicknamed "Samson" by the hospital nurses because he weighed 11 pounds 6 ounces (5.2 kg) at birth.^[14][15] He has one younger sister, Jeanne Bernhardt (born 1934).^[16] Eastwood is of English, Irish, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry.^[17] He is descended from Mayflower passenger William Bradford, and through this line is the 12th generation of his family born in North America and the 13th generation to live in North America.^[18][19][20]
His family moved often as his father worked at jobs along the West Coast,^[21][22] although they did not move at all between 1940 and 1949.^[23][24] Settled in Piedmont, California, the Eastwoods lived in a very wealthy part of town, had a swimming pool, belonged to the country club, and each parent drove their own car.^[25] Clint attended Piedmont Junior High School.^[26] Shortly before he was to enter Piedmont High School, he rode his bike on the school's sports field and tore up the wet turf; this resulted in his being asked not to enroll.^[27] Instead, he attended Oakland Technical High School, where he was held back due to poor academic scores and scheduled to graduate in January 1949 as a midyear graduate, although it is not clear if he ever did.^[24] "Clint graduated from the airplane shop. I think that was his major," joked classmate Don Kincaid.^[24] Another high school friend, Don Loomis, echoed "I don't think he was spending that much time at school because he was having a pretty good time elsewhere."^[24] "I think what happened is he just went off and started having a good time. I just don't think he finished high school," explained Fritz Manes,^[24] a boyhood friend two years younger than Eastwood, who remained associated with him until their falling out in the mid-1980s. Biographer Patrick McGilligan notes that high school graduation records are a matter of strict legal confidentiality.^[24]
Eastwood worked at a number of jobs, including lifeguard, paper carrier, grocery clerk, forest firefighter, and golf caddy.^[28] Eastwood has said that he tried to enroll at Seattle University [in 1951]^[29] but was then drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War.^[30] "He always dropped the Korean War reference, hoping everyone would conclude that he was in combat and might be some sort of hero. Actually, he'd been a lifeguard at Fort Ord in northern California for his entire stint in the military," commented Eastwood's former longtime companion, Sondra Locke.^[25] Don Loomis recalled hearing that Eastwood was romancing one of the daughters of a Fort Ord officer, who might have been entreated to watch out for him when names came up for postings.^[31] While returning from a prearranged tryst^[31] in Seattle, Washington, he was a passenger on a Douglas AD bomber that ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean near Point Reyes.^[32][33] Using a life raft, he and the pilot swam 2 miles (3.2 km) to safety.^[34]