In 1953, Clint Eastwood and Maggie Johnson exchanged vows just months after their initial meeting. The union resulted in the birth of Alison and Kyle.
Despite their eleven-year marriage, Eastwood, known for his womanizing reputation, engaged in extramarital affairs. According to Patrick McGilligan, the author of the unauthorized biography "The Secret Album of Clint Eastwood," one of these affairs, with actress and director Sondra Locke, proved detrimental to her promising career in the film industry.
Eastwood and Locke first crossed paths in 1975 during the filming of "The Outlaw," while Eastwood was still married to Maggie Johnson. Locke describes their connection as love at first sight, emphasizing their initial happiness. However, as Locke transitioned into directing with the script for "Ratboy," the dynamics changed. Eastwood perceived her directorial pursuits as a threat, leading to a shift in their relationship. Locke states, "He saw the fact that I was starting to direct movies as a threat. I was distancing myself from that father-daughter or actress-director relationship, from that bubble in which I had been living."
Their romance endured for almost 15 years, but when Locke started to experience Eastwood's hidden side, everything changed. Eastwood sent her a letter through his lawyer, informing her not to return to their house, claiming he had changed the locks. Despite legal battles, Locke never regained possession of the house. Later, she discovered Eastwood's secret relationship with flight attendant Jacelyn Reeves, the mother of two of his children.
Locke detailed her tumultuous relationship with Eastwood in her 1977 autobiography, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." In the book, she revealed that she had two miscarriages and underwent tubal ligation while with Eastwood, who did not want more children.
The fallout from their breakup significantly impacted Locke's film career. Despite receiving an Oscar nomination for her first film, "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," working with Eastwood resulted in a lack of scripts and job offers. Locke recalls, "Everyone assumed Eastwood had me exclusively." The highly publicized legal battles further complicated her professional trajectory. Despite reaching an out-of-court agreement that secured a three-year, million-and-a-half-dollar contract with Warner for Locke to propose films as a director, she faced rejection for all thirty of her suggested projects. Locke expressed a sense of social blackmail, contributing to the decline of her once-promising career.
