Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers. Crack appeared primarily in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami in late 1984 and 1985. Common baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO₃) is a base used in preparation of crack, so named after the sound made during its manufacture and when smoked.

Appearance and characteristics

In purer forms, crack rocks appear as off-white nuggets with jagged edges, with a slightly higher density than candle wax. Purer forms of crack resemble a hard brittle plastic, in crystalline form (snaps when broken). A crack rock acts as a local anesthetic (see: cocaine), numbing the tongue or mouth only where directly placed. When smoked, crack can leave the tongue numb where the smoke enters the mouth. Purer forms of crack will sink in water or melt at the edges when near a flame (crack vaporizes at 90 °C, 194 °F).

Crack cocaine as sold on the streets may be adulterated or "buffed" to increase bulk. According to Cpl. Kent Dahl, with Red Deer RCMP Federal Drugs, Canada, white substances mimicking the appearance of cocaine are added to increase bulk. Use of toxic adulterants such as levamisole has been documented.

Chemistry

Crack cocaine, often nicknamed "''crack''" after the sound made during its manufacture and when smoked, appeared primarily in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami in late 1984 and 1985. Because of the dangers for manufacturers of using ether to produce pure freebase cocaine, producers began to omit the step of removing the freebase precipitate from the ammonia mixture. Typically, filtration processes are also omitted. The end result is that the cut, in addition to the ammonium salt (NH₄Cl), remains in the freebase cocaine after the mixture has evaporated. The "rock" that is thus formed also contains a small amount of water.

Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃, common baking soda) is a base used in preparation of crack, although other weak bases may substitute for it. The net reaction when using sodium bicarbonate is

Crack cocaine is usually purchased already in rock form, although it is not uncommon for some users to "wash up" or "cook" the cocaine into crack themselves. This process is done with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), water, and a spoon. Once mixed and heated, the bicarbonate breaks down into carbon dioxide and sodium carbonate, which then reacts with the hydrochloride of the cocaine molecule, leaving cocaine as an oily free base. Once separated from the hydrochloride, the cocaine alkaloid floats to the top of the now leftover liquid. It is at this point that the oil is picked up rapidly, usually with a pin or long thin object. This pulls the oil up and spins it, allowing air to set and dry the oil, and allows the user and/or maker to roll the oil into the rock-like shape.

Crack vaporizes near temperature 90 °C (194 °F), much lower than the cocaine hydrochloride melting point of 190 °C (374 °F). Whereas cocaine hydrochloride cannot be smoked (burns with no effect), ''crack cocaine'' when smoked allows for quick absorption into the blood stream, and reaches the brain in 8 seconds. Users obtain an intense high much more quickly thusly than with the normal method of insufflating ("sniffing" or "snorting") powder cocaine. Crack cocaine can also be injected intravenously with the same effect as powder cocaine. However, whereas powder cocaine dissolves in water, crack must be dissolved in an acidic solution such as lemon juice or white vinegar.

Psychological effects

Crack cocaine is a substance that affects the brain chemistry of the user: causing euphoria, supreme confidence, loss of appetite, insomnia, alertness, increased energy, a craving for more cocaine, and potential paranoia (ending after use). Its initial effect is to release a large amount of dopamine, a brain chemical inducing feelings of euphoria. The high usually lasts from 5–10 minutes, after which time dopamine levels in the brain plummet, leaving the user feeling depressed and low. When cocaine is dissolved and injected, the absorption into the bloodstream is at least as rapid as the absorption of the drug which occurs when crack cocaine is smoked, and similar euphoria may be experienced.

A typical response among users is to have another hit of the drug; however, the levels of dopamine in the brain take a long time to replenish themselves, and each hit taken in rapid succession leads to increasingly less intense highs. However, a person might binge for 3 or more days without sleep, while partying with hits from the pipe.

Use of cocaine in a binge, during which the drug is taken repeatedly and at increasingly high doses, leads to a state of increasing irritability, restlessness, and paranoia. This may result in a full-blown paranoid psychosis, in which the individual loses touch with reality and experiences auditory hallucinations.

Stimulant drug abuse (particularly amphetamine and cocaine) can lead to delusional parasitosis (aka Ekbom's Syndrome: a mistaken belief they are infested with parasites). For example, excessive cocaine use can lead to formication, nicknamed "cocaine bugs" or "coke bugs," where the affected people believe they have, or feel, parasites crawling under their skin. These delusions are also associated with high fevers or extreme alcohol withdrawal, often together with visual hallucinations about insects.

People experiencing these hallucinations might scratch themselves to the extent of serious skin damage and bleeding, especially when they are delirious.

Physiological effects

The short-term physiological effects of cocaine include constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Large amounts (several hundred milligrams or more) intensify the user's high, but may also lead to bizarre, erratic, and violent behavior. Large amounts can induce tremors, vertigo, muscle twitches, paranoia, or, with repeated doses, a toxic reaction closely resembling amphetamine poisoning. Some users of cocaine report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. In rare instances, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest.

An appreciable tolerance to cocaine’s high may develop, with many addicts reporting that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first experience. Some users will frequently increase their doses to intensify and prolong the euphoric effects. While tolerance to the high can occur, users might also become more sensitive (sensitization) to cocaine's anesthetic and convulsant effects, without increasing the dose taken: this increased sensitivity may explain some deaths occurring after apparently low doses of cocaine.

Addiction

Crack cocaine is popularly thought to be the most addictive form of cocaine, and one of the most addictive forms of any drug. However, this claim has been contested: Morgan and Zimmer wrote that available data indicated that "...smoking cocaine by itself does not increase markedly the likelihood of dependence.... The claim that cocaine is much more addictive when smoked must be reexamined." They argued that cocaine users who are already prone to abuse are most likely to "move toward a more efficient mode of ingestion" (that is, smoking).

The intense desire to recapture the initial high is what is so addictive for many users. On the other hand, Reinarman et al. wrote that the nature of crack addiction depends on the social context in which it is used and the psychological characteristics of users, pointing out that many heavy crack users go for days or weeks without using the drugs.

Health issues

Because crack also refers to non-pure (or fake) versions of rock cocaine, the health issues also include risks beyond smoking cocaine. However, crack usage is less dangerous than speedballing or "snowballing" (mixing cocaine with heroin), which can lead to more fatalities than either drug used on its own.

When large amounts of dopamine are released by crack consumption, it becomes easier for the brain to generate motivation for other activities. The activity also releases a large amount of adrenaline into the body, which tends to increase heart rate and blood pressure, leading to long-term cardiovascular problems. It is suggested by research that smoking crack or freebase cocaine has additional health issues beyond other methods of taking cocaine. Many of these issues relate specifically to the release of methylecgonidine, and the specific effect of methylecgonidine on the heart, lungs, and liver.

''Toxic adulterants'': As noted previously, virtually any substance may have been added in order to expand the volume of a batch, or appear to be pure crack. Occasionally, highly toxic substances are used, with an indefinite range of corresponding short and long-term health risks. For example, if candle wax or macadamia are procured (as a form of fake crack) they will burn in a crack pipe producing a noxious smoke.

''Smoking problems'': The task of introducing the drug into the body further presents a series of health risks. Crack cannot be snorted like regular cocaine, so smoking is the most common consumption method. Crack has a melting point of around , and the smoke does not remain potent for long. Therefore, crack pipes are generally very short, to minimise the time between evaporating and losing strength. This often causes cracked and blistered lips, colloquially "crack lip", from having a very hot pipe pressed against the lips. The use of "convenience store crack pipes" - glass tubes which originally contained small artificial roses - may also create this condition. These 4-inch (10-cm) pipes are not durable and will quickly develop breaks; users will typically continue to use the pipe even though it has been broken to a shorter length. The hot pipe might burn the lips, tongue, or fingers, especially when shared with other people quickly taking another hit from the already hot short pipe.

''Pure or large doses'': Because the quality of crack can vary greatly, some people might smoke larger amounts of diluted crack, unaware that a similar hit of a new batch of purer crack could cause an overdose: triggering heart problems or rendering the user unconscious.

''Pathogens on pipes'': When pipes are shared, unless users rotate and push the pipe to the burnt, sterilized end, any bacteria or viruses from the previous user's mouth can be transferred: tuberculosis can be spread by saliva. In terms of harm reduction, mouth pieces (lengths of tubing added to the end of the glass pipe) should be used and not shared.

''Pathogens in needles/spoons'': When crack is cooked down, as in a spoon with vinegar or lemon juice, for injecting with a syringe, diseases can be spread. Sexually transmitted infections such as HIV can be passed through a shared needle (or shared spoon if the needle is emptied into the spoon). From a harm reduction perspective, clean injection equipment should always be used and never shared. Ascorbic acid is safer for use than vinegar.

As a comparison, studies have shown that long-term insufflation (snorting) of cocaine in powder form can, after extensive use, destroy tissues in the nasal cavity, and has been known to create deviated septa, potentially collapsing the nose.

Addiction is widely considered a health issue. Many governments have made access to clean equipment and education regarding safer practices difficult, as the use of cocaine is illegal.

Effects in pregnancy and nursing

"Crack baby" is a term for a child born to a mother who used crack cocaine during her pregnancy. The notion that cocaine use during pregnancy poses a threat to the fetus is now widely discredited. Studies show that prenatal cocaine exposure (independent of other effects such as, for example, alcohol, tobacco, or physical environment) has no appreciable effect on childhood growth and development. However, the official opinion of the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the United States warns about health risks while cautioning against stereotyping:

Many recall that "crack babies," or babies born to mothers who used crack cocaine while pregnant, were at one time written off by many as a lost generation. They were predicted to suffer from severe, irreversible damage, including reduced intelligence and social skills. It was later found that this was a gross exaggeration. However, the fact that most of these children appear normal should not be overinterpreted as indicating that there is no cause for concern. Using sophisticated technologies, scientists are now finding that exposure to cocaine during fetal development may lead to subtle, yet significant, later deficits in some children, including deficits in some aspects of cognitive performance, information-processing, and attention to tasks—abilities that are important for success in school.

Some people previously believed that crack cocaine caused infant death as SIDS, but when investigators began looking at the incidence of SIDS in the children of women who used crack cocaine, they found it to be no higher than in children of women who smoked cigarettes.

There are also warnings about the threat of breastfeeding: "It is likely that cocaine will reach the baby through breast milk." The March of Dimes advises the following regarding cocaine use during pregnancy:

Cocaine use during pregnancy can affect a pregnant woman and her unborn baby in many ways. During the early months of pregnancy, it may increase the risk of miscarriage. Later in pregnancy, it can trigger preterm labor (labor that occurs before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or cause the baby to grow poorly. As a result, cocaine-exposed babies are more likely than unexposed babies to be born with low birthweight (less than ). Low-birthweight babies are 20 times more likely to die in their first month of life than normal-weight babies, and face an increased risk of lifelong disabilities such as mental retardation and cerebral palsy. Cocaine-exposed babies also tend to have smaller heads, which generally reflect smaller brains. Some studies suggest that cocaine-exposed babies are at increased risk of birth defects, including urinary-tract defects and, possibly, heart defects. Cocaine also may cause an unborn baby to have a stroke, irreversible brain damage, or a heart attack.

Legal status

Canada

As a Schedule I substance, crack is not differentiated from cocaine and other coca products in the Criminal Code of Canada. However, the court may weigh the socio-economic factors of crack usage in sentencing. As a guideline, Schedule I drugs carry a maximum 7 year prison sentence for possession for an indictable offense, up to life imprisonment for trafficking and production. A summary conviction on possession carries a $1000–$2000 fine and/or 6 months to a year imprisonment.

United States

Cocaine is listed as a Schedule I drug in the United Nations 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, making it illegal for non-state-sanctioned production, manufacture, export, import, distribution, trade, use and possession.

In the United States cocaine is a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act since it has high abuse potential but also carries a medicinal purpose. Under the DEA listing of schedule I substances, crack is not considered separate from cocaine since they are essentially the same drug compound in different forms.

There has been some controversy over the disproportionate sentences mandated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for crack cocaine (versus powder cocaine) since 1986. Whereas there was a 5-year minimum sentence for trafficking 500g of powdered cocaine, the same sentence could be imposed for mere possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine, a 100:1 ratio. There is no mandatory minimum sentence for mere possession of powder cocaine. The United States Sentencing Commission long recommended that this disparity be rectified and existing sentences reduced. Some claim that this disparity amounts to institutional racism, as crack cocaine is more common in inner-city black communities, and powder cocaine in white suburban communities. The Supreme Court ruled in ''Kimbrough v. United States'' (2007) that the Guidelines for cocaine are advisory only, and that a judge may consider the disparity between the Guidelines' treatment of crack and powder cocaine offenses when sentencing a defendant. The Fair Sentencing Act reduced the disparity between United States federal criminal penalties for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses from a 100:1 ratio to an 18:1 ratio (based on the number of grams of cocaine in possession) and eliminated the five-year mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine, among other provisions.

Europe

In the United Kingdom crack is a Class A drug. In the Netherlands it is a List 1 drug of the Opium Law.

See also

Cocaine paste ("paco")

Crack epidemic

CIA and Contras cocaine trafficking in the US

Related numbing (analgesic) medicines: proparacaine, tetracaine, lidocaine, procaine, hexylcaine, bupivacaine, benoxinate, mepivacaine, prilocaine, etidocaine, benzocaine, chloroprocaine, propoxycaine, dyclonine, dibucaine, and pramoxine.

Oxi, a similar drug made from cocaine paste

Substance abuse

War on Drugs

References

Further reading

Cooper, Edith Fairman, ''The emergence of crack cocaine abuse'', Nova Publishers, 2002

External links

Frank Parlato's interview with two 19-year old crack dealers

(US)Why is crack cocaine so hard to stop using?

Crackpot Ideas - July/August 1995 issue of ''Mother Jones''.

US:The Myth of the 'Crack Baby'

The rising peril of crack cocaine (UK)

Top Medical Doctors and Scientists Urge Major Media Outlets to Stop Perpetuating "Crack Baby" Myth - a petition.

Category:Cocaine

ar:كراك (كوكايين) ca:Crack (droga) cs:Crack (droga) de:Crack (Droge) et:Crack es:Crack (droga) eu:Crack (droga) fa:کراک کوکائین fr:Crack (stupéfiant) gl:Crack (droga) is:Krakk it:Crack (stupefacente) lt:Krekas nl:Crack (drug) ja:クラック・コカイン pt:Crack ru:Крэк-кокаин simple:Crack (drug) sk:Krak (kokaín) sl:Crack ckb:کراک sh:Crack fi:Crack sv:Crack-kokain tr:Crack (uyuşturucu) zh:霹雳可卡因

name	Cypress Hill
background	group_or_band
alias	DVX (Devasting Vocal Excellence)
origin	South Gate, California, United States
genre	Hip hop, Hardcore Hip Hop, Latin Hip Hop, West Coast Hip Hop Rap Rock, Rap Metal
years active	1988–present
label	Ruffhouse, Columbia, SME Records, Columbia, SME Records, Priority, EMI Records
associated acts	Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, House of Pain, Young De, Funkdoobiest, Richie Londres, Xzibit, Slash, Fort Minor
website	CypressHill.com
current members	B-Real DJ Muggs Sen Dog Eric Bobo
past members	Mellow Man Ace }}

Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide. They are one of the most well known groups in West Coast rap and are critically acclaimed for their first three groundbreaking albums.

History

Formation (1988)

Senen Reyes (also known as Sen Dog) and Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (also known as Mellow Man Ace) were brothers who initially lived in Cuba. In 1971 their family immigrated to the United States, settling in the Los Angeles suburb of South Gate. In 1988 the two brothers teamed up with Lawrence Muggered (also known as DJ Muggs) and Louis Reese (also known as B-Real) to form a hip-hop group named DVX (Devasting Vocal Excellence). The band soon lost Mellow Man Ace to a solo career, and changed their name to Cypress Hill, after a street in South Central Los Angeles.

Early works and mainstream success (1989–1995)

After recording a demo in 1989, Cypress Hill signed a record deal with the major label, Columbia Records. Their self-titled first album was released in August 1991. The lead single was the double A-side "The Phuncky Feel One"/"How I Could Just Kill a Man" which received heavy airplay on urban and college radio. The other two singles released from the album were "Hand on the Pump" and "Latin Lingo", the latter of which combined English and Spanish lyrics. The success of these singles led to the album selling two million copies in the US alone. The group made their first appearance at Lollapalooza on the side stage in 1992.

''Black Sunday'', the group's second album, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in 1993, recording the highest Soundscan for a rap group up until that time. Also, with their debut still in the charts, they became the first rap group to have 2 albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 at the same time. With "Insane in the Brain" becoming a crossover hit, the album went triple platinum in the U.S. and sold about 3.25 million copies.

Cypress Hill was banned from ''Saturday Night Live'' after Muggs smoked a joint on-air and the group trashed their instruments while playing their second single "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That". The band headlined the Soul Assassins tour with House of Pain and Funkdoobiest as support, then performed on a college tour with Rage Against the Machine and Seven Year Bitch. In 1993, Cypress Hill also had two tracks on the ''Judgment Night'' soundtrack, teaming up with Pearl Jam on the track "Real Thing" and Sonic Youth on "I Love You Mary Jane".

The group later played at Woodstock 94, introducing new member Eric Bobo, son of Willie Bobo and formerly a percussionist with the Beastie Boys. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine named the group as the best rap group in their music awards voted by critics and readers. Cypress Hill played at Lollapalooza for two successive years, topping the bill in 1995. They also appeared on the "Homerpalooza" episode of ''The Simpsons''. Prior to Bobo joining the crew, Panchito "Ponch" Gomez sat in as a percussionist when not acting.

Their third album ''III: Temples of Boom'' was released in 1995, selling 1.5 million copies and reaching number 3 on the Billboard 200 on the strength of the hit single "Throw Your Set in the Air". Cypress Hill also contributed a track "I Wanna Get High" to the High Times sponsored ''Hempilation'' album to support NORML.

Continued career (1996–2002)

Sen Dog took a break from the band to form a Los Angeles based rap rock band SX-10. Meanwhile in 1996, Cypress Hill appeared on the first 'Smokin' Grooves' tour, featuring Ziggy Marley, The Fugees, Busta Rhymes and A Tribe Called Quest. The band also released a nine track EP ''Unreleased and Revamped'' with rare mixes. In 1997, band members focused on their solo careers. Muggs released ''Muggs Presents ... the Soul Assassins'' featuring contributions Dr. Dre, KRS-One, Wyclef Jean and Mobb Deep. B-Real appeared with Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J and Method Man on "Hit Em High" from the multi-platinum ''Space Jam Soundtrack''. He also appeared with RBX, Nas and KRS-One on "East Coast Killer, West Coast Killer" on Dr. Dre's ''Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath'' album, and contributed to an album entitled "The Psycho Realm" with the band of the same name. Though the focus that year was not on Cypress Hill, the band played Smokin' Grooves with George Clinton and Erykah Badu.

Cypress Hill released ''IV'' in 1998 which went gold in the U.S., on the backs of hit singles "Tequila Sunrise" and another tribute to smoking cannabis "Dr. Greenthumb." Sen Dog also released the ''Get Wood'' sampler as part of SX-10 on the label Flip. In 1999, Cypress Hill helped with the PC crime/very mature video game ''Kingpin: Life of Crime''. Three of their songs from the 1998 ''IV'' album were in the game ( "16 Men Till There's No Men Left", "Checkmate" and "Lightning Strikes"). B-Real also did some of the voices of the people in the game. Also in 1999, the band released a greatest-hits album in Spanish, ''Los grandes éxitos en español''. In 2000, Cypress Hill then fused genres with their fifth album, ''Skull & Bones'', which was a two-disc album. The first disc, "Skull" was composed of rap tracks while "Bones" explored further the group's forays into rock. The album reached the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 and number 3 in Canada. The first single was "Rock Superstar" for rock radio and "Rap Superstar" for urban radio. Following the release of the album, Cypress Hill (along with MxPx) landed a slot opening for The Offspring on the ''Conspiracy of One'' tour. The band also released ''Live at the Fillmore'', a concert disc recorded at the Fillmore (in San Francisco) in 2000. Cypress Hill continued their experimentation with rock on the ''Stoned Raiders'' album in 2001. However, its sales were a disappointment, as the disc did not even reach the top 50 of the U.S. album charts. In 2001, the group appeared in the film ''How High''.

''Till Death Do Us Part'' (2003–2007)

Cypress Hill recorded "Just Another Victim" for WWE as a theme song for Tazz. At the time, WWE was using original music for almost all of the wrestlers, so this was an unusual step for the company to take, but it remains one of the more memorable songs to emerge from the wrestling organization. The band released ''Till Death Do Us Part'' on March 23, 2004. The album saw the band experiment with reggae especially on the lead single "What's Your Number". The track features Tim Armstrong of Rancid on guitar and backup vocals. It is based on the classic song "The Guns of Brixton" on The Clash's ''London Calling'' and has proven to be a success on the modern rock charts. However, the album represented a further departure from the signature sound of their first four albums. The album also features appearances by Damian Marley, son of Bob Marley, Prodigy and Twin of Mobb Deep and producer the Alchemist.

In 2004, the song ''How I Could Just Kill A Man'' was included in the popular videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas created by Rockstar Games, playing on West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos. In December 2005 a best of compilation album titled Greatest Hits From the Bong was released including 9 hits from previous albums and 2 new tracks. The group's next album was tentatively scheduled for an early 2007 release. In the summer of 2006, B-Real appeared on Snoop Dogg's single "Vato", produced by Pharrell Williams.

In 2007 Cypress Hill toured with their full line up as a part of the Rock the Bells tour, held by Guerilla Union, and headlined with Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and a reunited Rage Against the Machine. Other acts included Immortal Technique, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, The Roots, EPMD, Pharoahe Monch, Jedi Mind Tricks, Erykah Badu, MF Doom, Sage Francis, Brother Ali, The Coup, Blue Print, Lucky I Am, Living Legends, Felt, Cage, Mr. Lif, Grouch & Eligh, Slightly Stoopid, and Hangar 18.

Departure from Sony and ''Rise Up'' (2008–present)

On July 25, 2008, Cypress Hill performed at a benefit concert at the House of Blues Chicago, where a majority of the proceeds went to the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness.

In August 2009, a new song by Cypress Hill, titled "Get 'Em Up", was made available on iTunes. The song is featured on the Madden NFL 2010 video game.

In November 2009, a new version of Guns N' Roses classic "Paradise City" performed by Cypress Hill, Slash and Fergie was made available as a bonus track to Slash's single "Sahara" off Slash's solo album ''Slash''.

Cypress Hill's eighth studio album, ''Rise Up'', features contributions from Everlast, Tom Morello, Daron Malakian, Pitbull, Marc Anthony and Mike Shinoda. The album was released on Priority Records/EMI Entertainment, as the group was signed to the label by new Creative Chairman Snoop Dogg on January 15, 2010. The album was finally released on April 20, 2010. The album's introduction single, "It Ain't Nothin'" was released as a free download from the group's official website. The song "Rise Up" was featured at WWE's pay-per-view, Elimination Chamber, as the official theme song for that event, and was released as the third single for the album, with "Armada Latina" being fourth. The song also appeared in the trailer of the upcoming movie ''The Green Hornet''.

Cypress Hill commenced its Rise Up tour in Philadelphia on April 10, 2010. DJ Muggs was noticeably absent and it appears that Julio G has replaced DJ Muggs for the tour. DJ Muggs has been absent due to working on several other projects, including separate albums with B-Real and Sen Dog. The group was supposed to stop in Tucson, Arizona but canceled the show in protest of the recent immigration legislation. At the Rock en Seine festival in Paris on August 27, 2010 they said in an interview that they would wait and see what happens with the legislation before going back there. Cypress Hill performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in late August 2010, on the 28th at Leeds and the 29th at Reading.

Style

Rapping

One of the band's most striking aspects is B-Real's exaggeratedly high-pitched nasal vocals. In the book ''Check the Technique'' B-Real describes his nasal style, saying his rapping voice is "high and annoying... the nasal style I have was just something that I developed... my more natural style wasn't so pleasing to [DJ Muggs and Sen Dog's] ears" and talking about the nasal style in the book ''How to Rap'', B-Real says, "you want to stand out from the others and just be distinct... when you got something that can separate you from everybody else, you gotta use it to your advantage." Sen Dog's voice is deeper, more violent and often shouted alongside the rapping; his vocals are often emphasized by adding an additional background/choir voice to say them. Sen Dog's style is in contrast to B-Real's, who says, "[Sen's] voice is so strong", and "it all blends together" when they are both on the same track.

Both B-Real and Sen Dog started writing lyrics in both Spanish and English and B-Real was inspired to start writing raps from watching Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace writing their lyrics, and originally B-Real was going to just be the writer for the group rather than a rapper. Their lyrics are noted for bringing a "cartoonish" approach to violence by Peter Shapiro and Allmusic.

Production

The sound and groove of their music, produced by Muggs, is notable for its spooky sounds and stoned aesthetic; with its bass-heavy rhythms and odd sample loops ("Insane in the Brain" is notable for having a pitched-altered horse neigh looped in its chorus), it carries a psychedelic value, which lessened in the later albums.

The band is also known for involving rock instruments. In their songs – this has caused the band to sometimes be classified as a rap rock group. The double album ''Skull & Bones'' consists of a pure rap album ("Skull") and an entire CD of rap/rock songs ("Bones"). Also in ''IV'', there is "Lightning Strikes" which doesn't truly use electric guitars, but a synthesized version of it. In the live album ''Live at The Fillmore'' some of the old classics are played in a rock/metal version, with Sen Dog's band SX-10 and Eric Bobo playing the rock instruments.

The band's music is constantly subject to change: while the first album and ''Black Sunday'' follow a more minimalistic and funky sound, ''III (Temples of Boom)'' has a very dark, spooky atmosphere and heavy beats, sometimes approaching hardcore rap. ''IV'' introduced more diverse sounds on the beats while maintaining the hardcore edge. The first albums are mostly influenced by psychedelic music, but the band eventually got closer to modern rap as it is today while still experimenting with rock from time to time, like on "Skull and Bones" and "Stoned Raiders".

The band involves horns in their songs, and often have guitar and horns together in the instrumentals. "What's Your Number?", "Trouble", "Tequila Sunrise", and "(Rock) Superstar" have become some of the band's most popular songs featuring these elements.

Side and solo projects

Eric Bobo is part of the group Sol Invicto with producer Richie Londres and Stephen Carpenter of the Deftones. Eric Bobo is also a main member of Cultura Londres Proyecto which is a Spanish Hip Hop group from London, England.

2009 saw the releases of both B-Real and Sen Dog's solo efforts Smoke N Mirrors and Diary of a Mad Dog. B-Real is also part of a super-group called Serial Killaz with both Xzibit and his protege Young De. B-Real started his own production company called Audio Hustlaz, with which he has worked and featured on tracks with Kurupt, Young De, Xzibit, Adil Omar, Snoop Dogg, Bitza and others, and has also done guest appearances for La Coka Nostra, Ill Bill, Akrobatik, The Outlawz, Nipsey Hussle and Apathy.

Other notable side projects include B-Real's rap metal group Kush with members from Deftones and Fear Factory who are as yet to release any official material.

Sen Dog has released one album with his rap metal group SX-10.

Muggs partnered with Gza from the Wu Tang Clan and released the album "Grandmasters" in 2005.

Discography

1991: ''Cypress Hill''

1993: ''Black Sunday''

1995: ''Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom''

1996: ''Unreleased and Revamped''

1998: ''Cypress Hill IV''

2000: ''Skull & Bones''

2001: ''Stoned Raiders''

2004: ''Till Death Do Us Part''

2010: ''Rise Up''

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Awards

!Year	!Nominated work	!Award	!Result
align=center	"Insane in the Brain"	Best Rap Performance by a Group or Duo
align=center	"I Ain't Goin' Out Like That"	Best Rap Performance by a Group or Duo
align=center	"Throw Your Set in the Air"	Best Rap Performance by a Group or Duo

MTV Video Music Awards Awards

!Year	!Nominated work	!Award	!Result
align=center	"Insane in the Brain"	Best Rap Video

Band Members

;Current Members

B-Real – lead rapping (since 1988)

DJ Muggs – turntables, production (since 1988)

Eric Bobo – drums, percussion (since 1994)

Sen Dog – rapping (since 1988)

;Former Members

Mellow Man Ace - rapping (only 1988)

References

External links

Official Website

Cypress Hill interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2010

Cypress Hill interview, August 2010, Radio France Internationale

Cypress Hill on Velvet Hammer Site

Cypress Hill at Legacy Recordings (Sony Music)

Eric Bobo video interview

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alt	A headshot of an older man is looking to the left while smiling
birth name	Clinton Eastwood, Jr.
birth date	May 31, 1930
birth place	San Francisco, California, U.S.
nationality	American
occupation	Actor, director, producer, composer, politician
years active	1955–present
spouse	Maggie Johnson (1953–84; two children)Dina Ruiz (1996–present; one child)
domesticpartner	Frances Fisher (1990-95; one child)
children	Kimber TunisKyle EastwoodAlison EastwoodScott ReevesKathryn ReevesFrancesca Fisher-EastwoodMorgan Eastwood }}

Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member the TV series ''Rawhide'' (1959–1965). He rose to fame for playing the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's ''Dollars'' Trilogy of spaghetti westerns (''A Fistful of Dollars'', ''For a Few Dollars More'', and ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'') during the 1960s, and as San Francisco Police Department Inspector Harry Callahan in the ''Dirty Harry'' films (''Dirty Harry'', ''Magnum Force'', ''The Enforcer'', ''Sudden Impact'', and ''The Dead Pool'') during the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, along with several others in which he plays tough-talking no-nonsense police officers, have made him an enduring cultural icon of masculinity.

Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director and Producer of the Best Picture, as well as receiving nominations for Best Actor, for his work in the films ''Unforgiven'' (1992) and ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004). These films in particular, as well as others including ''Play Misty for Me'' (1971), ''The Outlaw Josey Wales'' (1976), ''Pale Rider'' (1985), ''In the Line of Fire'' (1993), ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (1995), and ''Gran Torino'' (2008), have all received commercial success and critical acclaim. Eastwood's only comedies have been ''Every Which Way but Loose'' (1978), its sequel ''Any Which Way You Can'' (1980), and ''Bronco Billy'' (1980); despite being widely panned by critics, the "Any Which Way" films are the two highest-grossing films of his career after adjusting for inflation.

Eastwood has directed most of his own star vehicles, but he has also directed films in which he did not appear such as ''Mystic River'' (2003) and ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' (2006), for which he received Academy Award nominations and ''Changeling'' (2008), which received Golden Globe Award nominations. He has received considerable critical praise in France in particular, including for several of his films which were panned in the United States, and was awarded two of France's highest honors: in 1994 he received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal and in 2007 was awarded the Légion d'honneur medal. In 2000 he was awarded the Italian Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.

Since 1967, Eastwood has run his own production company, Malpaso, which has produced the vast majority of his films. He also served as the nonpartisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, from 1986 to 1988. Eastwood has seven children by five different women, although he has only married twice.

Early life

Eastwood was born in San Francisco to Clinton Eastwood, Sr. (1906–70), a steelworker and migrant worker, and Margaret Ruth (née Runner; 1909–2006), a factory worker. He was nicknamed "Samson" by the hospital nurses as he weighed at birth. After his father died in 1970, Eastwood's mother remarried to John Belden Wood (1913–2004) in 1972, and they remained married until his death 32 years later. Eastwood is of English, Irish, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry and was raised in a middle class home with his younger sister, Jean (born 1934). His family relocated often as his father worked at different jobs along the West Coast, including at a pulp mill. The family settled in Piedmont, California, where Eastwood attended Piedmont Junior High School and Piedmont Senior High School, taking part in sports such as basketball, football, gymnastics, and competitive swimming. He later transferred to Oakland Technical High School where the drama teachers encouraged him to enroll in school plays, but he was not interested. As his family moved to different areas he held a series of jobs including lifeguard, paper carrier, grocery clerk, forest firefighter, and golf caddy.

In 1950, Eastwood began a one-year stint as a lifeguard for the United States Army during the Korean War and was posted to Fort Ord in California. While on leave in 1951 Eastwood was a passenger onboard a Douglas AD bomber that ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean near Point Reyes. After escaping from the sinking aircraft he and the pilot swam to safety.

Eastwood later moved to Los Angeles and began a romance with Maggie Johnson, a college student. He managed an apartment house in Beverly Hills by day and worked at a gas station by night. He enrolled at Los Angeles City College and married Johnson shortly before Christmas 1953 in South Pasadena.

Film career

1950s

Early career struggles

According to the CBS press release for ''Rawhide'', Universal Studios, known then as the Universal-International film company, was shooting in Fort Ord when an enterprising assistant spotted Eastwood and arranged a meeting with the series' director. According to Eastwood's official biography the key figure was a man named Chuck Hill, who was stationed in Fort Ord and had contacts in Hollywood. Later, in Los Angeles, Hill became reacquainted with Eastwood and managed to sneak him into one of Universal's studios, where he showed him to cameraman Irving Glassberg. Glassberg arranged for an audition with Arthur Lubin who, although impressed with Eastwood's appearance and frame, initially questioned his acting skills remarking, "He was quite amateurish. He didn't know which way to turn or which way to go or do anything". Lubin suggested he attend drama classes and arranged for his initial contract in April 1954 at $100 (US$}} in dollars) per week. After signing Eastwood was initially criticized for his stiff manner, his squint and with hissing his lines through his teeth, a feature that would become a life-long trademark.

In May 1954 Eastwood auditioned for his first role in ''Six Bridges to Cross'', but was rejected by Joseph Pevney. After many unsuccessful auditions he eventually landed a minor role as a laboratory assistant in director Jack Arnold's ''Revenge of the Creature'', a sequel to ''The Creature from the Black Lagoon''. He then worked for three weeks on Lubin's ''Lady Godiva of Coventry'' in September 1954, then won a role in February 1955 as a sailor in ''Francis in the Navy'' as well as appearing uncredited in another Jack Arnold film, ''Tarantula'', in which he played a squadron pilot. In May 1955 Eastwood had a brief appearance in the film ''Never Say Goodbye'', during which he shared a scene with Rock Hudson. Universal presented him with his first television role on July 2, 1955, in NBC's ''Allen in Movieland'', which starred Tony Curtis and Benny Goodman. Although he continued to develop as an actor Universal terminated Eastwood's contract on October 23, 1955.

Eastwood then joined the Marsh Agency and although Lubin landed him his biggest role to date in ''The First Traveling Saleslady'' (1956) and later hired him for ''Escapade in Japan'', without a formal contract Eastwood struggled. He met financial advisor Irving Leonard, who would later arguably take most responsibility for launching his career in the late 1950s and 1960s, whom Eastwood described as being "like a second father to me". On Leonard's advice Eastwood switched talent agencies to the Kumin-Olenick Agency in 1956 and to Mitchell Gertz in 1957. He landed several small roles in 1956 as a temperamental army officer for a segment of ABC's ''Reader's Digest'' series, and as a motorcycle gang member on a ''Highway Patrol'' episode. Eastwood had a minor uncredited role as a ranch hand in his first western film, ''Law Man'', in June 1956. The following year he played a cadet in the ''West Point'' television series and a suicidal gold prospector in ''Death Valley Days''. In 1955 he played a Navy lieutenant in a segment of ''Navy Log'' and in early 1959 he made a notable guest appearance on ''Maverick'', opposite James Garner, as a cowardly villain intent on marrying a rich girl for money. Eastwood had a small part as an aviator in the French picture ''Lafayette Escadrille'' and took on a major role as an ex-Confederate renegade in ''Ambush at Cimarron Pass'', a film which Eastwood viewed as disastrous and the lowest point of his career.

Rawhide

In a long sought after career breakthrough, Eastwood was cast as Rowdy Yates for the CBS hour-long western series ''Rawhide'' in 1958, although he was not especially happy with his role. By now, aged almost 30, he felt that his character Rowdy was too young and too cloddish for him to feel comfortable with the part. Filming began in Arizona in the summer of 1958 and on release it took just three weeks for ''Rawhide'' to reach the top 20 in the TV ratings. Although the series never won an Emmy it was a major success for several years, reaching its peak at number six in the ratings between October 1960 and April 1961. The ''Rawhide'' years (1959–65) were some of the most grueling of Eastwood's career. He often filmed for six days a week at an average of twelve hours a day, yet some directors still criticized him for not working hard enough. By late 1963 ''Rawhide'''s popularity had declined. Lacking freshness in the scripts, it was canceled in the middle of the 1965–66 television season. Eastwood made his first attempt at directing when he filmed several trailers for the show, although he was unable to convince producers to let him direct an episode. In the show's first season Eastwood earned $750 (US$}} in dollars) an episode. At the time of its cancellation he received a $119,000 (US$}} in dollars) compensation package.

1960s

In late 1963 Eastwood's co-star on ''Rawhide'', Eric Fleming, rejected an offer to star in an Italian-made western called ''A Fistful of Dollars''; to be directed in a remote region of Spain by Sergio Leone who was relatively unknown at the time. Other actors, including Charles Bronson, Steve Reeves, Richard Harrison, Frank Wolfe, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, and Ty Hardin, were also considered for the role. Knowing that he could play a cowboy convincingly Harrison suggested Eastwood, who in turn saw the film as an opportunity to escape from ''Rawhide''. He signed a contract for $15,000 (US$}} in dollars) in wages for eleven weeks' work with a bonus of a Mercedes automobile upon completion and arrived in Rome in May 1964 Eastwood later spoke about the transition from a television western to ''A Fistful of Dollars'': "In ''Rawhide'' I did get awfully tired of playing the conventional white hat. The hero who kisses old ladies and dogs and was kind to everybody. I decided it was time to be an anti-hero." Eastwood was instrumental in creating the Man with No Name character's distinctive visual style and although a non-smoker, Leone insisted he smoke cigars as an essential ingredient of the "mask" he was attempting to create with the loner character.

Some interior shots for ''A Fistful of Dollars'' were done at the Cinecittà studio on the outskirts of Rome, before production moved to a small village in Andalusia, Spain. The film became a benchmark in the development of spaghetti westerns, with Leone depicting a more lawless and desolate world than in traditional westerns; meanwhile challenging stereotypical American notions of a western hero by replacing him with a morally ambiguous antihero. The film's success meant Eastwood became a major star in Italy and he was re-hired by Leone to star in ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), the second film of the trilogy. Through the efforts of screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni, the rights to the film and the final film of the trilogy (''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'') were sold to United Artists for roughly $900,000 (US$}} in dollars).

In January 1966 Eastwood met with producer Dino De Laurentiis in New York City and agreed to star in a non-western five-part anthology production named ''Le streghe'' ("The Witches") opposite De Laurentiis' wife, actress Silvana Mangano. Eastwood's nineteen-minute installment only took a few days to shoot but his performance did not go down well with the critics, with one saying "no other performance of his is quite so 'un-Clintlike' ". Two months later Eastwood began work on the third ''Dollars'' film, ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'', in which he again played the mysterious Man with No Name. Lee Van Cleef returned to play a ruthless fortune seeker, while Eli Wallach portrayed the cunning Mexican bandit Tuco. The storyline involves the search for a cache of Confederate gold buried in a cemetery. One day during filming of a scene where a bridge was to be dynamited Eastwood, suspicious of explosives, urged Wallach to retreat to the hilltop saying, "I know about these things. Stay as far away from special effects and explosives as you can." Minutes later crew confusion, over the word "Vaya!", resulted in a premature explosion which could have killed the co-star, while necessitating rebuilding of the bridge.

The ''Dollars'' trilogy was not shown in the United States until 1967 when ''A Fistful of Dollars'' opened in January, ''For a Few Dollars More'' in May, and ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' in December. All the films proved successful in cinemas, particularly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' which eventually earned $8 million (US$}} in dollars) in rental earnings and turned Eastwood into a major film star. All three films received generally bad reviews and marked the beginning of Eastwood's battle to win the respect of American film critics. Judith Crist described ''A Fistful of Dollars'' as "cheapjack", while ''Newsweek'' considered ''For a Few Dollars More'' as "excruciatingly dopey". Renata Adler of ''The New York Times'' remarked that ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' was "the most expensive, pious and repellent movie in the history of its peculiar genre", despite the fact that it is now widely considered one of the finest films in the history of cinema. ''Time'' magazine highlighted the film's wooden acting, especially Eastwood's, although critics such as Vincent Canby and Bosley Crowther of ''The New York Times'' praised Eastwood's coolness in playing the tall, lone stranger. Leone's unique style of cinematography was widely acclaimed, even by some critics who panned the acting.

Stardom brought more "tough guy" roles for Eastwood. He signed for the American revisionist western ''Hang 'Em High'' (1968), in which he featured alongside Inger Stevens, Pat Hingle, Dennis Hopper, Ed Begley, Bruce Dern, and James MacArthur. A cross between ''Rawhide'' and Leone's westerns, the film brought him a salary of $400,000 (US$}} in dollars) and 25% of its net earnings. He plays a man who seeks revenge after being lynched by vigilantes and left for dead. Using money earned from the ''Dollars'' trilogy Leonard helped establish Eastwood's production company, Malpaso Productions, named after the Malpaso Creek on Eastwood's property in Monterey County, California. Leonard arranged for ''Hang 'Em High'' to be a joint production with United Artists and, when it opened in July 1968, the film became the biggest United Artists opening in history — its box office receipts exceeding all the James Bond films of the time. It was widely praised by critics; including Archer Winsten of the ''New York Post'' who described ''Hang 'Em High'' as, "a western of quality, courage, danger and excitement".

Before the release of ''Hang 'Em High'' Eastwood had already begun work on the film ''Coogan's Bluff'', about an Arizona deputy sheriff tracking a wanted psychopathic criminal (Don Stroud) through the streets of New York City. He was reunited with Universal Studios for the project after receiving an offer of $1 million (US$}} in dollars)—more than double his previous salary. Jennings Lang arranged for Eastwood to meet Don Siegel, a Universal contract director who later became one of Eastwood's close friends, with the two forming a close partnership that would last for more than ten years over five films. Filming began in November 1967, before the full script had been finalized. The film was controversial for its portrayal of violence, with Eastwood's role creating the prototype for what would later become the macho cop of the ''Dirty Harry'' films. ''Coogan's Bluff'' also became the first collaboration with Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin, who would later compose the jazzy score to several of Eastwood's films in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly the ''Dirty Harry'' film series.

Eastwood was paid $850,000 (US$}} in dollars) in 1968 for the war epic ''Where Eagles Dare'', about a World War II squad parachuting into a Gestapo stronghold in the mountains. Richard Burton played the squad's commander with Eastwood as his right-hand man. He was also cast as Two-Face in the ''Batman'' television show, but the series was canceled before filming could commence.

Eastwood then branched out to star in the only musical of his career, ''Paint Your Wagon'' (1969). Eastwood and fellow non-singer Lee Marvin play gold miners who share the same wife (portrayed by Jean Seberg). Bad weather and delays plagued the production while its budget eventually exceeded $20 million (US$}} in dollars), extremely expensive for the time. The film was not a critical or commercial success, although it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

1970s

In 1970 Eastwood starred in the western ''Two Mules for Sister Sara'' with Shirley MacLaine and directed by Don Siegel. The film follows an American mercenary who gets mixed up with a whore disguised as a nun and ends up helping a group of Juarista rebels during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. Eastwood once again played a mysterious stranger—unshaven, wearing a serape-like vest, and smoking a cigar. Although the film received moderate reviewsthe film is listed in ''The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made''. Later the same year Eastwood starred as one of a group of Americans who steal a fortune in gold from the Nazis in the World War II film ''Kelly's Heroes'' with Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas. ''Kelly's Heroes'' was the last film in which Eastwood appeared that was not produced by his own Malpaso Productions. Filming commenced in July 1969 on location in Yugoslavia and in London. The film received mostly a positive reception and its anti-war sentiments were recognized. In the winter of 1969–70, Eastwood and Siegel began planning his next film, ''The Beguiled'', a tale of a wounded Union soldier held captive by the sexually repressed matron of a southern girl's school. Upon release the film received major recognition in France and is considered one of Eastwood's finest works by the French. However, it grossed less than $1 million (US$}} in dollars) and, according to Eastwood and Lang, flopped due to poor publicity and the "emasculated" role of Eastwood.

Eastwood's career reached a turning point in 1971. Before Irving Leonard died he and Eastwood had discussed the idea of Malpaso producing ''Play Misty for Me'', a film that was to give Eastwood the artistic control he desired and his debut as a director. The script was about a jazz disc jockey named Dave (Eastwood) who has a casual affair with Evelyn (Jessica Walter), a listener who had been calling the radio station repeatedly at night asking him to play her favorite song—Erroll Garner's "Misty". When Dave ends their relationship the fan becomes violent and murderous. Filming commenced in Monterey in September 1970 and included footage of that year's Monterey Jazz Festival. The film was highly acclaimed with critics such as Jay Cocks in ''Time'', Andrew Sarris in the ''Village Voice'', and Archer Winsten in the ''New York Post'' all praising the film, as well as Eastwood's directorial skills and performance. Walter was nominated for a Golden Globe Best Actress Award (Drama) for her performance in the film.

The script for ''Dirty Harry'' (1971) was written by Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink. It is a story about a hard-edged New York City (later changed to San Francisco) police inspector named Harry Callahan who is determined to stop a psychotic killer by any means. ''Dirty Harry'' is arguably Eastwood's most memorable character and has been credited with inventing the "loose-cannon cop genre", which is still imitated to this day. Author Eric Lichtenfeld argues that Eastwood's role as Dirty Harry established the "first true archetype" of the action film genre. His lines (quoted at left) have been cited as among the most memorable in cinematic history and are regarded by firearms historians, such as Garry James and Richard Venola, as the force which catapulted the ownership of .44 Magnum pistols to unprecedented heights in the United States; specifically the Smith & Wesson Model 29 carried by Harry Callahan. ''Dirty Harry'' proved a phenomenal success after its release in December 1971, earning some $22 million (US$}} in dollars) in the United States and Canada alone. It was Siegel's highest-grossing film and the start of a series of films featuring the character of Harry Callahan. Although a number of critics praised his performance as Dirty Harry, such as Jay Cocks of ''Time'' magazine who described him as "giving his best performance so far, tense, tough, full of implicit identification with his character", the film was widely criticized and accused of fascism.

Following Sean Connery's announcement that he would not play James Bond again Eastwood was offered the role but turned it down because he believed the character should be played by an English actor. He next starred in the loner Western ''Joe Kidd'' (1972), based on a character inspired by Reies Lopez Tijerina who stormed a courthouse in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, in June 1967. Filming began in Old Tucson in November 1971 under director John Sturges, but Eastwood suffered symptoms of a bronchial infection and several panic attacks during filming. ''Joe Kidd'' received a mixed reception, with Roger Greenspun of ''The New York Times'' writing that the film was unremarkable, with foolish symbolism and sloppy editing, although he praised Eastwood's performance.

In 1973 Eastwood directed his first western, ''High Plains Drifter'', in which he starred alongside Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Billy Curtis, ''Rawhide'''s Paul Brinegar and Geoffrey Lewis. The film had a moral and supernatural theme, later emulated in ''Pale Rider''. The plot follows a mysterious stranger (Eastwood) who arrives in a brooding Western town where the people hire him to defend the town against three felons who are soon to be released. There remains confusion during the film as to whether the stranger is the brother of the deputy, whom the felons lynched and murdered, or his ghost. Holes in the plot were filled with black humor and allegory, influenced by Leone. The revisionist film received a mixed reception from critics, but was a major box office success. A number of critics thought Eastwood's directing was "as derivative as it was expressive", with Arthur Knight of the ''Saturday Review'' remarking that Eastwood had "absorbed the approaches of Siegel and Leone and fused them with his own paranoid vision of society". John Wayne, who had declined a role in the film, sent a letter of disapproval to Eastwood some weeks after the film's release saying that "the townspeople did not represent the true spirit of the American pioneer, the spirit that made America great". Eastwood next turned his attention towards ''Breezy'' (1973), a film about love blossoming between a middle-aged man and a teenage girl. During casting for the film Eastwood met Sondra Locke for the first time, an actress who would play major roles in many of his films for the next ten years and would become an important figure in his life. Kay Lenz was awarded the part of Breezy because Locke, at 28, was considered too old. The film, shot very quickly and efficiently by Eastwood and Frank Stanley, came in $1 million (US$}} in dollars) under budget and was finished three days ahead of schedule. ''Breezy'' was not a major critical or commercial success; it barely reached the Top 50 before disappearing and was only made available on video in 1998.

Once filming of ''Breezy'' had finished, Warner Brothers announced that Eastwood had agreed to reprise his role as Detective Harry Callahan in ''Magnum Force'' (1973), a sequel to ''Dirty Harry'', about a group of rogue young officers (among them David Soul, Robert Urich and Tim Matheson) in the San Francisco Police Force who systematically exterminate the city's worst criminals. Although the film was a major success after release, grossing $58.1 million (US$}} in dollars) in the United States alone and a new record for Eastwood, it was not a critical success. ''The New York Times'' critic Nora Sayre panned the often contradictory moral themes of the film, while the paper's Frank Rich called it "the same old stuff".

In 1974 Eastwood teamed up with Jeff Bridges and George Kennedy in the buddy action caper ''Thunderbolt and Lightfoot'', a road movie about a veteran bank robber Thunderbolt (Eastwood) and a young con man drifter, Lightfoot (Bridges). On its release, in spring 1974, the film was praised for its offbeat comedy mixed with high suspense and tragedy but was only a modest success at the box office, earning $32.4 million (US$}} in dollars). Eastwood's acting was noted by critics but was overshadowed by Bridges who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Eastwood reportedly fumed at the lack of Academy Award recognition for him and swore that he would never work for United Artists again.

Eastwood's next film ''The Eiger Sanction'' (1975) was based on Trevanian's critically acclaimed spy novel of the same name. Eastwood plays Jonathan Hemlock in a role originally intended for Paul Newman, an assassin turned college art professor who decides to return to his former profession for one last sanction in return for a rare Pissarro painting. In the process he must climb the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland under perilous conditions. Once again Eastwood starred alongside George Kennedy. Mike Hoover taught Eastwood how to climb during several weeks of preparation at Yosemite in the summer of 1974 before filming commenced in Grindelwald on August 12, 1974. Despite prior warnings about the perils of the Eiger the film crew suffered a number of accidents, including one fatality. In spite of the danger Eastwood insisted on doing all his own climbing and stunts. Upon its release in May 1975 ''The Eiger Sanction'' was a commercial failure, receiving only $23.8 million (US$}} in dollars) at the box office, and was panned by most critics. Joy Gould Boyum of the ''Wall Street Journal'' dismissed the film as "brutal fantasy". Eastwood blamed Universal Studios for the film's poor promotion and turned his back on them to make an agreement with Warner Brothers, through Frank Wells, that has lasted to the present day.

''The Outlaw Josey Wales'' (1976), a western inspired by Asa Carter's eponymous 1972 novel, has lead character Josey Wales (Eastwood) as a pro-Confederate guerilla who refuses to surrender his arms after the American Civil War and is chased across the old southwest by a group of enforcers. Eastwood cast his young son Kyle Eastwood, Chief Dan George, and Sondra Locke for the first time, against the wishes of director Philip Kaufman. Kaufman was notoriously fired by producer Bob Daley under Eastwood's command, resulting in a fine reported to be around $60,000 (US$}} in dollars) from the Directors Guild of America—who subsequently passed new legislation reserving the right to impose a major fine on a producer for discharging a director and taking his place. The film was pre-screened at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities in Idaho during a six-day conference entitled ''Western Movies: Myths and Images''. Invited to the screening were: some 200 esteemed film critics, including Jay Cocks and Arthur Knight; directors such as King Vidor, William Wyler, and Howard Hawks; along with a number of academics. Upon release in August 1976 ''The Outlaw Josey Wales'' was widely acclaimed, with many critics and viewers seeing Eastwood's role as an iconic one that related to America's ancestral past and the destiny of the nation after the American Civil War. Roger Ebert compared the nature and vulnerability of Eastwood's portrayal of Josey Wales with his Man with No Name character in the ''Dollars'' westerns and praised the film's atmosphere. The film would later appear in ''Time''s "Top 10 Films of the Year".

Eastwood was then offered the role of Benjamin L. Willard in Francis Coppola's ''Apocalypse Now'', but declined as he did not want to spend weeks on location in the Philippines. He also refused the part of a platoon leader in Ted Post's Vietnam War film ''Go Tell the Spartans'' and instead decided to make a third ''Dirty Harry'' film ''The Enforcer''. The film had Harry partnered with a new female officer (Tyne Daly) to face a San Francisco Bay area group resembling the Symbionese Liberation Army. The film, culminating in a shootout on Alcatraz island, was considerably shorter than the previous ''Dirty Harry'' films at 95 minutes, but was a major commercial success grossing $100 million (US$}} in dollars) worldwide to become Eastwood's highest-grossing film to date.

In 1977 he directed and starred in ''The Gauntlet'' opposite Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney, and Mara Corday. He portrays a down-and-out cop who falls in love with a prostitute that he is assigned to escort from Las Vegas to Phoenix, to testify against the mob. Although a moderate hit with the viewing public critics had mixed feelings about the film, with many believing it was overly violent. Eastwood's longtime nemesis Pauline Kael called it "a tale varnished with foul language and garnished with violence". Roger Ebert, on the other hand, gave it three stars and called it "...classic Clint Eastwood: fast, furious, and funny." In 1978 Eastwood starred in ''Every Which Way but Loose'' alongside Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Ruth Gordon and John Quade. In an uncharacteristic offbeat comedy role, Eastwood played Philo Beddoe, a trucker and brawler who roams the American West searching for a lost love accompanied by his brother and an orangutan called Clyde. The film proved a surprising success upon its release and became Eastwood's most commercially successful film at the time. Panned by the critics it ranked high amongst the box office successes of his career and was the second-highest grossing film of 1978.

Eastwood starred in the atmospheric thriller ''Escape from Alcatraz'' in 1979, the last of his films to be directed by Don Siegel. It was based on the true story of Frank Lee Morris who, along with John and Clarence Anglin, escaped from the notorious Alcatraz prison in 1962. The film was a major success and marked the beginning of a period of praise for Eastwood from the critics; Stanley Kauffmann of ''The New Republic'' lauding it as "crystalline cinema" and Frank Rich of ''Time'' describing it as "cool, cinematic grace".

1980s

Eastwood directed the 1980 comedy ''Bronco Billy'' as well as playing the lead role in alongside Locke, Scatman Crothers, and Sam Bottoms. His children, Kyle and Alison, also had small roles as orphans. Eastwood has cited ''Bronco Billy'' as being one of the most affable shoots of his career and biographer Richard Schickel has argued that the character of Bronco Billy is Eastwood's most self-referential work. The film was a commercial failure but was appreciated by critics. Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' believed the film was "the best and funniest Clint Eastwood movie in quite a while", praising Eastwood's directing and the way he intricately juxtaposes the old West and the new. Later in 1980 Eastwood starred in ''Any Which Way You Can'', the sequel to ''Every Which Way but Loose''. The film received a number of bad reviews from critics, although Maslin described it as "funnier and even better than its predecessor". The film became another box office success and was among the top five highest-grossing films of the year.

In 1982 Eastwood directed and starred alongside his son Kyle in ''Honkytonk Man'', based on the eponymous Clancy Carlile's depression-era novel. Eastwood portrays a struggling western singer Red Stovall who suffers from tuberculosis, but has finally been given an opportunity to make it big at the Grand Ole Opry. He is accompanied by his young nephew (Kyle) to Nashville, Tennessee where he is supposed to record a song. Only ''Time'' gave the film a good review in the United States, with most reviewers criticizing its blend of muted humor and tragedy. Nevertheless the film received critical acclaim in France, where it was compared to John Ford's ''The Grapes of Wrath'', and it has since acquired the very high rating of 93% on ''Rotten Tomatoes''. In that same year Eastwood directed, produced, and starred in the Cold War-themed ''Firefox'' alongside Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke and Ronald Lacey. Based on a 1977 novel with the same name written by Craig Thomas, the film was shot before ''Honkeytonk Man'' but was released after it. Russian filming locations were not possible due to the Cold War, and the film had to be shot in Vienna and other locations in Austria to simulate many of the Eurasian story locations. With a production cost of $20 million (US$}} in dollars) it was Eastwood's highest budget film to date. ''People'' magazine likened Eastwood's performance to "Luke Skywalker trapped in Dirty Harry's Soul".

''Sudden Impact'', the fourth ''Dirty Harry'' film, was shot in the spring and summer of 1983 and is widely considered to be the darkest and most violent of the series. By this time Eastwood received 60% of all profits from films he starred in and directed, with the rest going to the studio. ''Sudden Impact'' was the last film which he starred in with Locke. She plays a woman raped, along with her sister, by a ruthless gang at a fairground and seeks revenge for her sister's now vegetative state by systematically murdering her rapists. The line "Go ahead, make my day", uttered by Eastwood during an early scene in a coffee shop, is often cited as one of cinema's immortal ones; famously quoted by President Ronald Reagan in a speech to Congress and used during the 1984 presidential elections. The film was the highest-earning of all the ''Dirty Harry'' films earning $70 million (US$}} in dollars). It received rave reviews with many critics praising the feminist aspects of the film, through its explorations of the physical and psychological consequences of rape.

''Tightrope'' (1984) had Eastwood starring opposite his daughter Alison, Geneviève Bujold, and Jamie Rose in a provocative thriller, inspired by newspaper articles about an elusive Bay Area rapist. Set in New Orleans, to avoid confusion with the ''Dirty Harry'' films, Eastwood played a single-parent cop drawn into his target's tortured psychology and fascination for sadomasochism. He next starred in the period comedy ''City Heat'' (1984) alongside Burt Reynolds, a film about a private eye and his partner who get mixed up with gangsters in the prohibition era of the 1930s. It grossed around $50 million (US$}} in dollars) domestically, but was overshadowed by Eddie Murphy's ''Beverly Hills Cop'' and failed to meet expectations.

Eastwood made his only foray into TV direction with the 1985 ''Amazing Stories'' episode "Vanessa In The Garden", which starred Harvey Keitel and Sondra Locke. This was his first collaboration with Steven Spielberg, who later co-produced ''Flags of Our Fathers'' and ''Letters from Iwo Jima''. Eastwood revisited the western genre when he directed and starred in ''Pale Rider'' (1985) opposite Michael Moriarty and Carrie Snodgress. The film is based on the classic 1953 western ''Shane'' and follows a preacher descending from the mists of the Sierras to side with the miners during the California Gold Rush of 1850. The title is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the rider of the pale horse is Death, and shows similarities to Eastwood's 1973 western ''High Plains Drifter'' in its themes of morality and justice as well as its exploration of the supernatural. ''Pale Rider'' became one of Eastwood's most successful films to date. It was hailed as one of the best films of 1985 and the best western in years with Gene Siskel of the ''Chicago Tribune'' remarking, "This year (1985) will go down in film history as the moment Clint Eastwood finally earned respect as an artist".

In 1986 Eastwood co-starred with Marsha Mason in the military drama ''Heartbreak Ridge'', about the 1983 United States invasion of Grenada. He portrays an aging United States Marine Gunnery Sergeant and Korean War veteran. The production and filming of ''Heartbreak Ridge'' were marred by internal disagreements, between Eastwood and long-time friend and producer Fritz Manes as well as between Eastwood and the United States Department of Defense who expressed contempt for the film. At the time the film was a commercial rather than a critical success, only becoming viewed more favorably in recent times. The film was released in 1,470 theaters and grossed $70 million (US$}}) domestically.

Eastwood starred in ''The Dead Pool'' (1988), the fifth and final Dirty Harry film in the series. It co-starred Liam Neeson, Patricia Clarkson, and a young Jim Carrey who plays Johnny Squares, a drug-addled rock star and the first of the victims on a list of celebrities drawn up by horror film director Peter Swan (Neeson) who are deemed most likely to die, the so-called "Dead Pool". The list is stolen by an obsessed fan, who in mimicking his favorite director, systematically makes his way through the list killing off celebrities, of which Dirty Harry is also included. ''The Dead Pool'' grossed nearly $38 million (US$}}), relatively low receipts for a ''Dirty Harry'' film and it is generally viewed as the weakest film of the series, although Roger Ebert perceived it to be as good as the original.

Eastwood began working on smaller, more personal projects, and experienced a lull in his career between 1988 and 1992. Always interested in jazz he directed ''Bird'' (1988), a biopic starring Forest Whitaker as jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker. Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and Spike Lee, son of jazz bassist Bill Lee and a long term critic of Eastwood, criticized the characterization of Charlie Parker remarking that it did not capture his true essence and sense of humor. Eastwood received two Golden Globes for the film, the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his lifelong contribution, and the Best Director award. However, ''Bird'' was a commercial disaster earning just $11 million, which Eastwood attributed to the declining interest in jazz among black people.

Carrey would again appear with Eastwood in the poorly received comedy ''Pink Cadillac'' (1989) alongside Bernadette Peters. The film is about a bounty hunter and a group of white supremacists chasing an innocent woman who tries to outrun everyone in her husband's prized pink Cadillac. The film was a disaster, both critically and commercially, earning barely more than ''Bird'' and marking the lowest point in Eastwood's career in years.

1990s

Eastwood directed and starred in ''White Hunter Black Heart'' (1990), an adaptation of Peter Viertel's ''roman à clef'', about John Huston and the making of the classic film ''The African Queen''. Shot on location in Zimbabwe in the summer of 1989, the film received some critical attention but with only a limited release earned just $8.4 million (US$}} in dollars). Later the same year Eastwood directed and co-starred with Charlie Sheen in ''The Rookie'', a buddy cop action film. Critics found the macho jiving between Eastwood and Sheen unconvincing and passed the film off as "blatant racial Hispanic stereotyping". An ongoing lawsuit filed by Stacy McLaughlin resulted in no Eastwood films showing in cinemas in 1991—the third time in his career. The suit was in response to Eastwood allegedly ramming McLaughlin's car while backing out of his parking space at Malpaso. Eastwood won the suit and agreed to pay McLaughlin's court fees if she did not appeal.

}} In 1992 Eastwood revisited the western genre in the self-directed film ''Unforgiven'', where he played an aging ex-gunfighter long past his prime opposite Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, and his then girlfriend Frances Fisher. Scripts existed for the film as early as 1976 under titles such as ''The Cut-Whore Killings'' and ''The William Munny Killings'' but Eastwood delayed the project, partly because he wanted to wait until he was old enough to play his character and to savor it as the last of his western films. By re-envisioning established genre conventions in a more ambiguous and unromantic light the picture laid the groundwork for later westerns such as ''Deadwood''. ''Unforgiven'' was a major commercial and critical success, with nominations for nine Academy Awards including Best Actor for Eastwood and Best Original Screenplay for David Webb Peoples. It won four, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. Jack Methews of the ''Los Angeles Times'' described it as "the finest classical western to come along since perhaps John Ford's 1956 ''The Searchers''. In June 2008 ''Unforgiven'' was acknowledged as the fourth best American film in the western genre, behind ''Shane'', ''High Noon'', and ''The Searchers'', in the American Film Institute's "AFI's 10 Top 10" list.

Eastwood played Frank Horrigan in the Secret Service thriller ''In the Line of Fire'' (1993) directed by Wolfgang Petersen and co-starring John Malkovich and Rene Russo. Horrigan is a guilt-ridden Secret Service agent, haunted by his failure to react in time to save John F. Kennedy's life. As of 2011 it is the last time he acted in a film that he did not direct himself. The film was among the top 10 box office performers in that year, earning a reported $200 million (US$}} in dollars) in the United States alone. Later in 1993 Eastwood directed and co-starred with Kevin Costner in ''A Perfect World''. Set in the 1960s,Eastwood plays a Texas Ranger in pursuit of an escaped convict (Costner) who hits the road with a young boy (T.J. Lowther). Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' remarked that the film was the highest point of Eastwood's directing career and it has since been cited as one of his most underrated directorial achievements.

At the May 1994 Cannes Film Festival Eastwood received France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal then on March 27, 1995, he was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the 67th Academy Awards. His next appearance was in a cameo role as himself in the 1995 children's film ''Casper'' and continued to expand his repertoire by playing opposite Meryl Streep in the romantic picture ''The Bridges of Madison County'' in the same year. Based on a best-selling novel by Robert James Waller and set in Iowa, ''The Bridges of Madison County'' relates the story of Robert Kincaid (Eastwood), a photographer working for ''National Geographic'', who has a love affair with middle-aged Italian farm wife Francesca (Streep). The film was a hit at the box office and highly acclaimed by critics, despite unfavorable views of the novel and a subject deemed potentially disastrous for film. Roger Ebert remarked that "Streep and Eastwood weave a spell, and it is based on that particular knowledge of love and self that comes with middle age." ''The Bridges of Madison County'' was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture and won a César Award in France for Best Foreign Film. Streep was also nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

As well as directing the 1997 political thriller ''Absolute Power'', Eastwood once again appeared alongside co-star Gene Hackman. Eastwood played the role of a veteran thief who witnesses the Secret Service cover up of a murder. The film received a mixed reception from critics and was generally viewed as one of his weaker efforts. Maitland McDonagh of ''TV Guide'' remarked, "The plot turns are no more ludicrous than those of the average political thriller, but the slow pace makes their preposterousness all the more obvious. Eastwood's acting limitations are also sorely evident, since Luther is the kind of thoughtful thief who has to talk, rather than maintaining the enigmatic fortitude that is Eastwood's forte. Disappointing." Later in 1997 Eastwood directed ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', based on the novel by John Berendt and starring John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, and Jude Law, a film which received a mixed response from critics.

Eastwood directed and starred in ''True Crime'' (1999), which also featured his young daughter Francesca Fisher-Eastwood. He plays Steve Everett, a journalist recovering from alcoholism given the task of covering the execution of murderer Frank Beechum (Isaiah Washington). The film received a mixed reception with Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' writing, "''True Crime'' is directed by Mr. Eastwood with righteous indignation and increasingly strong momentum. As in ''A Perfect World,'' his direction is galvanized by a sense of second chances and tragic misunderstandings, and by contrasting a larger sense of justice with the peculiar minutiae of crime. Perhaps he goes a shade too far in the latter direction, though." If some reviews for ''True Crime'' were positive, commercially it was a box office bomb—earning less than half its $55 million (US$}} in dollars) budget—and easily became Eastwood's worst performing film of the 1990s aside from ''White Hunter Black Heart'', which only had limited release.

2000s

In 2000 Eastwood directed and starred in ''Space Cowboys'' alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner as one of a group of veteran "ex-test pilots" who are sent into space to repair an old Soviet satellite. The original music score was composed by Eastwood and Lennie Niehaus. ''Space Cowboys'' was well-received and holds a 79% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The film received a moderately favorable review from Roger Ebert, "it's too secure within its traditional story structure to make much seem at risk — but with the structure come the traditional pleasures as well." The film grossed over $90 million in its United States release, more than Eastwood's two previous films combined. The following year he played an ex-FBI agent on the track of a sadistic killer (Jeff Daniels) in the thriller ''Blood Work'', loosely based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Michael Connelly. The film was a failure, grossing just $26.2 million (US$}} in dollars) on an estimated budget of $50 million (US$}} in dollars), and received mixed reviews with a consensus at Rotten Tomatoes calling it "well-made but marred by lethargic pacing". Eastwood did, however, win the Future Film Festival Digital Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Eastwood directed and scored the crime drama ''Mystic River'' (2003), a film about murder, vigilantism, and sexual abuse, set in Boston. Starring Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and Tim Robbins, ''Mystic River'' was lauded by critics and viewers alike. The film won two Academy Awards, Best Actor for Penn and Best Supporting Actor for Robbins, with Eastwood garnering nominations for Best Director and Best Picture. Eastwood was named Best Director of the Year by the London Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. The film grossed $90 million (US$}} in dollars) domestically on a budget of $30 million (US$}} in dollars).

The following year Eastwood found further critical and commercial success when he directed, produced, scored, and starred in the boxing drama ''Million Dollar Baby'', playing a cantankerous trainer who forms a bond with female boxer (Hilary Swank) who he is persuaded to train by his lifelong friend (Morgan Freeman). The film won four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Swank), and Best Supporting Actor (Freeman). At age 74 Eastwood became the oldest of eighteen directors to have directed two or more Best Picture winners. He also received a nomination for Best Actor and a Grammy nomination for his score. A. O. Scott of ''The New York Times'' lauded the film as a "masterpiece" and the best film of the year.

In 2006 Eastwood directed two films about World War II's Battle of Iwo Jima. The first, ''Flags of Our Fathers'', focused on the men who raised the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi and was followed by ''Letters from Iwo Jima'', which dealt with the tactics of the Japanese soldiers on the island and the letters they wrote home to family members. ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' was the first American film to depict a war issue completely from the view of an American enemy. Both films received praise from critics and garnered several nominations at the 79th Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay for ''Letters from Iwo Jima''. At the 64th Golden Globe Awards Eastwood received nominations for Best Director in both films. ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' won the award for Best Foreign Language Film. Eastwood next directed ''Changeling'' (2008), based on a true story set in the late 1920s. Angelina Jolie stars as a woman who is reunited with her missing son only to realize that he is an impostor. After its release at several film festivals the film grossed over $110 million (US$}} in dollars), the majority of which came from foreign markets. The film was highly acclaimed, with Damon Wise of ''Empire'' describing ''Changeling'' as "flawless". Todd McCarthy of ''Variety'' described it as "emotionally powerful and stylistically sure-handed" and stated that ''Changeling'' was a more complex and wide-ranging work than Eastwood's ''Mystic River'', saying the characters and social commentary were brought into the story with an "almost breathtaking deliberation". Film critic Prairie Miller said that, in its portrayal of female courage, the film was "about as feminist as Hollywood can get" whilst David Denby argued that, like Eastwood's ''Million Dollar Baby'', the film was "less an expression of feminist awareness than a case of awed respect for a woman who was strong and enduring." Eastwood received nominations for Best Original Score at the 66th Golden Globe Awards, Best Direction at the 62nd British Academy Film Awards and director of the year from the London Film Critics' Circle.

After four years away from acting Eastwood ended his "self-imposed acting hiatus" with ''Gran Torino'', which he also directed, produced, and partly scored with his son Kyle and Jamie Cullum. Biographer Marc Eliot called Eastwood's role "an amalgam of the Man with No Name, Dirty Harry, and William Munny, here aged and cynical but willing and able to fight on whenever the need arose." Eastwood has said that the role will most likely be the last time he acts in a film. It grossed close to $30 million (US$}} in dollars) during its wide release opening weekend in January 2009, the highest of his career as an actor or director. ''Gran Torino'' eventually grossed over $268 million (US$}} in dollars) in theaters worldwide becoming the highest-grossing film of Eastwood's career so far, without adjustment for inflation.

His 29th directorial outing came with ''Invictus'', a film based on the story of the South African team at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, with Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as rugby team captain François Pienaar. Freeman had bought the film rights to John Carlin's book on which the film is based. The film met with generally positive reviews; Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars and described it as a "very good film... with moments evoking great emotion", while ''Variety''s Todd McCarthy wrote, "Inspirational on the face of it, Clint Eastwood's film has a predictable trajectory, but every scene brims with surprising details that accumulate into a rich fabric of history, cultural impressions and emotion." Eastwood was nominated for Best Director at the 67th Golden Globe Awards.

2010s

}} In 2010, Eastwood directed the drama ''Hereafter'', again working with Damon, who portrayed a psychic. The film had its world premiere on September 12, 2010 at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and was given a limited release on October 15, 2010. ''Hereafter'' received mixed reviews from critics, with the consensus at Rotten Tomatoes being, "Despite a thought-provoking premise and Clint Eastwood's typical flair as director, ''Hereafter'' fails to generate much compelling drama, straddling the line between poignant sentimentality and hokey tedium." In the same year, Eastwood served as executive producer for a Turner Classic Movies (TCM) documentary about jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, ''Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way'', to commemorate Brubeck's 90th birthday.

Eastwood's current project is a 2011 biopic of J. Edgar Hoover, entitled ''J. Edgar'', focusing on the former FBI director's scandalous career and controversial private life. It will star Leonardo DiCaprio as Hoover, Armie Hammer as Clyde Tolson, and Damon Herriman as Bruno Hauptmann. In January 2011, it was announced that Eastwood is in talks to direct Beyoncé Knowles in a fourth remake of the 1937 film ''A Star Is Born'', with a 2012 release likely.

Directing style

Beginning with the thriller ''Play Misty for Me'', Eastwood has directed over 30 films in his career; including westerns, action films, and dramas. From the very early days of his career, Eastwood had been frustrated by directors insisting that scenes be re-shot multiple times and perfected and when he began as a director in 1971 he made a conscious attempt to avoid any aspects of directing he had been indifferent to as an actor. As a result, Eastwood is renowned for his efficient film directing and to reduce filming time and to keep budgets under control. Eastwood usually avoids actors rehearsing and prefers most scenes to be completed on the first take. In preparation for filming Eastwood rarely uses storyboards for developing the layout of a shooting schedule. He also attempts to reduce script background details on characters to allow the audience to become more involved in the film, considering their imagination a requirement for a film that connects with viewers. Eastwood has indicated that he lays out a film's plot to provide the audience with necessary details, but not "so much that it insults their intelligence."According to ''Life'' magazine, "Eastwood's style is to shoot first and act afterward. He etches his characters virtually without words. He has developed the art of underplaying to the point that anyone around him who so much as flinches looks hammily histrionic."

Interviewers Richard Thompson and Tim Hunter note that Eastwood's films are "superbly paced: unhurried; cool; and [give] a strong sense of real time, regardless of the speed of the narrative" while Ric Gentry considers Eastwood's pacing to be "unrushed and relaxed". Many of Eastwood's films rely on low lighting to give his films a "noir-ish" feel. Reviewers have pointed out that the majority of his films are based on the male point-of-view, although female characters typically have strong roles as both heroes and villains.

Politics

Eastwood registered as a Republican to vote for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and later supported Richard Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. However, he later criticized Nixon's handling of the Vietnam War and his morality during Watergate. He expressed his disapproval of America's wars in Korea (1950–1953), Vietnam (1964–1973), and Iraq (2003–2010), believing that the United States should not be overly militaristic or play the role of global policeman. He considers himself too individualistic to be either right-wing or left-wing, describing himself as a "political nothing" and a "moderate" in 1974 and a libertarian in 1997. Eastwood has stated that while he does not see himself as conservative, he is not an "ultra-leftist" either. At times he has supported Democrats in California, including Representative Sam Farr in 2002 and Governor Gray Davis in 2003. A longtime liberal on social issues Eastwood has stated that he is pro-choice on abortion. He has endorsed the notion of allowing gays to marry and contributed to groups supporting the Equal Rights Amendment for women.

As a politician Eastwood has made successful forays into both local and state government. In April 1986 he was elected mayor for one term in his home town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California – a small, wealthy town and artist community on the Monterey Peninsula. During his term he tended towards supporting small business interests and advocating environmental protection. In 2001 Eastwood was appointed to the California State Park and Recreation Commission by Governor Davis, then reappointed in 2004 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the vice chairman of the commission, in 2005 along with chairman Bobby Shriver, he led the movement opposed to a six-lane extension of California State Route 241, a toll road that would cut through San Onofre State Beach. Eastwood and Shriver supported a 2006 lawsuit to block the toll road and urged the California Coastal Commission to reject the project, which it duly did in February 2008. In March 2008 Eastwood and Shriver's non-reappointment to the commission on the expiry of their terms prompted the Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC) to request a legislative investigation into the decision. Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Eastwood to the California Film Commission in April 2004. He has also acted as a spokesman for Take Pride in America, an agency of the United States Department of the Interior which advocates taking responsibility for natural, cultural, and historic resources.

During the 2008 United States Presidential Election Eastwood endorsed John McCain, whom he has known since 1973, but nevertheless wished Barack Obama well upon his subsequent victory. In August 2010 Eastwood wrote to the British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to protest the decision to close the UK Film Council, warning that the closure could result in fewer foreign production companies choosing to work in the UK.

Personal life

Relationships

Eastwood has fathered at least seven children by five different women and has been described as a "serial womanizer". According to biographers Eastwood has always had a strong sexual appetite and particularly so during the 1970s. He has had affairs with many women including actresses Catherine Deneuve, Peggy Lipton, Jean Seberg, Kay Lenz, Jamie Rose, Inger Stevens, Jo Ann Harris, Jill Banner, casting director Jane Brolin, script analyst Megan Rose, and swimming champion Anita Lhoest.

On December 19, 1953, Eastwood married model Maggie Johnson, six months after they had met on a blind date. The couple had two children: Kyle Eastwood (born May 19, 1968) and Alison Eastwood (born May 22, 1972). Eastwood filed for divorce in 1979 after a long separation, but the $25 million (US$}} in dollars) divorce settlement was not finalized until May 1984.

During an earlier separation from Johnson he fathered a daughter, Kimber (born June 17, 1964), with dancer Roxanne Tunis. Eastwood did not publicly acknowledge her until 1996. Kimber is the mother of Eastwood's oldest grandchild, Clinton, born on February 21, 1984.

He began a fourteen-year relationship with actress Sondra Locke in 1975. They co-starred in six films together: ''The Outlaw Josey Wales'', ''The Gauntlet'', ''Every Which Way but Loose'', ''Bronco Billy'', ''Any Which Way You Can'', and ''Sudden Impact''. During the relationship Locke had two abortions and a subsequent tubal ligation at his request. The couple separated acrimoniously in 1989; Locke filed a palimony suit against Eastwood after being evicted from the home which they shared. She sued him a second time, for fraud, regarding an alleged phony directing deal he gave her in settlement of the first lawsuit. Locke and Eastwood went on to resolve the dispute with a non-public settlement in 1999. Her memoir ''The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly'' includes an account of their years together.

During his cohabitation with Locke, Eastwood had an affair with flight attendant Jacelyn Reeves. According to biographers they met at the premiere of ''Pale Rider'' where they conceived a son, Scott Reeves (born March 21, 1986). They also had a daughter, Kathryn Reeves (born February 2, 1988), although neither of them were publicly acknowledged until years later. Kathryn served as Miss Golden Globe at the 2005 ceremony where she presented Eastwood with an award for ''Million Dollar Baby''.

In 1990 Eastwood began living with actress Frances Fisher, whom he had met on the set of ''Pink Cadillac'' (1989). They co-starred in ''Unforgiven'' and had a daughter, Francesca Fisher-Eastwood (born August 7, 1993). The couple ended their relationship in early 1995, but remain friends and later appeared together in ''True Crime''. Eastwood met anchorwoman Dina Ruiz when she interviewed him in 1993 and they married on March 31, 1996, when Eastwood surprised her with a private ceremony at his home on the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. She is 35 years his junior and the couple's daughter, Morgan Eastwood, was born on December 12, 1996.

Leisure

Despite appearing to smoke in many of his films, Eastwood is a life-long non-smoker, has been conscious of his health and fitness since he was a teenager, and practices healthy eating and daily Transcendental Meditation. On July 21, 1970, Eastwood's father died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 64. This profoundly altered Eastwood's lifestyle, encouraging him to adopt a vigorous health and exercise regime to ensure his longevity. He abstained from hard liquor, although he still favored cold beer, and opened an old English-inspired pub called the Hog's Breath Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1971. Eastwood eventually sold the pub and now owns the Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant, also located in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Eastwood is a keen golfer and owns the Tehàma Golf Club. He is also an investor in the world-renowned Pebble Beach Golf Links and donates his time every year to charitable causes at major tournaments. Eastwood was formerly a licensed pilot and often flew his helicopter to the studios to avoid traffic.

Music

Eastwood is an audiophile and has had a strong passion for music all his life. He particularly favors jazz and country and western music and is a pianist and composer. Jazz has played an important role in Eastwood's life from a young age and, although he never made it as a professional musician, he passed on the influence to his son Kyle Eastwood, a successful jazz bassist and composer. Eastwood developed as a ragtime pianist early on and had originally intended to pursue a career in music by studying for a music theory degree after graduating from high school. In late 1959 he produced the album ''Cowboy Favorites'', released on the Cameo label.

Eastwood has his own Warner Bros. Records-distributed imprint Malpaso Records, as part of his deal with Warner Brothers, which has released all of the scores of Eastwood's films from ''The Bridges of Madison County'' onward. Eastwood co-wrote "Why Should I Care" with Linda Thompson and Carole Bayer Sager, which was recorded by Diana Krall. Eastwood composed the film scores of ''Mystic River'', ''Grace Is Gone'' (2007), and ''Changeling'', and the original piano compositions for ''In the Line of Fire''. He also wrote and performed the song heard over the credits of ''Gran Torino''. The music in ''Grace Is Gone'' received two Golden Globe nominations by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the 65th Golden Globe Awards. Eastwood was nominated for Best Original Score, while the song "Grace is Gone" with music by Eastwood and lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager was nominated for Best Original Song. It won the Satellite Award for Best Song at the 12th Satellite Awards. ''Changeling'' was nominated for Best Score at the 14th Critics' Choice Awards, Best Original Score at the 66th Golden Globe Awards, and Best Music at the 35th Saturn Awards. On September 22, 2007, Eastwood was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music at the Monterey Jazz Festival, on which he serves as an active board member. Upon receiving the award he gave a speech claiming, "It's one of the great honors I'll cherish in this lifetime."

Awards and honors

colspan="2" Best Director Best Director Best Director

+ Academy Awards
Year !! Award !! Film !! W/N
	Academy Award for Best Director>Best Director	Unforgiven'' >
Academy Award for Best Picture	Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Actor	Best Actor	''Unforgiven''
1994	Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award || style="text-align: center"|Won
rowspan="2"	2003	|	Mystic River (film)>Mystic River''	Nominated
Best Picture	''Mystic River''
rowspan="3"	2004	|	''Million Dollar Baby''	Won
Best Picture
Best Actor	''Million Dollar Baby''
rowspan="2"	2006	|	''Letters from Iwo Jima''	Nominated
Best Picture	''Letters from Iwo Jima''

Eastwood has been recognized with multiple awards and nominations for his work in film, television, and music. His widest reception has been in film work, for which he has received Academy Awards, Directors Guild of America Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and People's Choice Awards, among others. Eastwood is one of only two people to have been twice nominated for Best Actor and Best Director for the same film (''Unforgiven'' and ''Million Dollar Baby'') the other being Warren Beatty (''Heaven Can Wait'' and ''Reds''). Along with Beatty, Robert Redford, Richard Attenborough, Kevin Costner, and Mel Gibson, he is one of the few directors best known as an actor to win an Academy Award for directing. On February 27, 2005, he became one of only three living directors (along with Miloš Forman and Francis Ford Coppola) to have directed two Best Picture winners. At age 74, he was also the oldest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Director. Eastwood has directed five actors in Academy Award–winning performances: Gene Hackman in ''Unforgiven'', Tim Robbins and Sean Penn in ''Mystic River'', and Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank in ''Million Dollar Baby''.

On August 22, 1984, Eastwood was honored at a ceremony at Grauman's Chinese theater to record his hand and footprints in cement. Eastwood received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1996 and received an honorary degree from AFI in 2009. On December 6, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Eastwood into the California Hall of Fame located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts. In early 2007, Eastwood was presented with the highest civilian distinction in France, Légion d'honneur, at a ceremony in Paris. French President Jacques Chirac told Eastwood that he embodied "the best of Hollywood". In October 2009, he was honored by the Lumière Award (in honor of the Lumière Brothers, inventors of the Cinematograph) during the first edition of the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France. This award honors his entire career and his major contribution to the 7th Art. In February 2010, Eastwood was recognized by President Barack Obama with an arts and humanities award. Obama described Eastwood's films as "essays in individuality, hard truths and the essence of what it means to be American."

Eastwood has also been awarded at least three honorary degrees from universities and colleges, including an honorary degree from University of the Pacific in 2006, an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Southern California on May 27, 2007, and an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 22, 2007.

Filmography

Eastwood has contributed to over 50 films over his career as actor, director, producer, and composer. He has acted in several television series, most notably starring in ''Rawhide''. He started directing in 1971 and made his debut as a producer in 1982 with ''Firefox'' and ''Honkytonk Man''. Eastwood also has contributed music to his films, either through performing, writing, or composing. He has mainly starred in western, action, and drama films. According to the box office-revenue tracking website, Box Office Mojo, films featuring Eastwood have grossed a total of more than US$1.68 billion domestically, with an average of $37 million per film.

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Clint Eastwood at Rotten Tomatoes

Charlie Rose show: An hour with Clint Eastwood

|- ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;"|National Board of Review |-

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name	10 Years
background	group_or_band
origin	Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
genre	Alternative metal, post-grunge
years active	1999–present
label	Universal Records
website	www.10yearsmusic.com
current members	Jesse HasekRyan "Tater" JohnsonLewis "Big Lew" CosbyBrian Vodinh
past members	Mike UnderdownAndy ParksMatt Wantland }}

10 Years is an American alternative metal band, formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1999.

History

Early Years, ''Into the Half Moon'' (1999–2001)

10 Years was initially formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1999 with singer Mike Underdown, drummer Brian Vodinh, bassist Lewis Cosby, and guitarists Ryan "Tater" Johnson (also of The American Plague) and Matt Wantland. In 2001, Cosby left and the band recruited Andy Parks on bass. They independently recorded ''Into the Half Moon'' the same year.

''Killing All That Holds You'', ''The Autumn Effect'' (2002–2006)

Lead vocalist Mike Underdown left the band to pursue a career in acting. 10 Years soon recruited current vocalist Jesse Hasek from another local band. In 2002, Parks decided to leave the band and Cosby returned. The band then released their independent album ''Killing All That Holds You'' in 2004.

10 Years was then signed to Universal Records in 2005 and released their major label debut, ''The Autumn Effect'' on August 16, 2005 with the songs "Wasteland" and "Through the Iris" picking up regional radio play. Their first single, "Wasteland" spent over 12 months on the rock charts, finally reaching #1 at active rock radio in December 2005.

That same summer, the band toured with Disturbed and Ill Niño. In the fall of 2005, they toured with Breaking Benjamin and Smile Empty Soul, then followed up with the Masters of Horror tour with Mudvayne and Sevendust. They opened for Korn and Mudvayne on Korn's ''See You on the Other Side'' tour. They also toured with Korn and Deftones on the Family Values Tour, which started in late July 2006.

In mid February 2006, "Wasteland" reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart. "Wasteland" has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

In mid-2006, the band toured Australia in a lineup which included Hatebreed, Disturbed and Korn.

Their first music video, "Wasteland", addresses the social problem of human rights as well as addiction around the world. The video received a nomination for Best Direction and Best Art Direction at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, but did not win either.

On March 27, 2006, an EP was released on iTunes containing acoustic versions of "Wasteland" and other tracks from ''The Autumn Effect''.

''Division'' (2006–2008)

On November 19, 2006, 10 Years unveiled and confirmed the title "Division" for their second album. The band would begin recording Division in late June 2007 after spending the better part of a year writing.

Lewis told in an interview that the album is "so different from the first one [The Autumn Effect], but it's still 10 Years," and, "It just sounds like [the songs] would be from a totally different album, which was, you know, the goal." It was also revealed that the track titled "Focus" was co-written with Stone Temple Pilots and former Army of Anyone guitarist Dean DeLeo.

On May 21, 2007 a demo song titled "All Your Lies" from Division was released onto their MySpace along with a post stating the band had chosen producer Rick Parasher to produce the new album. On September 7, the band announced on their MySpace that the album was finished and would be released in 2008, following a tour with Dir En Grey, Sevendust, Operator, Thousand Foot Krutch and Chevelle.

On January 29, 2008, "Beautiful," the new single from Division, was released to iTunes and a snippet was also posted on the band's MySpace page. ''Division'' was released on May 13, 2008 after being pushed back due to finalization of the album's artwork.

10 Years was featured on the Revolution Stage of Linkin Park's Summer Projekt Revolution 2008 tour with Atreyu, Hawthorne Heights and Armor For Sleep.

They went on tour with Mudvayne until mid December 2008.

''Feeding the Wolves'' (2009–present)

10 Years announced that their upcoming third major label album would be entitled ''Feeding the Wolves''. The album was produced by Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson and mixed by Chris "Lord" Alge. The band has mentioned the album is of their heaviest material to date and "very similar to some of their early songs."

Throughout the first half of 2010, the band went back and forth between putting on live shows and working in the studio. Before the album was released, the band debuted new songs at live performances such as "Dead in the Water", "Now is the Time", and the new album's first single "Shoot It Out".

On June 12, 2010, "Shoot It Out" was featured on Sirius/XM Radio. The track was released to radio later that month, and was made available for download on iTunes July 6. ''Feeding the Wolves'' was released on August 31, 2010.

To promote the album's release, the band opened Shinedown's 2010 Carnival of Madness summer tour alongside Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd, and Sevendust. In the fall they joined Sevendust again on the Hard Drive Live tour with support from Since October and Anew Revolution.

In December, the band went on a mini-headline tour, where they played some older songs that they had not played in some time. February 2011, their new single "Fix Me" releases to radio while they headline a spring tour with Hollywood Undead.

On June 17 and 18 the band shot a music video for "Fix Me" in Columbus, Ohio with production company Thunder Down Country. The video was released via YouTube on August 9, 2011.

Band members

Current

Jesse Hasek – Vocals (2002–present)

Ryan "Tater" Johnson – Guitar, Backing Vocals (1999–present)

Lewis Cosby – Bass (1999–present)

Brian Vodinh – Guitar, Backing Vocals (2009–present); Drums (1999–2009)

Matt Brown – Drums (2010–present)

Live

Sam Anderson – Drums (2010)

Kyle Mayer – Drums (2010)

Former

Mike Underdown – Vocals (1999–2001)

Matt Wantland – Guitar (1999–2009)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions
		!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"	!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"
2001	''Into the Half Moon''	* Released: 2001	Compact Disc>CD
2004	''Killing All That Holds You''	* Released: 2004	Universal Records>Universal	* Format: CD
2005	''The Autumn Effect''	* Released: August 16, 2005	* Label: Universal Republic	* Format: CD
2008		* Released: May 13, 2008	* Label: Universal Republic	* Format: CD
2010		* Released: August 31, 2010	* Label: Universal Republic	* Format: CD

Extended plays

2006: ''Acoustic EP''

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions	Album
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"	!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"	!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"
2005
	"Through the Iris"
"Waking Up"
2009	"Actions & Motives"
2010	"Shoot It Out"
2011	"Fix Me"

References

External links

Official Site

Category:American post-grunge musical groups Category:Musical groups from Knoxville, Tennessee Category:Musical groups established in 1999 Category:Rock music groups from Tennessee Category:Musical quartets

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