Legendary actor Clint Eastwood became a household name after starring in the acclaimed Spaghetti Western trilogy by Sergio Leone. The three films, A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, were landmark films in the genre and established Eastwood as a true Western star.
Eastwood’s performance as the Man with No Name has its legendary iconography with his signature hat, poncho, and cigar. However, the actor reportedly had a tough time with one iconic element of the character in the films, which even once led to him shouting at Leone.
Clint Eastwood In The Dollars Trilogy
Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy began with A Fistful of Dollars, which was an unofficial adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. Kurosawa reportedly filed a lawsuit against Leone and won the suit, winning the rights to distribute the film in Japan and also a percentage in the worldwide gross.
Leone initially wanted Henry Fonda to play the role of the Man With No Name but the production company could not afford him. The director also approached Charles Bronson for the role, who rejected it after disliking the script. The film finally went to Clint Eastwood, who was looking to do a film that was different from his role in the TV show Rawhide.
Eastwood was reportedly heavily involved in the development of the Man with No Name character. The legendary actor took a personal interest in selecting the costume and iconography of the character and even had props from his show Rawhide brought to the set. In his biography Clint: The Life and Legend, he said,
“It was just the kind of character I had envisioned for a long time, keep to the mystery and allude to what happened in the past. It came about after the frustration of doing Rawhide for so long. I felt the less he said, the stronger he became and the more he grew in the imagination of the audience.”
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Clint Eastwood was responsible for the signature squint and ‘talk-less’ attitude of the character.
Clint Eastwood Got Into A Fight With Sergio Leone Over Cigars
Clint Eastwood agreed to film A Fistful of Dollars after he was interested in turning Yojimbo into a Western as well. He agreed to a salary of $15,000 and a Mercedes after completion. Eastwood reportedly worked well with Sergio Leone and the two got along really well despite Eastwood not knowing Italian and Leone not knowing English.
However, there was one point where Eastwood lost his patience with the legendary director. Clint Eastwood was a non-smoker but decided to give the Man with No Name a distinctive style and brought cigars for him. The actor mentioned to The Independent (via Far Out) that he was not aware of how they tasted and just thought that they looked good on film. He said,
“I went out and bought a bunch of cigars that I thought would look good in a western. I had no idea they’d taste so vile. But I brought those along with me and I gave them to props and we cut them all up.”
Eastwood was disgusted with the cigars and nearly got into a fight over them with Sergio Leone. The director was reportedly filming multiple takes of a single scene which caused discomfort to the Million Dollar Baby star. He reportedly told Leone, “You better get it this time, because I’m going to throw up”.
Clint Eastwood has reportedly been a non-smoker all his life and never picked it up despite being known for it on the screen.