Though her longtime love affair with Clint Eastwood largely defined Sondra Locke's public
persona, she was a creative force who struggled in her paramour's considerable shadow her
entire life.
An actress and indie film pioneer, Locke died in December 2018 at 74 years old.
This is her untold story.
Oscar-nominated debut
Sondra Locke burst onto the Hollywood scene in her first feature film by earning both
an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal as teenage Mick Kelly opposite
Alan Arkin in 1968's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.
Based on Carson McCullers' acclaimed novel of the same name, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
stars Arkin as a deaf-mute who rents a room in a small Georgia town to be close to his
institutionalized friend.
Once there, he begins to change the lives of all those around him, including a young
girl, played by Locke, who lives in the boarding house.
Locke said in an interview:
"I dreamed of being an actress in films, and then one day WB held a nationwide talent search
for an unknown actress to star in The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, and I was swept away from
a small town in Tennessee to Hollywood and an Oscar nomination."
Enter Clint Eastwood
Sondra Locke worked with Clint Eastwood for the first time in 1975 during the making of
the Civil War revenge thriller The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Shortly afterward Locke and Eastwood, who was married to Maggie Johnson at the time,
began an affair that would last until 1989.
"There's one too many women in your life."
The couple would go on to make five more films together with Warner Bros., The Gauntlet,
Every Which Way But Loose, Bronco Billy, Any Which Way You Can, and Sudden Impact, until
creative and personal differences drove them apart.
Directing shot
When Sondra Locke made her directorial debut with 1986's Ratboy, her relationship with
Clint Eastwood started to unravel.
Locke told The LA Times in a 1996 interview:
"I was beginning to develop, maybe a little bit too much, and it changed the dynamics.
He was Daddy, you know, and I guess that was no longer the case.
When you're a director, the job itself forces you to take charge."
Reflecting on her experience in an interview with Coming Soon, Locke admitted that Eastwood
seemed to be against her decision to direct.
In fact, Eastwood's Malpaso Company produced Ratboy through his deal with Warner Bros.,
despite objections from Locke.
"So, not only did he put his name on it but then also, he felt that he was in a position
to tell me what to do all the time."
"Well I’d argue with you but-”
“Don’t argue with me, that’s the only way we’re doing it.
I teach you all you need to know, and then you go off and you make a million dollars.”
Exit Clint Eastwood
Sondra Locke's sophomore directorial effort, 1990's Impulse, was a psychological cop thriller
starring Theresa Russell.
Clint Eastwood was not involved, and according to Locke, quote, "that's really when it started
to unravel."
Per Locke's autobiography, she alleged that Eastwood attempted to sabotage the film from
the start.
She claims Eastwood tried to make her miss production meetings, and whenever producer
and longtime Eastwood collaborator Al Ruddy would call to discuss the project, Eastwood
hopped on the piano, quote, "banging out Scott Joplin tunes as loudly as he could."
Tensions rose to a boiling point when, per the The LA Times:
"Eastwood changed the locks of their Bel-Air home and called [a moving company] to pack
up and store her clothes while she was away, directing."
"Get off my lawn."
Fighting back
Sondra Locke filed a lawsuit to return to the home, but according to the Los Angeles
Times, she later settled for "the home Eastwood had bought her husband, about $500,000, and
a three-year, $1.5-million development deal at Warner Bros."
When the Warners deal turned out to be an alleged ruse, Locke sued the studio.
She also sued Eastwood in 1994 after discovering that he'd allegedly bankrolled the development
deal with Warner Bros. and then made sure that none of her film pitches were approved.
The suit against Warner Bros. was dismissed, but Locke sued Eastwood again for attempting
to crush her career.
Eastwood eventually settled with Locke for an undisclosed amount in 1996.
After the settlement, Locke explained why she persevered when many thought she should
quit, telling the LA Times:
"Since everything in my life collapsed in '89, I was just determined that I wouldn't
cave in.
I wouldn't just go away or become a basket case.
I knew the value of me as a person."
Over before it began
1997's Trading Favors was the third and final feature film Sondra Locke directed.
According to an interview, she hoped to transition from acting to directing as she felt "felt
very at home" behind the camera, but it just wasn't a future she saw herself in.
"I was emotionally devastated from the years of fighting my legal battles, and had become
somewhat jaded about the whole Hollywood political game.
[...] Also, I realized that all scripts which interested me were not the films the studios
wanted to make.
My tastes were more geared toward the smaller, independent film."
Not an Eastwood fan
Clint Eastwood's unorthodox directing style is the stuff of Hollywood legend.
Locke was not a fan of Eastwood's workmanlike efficiency.
She said:
"Clint never really gave direction to the actors, certainly not to me.
I was very much on my own.
I always wondered how much better my performances might have been, had I had a director who
really 'worked' with me."
Locke went on to say that Eastwood doesn't really "direct" his films, but instead just,
quote, "'shoots a script."
She explained:
"I would say it is not so much directing as 'covering' the script.
By that I mean he will 'cover' a scene with all shots required to know what is going on,
but doesn't express an opinion or guide the audiences' emotions or eye."