Clint Eastwood refused to leave burning room ‘because there was work to be done’
The 92-year-old is well known for his gritty performances which have earned him critical acclaim.
Concerns for Clint Eastwood have grown after it emerged he had not been seen in public for more than 400 days, with close friends said to be worried about his health. The Academy Award winner, who turns 93 on May 31, has enjoyed an incredible life, and has maintained a healthy lifestyle after his father passed away in his sixties. And his robust health even saw the man nicknamed Samson demand people continue working despite a fire blazing on one of his sets.
In 2020, Eastwood’s son Scott recalled the incident on Instagram when a bush fire raged and evacuation requests for the star to leave the site he was working on were made by the authorities.
The fire burned near a Warner Bros studio lot in Burbank, and was subsequently evacuated as a precaution. Scott shared a picture of the lot with his followers before going into more detail.
He posted: “Security told us to evacuate the studio. But my 89-year-old father said. ‘No were good, There’s work to be done.
“Then we went into the mixing stage and all watched his new movie. As he would say, get back to work and shut up. True story.”
Clint Eastwood once refused to leave a burning region because he wanted to work (Image: GETTY)
Clint Eastwood along with his son, Scott (Image: GETTY)
Another to witness the chaos was composer Christopher Drake, who is responsible for scores including Justice League: Doom, Wonder Woman, and Batman.
He too addressed the scenes, telling followers on Twitter he had to “evac my studio at Warner Bros for the first time ever due to smoke from the Barham Fire right behind the studio… Warner Bros is on total lockdown at the moment”.
Eastwood was reportedly working on the 2021 drama flick Cry Macho, which the actor also starred in and directed.
More recently, an insider spoke of how concerns for Eastwood had grown after he had not been seen for more than a year.
Clint Eastwood as the man with no name (Image: GETTY)
RadarOnline.com reported that someone close to the Gran Torino star said: “Clint has always enjoyed great health and been vital and active despite his advancing age, but the fact that he hasn’t been around as much lately has a lot of people in Hollywood worried about him.
“It’s hard to imagine him in anything other than fine form but Father Time catches up to all of us.”
Eastwood put his health at the forefront of his mind after his father suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 64 in 1970.
The experience of this loss shaped Eastwood’s life, Fritz Manes, a longtime collaborator with the spaghetti western gunslinger, said, describing it as the “only bad thing that ever happened to him in his life”, in Patrick McGilligan’s 2015 book Clint: The Life and Legend.
Clint Eastwood hold two of his four Oscars (Image: GETTY)
The star himself also spoke of the “profound impact” his father’s death had on him. He adopted a strict diet, and detested cigarettes – a habit his chain-smoking father enjoyed.
His father’s death, Eastwood explained in McGilligan’s book, made the star demand to be “more productive, working with greater speed and efficiency on set, and adopted an even more rigorous health regimen”.
He said: “Stay away from carbohydrates, especially rich desserts. Keep a scale in your bathroom. Get proper rest. Try to be optimistic. Eat fruits and raw vegetables. Take vitamins. Skip beverages loaded with sugars. Avoid alcohol in excess.”
Scott too reflected on his Eastwood’s health and longevity, which has seen him continue filmmaking and earning critical acclaim into his nineties.
Clint Eastwood has discussed his concern over his family’s history of health (Image: GETTY)
Speaking to Men’s Health in 2017, Scott added: “[Eastwood] showed me how to lift when I was 14 or 15 — the bench press and other basics. He made it clear it was more important to do the moves correctly than to put on more plates.”
Last year, Eastwood’s friendship with Judi Dench was reflected upon by the British actress when she was interviewed on the podcast series Louis Theroux Interviews… on BBC Sounds.
The 88-year-old hailed Eastwood as the “the most laidback man I have ever met”, describing his methodology as a director: “You start at nine, you finish at four.”
The pair worked together on J. Edgar, and putting on an American accent to impersonate Eastwood, she added: “‘In your own time,’ that’s what he’d say. Then at the end of the scene, he says, ‘Stop.’ Not ‘cut’. And he didn’t shout it, either. Just that, ‘In your own time.’”
She then recalled another encounter between the two, adding: “‘Mr Eastwood, could we possibly do that again?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Sorry?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Well, because we’ve just done it once. Could we have another go?’ ‘No.’”
