No actor in the modern era of filmmaking has defined the role of the Western protagonist more iconically and brilliantly than Clint Eastwood. The only other contender for the title of America’s favorite living western actor is Robert Duvall, whose performance in Lonesome Dove is essential viewing for all fans of the genre or anyone who appreciates superb acting. However, Duvall has only played the lead in a handful of Westerns throughout his career. Eastwood cut his acting teeth in Rawhide, the 1950s TV western, and went on to star in many Western movies, even directing himself in more than one classic.
Here are our choices for the best Clint Eastwood Western characters, counting down to the #1 character we regard as the greatest that Eastwood ever portrayed on the screen. Do you agree with our picks?
#4. The Stranger in High Plains Drifter
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This 1973 film was the first Western Eastwood ever directed. High Plains Drifter is an unusual story with more than a hint of the supernatural about it, making it a fine example of the Weird Western. Eastwood plays the Stranger, a mysterious figure who rides into the town of Lago and begins to mete out bloody revenge on the townspeople. The film strongly suggests that the Stranger is a ghost. “It’s just an allegory,” Eastwood once said. “A speculation on what happens when… somebody comes back and calls the town’s conscience to bear. There’s always retribution for your deeds.”
High Plains Drifter is regarded as one of the greatest Westerns ever made. John Wayne, however, wasn’t a fan. The Duke wrote Eastwood a letter criticizing the revisionist approach: “That isn’t what the West was all about. That isn’t the American people who settled this country.”
#3. William Munny in Unforgiven
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In this 1992 film, Eastwood directs himself as William Munny, an aging gunman turned farmer and family man. When Munny accepts one final job as a hired gun, the inner rage he’s managed to keep suppressed threatens to spill out and consume his soul. The film co-stars Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman.
Unforgiven is Eastwood’s ultimate meditation on violence, its necessity and futility. The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Hackman. Eastwood was also nominated for Best Actor but lost to Al Pacino. Since completing the film, Eastwood has stated that Unforgiven will be his last Western. If that remains the case, Eastwood truly knows how to go out with a bang.
Cool fact: Eastwood also composed a song on piano for the score to Unforgiven.
#2. Blondie, A.K.A. the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy
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Beginning with A Fistful of Dollars (1964), followed up by For a Few Dollars More (1965), and ending with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), Eastwood played the most iconic character of his life in Sergio Leone’s immortal trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns. The final film of the trilogy also marked the last time Eastwood worked with his directing mentor Leone. The two had a falling out, and Leone chose to cast Charles Bronson, instead of Eastwood, in his film Once Upon a Time in the West.
The success of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly made Eastwood a true movie star. His portrayal of a morally complex antihero burned itself into the core of the American psyche. The film itself is now universally hailed as a masterpiece. Leone’s grand, sweeping Western exposed the absurdity of war, and its tense, operatic action sequences altered the genre forever with a powerful stylistic influence.
#1. Josey Wales in The Outlaw Josey Wales
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Eastwood played the single most compelling character of his career when he took on the role of Josey Wales. Eastwood also directed the film, which is set during and after the Civil War. Wales is a peaceful Missouri farmer who joins a Confederate guerilla force after his family is murdered by pro-Union Jayhawkers. Following the end the war, Wales is a haunted and hunted man. Pursued by Yankee soldiers and bounty hunters, he escapes to Texas, reluctantly picking up a surrogate family along the way. The Outlaw Josey Wales is a perfect example of an old archetypal story: the soldier who becomes a shepherd.
The movie is also notable for Chief Dan George’s portrayal of Lone Watie, an old Cherokee who befriends Wales. The character was inspired by Stand Watie, the real-life Cherokee leader and Confederate General. George’s unforgettable performance brought humor and heart to the film.
Unforgiven might have won all the awards, but without a doubt, the Clint Eastwood film that will go down in history as his directorial masterpiece is The Outlaw Josey Wales.
