Every Clint Eastwood Movie Death

Here’s every time Clint Eastwood has died in a movie. The Dollars trilogy came to define Eastwood’s screen persona, as the Man with No Name had little in the way of dialogue and often let his revolver do the talking. Eastwood would refine and build on this persona with later movies like the Dirty Harry films or The Outlaw Josey Wales, and while he played characters with vulnerabilities, he almost always came out on top. That’s also reflected in the fact that despite the number of movies he’s appeared during his career, he’s rarely died onscreen.

This is true of movie stars from just about every era, from John Wayne to Tom Cruise. There’s a commonly held belief among studios that audiences hate to see their main characters die, especially when it comes to major stars. Eastwood has mostly held to this rule, and even in thrillers like Blood Work where he technically dies of a heart attack in the opening, he’s later brought back to life.

On rare occasions though, the star hasn’t always made it to the end credits. Here’s every Clint Eastwood movie death.

The Beguiled (1971)

The Beguiled reteamed Eastwood – who turned down Superman ’78 – with Dirty Harry director Don Siegel, with the film being a big departure for both. The film is a dark, gothic drama where Eastwood’s wounded Union soldier takes shelter in an all-girls boarding school, where his arrival stirs up trouble and sexual tension. Clint’s Corporal McBurney suffers for his misdeeds, however, with his leg being sawed off following an accident and he’s later poisoned and killed by the staff and students.

Escape From Alcatraz (1979)

The next Clint Eastwood movie death is somewhat debatable, given the real-life event it depicts. Escape From Alcatraz was the fifth and final collaboration between Eastwood and Siegel and details the real 1962 Alcatraz escape attempt by three convicts, including Frank Morris. Eastwood (who was almost replaced by Charles Bronson in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) plays the latter, and in the finale – as in reality – it’s strongly suggested Morris and his companions drowned in San Francisco Bay after their escape attempt. However, their bodies were never recovered, so there’s a slim chance they made good their escape.

Honkytonk Man (1982)

One of Eastwood’s lesser-known movies (which he also directed) is the Depression-era set Honkytonk Man. Clint’s real son Kyle co-stars, and the story follows a Western singer named Red suffering from tuberculosis. After attempting to fulfill his musical dreams, he succumbs to his condition in the movie’s bittersweet finale.

The Bridges Of Madison County (1995)

Another Eastwood movie death comes in a project that is, yet again, a big change of pace for his screen persona. The movie is based on the romantic novel of the same name and follows Eastwood’s National Geographic photographer as he romances a married woman named Francesca (played by Don’t Look Up’s Meryl Streep) while on assignment. The two characters weren’t meant to be, however, and Francesca reveals that years later she learned Robert had died and left his possessions to her.

Gran Torino (2008)

Clint Eastwood’s final movie death is his most dramatic. Gran Torino sees Eastwood’s grouchy war veteran Walt reluctantly befriend a Hmong American teenager named Thao who lives next door. The ending sees Walt – who is dying of cancer – sacrifice himself by deliberately provoking the local gang who have repeatedly attacked Thao and his family. At the height of their argument, he suddenly reaches into his pocket for a lighter, which they believe is a gun and they riddle him with bullets. With plenty of witnesses having seen them kill an unarmed man, the gang is arrested.