Believe it or not, 2025 marks 70 years since Clint Eastwood made his motion picture debut. Discovered in 1953-54 while he was serving in the Army at California’s since-closed Fort Ord, the 24-year-old Golden State native auditioned for Universal Pictures director Arthur Lubin. Despite some initial misgivings over his presence and delivery, Universal signed Eastwood to a contract in April of 1954. His starting salary: the princely sum of $100 per week.
Clint’s first audition was for the 1955 Tony Curtis/Julie Adams noir crime drama Six Bridges to Cross. Director Joseph Pevney, however, passed on the neophyte performer. A string of unsuccessful tryouts followed. Eastwood, as one would expect, was nothing if not persistent. And so, by the end of 1955, he worked his way onto the silver screen in no less than four movies released that year.
Readers shouldn’t be surprised to hear that Clint was not the lead in any of these films. In fact, in three of them his role went uncredited. Similarly, it comes as no shock that these were not epic, big-budget productions. But hey, an actor’s got to start somewhere! So let’s take a look at the future Academy Award winner’s admittedly modest Hollywood beginnings:
Revenge of the Creature – Eastwood’s premiere film role came in the second of Universal’s three “Creature from the Black Lagoon” sci-fi chillers. His unbilled, under-a-minute, five-line performance finds him playing an assistant (Jennings in the script) in a college’s animal psychology laboratory. He’s also sporting what could be called a half-hearted attempt at a James Dean pomp. Jennings tells a doctor (John Agar) that a cat ate one of the four rats it shares a cage with as part of a predator/prey experiment. He then absent-mindedly reaches into his labcoat pocket…and pulls out the missing rodent.
Francis in the Navy – The sixth and penultimate entry in Universal’s surprisingly popular “Francis the Talking Mule” comedies finally let Clint work for Arthur Lubin. Ex-G.I. Peter Sterling (Donald O’Connor) tries to save his old war buddy Francis from a military surplus sale. Instead, he’s mistaken for a look-alike sailor and gets shanghaied into the fleet. Eastwood is featured in several scenes as “Jonesy,” one of Peter’s fellow gobs. Sharp-eyed viewers will also spot ’60s TV faves David Janssen and Martin Milner among the swabbies. Clint would work with Lubin–and a talking equine–seven years later, when he guest-starred in a Season Two episode of the CBS sitcom Mister Ed.
Lady Godiva of Coventry – Maureen O’Hara had the title role of Merrie Olde England’s original “streaker” (O’Hara wore a body stocking during her infamous ride) in this lavish pseudo-historical saga. As for the uncredited Clint Eastwood, he’s either playing “Alfred the Fletcher” or “First Saxon” (there are conflicting accounts). At the very least, audiences do get to see him in color for the first time. This was also the second of Clint’s four films he made with Lubin.
Tarantula – So, how did “Dirty Harry” round out his rookie year in front of the camera? By napalming a giant spider, of course! In the final minutes of director Jack Arnold’s sci-fi fave about an Arizona town threatened by a hundred-foot-tall arachnid, Clint pops up as the (uncredited) lead pilot in an Air Force jet squadron. Quicker than you can say “Little Miss Muffet,” Eastwood and his fellow flyboys carpet bomb the mutated menace. Their heroic actions leave the locals (including stars Agar and Mara Corday) with enough barbecued spider legs to last the whole summer.
Now in case you’re wondering, Eastwood’s first western film appearance came in 1956. The picture was Universal’s Star in the Dust, featuring Agar, Richard Boone, and Mamie Van Doren. Clint can be seen–briefly–as a ranch hand named Tom (the part was, once again, uncredited). These earliest turns by one of Hollywood’s biggest stars certainly lend truth to the old adage “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”