#total legend

Yeah, I can see why Nana didn’t mind my constant nagging to watch my favourite Trail boss, she had her eye on a certain Ramrod...😜

Rawhide is famously where Clint got his big break, and not just the luck of the draw, this dude is cunning. The ambitious Clint’s career was still young and meaty roles weren’t exactly coming his way. So hearing via a friend that they were casting at CBS, rather than leave it all to fate, he started hanging around trying to get a look in, ending up with an audition, and not exactly following the script but performing it in his own style. Luckily, while casting may not have been enthused someone higher up was and realised it would compliment the already cast, known to be intense lead actor Eric Fleming. I’m summarising a bit, but hey, they clearly nailed it because the evidence is on screen, these guys worked so well together, their chemistry undeniable from the start.

John Hart - a many times guest star on Rawhide - was interviewed for a 2002 documentary ‘Clint Eastwood: Star Power’ about his time on the show. Here’s what he had to say about Clint Eastwood and Eric Fleming’s working relationship. “They were just starting it when I started working on Rawhide. And they [Eric & Clint] used to break each other up, and they kept laughing and the director would get so god damn mad, and finally it got all out of hand. I don’t know what they did to stop it, but they’d start laughing between the two of them.”

Whenever Eric was asked who his friends were off-screen, Clint would get a mention, Eric describing them as ‘damn good friends’. There was one early incident where the pair almost came to blows, according to Fleming, "We were on location and I was filming a scene on a hot day. I had to carry Martha Hyer up a hill and then engage in some dialogue with Clint. "Well, Martha is a lovely girl, but she can get a bit heavy when you're carrying her up a hill. I had to do the scene five times because Clint blew his lines. When it happened again, I lost my cool: 'What the hell is going on here?' I demanded, and Clint answered me back in kind. I would have hit him right there if I hadn't been so bushed from carrying Martha. I said we'd settle it back at the hotel....That night Clint and I met to have it out. But we were both so struck by the ridiculousness of the situation that we had to laugh. We never had a bad word between us afterward."

Indeed the pair had a lot in common, especially a love of fishing!

Oh and pretty ladies. 

And we all know about star egos, especially when it comes to who gets the ‘lead’ status and all the shoulder barging and competitiveness of the acting profession. Eric and Clint didn’t seem to see it that way, at least publicly. As Eastwood said: “When I hear about the rivalry, tension and animosity that are standard among actors, actresses and executives turning out some of the television series around Hollywood, I just draw a deep breathe and say, “Thank God for Eric Fleming.”

“In my opinion, this Fleming is about the greatest Joe around. He and I have been working together on Rawhide for seven seasons, and if the viewing public continues to enjoy the show, we might go on for seven more."

Sadly of course, season 7 was the end of the Rawhide trail for Fleming. Out of contract, a reshuffle of management meant he was pushed aside, and while Clint went off to make the second of the Dollars movies in Europe, Eric slipped away to live his long held dream of Hawaii before taking the role that lead him to Peru. It’s doubtful these two men ever had a chance to reconnect. Clint was back working long days on Rawhide and then off to shoot ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’, returning home to the sad news of Eric’s death in late 1966. Maybe it’s idealistic but you’d like to think that if Eric had lived, he’d have been happy for his friend’s well earned success. And wherever the roads of their lives may have lead them, Eric’s to a family filled bliss on the beaches of Hawaii perhaps, and Clint’s undoubtably to the heady heights of mega stardom, they’d have remained friends. 

So here’s to you Clint Eastwood, you always put the story at the heart of your movies and it’s why all these long decades later you’re still kicking ass and showing them how it’s done, even at the ripe old age of 90! 

Happy Birthday Clint! 🎂🥳

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