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Sondra Locke More at IMDbPro »

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Sondra Locke is an Academy Award-nominated actress who starred in several popular films in the 1970s and early 1980s. This southern blonde was born and raised in the small town of Shelbyville, Tennessee, and was the valedictorian of her high school class. Early on, Sondra starred in several local plays. In 1965, she won a statewide award for best actress for her performance in a production entitled "The Monkey's Paw." Sondra grew increasingly close to the play's director, Gordon Anderson, whom she had first met in the fifth grade. The couple married in 1967, but the marriage was for show only, as Anderson was gay. With dreams of becoming a movie star, Sondra traveled to New York to audition for the film The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968), and won the part over 2,000 other contenders. She portrayed Mick Kelly, a lonely, small-town southern girl who bonds with a deaf-mute man. Sondra's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards. However, her career did not take off instantly. Over the next few years, she made guest appearances on the television shows "Kung Fu" (1972) and "Barnaby Jones" (1973) and starred in a number of independent movies, most notably Willard (1971).

In 1972, Sondra met mega-star Clint Eastwood, who would become her lover and leading man in several films. She was auditioning for Breezy (1973), a film he was directing. Although she didn't get the part in that film, she later teamed up with him in the western classic The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). She portrayed Laura Lee, a pioneer girl who falls in love with Eastwood's character. This gave her a huge career boost, and she was next cast as a foul-mouthed prostitute in the action flick The Gauntlet (1977). More big movies followed, and she was subsequently cast as sexy country singer Lynne Halsey-Taylor in the blockbuster comedy Every Which Way But Loose (1978), which became the second-highest grossing film of the year. She played the same character in the hit sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980). Although Sondra gave heartfelt performances, her acting was often criticized. She undeservedly received a "Worst Actress" Razzie nomination for her performance as spoiled heiress Antoinette Lily in Bronco Billy (1980), which was not a success when released, but later became a favorite. Sondra's next big screen role was as femme fatale murderess Jennifer Spencer in Sudden Impact (1983), which was the highest grossing film of the Dirty Harry (1971) film series and considered by many to be the best sequel.

After starring in several box-office hits, Sondra decided to fullfill another ambition of hers: directing. Clint produced her directorial debut in Ratboy (1986), a comedy in which Sondra starred in. The film was a flop and received another Razzie nomination. Film offers began drying up, and Sondra's career was sinking faster than it ever had before. She believed that her future laid in directing. The second film Sondra directed, Impulse (1990) was a thriller about a female cop going undercover as a prostitute. Sondra received critical praise for her efforts, and "Impulse" was hailed by film critic Roger Ebert as "the best directed film of 1990."

Just when Sondra's new career seemed to being going strong, her personal life was crumbling. Although she didn't know it, Clint was cheating on her with several other woman -- even fathering two illegitimate children with another woman while he and Sondra were living together. After 15 years, Clint decided to leave Sondra for one of his female costars. Sondra arrived home from work to find herself locked out of her own home. She sued Clint for palimony and received a directing deal with Warner Brothers in a 1991 settlement. She was eager to start working again, but she later discovered that the directing deal given to her was phony, when the studio had no intention of making any films with her. The only directing work she could find was with the made-for-television movie Death in Small Doses (1995) (TV) and the independent film Do Me a Favor (1997). Sondra found herself back in court, suing the superstar that claimed he loved her and the studio that had discovered her. She published an autobiography entitled "The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly" revealing details about her troubled relationship with Clint, and how he persuaded her to have two abortions and a tubal ligation. She received a $7 million settlement in 1999. That year, she returned to acting and appeared in two independent films: The Prophet's Game (1999) and Clean and Narrow (1999). Although she hasn't worked in nearly ten years, Sondra seems to have finally found happiness in her personal life. She is still married to Gordon Anderson, and the two are best friends. Sondra recently purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills, where she resides with weight-loss surgeon Scott Cunneen.

Spouse

Trivia

Former partner of Clint Eastwood (1975-1990). They never married.

Co-starred with boyfriend Clint Eastwood in six films: Any Which Way You Can (1980), Bronco Billy (1980), Every Which Way But Loose (1978), The Gauntlet (1977), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Sudden Impact (1983).

Valedictorian of the Shelbyville Central High class of 1962.

Breast cancer survivor.

Locke sold her home in L.A. (at a considerable profit), and bought a much larger estate in the Hollywood Hills in February 2001 where she resides with her companion, Scott Cunneen, a director of surgery at Cedars Sinai Hospital.

Attended Middle Tennessee State University for a year (did not graduate). Was then discovered by Warner Bros. in a nationwide talent search to star in the film The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968).

After starring in Willard (1971), about a boy who trains rats, she directed and starred in Ratboy (1986), about a boy who is half rat.

First met husband Gordon Anderson in Shelbyville when they were 10. Although their marriage was never consummated and Anderson has since come out as a homosexual, they are still close friends and remain legally married to this day.

She filed a palimony suit against former companion Clint Eastwood in 1990. She sued him again for fraud in 1996. They settled out of court in 1999 for a reported $7 million settlement.

Personal Quotes

In acting, you're subject to what everyone else does to you: the light someone else puts on you, the pace someone else sets for the scene, how someone else cuts you together, what they throw away and what they keep. Pretty soon you realize, 'This is great, but there must be something a little more.'

No matter how big actors get, they always somehow think, 'Today is it -- tomorrow everybody's going to wake up and hate me.'

As an actor, if there's a good role you can take it for the role's sake and not worry about the fact that the whole story doesn't seem to work. The actor won't get the blame for it. You'll do a good job and they'll say, 'The story stinks, but Sondra Locke was good in the part of whatever.' I look on acting as a great vacation now. You work a few weeks, get paid a lot of money and everyone pampers and takes care of you.

Everyone always wants to type you. With me, I started out as a vulnerable waif and for many years that's all anyone ever wanted me to play.

I've had some great parts, it's just that you're always looking for something that will take you in a different direction. People only see you in those boxes you've been most recently seen in. That way, they don't have to think or be creative.

[On Clint Eastwood's marriage to Dina Eastwood] The only sad thing is that there are other women in his life who are the mothers of his children, and he has chosen to marry one that is not.

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