Clint Eastwood Co-Star Sondra Locke, Has Died at 74

Actress Sondra Locke, who starred in many films with Clint Eastwood, has died at age 74. Locke died on Nov. 3 due to breast and bone cancer, but her death did not become known to the public until Thursday. The reason for the delay is not known at this time.

Locke was nominated for an Academy Award for 1968’s The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, her first big movie role, and would go on co-star in six films with Clint Eastwood.

Locke dated Eastwood for 13 years. They starred in films together during that period, beginning with The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976 and ending with Sudden Impact in 1983, part of Eastwood’s Dirty Harry series.

Before meeting Eastwood, Locke had some minor movie and TV roles, but her career took off afterward.

Her career would parallel his for the next few years, including the couple’s 1978 orangutan comedy Every Which Way But Loose and its 1980 sequel Any Which Way You Can.

The way the couple ended was not pretty.

“In 1989, Locke’s charmed life came to an end as Eastwood broke up with her, she later wrote,” Fox News reports. “The locks were changed and her things were placed outside a home she thought had been a gift from Eastwood.”

“She sued Eastwood for palimony then later sued him for fraud saying a movie development deal he arranged for her was a sham to get her to drop the palimony suit. They settled the highly publicized lawsuit for an undisclosed amount during jury deliberations in 1996.”

Of her memoir, “The Good, the Bad and the Very Ugly: A Hollywood Journey,” Locke said “I try to cover the good years as well as the bad and the ugly. Also, that in even the worst ugly things there can sometimes be a lot that will make you a better person.”

Her death is a sad one, but we will pray she is resting peacefully in Heaven.