Sandra Louise Anderson (née Smith; May 28, 1944 – November 3, 2018), professionally known as Sondra Locke, was an American actress and director.
An alumna of Middle Tennessee State University, Locke broke into regional show business with assorted posts at the Nashville-based radio station WSM-AM, then segued into television as a promotions assistant for WSM-TV. She performed in the theater company Circle Players Inc. while employed at WSM. In 1968, she made her film debut in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and earned dual Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress and New Star of the Year.
Locke went on to appear in such box-office successes as Willard (1971), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), The Gauntlet (1977), Every Which Way but Loose (1978), Bronco Billy (1980), Any Which Way You Can (1980), and Sudden Impact (1983). She worked regularly with Clint Eastwood, who was her companion from 1975 to 1989 despite their marriages to other people. She also directed four films, notably Impulse (1990). She published an autobiography, The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly: A Hollywood Journey, in 1997.
Locke's persona belied her age. She claimed to have been born several years later than 1944, often playing roles written for women far younger than herself, and kept her true age a secret throughout her career. For reasons never made clear, her death was not publicly announced and was only confirmed by vital statistics six weeks after she died of cardiac arrest at the age of 74. "Actress Sondra Locke Dies Unpublicized in November at Age 74". CBS News. December 13, 2018. "Mystery six-week delay in announcement of Hollywood actress death". The New Zealand Herald. December 13, 2018. From 1967 until her death, Locke was the wife of sculptor Gordon Leigh Anderson, in a mixed-orientation union they reputedly never consummated.Harrison, John (December 16, 2018). "A Fond Farewell to Sondra Locke (1944 – 2018)". FilmInk. "Sondra Locke, actress who appeared with Clint Eastwood in hit films of the 1970s such as 'Every Which Way but Loose' and 'The Gauntlet' – obituary". The Telegraph. December 14, 2018.
Locke was a cheerleader and class valedictorian in junior high, as well as editor-in-chief of The Royal yearbook and a star player on the girls' basketball team.Shelbyville Mills School (1958). The Royal. Shelbyville, TN. Jacket copy."Recreation". The Volunteer. December 18, 1957. p. 5. From 1958, she attended Shelbyville Central High School, where she again served as valedictorian and was voted "Duchess of Studiousness" by classmates. She continued to play basketball at SCHS, served as parent–teacher–student association representative, and was president of the French club. Regardless, she was not considered "date material" by the more socially prominent boys in her class. Locke's first beau, according to locals' reminiscences, was Fred Thomas Jones, a carpenter's son."Obituaries". The Tennessean. October 31, 2006. 4B. Her graduation yearbook listed her grade average 97.72% and her ambition "always to take disappointments with a smile." In 1962, Locke matriculated at Middle Tennessee State University (then Middle Tennessee State College) in Murfreesboro on a full scholarship. Majoring in theatre, she was a member of the Alpha Psi Omega honor society while at MTSU, and appeared on stage in Life with Father and The Crucible.DeGennaro, Nancy (December 14, 2018). "Oscar-nominated actress, Tennessee native Sondra Locke dies at 74". USA Today. "The Crucible Next College Production". The Daily News Journal. February 24, 1963. She dropped out after completing two semesters of study.
In or around 1963, Locke essentially broke off contact with her family, concluding: "It made no sense for any of us to spend our lives pretending to have relationships that did not really exist." She never knew her biological father,Barnes, Mike (December 13, 2018). "Sondra Locke, Oscar-Nominated Actress for 'The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,' Dies at 74". The Hollywood Reporter. and did not attend the funerals of her mother or stepfather, nor did she have anything to do with her brother, sister-in-law and three nieces. Donald blamed Gordon Anderson—Locke's best friend since adolescence and future husband—for the rift, claiming Anderson had "an almost hypnotic spell on her."
Locke held a variety of jobs, including as a bookkeeper for Tyson Foods and receptionist in a real-estate office. For a time, she lived at South Water Apartments in the commuter town of Gallatin.Hinton, Elmer (June 30, 1965). "Down to Earth". The Nashville Tennessean. In 1964, she joined the staff at radio station WSM-AM 650 in Nashville, and was promoted to its television affiliate WSM-TV the following year. "Oscar-nominated actress, Channel 4 alumna Sondra Locke dead at 74". WSMV. December 13, 2018. Home Office Shield, September 1966 Locke's biggest coup while employed there was hosting actor Robert Loggia when he visited Nashville to promote his TV pilot T.H.E. Cat, during which he "flirted outrageously" with Locke. She also modeled for The Tennessean fashion page, acted in commercials for Rich-Schwartz ladies apparel and Southerland Gel mattresses, among others, and gained further stage experience in productions for Circle Players Inc.Haun, Harry (August 30, 1968). "Sandra of Shelbyville Becomes Sondra of the Cinema". The Nashville Tennessean. In 1966, the 22-year-old appeared in a UPI wire photo that showed her cavorting in new fallen snow. Within one year of this exposure, she decided to pursue a career in film, and changed the spelling of her first name to avoid being called Sandy.
By 1968, advertising for Heart was prolific; the film came out that summer to critical acclaim but only modest grosses. "Sondra Takes a Film by Storm". The Sydney Morning Herald. August 4, 1968. "Sondra Locke May Fit 'Star Is Born' Description". Chicago Daily Defender. August 31, 1968. Locke's performance garnered her an Academy Award nomination, as well as a pair of Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Most Promising Newcomer – Female. Being the oldest nominee in the latter category, she concealed this distinction through retconning with aid from studio publicists. At a film exhibitor convention in Kansas City, she won the Show-A-Rama Award from the Motion Picture Association of America as "Most Promising New Star of the Year". Although her salary for the film was reported as $15,000 in contemporary articles, Locke later claimed it was less than one-third that amount. "It's a Woman's World". Shenandoah Evening Herald. January 27, 1969.
Her next role was as Melisse in Cover Me Babe (1970), originally titled Run Shadow Run,Heffernan, Harold (August 14, 1969). "Sondra Valuable Behind the Scene". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. opposite Robert Forster. She made it as part of a $150,000 three-picture deal with 20th Century Fox, and was compensated for the other two which never materialized. It was announced that she would play the lead in Lovemakers—a film adaptation of Robert Nathan's novel The Color of Evening—but no movie resulted. Locke was offered Barbara Hershey's role in Last Summer (1969), but her management turned it down without telling her. Shortly afterwards, she passed on the lead in My Sweet Charlie (1970), which won an Emmy for its eventual star Patty Duke. She also declined the part of Bruce Dern's pregnant wife in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969).Robert Taylor, Oakland Tribune, 11.1.72 Projects Locke actively pursued but got rejected for included The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), with director Alan J. Pakula instead choosing Liza Minnelli.
In 1971, Locke co-starred with Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine in the psychological thriller Willard, which became a surprise box-office smash.Browning, Norma Lee (August 4, 1971). "Hollywood". Bangor Daily News. Locke felt overqualified for her role, but did it as a favor to Davison, who at the time was her unofficial paramour. She was then featured in William A. Fraker's underseen mystery A Reflection of Fear (1972), which required her to project the image of a character half her age, and held the title role in first-time director Michael Barry's avant garde drama The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974), winner of three gold medals at the Atlanta Film Festival.Tate, Eleanora (November 15, 1972). "Someone Who Likes The Snow". Des Moines Tribune. Both films were shelved for two years before finally opening in arthouse cinemas, attracting little attention at first. Over time, Suzanne has accrued a cult following, while Reflection is cited as an early example of media portrayals of transgender people.Gambin, Lee (February 15, 2016). "Exclusive Interview: Actress Sondra Locke on Gender-Bender Chiller A REFLECTION OF FEAR". Comingsoon.net.
In 1973, Locke was attached to star in Terminal Circle. "It's a woman's role that comes along once in a lifetime," she said.Miller, Jeanne (August 30, 1973). "The Actress Couldn't Resist". San Francisco Examiner. The San Francisco-based film was to be directed by Mal Karman and shot by cinematographer Robert Primes, who did camerawork for Gimme Shelter, but it was scrapped for lack of funds. Plans emerged for Locke to star in the Civil War extravaganza John Brown's Body, based on the epic poem by Stephen Vincent Benét, with Pandro S. Berman producing. It too failed to move into production.Overall, Mike (January 16, 1969). "Actress Is Visiting Here". The Jonesboro Sun. She was up for a big part in Earthquake (1974), but lost out to Geneviève Bujold.
Locke guest starred on top-rated television drama series throughout the first half of the 1970s, including The F.B.I., Cannon (as two different characters), Barnaby Jones, and Kung Fu. She was advised by her agents to stay away from TV, but thought it foolish to sit around not working between films.Jones, Will (December 3, 1972). "Actress says TV creates automatons". Minneapolis Tribune. In the 1972 Night Gallery episode "A Feast of Blood", she played the victim of a curse planted by Norman Lloyd; the recipient of a brooch that devoured her. Lloyd acted with Locke again in Gondola (1973), a racially themed, three-character PBS teleplay co-starring her real-life significant other at the time, Bo Hopkins, and commended the actress for "a beautiful performance – perhaps her best ever." Ron Harper, who worked with Locke on the short-lived 1974 show Planet of the Apes, was even more effusive: "After acting with her in a couple of scenes, there was something so feminine about her that I could picture myself easily falling for her ... She's one of those women who exudes femininity, and you just become so attracted to that."
Over the course of their decade-and-a-half-long personal relationship, Locke did not work in any capacity on any theatrical motion picture other than with Eastwood except for 1977's experimental horror Western The Shadow of Chikara.Puig, Claudia (May 18, 1989). "Sandra Locke bitter, shocked about split with Eastwood". Hartford Courant. Co-starring Joe Don Baker, The Shadow of Chikara is noted for being the first film to be shot on the Buffalo National River. Eastwood accompanied Locke on the shoot and spent his days touring the countryside and fishing while she filmed. The home-invasion potboiler Death Game (1977), though released after they became an item, was actually shot in 1974.Anderson, George (October 21, 1974). "Local Angle". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Clint wanted me to work only with him," said Locke. "He didn't like the idea of me being away from him."Errico, Marcus (September 11, 1996). "Eastwood's Ex-Lover Says He Torpedoed Her Career". E! News.
In 1978, Locke and Eastwood appeared with an orangutan named Manis in that year's fourth-highest grossing film, Every Which Way but Loose. She portrayed country singer Lynn Halsey-Taylor in the adventure-comedy. Its 1980 sequel Any Which Way You Can—for which Locke earned a six-figure salary plus a share of the profits—was nearly as successful. Locke recorded several songs for the soundtracks of these films, and was whispered to be shopping for a record deal at the time. On the coattails of the franchise's success, she performed live in concert (one-off gigs) with The Everly Brothers, Eddie Rabbitt, and Tom Jones.Aaron Gold, Chicago Tribune, 2.1.79
During this period, Eastwood did a few movies that had no prominent female character for Locke to play. In the meantime, she accepted some television offers, co-starring with an all-female ensemble cast in Friendships, Secrets and Lies (1979) and portraying big band-era vocalist Rosemary Clooney in Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story (1982). While the biopic followed Clooney from ages 17 to 40, Locke was 38 when she played the role, and though hardly counting as a proper exception due to its nonlinear structure, this marked the only time she played a mother onscreen. As part of the promotional push behind Rosie, Varietys Rick Du Brow wrote a flattering article in which he called Locke "one of the most-watched and popular motion picture actresses in the world."Du Brow, Rick (August 22, 1982). "ShowBiz". The Scrantonian.
Locke starred as a bitter heiress who joins a traveling Wild West show in Bronco Billy (1980), her only film with Eastwood not to reach blockbuster status, though it still ranked among the annual box-office top 25. The New York Times critic Janet Maslin noticed that "each of them works more delicately here than they have together previously" and the film's director of photography, David Worth, enthused how "being able to capture the true love between Clint and Sondra was very special." Locke cited Bronco Billy and The Outlaw Josey Wales as her favorites of the movies they made. The couple's final collaboration as performers was Sudden Impact (1983), the highest-grossing film in the Dirty Harry franchise, in which Locke played an artist with her own code of vigilante justice. Her fee was a reported $350,000.
Locke never appeared in a wide release after Sudden Impact. The film premiered five months short of her 40th birthday, declared by People as "the pre-Jane Fonda age cutoff for actresses."Sue Reilly, People, 5.5.80 Despite Locke's past nomination for an Academy Award and repeat appearances in box-office hits, she had failed to achieve first-magnitude stardom or win the affection of the moviegoing public. By 1979, the year Eastwood and she made their fourth film together, accusations of nepotism arose. Cultural critic Joe Queenan, writing for Mail & Guardian, would express particular contempt for her in a 2010 editorial about Eastwood's career, believing that "his worst movies, without question, are the ones he made with Sondra Locke, who briefly played Linda McCartney to Eastwood's Paul McCartney." In late 1983, Locke announced plans to develop and star in a movie about Marie Antoinette, but the project fell apart.Lou Lumenick, The North Jersey Record, 12.30.83 Eastwood then directed Locke in a 1985 Amazing Stories episode entitled "Vanessa in the Garden", with Harvey Keitel.
Locke's second foray behind the camera was Impulse (1990), starring Theresa Russell as a police officer on the vice squad who goes undercover as a prostitute. Siskel & Ebert gave the film "two thumbs up". "Siskel and Ebert 1990 Ratings". Listal.com. In a subsequent interview with Siskel, Locke said she was not eager to act again. "If you love the craft of filmmaking as much as I do, it's hard to go back to acting after you've tasted the high of directing."
Immediately following the completion of Impulse, two of its co-stars, Jeff Fahey and George Dzundza, were hired by Locke's now ex-boyfriend Eastwood to appear in White Hunter Black Heart, a move which raised eyebrows among the film community.
After a long interruption in her career due to legal difficulties and health issues, Locke directed the made-for-television film Death in Small Doses (1995), based on a true story, and the independent feature Trading Favors (1997), starring Rosanna Arquette.
Locke told a Portuguese website that she had been informed that Entertainment Weekly originally planned to publish a positive review, but for reasons unclear, it was pulled and a negative review appeared instead. The Advocate, a monthly LGBT-interest magazine, was set to do a big article on Locke's book; suddenly and uncharacteristically, Eastwood gave The Advocate an interview, and they decided not to run the piece. She reflected in 2012: "Clint has said so many bad things about me to the media since we split up, and he has so much more access and power to do that. He's said things that were hurtful to my character and hurtful to me professionally." L'album secret de Clint Eastwood (2012, dir. Pierre Maraval). Chérie 25. Locke was nonetheless grateful to have a platform at all, stating: "It was a miracle that a major publisher took it."
The day after the book's release, Eastwood on Eastwood, a feature-length overview of her ex's career directed by Richard Schickel, premiered on TNT. John Hartl of The Seattle Times emphasized that "clips from the Locke/Eastwood movies have been edited so carefully that she doesn't appear to have been in any of them. It's like making a documentary about Humphrey Bogart and failing to mention Lauren Bacall." Locke would once again be notably deleted from a montage commemorating Eastwood at the 2002 Maui Film Festival. "Clint wants no trace of Sondra Locke". Google Groups. June 18, 2002.
After 13 years away from acting, Locke re-emerged in 1999 to appear opposite Dennis Hopper in The Prophet's Game and Wings Hauser in Clean and Narrow, the latter shot in Texas. Both films went straight to video. About that time, she planned to direct "a two-guys-on-the-run film" called The Hard Easy, which did not eventuate.Edward Klein, Parade, 7.23.00 In 2014, Locke served as an executive producer on the Eli Roth film Knock Knock, starring Keanu Reeves.Kay, Jeremy (April 28, 2014). "Voltage taking Eli Roth's Knock Knock with Keanu Reeves to Cannes". ScreenDaily. She came out of retirement once more in 2016, shooting Alan Rudolph's indie Ray Meets Helen with Keith Carradine.Onofri, Adrienne (June 3, 2016). "BWW Interview: Keith Carradine on the New Encores! Cast Album of PAINT YOUR WAGON". BroadwayWorld. The film had only a brief run in three theaters in May 2018, less than six months before Locke died.Moore, Michael C. (April 30, 2018). "Indie filmmaker's latest premieres in LA, NY ... and Bainbridge Island". Kitsap Sun.
Despite increasing infirmities, she traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan, a few days after her 74th birthday to attend the Cinetopia Film Festival, where Ray Meets Helen was received poorly. "2018 Cinetopia Film Festival movie reviews". Yes/No Detroit. June 7, 2018. Writer-director Alex O Eaton wanted Locke to play an eccentric Appalachian grandmother in Mountain Rest (2018), but she did not take the role, which ultimately went to the decade-younger Frances Conroy.Haruch, Steve (May 3, 2018). "Reel Nashville 2018: Talking to Alex O Eaton About Her Debut Feature Mountain Rest". Nashville Scene.
Following her then-partner's April 15, 1986, inauguration as the 30th mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, Locke became the de facto First Lady of Carmel.
In 1992, she served as honorary chairwoman for the "Starry, Starry Night" silent auction in Costa Mesa, California, to benefit Human Options, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. "Being a woman I have great empathy for these women. I can understand how stranded they must feel, how hard it is to change one's life," Locke said. "For Human Options, the Light Is Bright". Los Angeles Times. December 16, 1992. She also charity dating to raise money for the Los Angeles Ballet. "Enjoy Lunch or Coffee with Actress Sondra Locke in Los Angeles". Charitybuzz.
Locke was an avid sportswoman. In 1979 and 1982, respectively, for instance, she competed in the John Denver Celebrity Pro-Am ski tournament at Heavenly Mountain Resort and the Senator's Cup at John Gardiner's Tennis Ranch.Star Newspaper Service, San Angelo Standard-Times, 2.18.79Betty Beale, The Anchorage Times, 1.31.82
Locke had known Anderson since at least the late 1950s; accounts as to when they met vary by as much as four years. In 1968, as Locke was flooded with script offers amid Oscar buzz for Heart, Anderson and she left Tennessee and moved into a condo at The Andalusia in West Hollywood.Franklin, Rebecca (August 4, 1968). "Sondra 'arresting' in old lace curtain at film premiere". The Birmingham News.
According to a 1989 affidavit, the marriage was "tantamount to sister and brother" and they never consummation it. "Live-in lover married to someone else". The Muscatine Journal. May 9, 1989. Anderson was gay.Hiscock, John (September 13, 1996). "Eastwood's lover remained married to gay husband". Calgary Herald. Locke, testifying under oath to a jury, characterized her husband as being "more like a sister to me" and explained, "it's funny the sort of cultural changes, but in those days males and females never lived together unless they were married." According to her death certificate, the two were residing at the same address when she died, and he was the person who registered her death.
Anderson is a central presence in Locke's autobiography, but she does not elaborate on her reasons for marrying him beyond the following passage:
George Crook, a cameraman for WSM, squired Locke to Nashville society events such as the 1965 hunt ball. He later got into local politics and was elected mayor of Belle Meade in 2000. Another early boyfriend, personal injury attorney Gary Gober, starred with Locke in Circle Players' productions while attending Vanderbilt University Law School. Locke also dated sportscaster Larry Munson prior to marrying Anderson.
During her marriage, Locke was rumored to have been linked amorously to co-stars Robert Fields ( Cover Me Babe), Bruce Davison ( Willard), Paul Sand ( The Second Coming of Suzanne), and Bo Hopkins ( Gondola), as well as producer Hawk Koch, real-estate agent Herb Goldfarb, and John F. Kennedy's nephew Robert Shriver.Bruce Davison, DVD audio commentary, 2017, Shout! FactoryLloyd Shearer, St. Petersburg Times, 10.15.89 For a while in the early 1970s, she shared a liaison with married actor David Soul after they played siblings in an episode of Cannon.Haber, Joyce (November 8, 1972). "Locke, Soul Set for Cannon Roles". Los Angeles Times.
Locke referred to these intervals as "casually exploring for a romantic relationship," noting that she had not fallen in love with any of the men. "Love ... was not something to search out actively; it finds you, I believed."
Eastwood was married during the early years of their relationship,Young, Josh (May 4, 1997). "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". The Independent. "Eastwood won't wed girlfriend". The San Bernardino County Sun. September 8, 1979. before their affair became public in 1977, but his marriage was a nominal one just as Locke's was; he had sired at least two publicly unacknowledged children outside the marriage and confided he had "never been in love before."Miller, Victoria (December 14, 2018). "Sondra Locke & Clint Eastwood: Inside Their Rocky Hollywood Romance". Inquisitr. Locke claimed Eastwood even sang "She Made Me Monogamous" to her. Eastwood's wife Maggie Johnson lived on a colossal estate in Pebble Beach, where Eastwood rarely stayed, and Johnson and he were understood to have had an open marriage from the start. "I never knew I could love somebody so much, and feel so peaceful about it at the same time," Locke said he told her. Conversely, the media's going myth was that Eastwood "left" or "walked out on" his wife for Locke as opposed to simply giving up the facade. Locke resented having her romance with Eastwood labeled merely as an affair and being made to feel sordid as if she had "stolen" a married man, but did not contemporaneously refute such notions.
Late in the 1970s, Locke became pregnant by Eastwood twice; she Abortion both pregnancies. "I'd feel sorry for any child that had me for a mother," she told syndicated columnist Dick Kleiner in 1969. The Times and Democrat, July 29, 1969, p. 9 In 1979, at the age of 35, Locke underwent a tubal ligation at UCLA Medical Center, citing Eastwood's adamancy that parenthood would not fit into their lifestyle. When this became public knowledge a decade after the fact, Eastwood issued a statement:
Locke professed mixed feelings on the matter, stating in one chapter of her autobiography that she was grateful she had not had Eastwood's children, while writing in another, "I couldn't help but think that that baby, with both Clint's and my best qualities, would be extraordinary." Eastwood claimed Locke told him on multiple occasions that she never wanted to have children.
Eastwood and Locke were still cohabiting, when in the latter half of the 1980s, he secretly fathered another woman's two children—a fact that did not come to light for almost 20 years.Strout, Paige (September 11, 2024). "Celebrity Dads Who Welcomed Kids Outside of Their Relationships". Us Weekly. Despite her affirmed ignorance, Locke sensed growing tension in the relationship around 1985, recollecting, "although I definitely still loved Clint, I didn't much like him, nor did I much trust him anymore." In retrospect, she gathered, "either he changed from white to black, or I had been living with somebody I didn't even know."
On the morning of April 3 or 4, Eastwood complained in the kitchen that Locke was "sitting on his only real estate in Los Angeles" and bolted. Locke later defensively declared: "Clint is not good at direct communication. He really is a man of few words. You might just as well have a direct confrontation with a wall." On April 10, 1989, Malpaso employees changed the locks on the family residence, moved Locke's possessions into storage, and posted security guards at the front gate per Eastwood's order. Locke was shooting Impulse at the time of the lockout. "When Harry Left Sondra". People. August 7, 1989. She filed a $70 million palimony suit on April 26, charging Eastwood with breach of contract, emotional distress, forcible entry, and possession of stolen goods.Wright, Jeanne (June 2, 1989). "Eastwood's private life stranger than fiction". The San Bernardino County Sun. Forced abortions and compulsory sterilization were also cited, though Locke later recategorized those operations as a "mutual decision".
During their 14 years as de facto husband and wife, Locke and Eastwood had occupied seven homes and acquired four, including a retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho, and the Rising River Ranch near Cassel, California. 102 Wedeln Ln, Sun Valley, ID 83353 Zillow Locke sought half of Eastwood's earnings and an equal division of property, requesting title to the house in Bel-Air and to the Gothic-style West Hollywood place Eastwood had leased to Gordon Anderson since 1982. She also asked Judge Dana Senit Henry to bar Eastwood from the Bel-Air house "because I know him to have a terrible temper ... and he has frequently been abusive to me."
Locke battled Eastwood in court for 19 months; she developed breast cancer during proceedings, and said the treatments sapped her will to fight. In November 1990, the parties reached a private settlement wherein Eastwood set up a $1.5 million multiyear film development/directing pact for Locke at Warner Bros. in exchange for dropping the suit. She was awarded the West Hollywood property (valued at $2.2 million), $450,000 cash, and unspecified monthly support payments, as well.
The breakup affected Locke's social life. Her closest friends had been the wives of Eastwood's colleagues: Maria Shriver, Cynthia Sikes Yorkin, and Lili Fini Zanuck, all 10–11 years younger than Locke and married to film industry heavyweights Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bud Yorkin, and Richard D. Zanuck, respectively. Locke's friendships with those women gradually faded as their husbands ghosted her. The female comrades Locke credited with loyalty and support were those she had known before Eastwood—art director Elayne Barbara Ceder, whom she met on The Second Coming of Suzanne, and realtor Denise Fraker, wife of A Reflection of Fear director William A. Fraker.
The case went to trial in September 1996. One juror divulged that the panel sided with Locke by a 10-to-2 vote (nine votes are needed for a verdict) and were only debating the amount.Errico, Marcus (September 24, 1996). "Clint Eastwood Pays Off Sondra Locke". E! News. Before any court decision could be made, Locke settled the case with Eastwood for an undisclosed amount of money. The outcome, Locke said, sent a "loud and clear" message to Hollywood, "that people cannot get away with whatever they want to just because they're powerful." According to Locke, "in this business, people get so accustomed to being abused, they just accept the abuse and say, 'Well, that's just the way it is.' Well, it isn't."
For his part, Eastwood waved the lawsuit off as a "dime-novel plot," continuing, "it's all about money ... about getting something for nothing." He accused Locke of using her cancer to gain the jury's sympathy,Bernard Weinraub, Playboy, March 1997 and cryptically suggested that karma would catch up with her.Anne Thompson, The Sunday Telegraph, 4.11.99
Locke brought a separate action against Warner Bros. for allegedly conspiring with Eastwood to sabotage her directorial career. As had happened with the previous lawsuit, this ended in an out-of-court settlement, in May 1999. "Showbuzz". CNN. May 26, 1999. By then, Locke had fired Garrity and hired Neil Papiano to represent her.O'Neill, Ann W. (June 6, 1999). "This Time, Judge Judy's a Defendant". Los Angeles Times. The agreement with Warner Bros., Locke said, was "a happy ending." "The Battle's Over for Eastwood's Ex". People. July 5, 1999. "I feel elated. This has been the best day in a long, long time," she told reporters on courthouse steps. The case is used in some modern law-school contract textbooks to illustrate the legal concept of good faith.
Locke underwent a double mastectomy at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, followed by chemotherapy. During treatment, she began dating Scott Cunneen (born September 10, 1961, Long Beach, California), an intern assigned to perform the postsurgical checkup. Unfazed by their 17-year age difference—and the fact Locke was just three years younger than his mother—they soon went public with the romance, dining at paparazzi hotspot Spago on one of their early dates in November 1990. "Actress Sondra Locke and boyfriend Scott Cunneen on November 10, 1990... News Photo" – via Getty Images. Cunneen moved in with her in the spring of 1991. She called it a "real, supportive, and equal relationship."
In February 2001, Locke purchased a six-bedroom gated mansion in the Hollywood Hills, where she resided for the remainder of her life. "Sondra Locke's House". VirtualGlobetrotting. February 25, 2009. Built in 1925, the home's interior was redesigned to look like Locke's old house on Stradella Road. Cunneen and she eventually broke up, albeit without publicity, since she had faded from public view.
In 2004, Locke settled a personal injury lawsuit brought against her in Beverly Hills by one Mark Feigin, whom she had accidentally struck with an automobile the previous year.
In 2015, after a 25-year period of apparent remission, Locke's cancer returned and metastasized to her bones.
Locke's death received no television coverage except for a 15-second spot on ABC World News Tonight. Eastwood did not comment on the death, nor did any of Locke's other living exes, nor any of her friends or relatives. Co-stars such as Richard Dreyfuss, Cicely Tyson, Louie Anderson, Sally Kellerman, Stacy Keach, and Ted Neeley—all active on social media—were equally silent. On the 91st Academy Awards telecast, broadcast nearly four months after Locke died, she was omitted from the "In Memoriam" segment. In absence of any explanation, some surmised that Locke requested the blackout in her final wishes, perhaps to keep her real age under wraps.
Locke's influence as a feminist icon was duly acknowledged by the mainstream press. In 1989, Claudia Puig of the Los Angeles Times described her lawsuit against Clint Eastwood as a "precedent-setting legal case, as it raises the question of whether a woman, who is legally married to one man, can claim palimony rights from another." Childfree by choice—unusual for a person of her generation—Locke was among the first celebrities to publicly discuss her abortion experiences. "The rise of childlessness". The Economist. July 27, 2017. The avowal made Locke "a talking-point in America's sexual politics debate," according to The Guardians Peter Bradshaw. Locke's subsequent relationship with a doctor young enough to be her son added to her notoriety. "The Actor And The Revolutionary!". Notorious Women. December 25, 2018.
Cinematographer David Worth credits Locke with his big break.Guarisco, Don (March 6, 2012). "Warrior of the Lost Drive-In: An Interview with David Worth Part 1". Schlockmania. She is admired by such actresses as Frances Fisher and Rosanna Arquette, who applauded the strength of her directorial accomplishments, however short-lived.Gonzalez, Sandra (December 14, 2018). "Sondra Locke, Oscar-nominated actress, has died". CNN.
During the last quarter of her life, Locke maintained she was blacklisted from the film industry as a result of her acrimonious split from Eastwood, while his career continued unscathed. Peggy Garrity, Locke's former counsel, recalled the courtroom drama in her book In the Game: The Highs and Lows of a Trailblazing Trial Lawyer (2016). Garrity revealed that Locke's 1999 confidential settlement from WB "was for many millions more than the settlement with Clint had been." Locke v. Warner Bros. Inc also catalyzed changes within the legal system. In a landmark decision,Fitzgerald, Mark (July 31, 1999). "Locke vs. Eastwood Case Leads to Landmark Decision". Editor & Publisher. California's Supreme Court ruled that access to civil trials could no longer be closed to the public.Dolan, Maura (May 7, 1999). "Court Leaning Toward Access to Civil Trials". Los Angeles Times.
Numerous outlets faced pushback over their chosen headlines for Locke's obituary. Several major publications prefaced news of her death by tagging Eastwood's name atop the article, which drew criticism by some who deemed it a sexist epitaph, with fans online pointing out that Locke was an Oscar nominee prior to meeting Eastwood. Women's blog Jezebel criticized The Hollywood Reporter for ostensibly regarding Locke as a nonentity; THR subsequently changed its headline. News organization TheWrap—whose editor, Sharon Waxman, reviewed Locke's memoir for The Washington Post in 1997—opined that her story "should stir resonance in this age of the #MeToo movement." In a tribute to the late actress, author Sarah Weinman wrote: "Sondra Locke, like Barbara Loden, deserves to be known for her work, not for the famous man she was disastrously involved with."
Among those voicing an unfavorable opinion of Locke was film scholar Rex Reed, who had interviewed her for a 1967 New York Times profile. "She lied so much during her brief but colorful career," Reed wrote in an essay for Observer, "that when she lost her battle with cancer at age 74, I wondered if it was a publicity stunt."
Candid photographs of Locke and Eastwood in their heyday are on display at the Frazetta Art Museum in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, next to Frank Frazetta's exaggerated portrait of the couple that was used on the poster for The Gauntlet (1977). One film in which she appeared— The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)—has been preserved in the National Film Registry.
The end credits of Bad Therapy (2020) pay homage to her.
Career
Rise to prominence
Commercial ups and downs, missed roles, TV work
Films with Clint Eastwood
Directing
Memoir and final projects
Other activities
Philanthropy
Wellness
Public image
Personal life
Marriage
Romances
Life with Eastwood
Palimony suit
Fraud suit
Illness; last relationship
Death
Media blackout
Legacy
Our Very Own
Filmography
As actress
1968 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Margaret 'Mick' Kelly Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female
Nominated—Laurel Awards
Nominated—Laurel AwardsHughes, William (December 14, 2018). "R.I.P. Sondra Locke, Oscar-nominated star of The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter and Every Which Way But Loose". The A.V. Club. 1970 Cover Me Babe Melisse 1971 Willard Joan Simms 1972 A Reflection of Fear Marguerite 1972 Night Gallery Sheila Gray Episode: "A Feast of Blood" 1972 The F.B.I. Regina Mason Episode: "Dark Christmas" 1973 Cannon Trish Caton Episode: "Death of a Stone Seahorse" 1973 The ABC Afternoon Playbreak Nora Sells Episode: "My Secret Mother" 1973 Gondola Jackie TV movie 1974 The Second Coming of Suzanne Suzanne 1974 Kung Fu Gwyneth Jenkins Episode: "This Valley of Terror" 1974 Planet of the Apes Amy Episode: "The Cure" 1975 Barnaby Jones Alicia Episode: "The Orchid Killer" 1975 Cannon Tracy Murdock Episode: "A Touch of Venom" 1976 Joe Forrester Pam Wilson Episode: "A Game of Love" 1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales Laura Lee 1977 Death Game Agatha Jackson 1977 The Shadow of Chikara Drusilla Wilcox 1977 The Gauntlet Augustina 'Gus' Mally 1978 Every Which Way but Loose Lynn Halsey-Taylor 1979 Friendships, Secrets and Lies Jessie Dunne TV movie 1980 Bronco Billy Antoinette Lily Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress 1980 Any Which Way You Can Lynn Halsey-Taylor 1982 Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story Rosemary Clooney TV movie 1983 Sudden Impact Jennifer Spencer 1984 Tales of the Unexpected Edna Episode: "Bird of Prey" 1985 Amazing Stories Vanessa Sullivan Episode: "Vanessa in the Garden" 1986 Ratboy Nikki Morrison Also director
Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress "Interview: Sondra Locke Talks Clint Eastwood and the Fate of RATBOY". ComingSoon.net. September 29, 2015. 1999 The Prophet's Game Adele Highsmith (adult) 1999 Clean and Narrow Betsy Brand 2018 Ray Meets Helen Helen
As director
1986 Ratboy Furtado, David (November 20, 2013). "Sondra Locke's Ratboy: A modern day fairy tale". Wand'rin' Star. 1990 Impulse 1995 Death in Small Doses 1997 Trading Favors
Stage
1962 The Monkey's Paw Mrs. White Bud Frank Theatre, Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City Press-Chronicle, 5.1.62 1962 Life with Father Mary Skinner Tucker Theater, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 1963 The Crucible Mary Warren Tucker Theater, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 1964 Life with Mother Cora Miller Belcourt Playhouse, Nashville, Tennessee 1964 The Innocents Flora Circle Theater, Nashville, Tennessee 1964 A Thousand Clowns Dr. Sandra Markowitz Circle Theater, Nashville, Tennessee 1965 Night of the Iguana Charlotte Goodall Circle Theater, Nashville, Tennessee 1965 Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad Rosalie Circle Theater, Nashville, Tennessee 1965 The Glass Menagerie Laura Wingfield Circle Theater, Nashville, Tennessee 1967 Tiger at the Gates Helen of Troy Vanderbilt Theatre, Nashville, Tennessee
Discography
Footnotes
See also
External links
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Sondra Locke at the British Film Institute
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