Mr. Eastwood's biographers, including Mr. Schickel, typically cite directors Sergio Leone ("A Fistful of Dollars") and Don Siegel ("Dirty Harry") as his primary mentors.

WSJ: Conserving the Horse He Rode in On

He got a lot of attention because he was new, but nothing really made him stand out, NPR's Don Gonyea tells Robert Siegel.

NPR: Romney, Giuliani Clash at Thompson's First Debate

There are times when it seems you can't tell the players without a scorecard -- the Tokens at the highway hotel were, technically and contractually, Jay Siegel's Tokens (you don't want to know the details).

CNN: What's better than a Grammy? Immortality