American screen and stage actress, pioneering female director, pin-up model, sex symbol and feminist icon who achieved recognition for her relationship with Clint Eastwood and the six hit films they made together, even though she was an Oscar nominee prior to meeting Eastwood.
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. 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.
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 Eastwood, who was her companion for 14 years despite their marriages to other people. She also directed four films, notably Impulse (1990), and published an autobiography, The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly: A Hollywood Journey (1997).
Locke’s persona belied her age, and she habitually played roles written for women much younger than herself. She claimed to have been born several years later than 1944, and her true age remained a secret throughout her career.
Locke died at age 74 on 3 November 2018 at her Los Angeles home from cardiac arrest related to breast and bone cancer. For reasons never made clear, her death was not publicly announced, and was only confirmed by vital statistics six weeks after she died.
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