Clint Eastwood's Dating History: From Maggie Johnson to Dina Eastwood

After splitting from Dina Eastwood in 2013, Clint Eastwood was in a relationship with the late Christina Sandera

Clint Eastwood's love life has made plenty of headlines over the course of his decades-long career.

When Eastwood entered the Hollywood scene in the 1950s, he was newly married to his first wife Maggie Johnson. Their marriage would go on to become his longest relationship to date, although it had its fair share of ups and downs — as well as a few affairs. Since then, Eastwood has had a number of high-profile relationships and flings, several of which have resulted in children.

Eastwood welcomed a total of eight children with various partners, including Johnson, Titantic actress Frances Fisher, whom he dated for nearly six years, and his second wife, Dina Eastwood, among others. His marriage to Dina lasted over 17 years. Their relationship ultimately ended in divorce in 2014, but then, Eastwood found love again.

The actor began dating Christina Sandera around 2015 and later announced news of her death on July 18, 2024. “Christina was a lovely, caring woman, and I will miss her very much," he said in a statement.

Here's a look back at Clint Eastwood's dating history.

Maggie Johnson

Eastwood first met Maggie Johnson in May 1953 when she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley. At the time, Eastwood had recently been discharged from the military and was planning on attending Los Angeles City College, according to Richard Schickel's Clint Eastwood: A Biography. Before starting school, Eastwood visited a friend in nearby San Francisco. His friend set Eastwood and Johnson up on a blind date — even though Johnson had a boyfriend at the time. Johnson recalled that she was impressed by Eastwood.

"I came down the stairs of the sorority house, and [Clint] had his back to me. When he turned around, I was amazed at what he looked like. Plus, he was understated and that kind of appealed to me," Johnson told Schickel.

Eastwood said they "hit it off right away" and went on several more dates. But despite their connection, Eastwood was also seeing other people. Before moving to L.A., he fathered a child with another woman in Seattle. By the time he arrived in L.A. that fall, he was still dating Johnson, who had graduated college and moved in with her family in nearby Alhambra, California. It wasn't long before the couple began discussing marriage. Eastwood admitted that he was hesitant, but he eventually decided to propose. The couple tied the knot on Dec. 19, 1953 — just a few months before his daughter Laurie Murray was born and placed for adoption, unbeknownst to Eastwood.

Although Eastwood agreed to be married, the couple soon hit bumps in the road. The actor went as far as to call their first year of marriage "terrible" as he often still wanted to "do as [he] pleased." Then, in the late '50s, he began an extramarital affair that resulted in his second child, Kimber Lynn, born in 1964.

It's unclear if Johnson was aware of the affair, although in Clint Eastwood: A Biography, the couple's friend Fritz Manes said that Johnson had once asked if he thought her husband was "playing around." Manes admitted to lying about Eastwood's affairs to reassure her, and Johnson said she preferred not to "dwell on it." Looking back on their relationship years later, Eastwood told Playboy that he believed Johnson was "a woman who knows how much room I need."

The couple went on to welcome their own children: Their son Kyle Eastwood arrived in 1968 and their second child, Alison Eastwood, was born in 1972. The family eventually relocated to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where they spent seven years building their dream home. It was there that the couple's marriage fell apart, amid rumors of Eastwood's affair with his costar Sondra Locke. Eastwood said he and Johnson often argued about the home's construction and eventually found themselves drifting apart.

In 1979, several years into Eastwood's affair with Locke, the couple officially called it quits. When they officially divorced in 1984, Johnson reportedly received a $25 million settlement. Since then, the pair have remained on good terms and stayed friends throughout the years. She was even by his side with their children when Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1986.

In July 2022, their daughter Alison opened up about the former couple's relationship, revealing that they were still celebrating holidays together and lived just a mile away from each other.

"I'm so thankful that both of them are friends. We all celebrate Thanksgiving together," Alison told Fox News. "Their lives are intertwined, and it's been great. And they've always gotten along really well. … I give my mom a lot of credit for being somebody who said, 'We have a family together, regardless of whether we're married or not. We want the kids to know that we get along, and we're friends still.' That was especially important to both of my parents. Family came first."

Roxanne Tunis

While Eastwood was still married to Johnson, he met stuntwoman Roxanne Tunis on the set of Rawhide, which began in 1959. The pair soon began an affair, which would reportedly go on for 14 years.

Tunis became pregnant, and in 1964, she gave birth to their daughter Kimber Lynn Eastwood. Eastwood has claimed that, at the time, he didn't know that Tunis was pregnant and he wasn't told about the baby until a year after her birth. He later said in Clint Eastwood: A Biography that learning the news made him feel like he got the "wind knocked out" of him.

Eastwood made arrangements to take care of Kimber, but he did not see her often, only visiting her every "three or four months." Tunis continued to see Eastwood, visiting him on sets and in his office, though it's not known when their affair ended.

Sondra Locke

Eastwood first met actress Sondra Locke in 1972 when she was auditioning for his film Breezy. At the time, Eastwood was still married to Johnson, and Locke was married to her childhood best friend Gordon Anderson. Although she didn't get the part, she was later cast in Eastwood's film The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1975 — and the pair began an affair. In her autobiography, The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly: A Hollywood Journey, Locke alleged that Eastwood said "there was no real relationship left" between him and Johnson.

Eastwood and Locke's relationship continued after filming wrapped, and Locke said she even moved into one of his homes. By the time they filmed The Gauntlet, rumors of a romance were swirling. Despite the headlines, the pair publicly maintained that they were just friends; Locke said that she had the "greatest amount of respect, admiration and fondness" for Eastwood.

"Everybody would love for us to say, 'It's all true, we're madly in love,' " Locke told PEOPLE in 1978. "But people will believe whatever they want to believe. Even if it were true — which it isn't — I certainly wouldn't talk about it."

The following year, Eastwood and Johnson separated. Locke alleged in her autobiography that, by then, she had had two abortions and a tubal ligation, as Eastwood told her he didn't want any more children, per Vanity Fair, though Eastman denied the allegations.

Locke and Eastwood's relationship continued for the next decade, growing more and more toxic. Throughout it, Locke remained legally married to and in a platonic relationship with Anderson, who was gay.

Over the course of their turbulent relationship, Eastwood had affairs with both Jacelyn Reeves and Frances Fisher. By the end, the former couple were barely seeing each other, and in April 1989, Eastman allegedly moved all of Locke's belongings into storage and changed the locks on the doors of their home, according to the Washington Post.

Shortly after, Locke filed a palimony lawsuit against Eastwood, alleging that she suffered "humiliation, mental anguish … severe emotional and physical distress and … mental and physical harm" during their relationship. She asked for a $1.3 million share of the wealth amassed during their relationship as well as several of their properties, including one that had been leased to Anderson. The lawsuit sat in limbo for over a year; in the meantime, Locke was being treated for breast cancer. In 1990, it was finally agreed upon that, in exchange for Locke dropping the suit, Eastwood would secure her a $1.5 million development deal at Warner Bros., award her the house where Anderson lived and pay her $450,000 plus monthly support payments.

Five years later, however, Locke sued Eastwood for fraud and breach of financial duty because all of the projects she brought to the studio were rejected, alleging that this was his way of keeping her from working. The pair settled out of court for an undisclosed amount in September 1996, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In November 2018, Locke died of cardiac arrest related to breast and bone cancer. She and Anderson remained married and close friends until her death.

Reflecting on the relationship, she told the Washington Post, "My biggest misfortune, my greatest regret, is that I wish I'd cut my time with Clint in half. I wouldn't say I wish I never had the relationship, but I wish I'd found a way, I'd understood who he was, where it would end, five or six years earlier so I could have gotten on with things."

Jacelyn Reeves

While Eastwood was still dating Locke, he met flight attendant Jacelyn Reeves. Although not much about their relationship is known, they welcomed two children during their time together. In 1986, Reeves gave birth to their son Scott Eastwood; in 1988, they welcomed daughter Kathryn Eastwood.

Frances Fisher

In late 1988, while Eastwood was dating Locke and having an ongoing affair with Reeves, he met actress Frances Fisher. The pair first crossed paths when she was cast in Pink Cadillac, although they didn't meet until the film's pre-production party. Fisher said it was love at first sight when she entered the room on roller skates and saw Eastwood.

"He looked right at me, the way he does every other woman in the world, but it got to me too. I mean, when he turns it on, he can turn it on, and I just went, 'Oh my God, look at that.' There was a human being there — I just saw such beauty in his presence. And I felt like a big piece of the puzzle had fallen in place," Fisher shared in Clint Eastwood: A Biography.

They spent time together throughout filming and back in L.A. when they returned home. Eastwood and Locke's split made headlines shortly after in late 1989, and Fisher was surprised, as he had not mentioned the relationship. The pair began to date quietly and eventually moved in together. By 1992, they were attending red carpet events together. Fisher told PEOPLE their relationship was "steady … serious and we have a lot of fun." In Eastwood's biography, Fisher recalled that all was well as long as she knew he was faithful.

In August 1993, Eastwood and Fisher welcomed their daughter Francesca Ruth Eastwood. They went on to have what Fisher called a "miraculous" period of family time together.

But by the end of 1993, their relationship had begun to dissolve. Between personal conflicts, Fisher's discovery of Eastwood's children with Reeves and paparazzi shots of Eastwood kissing another woman, Fisher moved into the guest house. By spring 1995, the couple had fully separated.

"With relationships, with people, you're attracted to somebody for a reason. You follow it through, and if you can't get past the honeymoon stage and get into the deeper meanings of why you're together … you're doomed to just stop when things start getting tough," Fisher told the L.A. Times shortly after their split.

The former couple are now on good terms, and have even appeared at red carpet events together. In 2004, Fisher told SFGate, "I believe when you have loved someone, if you don't destroy it with pettiness, then the love is always there."

Dina Eastwood

While Eastwood was dating Fisher, he met news anchor Dina Eastwood, née Dina Ruiz, who was local to Carmel-by-the-Sea. After she interviewed him in 1992, they crossed paths again at a local event.

"We got along really well and I guess we flirted a little bit because she took the film back to KSBW and one of her associates said, 'You're going to marry him,' " Eastwood told Carmel Magazine of their first meeting. "Then we were attending a function out at Spanish Bay and [one of the hosts] said, 'Do you mind sitting with Dina Ruiz?' I said, 'No! Not at all!' We ended up holding hands and doing all that kind of nonsense."

In early 1995, they were photographed kissing at a golf tournament — but they didn't become a couple until after he and Fisher had split.

In September 1995, Eastwood proposed, and in December, he took her to a courthouse in Hailey, Idaho, to get their marriage license. In March 1996, while Dina was on a girl's trip in Las Vegas, Eastwood organized a wedding ceremony to take place at his friend Steve Wynn's nearby estate. In just 48 hours, the wedding was planned and the couple were saying "I do." Dina later told PEOPLE it was her "dream wedding."

Shortly after their nuptials, Eastwood and Dina learned they were expecting their first baby. In December 1996, they welcomed their daughter Morgan Eastwood. The couple remained married while raising Morgan; in her 2007 interview with Carmel Magazine, Dina shared that the longest they'd ever go apart was "maybe 10 days."

"He's the least pretentious person I've ever met. And I love that he's so conscientious about nature and letting things remain as they are," she told the outlet. "When Morgan was a little girl she liked to go in our yard to look at the flowers and he'd say, 'Please don't pick the flowers, let them live.' … He's one of those people who takes bugs outside. I call him Saint Francis of Assisi."

In 2012, the couple shared insight into their lives on Mrs. Eastwood & Company. The reality show chronicled Dina's life with Morgan and stepdaughter Francesca but only occasionally featured Eastwood. Sources later told PEOPLE that Eastwood was "furious about the show" as it "went against everything he stands for."

By June of that year, in the middle of the show's airing, their marriage had fallen apart. Those close to the couple told PEOPLE that, although they were still living in the same house, they were sleeping in different rooms. Dina reportedly began leaning on her old friend, Scott Fisher, for support. He had been living in Australia and was going through a divorce.

Although Dina said her relationship with Scott was platonic, his ex-wife, Erica Fisher, was concerned about the nature of their relationship and reached out to Eastwood in early 2013. By March, Eastwood and Erica were dating — a revelation that left Dina in "total shock."

Dina filed for legal separation from Eastwood in September 2013, asking for joint custody of Morgan and spousal support. She asked her followers on Twitter not to speak negatively of Eastwood, writing that he is a "wonderful, good natured, brilliant person." In October 2013, Dina officially filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Following their split, Dina shared on Bethenny Frankel's talk show that she and Eastwood were still on good terms.

"He's lovely, he hasn't done much. It's other people around him have done things that have blown me away and again my future ex-husband has done nothing [wrong]," she told Frankel, per E! News. "He is the sweetest, he is a loving, kind, low-key person so my intuition was still great on marrying a good person."

In July 2016, Dina married Scott Fisher in Santa Barbara, California.

Erica Tomlinson-Fisher

While Eastwood was still married to Dina, Erica Tomlinson-Fisher reached out to him. At the time, she was finalizing a divorce from her husband Scott — a longtime friend of Dina. Dina and Scott had reconnected, and Erica was concerned about the nature of their relationship.

After their initial conversation, the pair began speaking on the phone often. In March 2013, they began dating. While they never made their relationship public, Erica was photographed in L.A. with Eastwood, in photos obtained by the Daily Mail. It's not known how or exactly when their relationship ended.

Christina Sandera

Following his split from Erica, Eastwood met hostess Christina Sandera. The couple made their red carpet debut at the Oscars in 2015, according to the New York Times. In 2018, Sandera joined Eastwood and his family — including his kids, his granddaughter and his first wife, Maggie Johnson — at the L.A. premiere of his film The Mule.

In July 2024, Eastwood announced that Sandera had died at the age of 61.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.