Five Screen Legends Who Passed on Dirty Harry
Before Clint Eastwood made Dirty Harry iconic, five Hollywood heavyweights—Robert Mitchum, Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman, and John Wayne—each turned down the role for their own reasons.
When Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry hit cinemas just before Christmas in 1971, it quickly drew crowds despite the festive timing. The gritty crime flick ended up making back its budget nine times over, cementing its place as a box office smash. Clint Eastwood, playing the tough-as-nails cop who wasn’t afraid to bend the rules, landed what would become one of his most memorable roles, right up there with his turn as the ‘Man with No Name’ in Sergio Leone’s westerns. The film kicked off a string of sequels, gave us lines that stuck in the public’s mind, and is still seen as a career-defining moment for Eastwood, who went on to win four Oscars. But interestingly, he wasn’t the first pick for the part.
Some critics, like Pauline Kael, took issue with the film’s supposed political undertones, something Eastwood always denied. That controversy was enough to put off a couple of big names, though each actor had their own reasons for giving the role a miss.
Big Names Who Said No
Robert Mitchum was one of the first to be offered the part. With his rugged looks and history of playing authority figures, he seemed a natural fit for the role. Still, Mitchum wasn’t interested when the script landed on his desk. His brother John ended up in the film instead, playing Frank DiGiorgio, so the family still got a look-in.
Steve McQueen had just finished playing a hard-edged detective in Bullitt, and reckoned it was too soon to take on another similar role. He didn’t regret passing, but later poked fun at the idea, saying in his last film, The Hunter,
‘They shoulda called me Clean Harry.’
He played a character who was the polar opposite of Callahan, both in attitude and approach.
Sinatra, Newman, and Wayne: Different Reasons, Same Result
Frank Sinatra was attached to the project for a while, but a wrist injury that needed surgery made him pull out. He didn’t feel up to handling the hefty .44 Magnum with his recovering hand. Eastwood, when he heard the reason, couldn’t help but think,
‘That sounded like a pretty lame excuse,’
but he wasn’t complaining about getting the call-up.
Paul Newman turned down the role because he didn’t agree with what he saw as the film’s political slant. Known for his left-leaning views, Newman didn’t want to be linked to a story he thought leaned too far the other way. Eastwood later said,
‘He thought the character was sort of a radical guy on the right, so politically he couldn’t do it.’
Eastwood himself didn’t see it that way and was happy to step in.
John Wayne was the only one who later admitted to regretting his decision. After seeing the success of Dirty Harry, he starred in McQ, a film with a suspiciously similar vibe. Wayne even joked,
‘I thought I could be Dirty Duke,’
but the end result showed it wasn’t quite the same magic.