Which Stephen King Character Was Based on Clint Eastwood?

Stephen King is one of the most prolific writers of all time. He has so many stories and so many characters, I suppose it should not be a shock that one of them is based on the actor Clint Eastwood.

But it's not like a throwaway guy...it's someone who has their own series and has appeared in eight novels.

Let's dive in.

Stephen King And Clint Eastwood

The character of Roland Deschain, The Gunslinger, was directly inspired by one of history's most celebrated movie stars, a fact confirmed by the author himself.

Roland was introduced to readers in 1982 with the publication of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, the first installment in The Dark Tower series.

It's easy to see the correlation between Roland and the Man With No Name, from the Sergio Leone "Dollars" trilogy.

They're both lone gunslingers traveling across the west alone, wearing a poncho and wielding pistols.

In fact, when King was listing his favorite films for Entertainment Weekly, he said, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a film I’ve written about too often to rehash here; suffice it to say that I was astounded by the sheer size of things, and by the outrageous tricks of pacing that Sergio Leone tried… and pulled off, more often than not.”

If that's not enough proof, the book series itself confirms this inspiration within the third installment, The Waste Lands. The character Jake Chambers spots a poster of Clint Eastwood and immediately recognizes the striking similarities to Roland.

"Eastwood was wearing a Mexican serape. A cigar was clamped in his teeth. He had thrown one side of the serape back over his shoulder to free his gun. His eyes were a pale, faded blue. Bombar­dier's eyes. It's not him, Jake thought, but it's almost him. It's the eyes, mostly ... the eyes are almost the same."

This moment serves as a direct acknowledgment within the narrative, and a fun easter egg for anyone reading.

What are your favorite Stephen King characters?

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