Inside Jean Seberg’s Devastating Affair With Clint Eastwood

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During her glamorous, tortured, and short life, the actress Jean Seberg took many lovers. Among them: Clint Eastwood, her Paint Your Wagon co-star.

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This is the story of how he broke her heart.

Jean Seberg

Born in 1938 and raised in small town Iowa, the young, theatrical Jean Seberg dreamed of a bigger life. And she quickly found it. When she was just 18, Serberg was whisked off to Hollywood, chosen from thousands of girls to star as Joan of Arc in Otto Preminger’s 1957 drama, Saint Joan. The press characterized Seberg’s journey as something of a Cinderella story. And though Saint Joan fared poorly, Seberg remained a working actress.

And in 1960, she got her big break: Breathless. Jean Luc Goddard’s seminal work established not only the experimental tenets of the French New Wave, but also Seberg herself, as the recognizable face of the movement. With her stark, short blonde haircut, Seberg represented a fresh blend of American-French chic, transforming into a world-famous style icon.

With her celebrity firmly cemented, Seberg went on to have a number of high-profile affairs. At age 19, she married the French filmmaker François Moreuil. In 1960, they divorced and Seberg took up with the married Lithuanian-French novelist Romain Gary. Gary’s wife, another writer named Lesley Blanch, knew about the affair which continued for two years. So very French. Eventually, though, Gary left Blanch to marry — the much younger — Seberg. They wed in 1962 and had a son together, Alexandre Diego Gary.

While married to Gary, Seberg continued to act in various films — occasionally hooking up with her creative collaborators. Most famously, Clint Eastwood, who starred opposite Seberg in the weird Western musical Paint Your Wagon.

Clint Eastwood and ‘Paint Your Wagon’

In 1969, Paint Your Wagon came to represent a polarizing moment — not only for Jean Seberg’s personal life, but within the entire scope of American film history.

Based on the 1951 Broadway musical, Paint Your Wagon takes place during the California Gold Rush and follows the story of prospector Ben Rumson, played by Lee Marvin. Rumson teams up with a partner, called, simply “Pardner,” played by Clint Eastwood, and together they bid (yes, bid, in an auction) on a wife… to share. Enter: Elizabeth, played by Jean Seberg, who agrees to the odd arrangement to escape Mormon polygamy.

For a while, the trio lives happily in a log cabin, thriving on polyandry and establishing their own town: “No Name City.” But when new settlers arrive, it all comes crashing down through a chaotic, sexist, and song-infused series of events.

The plot of Paint Your Wagon differs significantly from its source material with its focus on the ménage à trois. Premiering at the tail-end of the ’60s, the script was apparently reworked to highlight — and belittle — the ideals of free love which had defined the decade. It was a decidedly old-fashioned production, with its big-budget musical medium and major studio backing. Released from Paramount Pictures, Paint Your Wagon represented a return to form — with dismal results.

Production time ran over frequently and the expensive project was over budget from the jump. And though the movie was popular, it grossed a small profit and was, thematically, something of an embarrassment for both Eastwood and Seberg.

But behind-the-scenes, it was even messier.

While shooting on location in Oregon and California, Seberg and Eastwood were very much together. They were also both married at the time; Seberg to Romain Gary and Eastwood to Maggie Johnson. But Seberg was so smitten with Eastwood that, for the first time, she seriously considered leaving her husband.

When Gary eventually came to visit the set, the infidelity was obvious — and the writer challenged Eastwood to a duel! It never happened, although Eastwood did appear to love Seberg. At least for some time.

“I adored her… she played a very important role in my life,” Eastwood later said. According to Seberg, Eastwood had even “pulled a few strings” to get her on Paint Your Wagon, meaning the affair began before shooting. In that case, lasting roughly two years. But in the end, all that time made no difference to Eastwood. He blew Seberg off completely when they returned to Los Angeles.

Jilted, Seberg discussed the ghosting and heartbreak with her publicist at the time, Jerry Pam. And following Seberg’s death, Pam discussed the topic with her biographer David Richards:

“Once they got back to Paramount, it was as if Clint didn’t know who she was. Jean couldn’t believe that he could be that indifferent to her, after everything that had gone on in Baker. She was a very vulnerable woman, and it was a terrible trauma for her.”

From Played Out by David Richards

Though tragic for Seberg, the experience was necessary step in her life. She decided, finally, to file for divorce from Gary. And without Eastwood, she entered into the ’70s as a single woman. During that decade, other, more political affairs would come to define Seberg’s legacy. And the gritty, auteur-powered flicks of which would characterize the era looked nothing like Paint Your Wagon.

The ‘Suicide’ of Jean Seberg

Joan of Arc, the French New Wave, the affair with Clint Eastwood… all were just fleeting aspects of Jean Seberg’s public identity, constantly in flux. And during the 1970s, she would come to further inhabit a unique and rebellious place in the pop culture canon— until her dramatic “suicide” in 1979.

Throughout the civil rights movement, Seberg became acquainted with the Black Panther Party (BpP) and was especially close with two high-profile Panthers: Hakim Jamal, who was married to Malcom X’s cousin, and Raymond ”Masai” Hewitt. It’s been widely reported that she carried on relationships with both men.

During those years, Seberg donated money to the BPP and hosted a fundraiser for them at her house. Though it was certainly a notable move for the actress, other celebrities, like Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando, were pledging their support and money to the party.

However, it was Seberg alone who caught the special attention of the FBI. She became an early, official target of the FBI COINTELPRO operation, which aimed to discredit and intimidate the actress. The operation was overseen by J. Edgar Hoover.

For years, Hoover’s administration waged a silent campaign against Seberg, tapping her phones and leaking damaging stories to the press. The FBI even floated a false story about Seberg carrying Hewitt’s child through the form of an anonymous gossip tip; this was printed in the Los Angeles Times and re-printed in Newsweek.

Seberg was indeed pregnant at the time — but not with Hewitt’s baby. Under the immense pressure, she began to drink excessively and abused sleeping pills, eventually overdosing. The incident resulted in a premature labor that proved fatal for her child. Her baby died in 1970, when she was two days old, and the funeral was open casket so as to disprove the mixed race rumors. Likely, the baby was fathered by Sebert’s ex Romain Gary.

Seberg never fully recovered from that trauma. Despite maintaining a successful career since she was a teen, suddenly, Seberg was stopped appearing in films. She was effectively blacklisted from Hollywood for her remaining years. In part, due to FBI pressure and also due to her mental decline — which again ties back to the FBI’s campaign.

On August 30, 1979, Seberg disappeared from her Paris apartment and was found dead nine days later, decomposing in the back seat of her car.

The death was ruled a probable suicide, as the police found barbiturates on her person and a note which read: “Forgive me. I can no longer live with my nerves.” But fans have never fully believed the story, alleging that the FBI could have played an even larger role.

The recent biopic Seberg, starring Kristen Stewart, has renewed interest in the subject for a new generation.

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