It was through Don that Clint would meet his first wife Maggie Johnson, both Clint and Don still remain friends to this day. Another classroom buddy whom he would remain close friends with was Fritz Manes. Fritz went on to play an important part of Clint’s production company Malpaso, producing a great deal of successful projects in the Eighties. By the time he attended Oakland Technical High School, Clint was tall, good looking and never had a problem attracting the attention of young girls. Towering over the over kids wasn’t always an advantage, it also lead to a fair share of general Mickey taking, not that the other kids were any tougher, but their playful games often lead to an inevitable cruelty. The Young Clint was more than able to dish out as much as he received, if not more. Fritz Manes speaking in Minty Clinch’s Book recalls, ‘He had a kind of natural charisma that was really maddening. You could sit in class and do all the little tricks of flirtation, flex your muscles, shuffle your ten-dollar bill, and nothing would work if Clint were in the room. He’d be sitting there doing nothing, just looking at the floor, and all the girls would be looking at him as if they were in a trance, locked in on some secret magnetism he had. It was very demoralising for the rest of us.’ Like every other teenager, it was at high school where Clint fell hopelessly for a girl. Joan was a red headed beauty and certainly one of the most popular girls in the class. Although Clint was crazy about this girl, she never made any outwardly show of interest toward Clint. Other girls of course followed, but for Clint simply just talking to girls was somewhat of a painful and uncomfortable experience. By nature he was ultimately a loner and asking a pretty classmate out on a date just didn’t come naturally, he was simply too introverted.
Above: Oakland Technical High School
