Meet Mr. Jeremy Joe Kronsberg

Meet Mr. Jeremy Joe Kronsberg

Here at the Archive we like to try and produce a few surprises from time to time – stories that perhaps might not appear to be obvious or which initially passed our notice the first time around...  And for that reason - here's how this little story of interest suddenly came about. 

It was about 3 weeks ago when I was kindly offered a private collection of Clint Eastwood stills. They were all glossy, 10” x 8” b/w and totalled some 200. It was an interesting collection actually. Obviously there were some dupes as to be expected. However, from the small sample images I had been sent, there was certainly enough there to get me interested.  The vast amount of this collection consisted of stills from Magnum Force (1973), The Gauntlet (1977) and Every which way but loose (1978). There were also a selection from Bronco Billy (1980) and Any which way you can (1981). From the sample photos that were sent to me, I became more and more focused on a couple of really cool shots of Clint casually chatting with one of the Black Widows gang. 

At first I thought it was simply a nice, on location candid that someone had captured. It was only when I received the collection that I began to take a closer look at these two images. They’re very cool shots, no doubt about it, but I began to wonder, was there any significance behind these two photos? Why Clint with this particular gang member?

That night I pulled the Blu-ray of Every which way but loose – if only to refresh my memory. As it turned out, it was the character of Bruno, a very low key gang member who in fact only had a single line of dialogue throughout the whole movie – and, as a result, really made these photos seem even more insignificant?

It was only after delving deeper into the full cast and credits that everything suddenly became very clear. There on the cast list was Bruno, played by…. Jeremy Joe Kronsberg! Yes, the writer of Every which way but loose.

After all these years I can honestly say I had never made the connection. It’s just a nice little cameo appearance by the author. Sadly, by the time of the sequel, Any which way you can (1981) Mr Kronsberg didn’t revive his role – but it remains a wonderful touch and suddenly the two photos now take on a very special meaning. Unfortunately, there is very little to be found on Jeremy Joe Kronsberg. From what I did manage to find out, it seems that he did move into a bit of teaching and is otherwise happy to lead a very simple and quiet life alongside his wife. Nevertheless, it did provide a nice opportunity to share these very rare photos and a great chance to honour the man who provided us with such an original and hugely successful Eastwood project - and of course, became a pivotal element of that golden decade.

Below: A more recent photo of Jeremy Joe Kronsberg and his wife.