Clint Eastwood swam miles to survive a plane crash. He was glad nobody told him about the sharks

Of course, the same can be said about many actors, but there’s one major reason why the four-time Academy Award winner may not have considered the notion were it offered his way. If a shitty shark flick is good enough for Michael Caine, then who’s to say it would be too good for Eastwood?

He might be an icon of Hollywood with a back catalogue of classic credits on either side of the camera, but he’s also the guy who appeared in Revenge of the Creature and Tarantula! in the 1950s, so his filmography is hardly lacking in schlock value. Steven Spielberg brought sharks to the forefront of popular culture with Jaws, but Eastwood’s experience was a lot more up close and personal.

Not that he even realised it at the time, with the fresh-faced Army recruit being drafted into the military during the Korean War and emerging unscathed from a near-death experience. In September 1951, Eastwood was a passenger on a bomber that ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean off the California coast.

The future A-lister and the pilot made a hasty exit from the downed aircraft, inflated their life rafts, and began making their way to shore. His issues didn’t end there, though, with inclement weather ultimately knocking Eastwood into the freezing and unforgiving ocean, where he was forced to swim for several miles in order to survive and reach dry land.

Eastwood’s later recollection makes the escape sound considerably less straightforward than a strong swimmer heading for the beach. Speaking to The Carmel Pine Cone, he described failing to get his life jacket working properly, losing sight of the pilot and struggling against a current as darkness gathered. Reaching shore brought another worry: the possibility of being thrown against the rocks by the surf. There’s enough tension there without adding a dorsal fin.

The ordeal had none of the reassuring logic of a Hollywood escape sequence, where surviving one spectacular disaster usually means the worst is over. For Eastwood, getting out of the aircraft was only the beginning.

It wouldn’t have been too difficult, considering he used to be a swimming instructor and a lifeguard before being drafted, but it’s not unreasonable to suggest he’d have been swimming a damn sight faster if he knew the waters he was making his way through were infested with sharks.

Explaining his ordeal to The Hollywood Reporter, Eastwood admitted he had no clue there were underwater predators in the area, and it would have completely changed his mindset if he did. “Very cold water,” he recalled. “Found out many years later that it was a white shark breeding ground, but I’m glad I didn’t know that at the time or I’d have just died.”

Years later, that experience gave him a personal point of reference for Sully, his film about Chesley Sullenberger’s emergency landing on the Hudson. Eastwood understood something of the helplessness involved in being a passenger when the aircraft suddenly runs out of options. The film turns that uncertainty into suspense even though the audience already knows the outcome, concentrating on decisions made under pressure and the people depending on them.

A fairly defeatist attitude to have, but it was to Eastwood’s immense benefit he remained completely oblivious to what may or may not have been lurking under the surface. It’s a story ripped right out of a movie, but not one that he’s ever been interested in making, having managed to make it all the way through his career without encountering another shark.

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