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Robert Donald Locke Biography & Facts

Sandra Louise Anderson (née Smith; May 28, 1944 – November 3, 2018), professionally known as Sondra Locke, was an American actress and director. An alumna of Middle Tennessee State University, Locke broke into regional show business with assorted posts at the Nashville-based radio station WSM-AM, then segued into television as a promotions assistant for WSM-TV. She performed in the theater company Circle Players Inc. while employed at WSM. In 1968, she made her film debut in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and earned dual Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress and New Star of the Year. Locke went on to appear in such box office successes as Willard (1971), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), The Gauntlet (1977), Every Which Way but Loose (1978), Bronco Billy (1980), Any Which Way You Can (1980), and Sudden Impact (1983). She worked regularly with Clint Eastwood, who was her companion from 1975 to 1989 despite their marriages to other people. She also directed four films, notably Impulse (1990). She published an autobiography, The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly: A Hollywood Journey, in 1997. Locke's persona belied her age. She claimed to have been born several years later than 1944, often playing roles written for women far younger than herself, and kept her true age a secret throughout her career. For reasons never made clear, her death was not publicly announced and was only confirmed by vital statistics six weeks after she died of cardiac arrest at the age of 74. From 1967 until her death, Locke was the wife of sculptor Gordon Leigh Anderson, in a mixed-orientation union they reputedly never consummated. Background, early life and education Sandra Louise Smith was born on May 28, 1944, the daughter of New York City native Raymond Smith, then a soldier stationed at Camp Forrest, and Pauline Bayne, a pencil factory worker from Huntsville, Alabama, who was of mostly Scottish descent, with matrilineages in South Carolina extending back to the late 18th century. Locke's parents separated before her birth. In her autobiography, Locke noted that "although Momma would not admit it, I knew Mr. Smith never married my mother." She had a maternal half-brother, Donald (born April 26, 1946), from Bayne's subsequent brief marriage to William B. Elkins. When Bayne married Alfred Locke in 1948, Sandra and Donald assumed his surname. She grew up in Shelbyville, Tennessee, where her stepfather owned a construction company. The family later moved to nearby Wartrace. Self-described as introspective and ambitious, Locke started working part-time at age 16, drove her own car, and had a phone installed in her bedroom. She was raised a Baptist, but stopped going to church as an adult. Locke was a cheerleader and class valedictorian in junior high. She played basketball as an eighth-grader for Shelbyville Mills School, making her hardwood debut on December 5, 1957 against Wartrace. From 1958, she attended Shelbyville Central High School, where she was again valedictorian and voted "Duchess of Studiousness" by classmates. She continued to play on the girls' basketball team, served as PTSA representative, and was president of the French club. Regardless, she wasn't considered "date material" by the more socially prominent boys in her class. Her first beau, according to locals' reminiscences, was Fred Thomas Jones, a carpenter's son. Her graduation yearbook listed her grade average 97.72% and her ambition "always to take disappointment with a smile." In 1962, Locke matriculated at Middle Tennessee State University (then Middle Tennessee State College) in Murfreesboro on a full scholarship. Majoring in drama, she was a member of the Alpha Psi Omega honor society while at MTSU and appeared on stage in Life with Father and The Crucible. She dropped out after completing two semesters of study. In or around 1963, Locke essentially broke off contact with her family, concluding: "It made no sense for any of us to spend our lives pretending to have relationships that did not really exist." She never knew her biological father, and did not attend the funerals of her mother (deceased 1997) or stepfather (deceased 2007), nor did she have anything to do with her brother, sister-in-law and three nieces. Donald blamed Gordon Anderson – Locke's best friend since adolescence and future husband – for the rift, claiming Anderson had "an almost hypnotic spell on her." Locke held a variety of jobs, including as a bookkeeper for Tyson Foods and secretary in a real-estate office. For a time she lived at South Water Apartments in the commuter town of Gallatin. In 1964, she joined the staff at radio station WSM-AM 650 in Nashville and was promoted to its television affiliate WSM-Channel 4 the following year. Locke's biggest coup while employed there was hosting actor Robert Loggia when Loggia visited Nashville to promote his TV pilot T.H.E. Cat, during which he "flirted outrageously" with Locke. She also modeled for The Tennessean fashion page, acted in commercials for Rich-Schwartz ladies apparel and Southerland Gel mattresses, among others, and gained further stage experience in productions for Circle Players Inc. In 1966, the 22-year-old appeared in a UPI wire photo that showed her cavorting in new fallen snow. Within one year of this exposure, she decided to pursue a career in film and changed the spelling of her first name to avoid being called Sandy. Career Rise to prominence In July 1967, Locke competed with 590 other Southern actresses and dozens of New York hopefuls for the part of Mick Kelly in a big-screen adaptation of Carson McCullers' novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter opposite Alan Arkin. For the first audition in Birmingham, then-fiancé Gordon Anderson gave his bride a so-called Hollywood makeover: he bound her bosom, bleached her eyebrows and carefully fixed her hair, makeup and outfit so as to create a more gamine appearance. Locke lied about her age, shaving off six years to make herself seem younger – a pretense she would keep up not only for the rest of her career, but also the entirety of her public life. After callbacks in New Orleans and Manhattan, she was cast in the role by recommendation from casting director Marion Dougherty. The film's shooting wrapped in the fall of 1967. Locke, who had quit her post at WSM, opted to wait until its release before choosing a follow-up project. In the nine-month interim, she said she was asked to play the female protagonists in True Grit and Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point. She said she turned down the latter because of the nudity required. Heart came out in the summer of 1968 to critical acclaim. Locke's performance garnered her an Academy Award nomination, as well as a pair of Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Most Promising Newcomer – Female. Being the oldest nominee in the latter category, she concealed that distinction .... Discover the Robert Donald Locke popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Robert Donald Locke books.