Dirty Harry (film series) Dirty Harry (film series) Dirty Harry is an American film series featuring San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan who is notorious for being extremely violent and ruthless in his methods, and a danger for any partner assigned to him. Actor Clint Eastwood portrayed Callahan in all five of the series' films. "Dirty Harry" (1971) was directed by Don Siegel and starred Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan. Harry tracks serial killer Scorpio (loosely based on the Zodiac killer). Eastwood's iconic portrayal of the blunt-speaking, unorthodox detective set the style for a number of his subsequent roles, and
Dirty Harry (character) a jumper, Callahan states he is known as Dirty Harry because he is assigned to "every dirty job that comes along". When Harry is ordered to deliver ransom money to Scorpio, Gonzalez opines "no wonder they call him Dirty Harry; [he] always gets the shit end of the stick". In "Dirty Harry", Gonzalez humorously suggests that Callahan's nickname may have an alternate origin given that he twice ends up peeking through a naked woman's window and later follows a suspect into a strip club. The films reveal little about Callahan's personal background. In the first film, Callahan tells Chico Gonzalez's