White Hunter Black Heart Eastwood, is based on real-life director John Huston. Jeff Fahey plays Pete Verrill, a character based on Viertel. George Dzundza's character is based on "African Queen" producer Sam Spiegel. Marisa Berenson's character Kay Gibson and Richard Vanstone's character Phil Duncan, are based on Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, respectively. This was the last film that James Bridges worked on writing down a screenplay before dying in 1993. In the early 1950s, world-renowned film-maker John Wilson travels to Africa for his next film bringing with him a young writer chum named Pete Verrill. Part of his travel plans include hunting elephants
Clint Eastwood in the 1950s Clint Eastwood in the 1950s While serving in the U.S Army at Ft. Ord, California, Clint Eastwood met Chuck Hill, who had contacts in Hollywood. Chuck introduced Eastwood to a few key individuals. He knew little about acting at first and began attending acting classes at Universal Studios. He got a few small parts and began to take his acting career more seriously. His big break came when he was cast as the lead in the part of Rowdy Yates in the television series "Rawhide". According to the CBS press release for "Rawhide", Universal (known then as Universal-International) film company