March 21, 1999
Clint's ex and oohs
By LOUIS B. HOBSON
HOLLYWOOD -- As his new thriller True Crime proves, Clint Eastwood is a true family man.

Make that an extended-family man.

In True Crime, Eastwood plays a journalist who tries to prove the innocence of a death row prisoner.

Eastwood's wife Dina (Ruiz) Eastwood plays a TV anchorwoman.

"I knew she could do it," says Eastwood, of his wife, who in real life is a TV anchorwoman. "She's had a lot of practice,"

The district attorney is played by Frances Fisher, Eastwood's paramour immediately before he married Ruiz, and Eastwood's daughter in True Crime is played by Francesca Fisher Eastwood, the five-year-old daughter of Eastwood and Fisher.

Francesca lives with Fisher. Eastwood and Ruiz have a two-year-old daughter Morgan.

"We all get along remarkably well, as is only proper in these cases," says Eastwood.

In the past, Eastwood has directed his older children Kyle and Alison Eastwood.

"It's always dangerous when you hire one of your children. You wonder how traumatic it would be if you were forced to fire them."

True Crime is Eastwood's 21st film as a director and his 41st starring role.