Actress Sondra Locke died on Nov. 3, but news of her death surfaced Thursday evening. Locke, best known for her movies with Clint Eastwood ad her off-screen romance with Eastwood, died from cardiac arrest at her Los Angeles home.
Though reported to authorities in a prompt manner last month, there is no known reason why details of her death emerged more than a month later.
The Associated Press obtained Locke's death certificate. ABC News stated her death mostly likely stemmed from breast and bone cancer. Locke had a double mastectomy in 1990, according to the report.
Locke began making her mark in movies when she was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress in 1968 for her work in "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter," which was her film debut. She met Eastwood in 1972, and that's when they began dating. Their first movie together was in 1976 with "The Outlaw Josey Wales." She then appeared with him in many other films, including The Gauntlet" in 1977, "Every Which Way But Loose" in 1978, "Bronco Billy" in 1980, "Any Which Way You Can" in 1982 and "Sudden Impact" in 1983.
Born Sandra Louise Smith in 1944 and raised in Shelbyville, Tenn., changed her named in her 20's and won a national talent search in 1967. Her role as Mick Kelly in "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" also garnered nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Most Promising Newcomer Golden Globes.
Locke has a total of 30 TV and movies to her credit on IMDb, including TV stints on Night Gallery, The F.B.I., The ABC Afternoon Playbreak, Kung Fu, Planet of the Apes and Barnaby Jones. The most recent movie to her credit was the character Helen in "Ray Meets Helen" in 2017. Her prevous credit was Adele Highsmith in The Prophet's Game in 2000.
She was buried at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary.
Locke had previously battled breast cancer, and had a double mastectomy in 1990. She is survived by her husband, Gordon Anderson.
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