Famous leader stupidly heading out east (6)

I believe the answer is:

gandhi

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'famous leader' is the definition.
'Gandhi' can be an answer for 'leader' (Gandhi is an example). I'm not sure about the 'famous' bit.

'stupidly heading out east' is the wordplay.
'stupidly' is an anagram indicator (a stupid ordering of the letters).
'out' suggests deleting specific letters.
'east' becomes 'e' (synonyms).
'heading' with 'e' removed is 'hading'.
'hading' anagrammed gives 'GANDHI'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gandhi that I've seen before include "Old Indian leader" , "Indian nationalist and spiritual leader" , "Mahatma ....., great Indian leader" , "Indira -, former Indian PM" , "Follower of one side in the Wars of the Roses" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.