Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31,
1930) is an American actor, film director, composer, and producer. After
achieving success in the Western TV series Rawhide, he rose to international fame with his role as
the "Man with No Name" in
Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" of Spaghetti Westerns during the mid-1960s, and as antihero cop Harry Callahan in
the five Dirty Harry films
throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made Eastwood
an enduring cultural icon of masculinity His accolades include four Academy
Awards, four Golden Globe Awards,
three César Awards, and an AFI Life Achievement Award.
An Academy Award nominee for Best Actor,
Eastwood won Best Director and Best Picture for his Western film Unforgiven (1992) and his sports drama Million Dollar Baby (2004). His greatest commercial
successes are the adventure comedy Every Which Way but Loose (1978)
and its action comedy sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980). Other
popular Eastwood films include the Westerns Hang 'Em
High (1968) and Pale Rider (1985), the action-war film Where Eagles Dare (1968), the prison film Escape from Alcatraz (1979),
the war film Heartbreak Ridge (1986),
the action film In the Line of Fire (1993),
and the romantic drama The Bridges
of Madison County (1995). More recent works are Gran Torino (2008), The Mule (2018),
and the upcoming film Cry Macho (2021). Since 1967, Eastwood's
company Malpaso Productions has
produced all but four of his American films. In addition to directing many of
his own star vehicles, Eastwood
has also directed films in which he did not appear, such as the mystery
drama Mystic River (2003)
and the war film Letters from Iwo Jima (2006),
for which he received Academy Award nominations, the drama Changeling (2008), and the biographical sports
drama Invictus (2009).
The war drama biopic American Sniper (2014) set box-office records for the
largest January release ever and was also the largest opening ever for an
Eastwood film. Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as the mayor
of Carmel-by-the-Sea,
California. In 2000, Eastwood received the Italian Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion award,
honoring his lifetime achievements. Bestowed two of France's highest civilian
honors, he received the Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des
Lettres in 1994, and the Legion of Honour medal in 2007.