Clint Eastwood

Filmmakers/Actors

Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor, filmmaker, musician, and politician. 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 1960s (the follow ups would also feature Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach in supporting roles) 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.

For his work in the Western film Unforgiven (1992), with Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris; and the sports drama Million Dollar Baby (2004), with Hillary Swank and Freeman; Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture, as well as receiving nominations for Best Actor. Eastwood’s greatest commercial successes have been the adventure comedy Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and its sequel, the action comedy Any Which Way You Can (1980), after adjustment for inflation. Other popular films include the Westerns Hang ‘Em High (1968), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), and Pale Rider (1985), the war films Where Eagles Dare (1968), Kelly’s Heroes (1970), and Heartbreak Ridge (1986), the action films Firefox (1982) and Wolfgang Petersen‘s In the Line of Fire (1993), with John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole, John Mahoney, and Fred Dalton Thompson; and the thrillers Play Misty for Me (1971) and Tightrope (1984). Eastwood also starred in Michael Cimino‘s crime comedy film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), with Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, and Geoffrey Lewis; the prison film Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Richard Benjamin‘s City Heat (1984), with Burt Reynolds, Jane Alexander, Madeline Kahn, Rip Torn, Irene Cara, Richard Roundtree, and Tony Lo Bianco; as well as the drama films The Bridges of Madison County (1995), with Meryl Streep. More recent works are Gran Torino (2008), with Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, and Ahney Her; The Mule (2018), with Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Wiest, and Andy García; and 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), with Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney; 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), with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. 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.

Eastwood received considerable critical praise in France for several films, and was awarded two of France’s highest civilian honors: in 1994, he became a recipient of the Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2007, was awarded the Legion of Honour medal. In 2000, Eastwood was awarded the Golden Lion at the Italian Venice Film Festival for lifetime achievement. Since 1967, Eastwood’s Malpaso Productions has produced all but four of his American films. Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, a non-partisan office.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Revenge of the Creature (1955) – directed by Jack Arnold – uncredited actor
  • Francis in the Navy (1955) – directed by Arthur Lubin – actor
  • Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955) – directed by Arthur Lubin – uncredited actor
  • Tarantula! (1955) – directed by Jack Arnold – uncredited actor
  • Never Say Goodbye (1956) – directed by Jerry Hopper – uncredited actor
  • Star in the Dust (1956) – directed by Charles F. Haas – uncredited actor
  • Away All Boats (1956) – directed by Joseph Pevney – uncredited actor
  • The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) – directed by Arthur Lubin – actor
  • Escapade in Japan (1957) – directed by Arthur Lubin – uncredited actor
  • Lafayette Escadrille (1958) – director William A. Wellman – actor
  • Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958) – directed by Jodie Copelan – actor
  • A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – directed by Sergio Leone – actor
  • For a Few Dollars More (1965) – directed by Sergio Leone – actor
  • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) – directed by Sergio Leone – actor
  • The Witches (1967) – directed by Luchino Visconti, Franco Rossi, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mauro Bolognini, & Vittorio De Sica – actor – anthology
  • Hang ‘Em High (1968) – directed by Ted Post – actor
  • Coogan’s Bluff (1968) – directed by Don Siegel – actor
  • Where Eagles Dare (1968) – directed by Brian G. Hutton – actor
  • Paint Your Wagon (1969) – directed by Joshua Logan – actor
  • Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) – directed by Don Siegel – actor
  • Kelly’s Heroes (1970) – directed by Brian G. Hutton – actor
  • The Beguiled (1971) – directed by Don Siegel – actor
  • Play Misty for Me (1971) – director, actor
  • Dirty Harry (1971) – directed by Don Siegel
  • Joe Kidd (1972) – directed by John Sturges – actor
  • High Planes Drifter (1973) – director, actor
  • Breezy (1973) – director, uncredited actor
  • Magnum Force (1973) – directed by Ted Post – actor
  • Thunderbolt and Lifhtfoot (1974) – directed by Michael Cimino – actor
  • The Eiger Sanction (1975) – director, actor
  • The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) – director, actor
  • The Enforcer (1976) – directed by James Fargo – actor
  • The Gauntlet (1977) – director, actor
  • Every Which Way but Loose (1978) – directed by James Fargo – actor
  • Escape from Alcatraz (1979) – directed by Don Siegel – actor
  • Bronco Billy (1980) – director, actor
  • Any Which Way You Can (1980) – directed by Buddy Van Horn – actor
  • Firefox (1982) – director, actor
  • Honkytonk Man (1982) – director, actor
  • Sudden Impact (1983) – director, actor
  • Tightrope (1984) – directed by Richard Tuggle – actor, uncredited co-director
  • City Heat (1984) – directed by Richard Benjamin – actor
  • Pale Rider (1985) – director, actor
  • Heartbreak Ridge (1986) – director, actor
  • The Dead Pool (1988) – directed by Buddy Van Horn – actor
  • Bird (1988) – director
  • Pink Cadillac (1989) – directed by Buddy Van Horn – actor
  • White Hunter Black Heart (1990) – director, actor
  • The Rookie (1990) – director, actor
  • Unforgiven (1992)** – director, actor
  • In the Line of Fire (1993) – directed by Wolfgang Petersen – actor
  • A Perfect World (1993) – director, actor
  • The Bridges of Madison County (1995) – director, actor
  • Casper (1995)* – directed by Brad Silberling – uncredited cameo
  • Absolute Power (1997) – director, actor
  • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) – director
  • True Crime (1999) – director, actor
  • Space Cowboys (2000) – director, actor
  • Blood Work (2002) – director, actor
  • Mystic River (2003) – director
  • Million Dollar Baby (2004) – director, actor
  • Flags of Our Fathers (2006) – director
  • Letters to Iwo Jima (2006) – director
  • Changeling (2008) – director
  • Gran Torino (2008)* – director, actor
  • Invictus (2009) – director
  • Hereafter (2010) – director
  • J. Edgar (2011) – director
  • Trouble with the Curve (2012) – directed by Robert Lorenz – actor
  • Jersey Boys (2014) – director
  • American Sniper (2014) – director, uncredited actor
  • Sully (2016) – director
  • The 15:17 to Paris (2018) – director
  • The Mule (2018) – director, actor
  • Richard Jewell (2019) – director
  • Cry Macho (2021) – director, actor

Other notable New Hollywood filmmakers: