As the hard-boiled cop from Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” films asked the punks he arrested: “Do you feel lucky?” After seven decades in the entertainment industry, veteran Eastwood probably has an answer to that question for himself.
An actor, director, and even musician, he became the icon of Hollywood icons. He has not only thrived through the ups and downs of a competitive industry, but he also succeeded in a short stint as Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. As an actor, he boasts 73 films and television credits and 45 more as a director — for which he received 11 Academy Award nominations and won four.
The legend turned 95 on May 31, 2025, another milestone in a life and a career that began with a stint in the U.S. Army.
Born in San Francisco, California, in 1930, he reportedly wasn’t much of a star pupil. After high school, he held many different jobs before his family moved to the Pacific Northwest. The Army drafted him in 1951 and stationed him at the now-closed Fort Ord in California. Hollywood would never be the same after this, because it was his connections in the Army that helped him get discovered.
“When Clint was in the Army, he met several young, good-looking men who wanted to be in movies,” Eastwood biographer Marc Eliot said in a 2013 interview. “They told him that when he got out of the Army, that he should try to get a job in film.”
After leaving the Army in 1953, the now-veteran Clint Eastwood started taking acting classes and began his career as a Universal Studios contract player and eventually turned into a full-fledged television star.
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He booked his first credited part as a sailor named “Jonesy” in 1955’s “Francis in the Navy.” Then, he guest-starred across a succession of TV series, including “Highway Patrol,” “Wagon Train,” “Death Valley Days,” and “Maverick.” It was his breakout role as Rowdy Yates in “Rawhide” that changed everything. The show was a ratings hit, running for 217 episodes across eight seasons. But most importantly, it made Clint Eastwood a household name.
Although he’d worked in movies before, the early 1960s saw him move to the silver screen like never before. A trilogy of “spaghetti” westerns directed by Italian Sergio Leone really helped him make his mark. These included “A Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” These films further solidified his place in Hollywood and epic western lore.
Audiences loved his westerns, but Eastwood would continue to star in and eventually direct many features from all genres into the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. He portrayed San Francisco Inspector Harry Callahan in all six films of the “Dirty Harry” franchise. He starred in the beloved war movies “Kelly’s Heroes” and “Heartbreak Ridge.” His resume also boasts a slew of notable films like “In the Line of Fire,” “The Bridges of Madison County,” and the acclaimed “Million Dollar Baby.” He never gave up on westerns, however, making some of the most memorable films of the genre, like “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” “Pale Rider,” “High Plains Drifter,” and the award-winning “Unforgiven.”
What might surprise those who are more familiar with Army veteran Clint Eastwood’s tough guy persona is that he is a massive fan of jazz, bebop, blues, country, and classical music. He released an album of his own music, 1959’s “Cowboy Favorites.” His own record label, Malpaso Records, is an offshoot of his film company, Malpaso Productions. Aside from releasing another record in 1996, “Eastwood After Hours – Live at Carnegie Hall,” he has also composed the scores for a number of his films. These scores include “Mystic River,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” and “Changeling,” among others.
“Jazz is the true American art form,” he once told Film Quarterly. “It’s the freedom Americans dream of, a kind of freedom idealized through sound.”
Now 95 years old, Clint Eastwood has eight children. Kyle is a jazz musician. Alison is an actress and a director. Scott is an actor and producer, and Francesca is also an actress. Eastwood remains an avid fitness and health enthusiast who enjoys golf, flying helicopters to studios, and owns the Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea. He has left an indelible mark on so many parts of the entertainment industry, there is little doubt that yes, he does feel lucky.