Happy Birthday Clint Eastwood? Why the actor is still going strong at age 91

When you think of Clint Eastwood, you think of old age. Not in a bad way, mind you – just in that awe-struck sense of “how old is he, and how is he a thousand times more productive than me?” And while the answer might have to do with how much money Eastwood has in the bank, we have to acknowledge the fact that he wasn’t a wealthy well-respected filmmaker throughout the entirety of his ninety-one years.

That’s right, Clint Eastwood is ninety-one years old today. Let’s celebrate the acclaimed actor-director-producer’s birthday by taking a tour of his accomplishments! Along the way, maybe we’ll help you figure out how to reach Clint Eastwood’s age with at least half his energy these days.

Make his day

How old you are will usually define how you think of Clint Eastwood when it comes to movies. If you grew up with his spaghetti westerns, then odds are you’ll always see Eastwood as The Man With No Name, an actor who eventually made the jump to also working behind the camera. A cowboy who made good. There’s also a good chance you don’t know what TikTok is, lucky you.

Then there are those of you who came of age around the time Clint Eastwood truly started to make a name for himself as a director. You don’t think of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly when someone mentions Eastwood – you think of Unforgiven, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby . . . the Oscars darlings. Maybe a dash of Dirty Harry, thanks to your parents.

Finally, we have the young ‘uns. Maybe you haven’t even seen a Clint Eastwood movie in your life, but you’re aware of him as a revered living legend. Perhaps also as a cantankerous old man, if you caught him yelling at an empty chair at that infamous Republican convention. Regardless, you, like everyone else, can at the very least sense that Eastwood is not someone to mess with. He’s cultivated the image of a bad@ss.

Rockport man

Those of us who stuck around to the very end of 2008’s Gran Torino shared an incredulous look among ourselves as the end credits song started playing. “Is that . . . is that Clint Eastwood singing?” Yes, yes, it was. And Eastwood’s crooning shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone who was familiar with the filmmaker’s history as a musician.

Clint Eastwood’s musical career has never even come close to eclipsing his film efforts, but the man is a music aficionado for sure. An audiophile, if you wanna be a little pretentious about it – with a large collection of LP’s and a Rockport turntable to play them. Oh, and he also has his very own Warner Bros. Records-distributed imprint, Malpaso Records. In case you didn’t think Eastwood didn’t take music seriously.

Now, as we said, Clint Eastwood never made a career as a professional musician. However, he’s proven to be talented enough to compose the scores to several of his films. Forget about that Gran Torino song, Eastwood’s the man behind the scores for Mystic River, Flags of Our Fathers, Changeling, Hereafter, and many others. He’s passed on his love for music to his son, Kyle Eastwood, a jazz bassist & composer.

Let’s talk about the chair

We mentioned the cringey 2012 Republican convention episode where Clint Eastwood spent a solid ten minutes pretending then-president Barack Obama was on an empty chair, and arguing with said chair. Yeah, not a proud moment for anyone involved, especially considering the filmmaker’s speech was an official part of the convention’s proceedings. Many thought Clint Eastwood was finally showing his age.

Turns out Clint Eastwood wasn’t proud of the stunt either. Unfortunately, not many people know that part of the story. Months after Obama had been re-elected, Eastwood admitted to CNBC anchor Becky Quick that he would play things differently if he could have a do-over. Apparently, the chair bit had been inspired by a Neil Diamond song that had come over the radio in the filmmaker’s Tampa hotel room.

The whole chair debacle has caused Clint Eastwood to be associated with the Republican party, but the truth is he seems to be pretty fluid with his political support. Eastwood is a registered libertarian (go figure!) and just recently was Democratic candidate Mike Bloomberg’s supporter in the 2020 presidential election. So you never really know with Clint. Keep’em guessing, that’s how you get to old age.

—

Were you surprised to find out Clint Eastwood’s age? Do you prefer him as an actor or as a director? Or maybe as a musician? Let us know in the comments!