Clint Eastwood is turning 94, and to this day he remains an icon of Hollywood, from his role as “The Man with No Name” in Sergio Leone’s classic Spaghetti Western trilogy, to his more recent work as a director.
He’s come a long way from his early days in Piedmont California, where he got kicked out of Piedmont High School between 1945 and 1946 for writing obscenities to a school official on the athletic field scoreboard, and burning an effigy on the school lawn. He would later transfer to Oakland Technical High School, scheduled to graduate mid-year in January 1949 – although it’s unknown if he ever did.
His yearbook photo from the school shows that early on he had those classic Hollywood good looks, with sharp cheekbones. He wore his hair in a classic post-war quiff and a neat suit.
With his steely blue eyes, Clint arguably has one of the most recognizable looks in cinema. From t he classic image, you can see he had a glint early on of that intense gaze that he became famous for.
He would start his career in 1955, mainly working uncredited roles in films, although his first credited role was as Jonesy in Francis In The Navy where his star quality stood out early on. In one picture, he’s seen looking classically cool in a plain white t-shirt while his fellow actors are in uniform. Standing tall at 6 foot 4, he towered over them.
By 1966, he concluded the Spaghetti Western trilogy that made him famous with the classic movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which cemented him as an icon of Hollywood. He was known for his striking physical presence on screen, in a role that required him to say very little.
Nowadays, at 94, Clint looks remarkably different – as anyone would. But his piercing gaze remains through his furrowed brow, and his cheekbones are razor sharp. He last acted in 2021 the self-directed and produced American neo-Western drama, Cry Macho.
He showed no sign of slowing down, as he directs Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette in Juror No. 2. The release date has yet to be announced.