There are plenty of great actors who became great directors, mediocre actors who were better behind the camera, and prolific filmmakers who regularly turned their hands to acting. However, when it comes to those who gained legendary status on either side, Clint Eastwood is in a class of his own.
As a performer, he’s one of the most iconic figures in Hollywood history. His back catalogue of classic films enshrined his no-nonsense persona and thousand-yard stare as something that inspired, influenced, and sought to be emulated by multiple generations.
As a filmmaker, he’s helmed 40 features running the gamut of genres from action and thriller to drama and romance, winning acclaim and accolades even when he doesn’t appear onscreen as a cast member. To become one of the all-time greats in one discipline is hard enough, but to do it in two is nothing short of remarkable.
That being said, it’s his directorial efforts that have been entirely responsible for filling up Eastwood’s trophy cabinet. He’s got four Academy Awards to his name after winning ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ twice over for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, and those are also the movies that earned him his two acting nominations.
At the Golden Globes, Eastwood is a 13-time nominee and a four-time winner, but he’s never even been nominated so much as once for his on-camera efforts. However, completing his rare double-whammy at the Oscars has placed him in exceedingly rare company, strengthening his position as one of American cinema’s best ever.
Only one other auteur in Oscars history has ever won ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ for the same film twice over, and they also happen to be an indelible legend. Fittingly, they were also a massive influence on Eastwood long before he became a star.
Frank Capra won more Oscars than Eastwood after scooping six in total, but It Happened One Night and You Can’t Take It With You saw him become the first filmmaker to win both ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ for two separate features. Technically, William Wyler won three ‘Best Director’ trophies for a trio of films that each won ‘Best Picture’, but because he wasn’t a producer, he wasn’t recognised in the latter category.
Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Iñárritu, Bong Joon-ho, Chloé Zhao, the duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and the Coen brothers are some of the modern directors to have accomplished it once with Schindler’s List, Oppenheimer, The Shape of Water, Birdman, Parasite, Nomadland, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and No Country for Old Men, respectively, but they’re still only halfway towards matching Eastwood.
Clearly, it’s one of the hardest things in the industry to achieve, which is precisely why his greatness can’t be denied.