Guess there’s something to be said for that sun-burnt, leathery look. Clint Eastwood, onetime municipal politician, Oscar-winning director/producer and all-around movie tough guy, turns an inconspicuous 70 this very day, looking just as he did in his 60s and 50s.
Eastwood, whose iconic credits include 1971’s “Dirty Harry,” has faltered rarely at the box office since making it big with 1964’s “A Fist Full of Dollars.” Next up: Eastwood‘s upcoming space actioner, “Space Cowboys,” due out Aug. 4, which teams the veteran actor with Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones as retired pilots in charge of saving the world.
But are Eastwood‘s days as a leading man numbered? After all, not even John Wayne made it as a 70-year-old movie star. (His last feature, 1976’s “The Shootist,” was released when he was 69.) Well, we brainstormed a list of other guys (and, sorry, this is a boys’ club only) who have passed the septuagenarian bar and tried to carry a movie (or two) with them.
Sean Connery Sean Connery: Turning 70 this August, the ex-007 was last seen making Mrs. Michael Douglas swoon in “Entrapment” at age 69. At 70, he will be seen playing a reclusive novelist in Gus Van Sant‘s “Finding Forrester.”
Paul Newman: The prolific 75-year-old can be currently seen as an escaped jewelry thief in “Where the Money Is.” Before that, he was seen leading an ensemble cast including Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon in 1998’s neo-noir “Twilight” at the age of 71. Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman: He may not be pretty, but he sure is cool (we think). Born January 1930, Hackman, has just reached our qualifying age. To celebrate, the character actor will be seen playing coach to football quarterback Keanu Reeves in “The Replacements” this year, and “Heartbreakers” and “Pearl Harbor” in 2001.
Marlon Brando: So what if he never really dropped the weight after “Apocalypse Now?” Since turning 70, the mumbling Brando has been in “Don Juan DeMarco” (1995), “The Island of Dr. Moreau” (1996), among others. Next year, the 77-year-old will be seen co-starring opposite Edward Norton and Robert De Niro in Frank Oz’s “The Score.” For Eastwood fans with cable, note that Turner Classic Movies will be showcasing four of the actor’s films tonight starting at 8 p.m. (EDT).
