Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, California. 80 years later, there aren’t any superlatives or awards left to bestow on the filmmaker and movie icon. December 2009 saw the theatrical release of Invictus, his 31st film credit as director. Short of Woody Allen, no working director has produced such a prodigious body of work, which like Allen’s, spans the entirety of the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s. Eastwood hasn’t filed for retirement benefits yet, having already wrapped the supernatural thriller Hereafter starring Matt Damon and set for release in 2010.

There weren’t enough days in May 2010 for me to cover every Eastwood film. The Man With No Name trilogy he made for director Sergio Leone — A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For A Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) — are without words, while Eastwood’s work for Don Siegel in Escape From Alcatraz (1979) is exceptional as well. Some fans have a fondness for Clint gunning down every Nazi in Europe in Where Eagles Dare (1968) and somebody might even love his ill-fated pairing with Burt Reynolds in City Heat (1984).

Here are links to each of my 31 Days of Eastwood posts, listed in order of their U.S. theatrical release. Happy 8-0, Mr. Eastwood.

Inauspicious Shadows and Poisonous Candlelight ~ The Beguiled (March 1971)

Odd Little Story About A Disc Jockey ~ Play Misty For Me (November 1971)

The Most Powerful Handgun in the World ~ Dirty Harry (December 1971)

Fire and Brimstone on the Plains ~ High Plains Drifter (April 1973)

Shacking Up With a Flower Child ~ Breezy (November 1973)

Blaxploitation Goes Mountain Climbing ~ The Eiger Sanction (May 1975)

We Got Us the Josey Wales ~ The Outlaw Josey Wales (June 1976)

Get Off the Bus ~ The Gauntlet (December 1977)

Stupid Pet Tricks ~ Every Which Way But Loose (December 1978)

Greatest Horse Opera on Earth ~ Bronco Billy (June 1980)

A Man and His Stolen MiG ~ Firefox (June 1982)

Pit Stops of the Dust Bowl ~ Honkytonk Man (December 1982)

Handcuffs in The Big Easy ~ Tightrope (August 1984)

When The Man Comes Around ~ Pale Rider (June 1985)

Merchant Ivory in Prime Time ~ Amazing Stories 1.12: Vanessa In the Garden (December 1985)

Gung Ho About Being a Marine ~ Heartbreak Ridge (December 1986)

Pushing Charlie Parker Into the Shadows ~ Bird (September 1988)

Crazed Director In Africa ~ White Hunter Black Heart (September 1990)

Meaner Than Hell Cold Blooded Damn Killer ~ Unforgiven (August 1992)

On The Trail of the Assassin ~ In The Line of Fire (July 1993)

On the Road To Nowhere ~ A Perfect World (November 1993)

Romantic Pang For Anything or Anybody ~ The Bridges of Madison County (June 1995)

Skullduggery in Savannah ~ Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil (November 1997)

Guys Past Their Retest Dates ~ Space Cowboys (August 2000)

Blood Type D Negative ~ Blood Work (August 2002)

Dark Secrets Lurking In the Old Neighborhood ~ Mystic River (October 2003)

On the Ropes ~ Million Dollar Baby (December 2004)

Red Sun, Black Sand ~ Letters From Iwo Jima (December 2006)

Lincoln Heights Confidential ~ Changeling (October 2008)

Widowed By War, The Auto Plant and Their Wives ~ Gran Torino (December 2008)