Clint Eastwood to receive Directors Guild to honor

After roughing up bad guys on the big screen for decades, and most recently using a little tough love to train a woman boxer, Clint Eastwood will receive the Directors Guild of America's highest honor, the organization announced. Eastwood will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 58th Annual DGA Awards on January 28, president Michael Apted said Thursday.

In its 70-year history, only 31 directors have received the lifetime honor. Former honorees include Mike Nichols, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock.

Eastwood also will receive the Producers Guild of America's Milestone Award for contributions to the movie industry, which will be presented Jan. 22. One of Eastwood's latest films, "Million Dollar Baby," won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture.

The film, about a woman boxer who rises to the top with Eastwood as coach, won seven Academy Award nominations and four Oscars, the AP reports.

Eastwood, 75, has appeared in and directed dozens of movies beginning in the 1950s. After starring in Italian "spaghetti" westerns, Eastwood became an icon in the 1970s with his portrayal of a tough-guy police detective in "Dirty Harry." A.M.