1. Clint Eastwood
What can be said about Clint Eastwood that hasn't been said a thousand times already? Having been in the public eye since his role as The Man With No Name in Sergio Leone's 'Dollars' trilogy in the 1960s, he received critical acclaim for his directorial debut, Play Misty For Me, in 1970, and has both acted and directed on a prolific scale since. Though his focus has been on the latter in recent years, having turned 82 on his last birthday, 2012 has seen him make a return to the acting scene in baseball film Trouble With The Curve, whilst forty years behind the camera has seen him make a number of strong contributions to the world of cinema, ranging from westerns such as Pale Rider and Unforgiven to war films such as Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima and sports films such as Million Dollar Baby and Invictus, interspaced with gems such as Mystic River. Though there has been the occasional flop, with recent efforts Hereafter and J. Edgar serving as prime examples, there can be no doubts that Eastwood has left his mark on the film industry, as both a great actor and a great director.