Clint Eastwood has a rare perspective on J. Edgar Hoover that he brought to light in his biopic of the man, 'J.Edgar.' On 'The Daily Show' (Weeknights, 11PM ET on Comedy Central) he talked about his younger years when he would hear Hoover on the radio or read about him in the paper.

"It was a non-information age," Eastwood said of the times. "Hoover was always thought of the head cop, head G-Man, all that sort of thing."

Later, Jon Stewart realized that Eastwood himself had that same sort of presence, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Eastwood, though, knew exactly what it was. "You feel very safe around me," he said.

Naomi Watts admitted to having a bit of a crush on Clint Eastwood when she was younger, but after seeing her on 'Late Night' (Weeknights, 12:37AM ET on NBC), we think she still might. First, she stated that as a statement of fact if Clint Eastwood calls you and asks you to be in his movie, you say "yes," even if you haven't yet read the script.

Granted, Eastwood makes great movies, but she continued to fawn over working with him on the set, where she admitted it's "not a comfortable situation" in the workplace if you're crushing on your boss.

But then she marveled at his physical fitness for a man of 81 years, talking about how he demonstrated push-ups for the film. At least now that filming is over, she's free to crush all she wants with no discomfort.

There's a lot of things you can call Clint Eastwood. Actor, movie star, director, musician, Oscar-winner ... and on May 31, octogenarian. That's right, the seemingly ageless action star is turning 80 years old. Having seen him in last year's 'Gran Torino,' still growling like Harry Callahan on a good day, it's hard to believe that he's not as formidable a presence on screen as he's ever been. Calling Clint Eastwood a legend, frankly, sounds like an understatement.

To honor the prolific career of Clint Eastwood,Turner Classic Movies will devote the day to him. On May 31, the network will give us 24 hours of Eastwood, including 'The Eastwood Factor,' a documentary that has previously only been available as part of the boxed set 'Clint Eastwood: 35 Films.'

Go ahead. Make his (birth) day.

Incredible though it may seem, Clint Eastwood will be 80 (!) on May 31.

To celebrate, Turner Classic Movies will pay tribute to the iconic actor/director with a 24-hour marathon of his movies.

Beginning at 6AM with 1956's 'The First Traveling Salesleady,' the cable network will run many fan favorites, including 'Dirty Harry,' 'Magnum Force' and 'Hang 'Em High.' In addition, the network will air 'The Eastwood Factor,' a documentary narrated by his 'Invictus' star, Morgan Freeman.

It would be one thing to even be in the same room with Clint Eastwood (yes, we're totally starstruck that way), but to have him teach you how to throw a punch? OMG. Awesome.

That's pretty much the reaction Amy Ryan had when Eastwood taught her how to punch on the set of 'Changeling.' Rather than having a fight coordinator come in, Eastwood, who directed the movie, said after a long pause, "I'll show ya."

"I just thought, oh my God, Dirty Harry's gonna show me how to throw a punch!" said Ryan on 'The Bonnie Hunt Show' (weekdays, syndicated). "I never want it to become ordinary, because it's not ordinary that Clint Eastwood, one, is talking to you, and two, is showing you how to throw a punch."

Watch the video after the jump.

Actor Clint Eastwood misses the days when one could use racial humor with impunity. In fact, Eastwood thinks modern culture is humorless and that people take themselves far too seriously, he told George Lopez on 'Lopez Tonight.'

"I think one of the problems the country's in right now is everybody's taking themselves so seriously," Eastwood said. "It was much more fun years ago when everybody would joke about it. You'd just joke about what you are. You are what you are, and you have a good time with it."

Watch the video after the jump.

Do you remember what film won the Oscar for Best Picture last year? (No Country for Old Men). What about Best Actor and Actress? (Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard). If you didn't remember, don't feel bad. You're probably like most people. Most of us weren't watching in 2008. Even though they were celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Academy Awards, it was the lowest rated and least watched telecast ever.

As I perused the Academy Award nominations yesterday, I couldn't help but think that this year's broadcast is going to have a hard time drawing a huge TV audience. And considering that the only thing you can usually count on with the Oscars is that they'll run over three hours long, the show will probably leave something to be desired, too.

In fact, here's six reasons the Oscars -- which will be broadcast live on February 22 on ABC -- will probably stink.

Have you noticed lately that the new faces cropping up on TV series in starring roles are often actors you've never seen before -- or if you have, it was in a supporting role of a feature or a foreign TV show? Think about it, Lee Pace as the Pie Man on Pushing Daisies, Jonny Lee Miller on Eli Stone, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in New Amsterdam, Michelle Ryan in Bionic Woman, all of these leads are relatively new faces. That's one way to cast series. Another is for big stars to take to TV, if not for the first time, than for a return.

In an interesting article at IGN.com, blogger Travis Fickett points out that there used to be a line of demarcation between the worlds of acting: film actors vs. television actors. But nowadays the stars are going back and forth a lot more fluidly.

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If you are interested in seeing Clint Eastwood before his sneering, raspy voice, Bridges of Madison County days, then today (July 4th) is your lucky day. The Hallmark Channel, which seems to show an inordinate amount of Western movies and television shows, is currently running a marathon of Rawhide until 8 p.m. this evening.

For those of you not familiar with the series, Rawhide starred Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates, one of a group of Texans led by Gil Flavor (Eric Fleming) who where taking 3000 herd of cattle north to market in Kansas. During their journey they encounter a number of characters, such as a bank robber who portrays himself as an East Coast lawyer, and they run into plenty of trouble, like a mob of angry townsfolk who learn that Rowdy and a number of cows have come down with anthrax. What the hell was Rowdy doing with the cows anyway? I mean, I know it's lonely in the West, but come on!

Episode summaries and some more information on the series, which ran from 1959 to 1965 on CBS, can be found at The Hallmark Channel website.