Clint Eastwood awarded AFI honour

Clint Eastwood was awarded with an honorary degree from the American Film Institute (AFI) during a ceremony on Wednesday, it has been reported.

The actor-turned-director was granted an honorary doctorate of fine arts for "contribution of distinction to the art of the movie image" at the AFI's Hollywood campus, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

It makes him the first AFI lifetime achievement award recipient to receive such an accolade.

Upon the presentation of the award by film historian Richard Schickel, Eastwood remarked to the cheering crowd: "Knock it off, will ya?"

He continued: "I never went to a film school because they didn't have them when I started out. But after doing more than 50 films as an actor and 30 as a director I would have thought I could have graduated before this."

The veteran star has won a total of four Oscars over his career - best director and best picture for both Million Dollar Baby and 1992's Unforgiven.