As far as I know, it's contested whether Homer even existed as an individual at all. "Homer" might be a collective title for various unknown authors.

> Tom Hanks

Recency bias? Why not Jimmy Stewart? Gregory Peck? Humphrey Bogart? Paul Newman, Robert Redford?

Not really. He was executive producer of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams_(miniseries)

And will be playing and producing Dodd.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/joe-wright-in-the-garden-...

Theme of his oevre is not-so-immortal American heroes and heroism through and through

Except for Redford, the others don't have their own voice

I'd actually put one in for Clint Eastwood.

Although most popular knowledge about him revolves around his earlier acting career (Westerns, Dirty Harry), you'll notice a distinct change in many of his films once he started directing.

* Play Misty for Me

* Breezy

* Unforgiven

* A Perfect World

* The Bridges of Madison County

* Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

* Mystic River

* Million Dollar Baby

* Changeling

* Gran Torino

* American Sniper

* Sully

* The Mule

The American medium is film/TV. The Godfather is the great American novel. A story about immigrants moving to America and starting a family business.

Mostly agree, but I think the modern medium is film/TV, not just American. Also, apparently The Godfather book wasn't very good, but I've seen the movie so many times.

Today it might be but it wasn't always. I still remember curling up with a good book and I still do today. I know a lot of younger people might not even have a library card or go looking for a good novel to read.

Not to forget

Letters from Iwo Jima

Flags of our Fathers.

He certainly took me by surprise by the depth of his offerings, given that I used to know him as blondie with no name and for dirty harry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_No_Name

Clint Eastwood didn't write any of those. He's an actor, director and producer of other people's work.

Actor and Director and Producer would be more than enough for everybody. Especially combined with several Oscar wins as director and producer, and even Oscar nominations as actor (on top of iconic roles).

But he has also been an OST composer for some films.

The point is a Homer or Twain, etc, were original authors of works and Eastwood was not an author of any of those works. If an unknown actor portrayed the lead in a Huckleberry Finn film, that would not elevate that actor to the level of a Mark Twain as an author.

As an author no.

But as a director, they could be elevated to the status of creator, and perhaps directing is the truer American art form rather than ...epic poetry or the novel. Which speaks to the core of the question at a different level.

Besides, Homer didn't write his own plots either, he adapted original screenplays, so to speak!