Gene Hackman (1930-2025)
The actor Gene Hackman died in 2025. He was 95. The two-time Oscar-winning veteran actor was reportedly found dead in his home in New Mexico with his wife and dog. The cause of their deaths was unknown. An intense character actor with a storied career spanning five decades, he was best known for his subtle performances in movies like The French Connection and Unforgiven.
As a teenager, Hackman lied about his age to join the Marines, where he served for nearly five years. After the military, he lived and worked in New York and studied journalism and television production at the University of Illinois before deciding to relocate to California to fulfil his dream of acting. Hackman attended the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he became friends with a young Dustin Hoffman. In 1963, he moved back to New York, where he appeared in off-Broadway productions and minor roles on television. His movie acting career began in the 1960s, starting with Lilith opposite Warren Beatty. Fascinated by his performance, Beatty cast him as his brother, Buck Barrow, in Bonnie & Clyde. It earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in I Never Sang for My Father in 1971. It is the same year that Hackman played the gruff New York detective, Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, in director William Friedkin's The French Connection that cemented his status as a leading man. It won him an Oscar for Best Actor. He later reprised the role in The French Connection II in 1975. Hackman continued as a staple at the box office, appearing in films like The Poseidon Adventure, The Conversation, and Night Moves.
Aside from playing tough guys, Gene also had a knack for comedy in Young Frankenstein and villainy as Superman's archnemesis Lex Luthor in 1978's Superman: The Movie and its 1980 and 1987 sequels. He also enjoyed another successful decade in the 80s, especially for his role in Mississippi Burning, for which he earned another Best Actor Oscar nomination. In 1992, Hackman portrayed a violent sheriff, Bill Daggett, in Clint Eastwood's western Unforgiven, which earned him another Oscar, this time as Best Supporting Actor. Hackman also appeared in movies like Hoosiers, The Firm opposite Tom Cruise, The Quick and the Dead, Crimson Tide with Denzel Washington, Get Shorty with John Travolta, The Birdcage with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams, and Enemy of the State with Will Smith.
He continued to work in the early 2000s and attracted audiences with The Royal Tenenbaums. For the first and only time, he and former flatmate Dustin Hoffman appeared on screen together in Runaway Jury. His last film role was as Monroe Cole in Welcome to Mooseport in 2004, after which he retired from acting and settled into a quieter life in New Mexico. In 2002, Hackman accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award for his accomplishments in Hollywood.
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