72 Facts About Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.

Gene Hackman later won two Academy Awards, his first for Best Actor for his role as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in William Friedkin's action thriller The French Connection and his second for Best Supporting Actor for playing a villainous sheriff in Clint Eastwood's Western Unforgiven.

Gene Hackman was Oscar-nominated for playing Buck Barrow in the crime drama Bonnie and Clyde, a college professor in the drama I Never Sang for My Father and an FBI agent in the historical drama Mississippi Burning.

Gene Hackman gained further fame for his portrayal of Lex Luthor in three of the Superman films from 1978 to 1987.

Gene Hackman acted in The Poseidon Adventure, Scarecrow, The Conversation, Night Moves, A Bridge Too Far, Under Fire, Hoosiers, The Firm, Wyatt Earp, Crimson Tide, The Quick and the Dead, Get Shorty, The Birdcage, Absolute Power, Enemy of the State, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Runaway Jury.

Gene Hackman retired from acting after starring in Welcome to Mooseport, venturing into writing novels and occasionally providing narration for television documentaries until 2017.

Gene Hackman's father operated the printing press for the Commercial-News, a local newspaper.

Gene Hackman stated that he decided to become an actor at the age of 10.

Gene Hackman's parents divorced when he was 13 years old, and his father later left the family.

Gene Hackman spent his sophomore year at Storm Lake High School.

Gene Hackman left home at the age of 16, lied about his age to enlist in the US Marine Corps, and served four and a half years as a field radio operator.

Gene Hackman joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he befriended another aspiring actor, Dustin Hoffman.

Gene Hackman began performing in several Off-Broadway plays, starting with Witness for the Prosecution in 1957 at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, New York and including Come to the Palace of Sin in 1963.

Gene Hackman's first credited role was in Lilith, with Jean Seberg and Warren Beatty in the leading roles.

Gene Hackman returned to Broadway in Poor Richard by Jean Kerr, which ran for over a hundred performances.

Gene Hackman had small roles in features like First to Fight, A Covenant with Death, and Banning.

Gene Hackman was originally cast as Mr Robinson in the 1967 Mike Nichols independent romantic comedy film The Graduate, but Nichols fired him three weeks into rehearsal for being "too young" for the role; he was replaced by Murray Hamilton.

Gene Hackman was in episodes of Iron Horse and Insight.

Gene Hackman supported Jim Brown in two films, The Split and Riot, Gene Hackman nearly accepted the role of Mike Brady for the TV series The Brady Bunch, but his agent advised that he decline it in exchange for a more promising role, which he did, but this story is said to have been exaggerated.

Gene Hackman was nominated for a second Oscar for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the drama film I Never Sang for My Father directed by Gilbert Cates.

Gene Hackman acted opposite Melvyn Douglas where they played father and son who are unable to communicate.

Gene Hackman won his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as New York City Police Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the crime drama The French Connection directed by William Friedkin.

Gene Hackman followed The French Connection with leading roles in the drama Cisco Pike, the action crime thriller Prime Cut, and the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure.

Gene Hackman starred in the road comedy-drama Scarecrow alongside Al Pacino, which was Hackman's favorite role of his career and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

That same year, Gene Hackman appeared in what would become one of his most famous comedic roles, as Harold the Blind Man in Young Frankenstein.

Gene Hackman appeared in the western Zandy's Bride and the neo-noir film Night Moves for director Arthur Penn.

Gene Hackman played one of Teddy Roosevelt's former Rough Riders in the Western horse-race saga Bite the Bullet.

Gene Hackman co-starred with Burt Reynolds and Liza Minnelli in the musical Lucky Lady directed by Stanley Donen, a notorious flop.

Gene Hackman showed a talent for both comedy and the "slow burn" as criminal mastermind Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve in the leading role in the superhero film Superman: The Movie.

Gene Hackman alternated between leading and supporting roles during the 1980s.

Gene Hackman appeared opposite Barbra Streisand in All Night Long and supported Warren Beatty in Reds.

Gene Hackman played the lead in Eureka and a supporting role in Under Fire.

Gene Hackman provided the voice of God in Two of a Kind and starred in Uncommon Valor, Misunderstood, Twice in a Lifetime, Target for Arthur Penn, and Power.

Gene Hackman played a high school basketball coach in Hoosiers, which a 2008 American Film Institute poll named the fourth-greatest sports film of all time.

Gene Hackman acted opposite Gena Rowlands in the Woody Allen drama Another Woman.

Gene Hackman starred in the Alan Parker directed crime drama Mississippi Burning, costarring Willem Dafoe, where they portrayed FBI agents investigating the murder of a civil rights leader.

Gene Hackman earned acclaim for the role with Roger Ebert praising his performance for his "subtlety".

Gene Hackman was nominated for a second Academy Award for Best Actor losing to Dustin Hoffman for Rain Man.

Gene Hackman starred in Loose Cannons with Dan Aykroyd, and he had a supporting role in Postcards from the Edge.

Gene Hackman appeared with Anne Archer in Narrow Margin, a remake of the 1952 film The Narrow Margin.

Gene Hackman had pledged to avoid violent roles, but Eastwood convinced him to take the part, which earned him a second Oscar, this time for Best Supporting Actor.

Gene Hackman returned to Broadway starring in the 1992 Ariel Dorfman play Death and the Maiden acting opposite Glenn Close and Richard Dreyfus at the Brooks Atkinson Theater.

Gene Hackman would appear in two other films based on John Grisham novels, playing Sam Cayhall, a Klansman on death row, in The Chamber, and jury consultant Rankin Fitch in Runaway Jury.

Gene Hackman played film producer Harry Zimm alongside John Travolta in the comedy-drama Get Shorty.

Gene Hackman co-starred with Hugh Grant in Extreme Measures and reunited with Clint Eastwood in Absolute Power.

Gene Hackman did Twilight with Paul Newman for director Robert Benton, voiced the villain in the animated film Antz, and co-starred with Will Smith in Enemy of the State, his character reminiscent of the one he had portrayed in The Conversation.

Gene Hackman co-starred with Morgan Freeman in Under Suspicion, Keanu Reeves in The Replacements, Owen Wilson in Behind Enemy Lines, Sigourney Weaver in Heartbreakers, and appeared in the David Mamet crime thriller Heist, as an aging professional thief of considerable skill who is forced into one final job.

Gene Hackman gained much critical acclaim playing against type as the head of an eccentric family in Wes Anderson's comedy film The Royal Tenenbaums.

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Gene Hackman is utter perfection as the misbegotten paterfamilias, conveying beautifully Royal's underlying decency and love for his family as well as his con-man slickness".

In 2004, Gene Hackman appeared alongside Ray Romano in the comedy Welcome to Mooseport, his final film acting role.

In July 2004, Gene Hackman gave a rare interview to Larry King, where he announced that he had no future film projects lined up and believed his acting career was over.

That same year, Gene Hackman made his last televised appearance in Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, as Guy Fieri went to a Santa Fe diner where Gene Hackman was eating.

Gene Hackman later narrated two documentaries related to the United States Marine Corps: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima and We, the Marines.

In 1956, Gene Hackman married Faye Maltese, with whom he had one son and two daughters: Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne Gene Hackman.

Gene Hackman was often out on location making films while the children were growing up.

On December 1,1991, Gene Hackman married classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, after they had dated for seven years.

Gene Hackman was a supporter of the Democratic Party, and said he was "proud" to be included on Nixon's Enemies List.

Gene Hackman drove a Dan Gurney Team Toyota in the 24 Hours of Daytona Endurance Race in 1983.

Gene Hackman was a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars, an NFL football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, and regularly attended Jaguars games as a guest of former head coach Jack Del Rio.

In 2012, Gene Hackman was struck by a pickup truck while he was cycling in the Florida Keys.

Gene Hackman attended an event in Santa Fe in late 2022.

Gene Hackman was last seen in public in March 2024.

Gene Hackman did not seek help; authorities believe he was unable to comprehend her death due to Alzheimer's disease.

Gene Hackman died from severe heart disease, complicated by advanced Alzheimer's disease and kidney disease.

Gene Hackman's estate has requested the courts block images and videos related to the investigation, such as police body camera footage.

Gene Hackman's will, created in 1995, lists Arakawa as his sole inheritor; Arakawa's will states that if they die within 90 days of each other, the proceeds go to charity.

Gene Hackman was a dear friend whom I will miss very much.

Morgan Freeman paid tribute to Hackman at the 97th Academy Awards, saying, "Like everyone who ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer whose gifts elevated everyone's work," and that he would be "remembered as someone who did good work and so much more".

The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw wrote that Gene Hackman's death marked the end of American new wave cinema.

Warren Beatty said to me, before we started, that Gene Hackman was the finest American movie actor, and I happen to agree with him.

Gene Hackman received two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and one Screen Actors Guild Award.

Gene Hackman was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:.