Everything about Gene Hackman totally explained
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman (born
January 30,
1930) is a two-time
Academy Award-winning
American actor. He came to fame during the 1970s, after his role in
The French Connection, and continued to appear in major roles in
Hollywood films, including Harry Caul in
The Conversation, Norman Dale in
Hoosiers, Little Bill Dagget in
Unforgiven, Lex Luthor in
Superman (and its sequels), Joe Moore in
Heist and more recently, Admiral Leslie McMahon Reigart in
Behind Enemy Lines.
Biography
Early life
Hackman was born in
San Bernardino, California, the son of Lyda (
née Gray) and Eugene Ezra Hackman. He has a brother, Richard. Hackman's family moved from one place to another until finally settling in
Danville, Illinois, where they lived in the house of his maternal grandmother, Beatrice, and where Hackman's father operated the printing press for the
Commercial-News, a local paper. Hackman's parents divorced in 1943. At sixteen, Hackman left home to join the
U.S. Marine Corps, where he served 3 years as a field radio operator. Having finished his service, he moved to
New York, working in several minor jobs before moving to study television production and journalism at the
University of Illinois under the
G.I. Bill.
In an in-studio interview on Wednesday, 14 May 2008, with McGraw Milhaven on KTRS 550-AM in St. Louis, MO, Gene clarified the following - Although some biographies claim he studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he never did and has yet to even visit the campus.
Career
1960s
At 26 years old, Hackman decided to become an actor, and joined the
Pasadena Playhouse in California. It was there that he forged a friendship with another aspiring actor,
Dustin Hoffman. Already seen as outsiders by their classmates, Hackman and Hoffman were later voted "The Least Likely To Succeed". Determined to prove them wrong, Hackman hopped on a bus bound for
New York City. A 2004 article in
Vanity Fair described how Hackman, Hoffman and
Robert Duvall were all struggling actors and close friends while living in
New York City in the
1960s. Hackman was working as a doorman when he ran into an instructor whom he'd despised at the Pasadena Playhouse. Reinforcing "The Least Likely To Succeed" vote, the man had said "See Hackman, I told you you wouldn't amount to anything." (Some reports allege that it was one of his former drill instructors from the Marines who saw him there and told him this.)
Hackman began performing in several
off-Broadway plays. Finally, in
1964, he'd an offer to co-star in the play
Any Wednesday with actress, Sandy Dennis. This opened the door to film work. His first role was in
Lilith, with
Warren Beatty in the leading role. Another supporting role, Buck Barrow, in
1967's Bonnie and Clyde, earned him an
Academy Award nomination as
Best Supporting Actor. In
1969 he played a ski coach in
Downhill Racer, and an
astronaut in
Marooned.
1970s
In 1970, he was again nominated for the same award, this time for
I Never Sang for My Father, working alongside
Melvyn Douglas and
Estelle Parsons. The next year he won the Best Actor award for his memorable performance as Popeye Doyle in
The French Connection, marking his graduation to leading man status. He followed this with leading roles in the disaster film
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and
Francis Ford Coppola's
The Conversation (1974) which was nominated for several Oscars. That same year, Hackman appeared in one of his most famous comedic roles as the blind hermit in
Young Frankenstein. He later appeared in the star-studded war film
A Bridge Too Far (1977), and showed a talent for both comedy and the "slow burn" as
Lex Luthor in
Superman: The Movie (1978) and
Superman II (1980).
1980s
By the end of the 1980s, Hackman was a well respected actor and alternated between leading and supporting roles, earning another
Best Actor nomination for
Mississippi Burning, and appearing in such films as
Reds,
Under Fire,
Hoosiers,
Power, and
Bat*21.
1990s
In 1990, he underwent heart surgery, which kept him away from work for a while, although he still found time for a remake of
The Narrow Margin. In 1992, he played the violent sheriff Bill Daggett in the
western Unforgiven, directed by
Clint Eastwood and written by
David Webb Peoples which earned him a second Oscar, this time for
Best Supporting Actor, the film itself won Best Picture. In 1995, he played John Herod in
The Quick and the Dead, as well as Captain Frank Ramsey in the film
Crimson Tide. He also starred in the 1998 film
Enemy of the State, where his character was reminiscent of the one he played in
The Conversation.
2000s
He starred in
Heist as an aging professional thief of considerable skill who is forced into taking one final heist, all the while he's been "burned", his face having been seen on tape during a previous job. He also played in the
ensemble cast films
The Royal Tenenbaums and
Runaway Jury.
Present
Together with undersea archaeologist
Daniel Lenihan, Hackman also wrote two novels:
Wake of the Perdido Star (1999) and
Justice for None (2004).
His final film to date was the critically panned
Welcome to Mooseport.
His voice can be heard in television commercials from time-to-time, notably for
United Airlines,
GTE,
CNN, and more recently for
Oppenheimer Funds and
Lowe's Home Improvement.
Personal life
Hackman's first wife was Faye Maltese. They had three children, Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne, but the couple divorced in 1986 after 30 years of marriage. In 1991, Hackman married Betsy Arakawa. They live in
Santa Fe, New Mexico. Betsy is co-owner of an upscale retail home-furnishing store in Santa Fe, called Pandora's, Inc. On
July 7,
2004, Hackman gave a rare interview to
Larry King, in which he announced that he'd no future film projects lined up, and believes his acting career is over.
Filmography
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gene Hackman'.
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