Gene Hackman has died at 95

[planosteve]

Hollywood legend Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, former classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday afternoon at home in New Mexico, along with their dog, authorities said.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office provided no cause of death but said there was no indication of foul play. "This is an active and ongoing investigation," a spokesperson said in an email to Newsweek.

Gene Hackman: A Legendary Life and Acting Career
Gene Hackman's prolific film career spanned over four decades, featuring Oscar-winning performances in The French Connection and Unforgiven, a breakout role in Bonnie and Clyde, a comedic turn in Young Frankenstein, and supporting appearances in Reds and No Way Out.

He possessed a remarkable versatility, effortlessly slipping into any role—whether portraying an uptight buffoon in The Birdcage, a redemption-seeking college coach in the sports classic Hoosiers, or a secretive surveillance expert in the Watergate-era thriller The Conversation.

With his unassuming looks and receding hairline, Hackman became Hollywood's quintessential everyman—often compared to Spencer Tracy. He was an actor's actor, known for his commitment to the craft rather than the glitz of fame. He approached his work with quiet professionalism, never chasing celebrity status. Beyond obligatory awards show appearances, he largely avoided the Hollywood social scene and made no effort to hide his distaste for the business side of the industry.

"Actors tend to be shy people," he told Film Comment in 1988. "There is perhaps a component of hostility in that shyness, and to reach a point where you don't deal with others in a hostile or angry way, you choose this medium for yourself."

Hackman's career trajectory was unconventional—he was both a late bloomer and an early retiree. He was in his mid-30s when he landed Bonnie and Clyde, past 40 when he won his first Oscar as the unorthodox detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection, and by his 70s, he had quietly stepped away from acting on his own terms.

For The French Connection, Hackman wasn't the obvious choice—Jackie Gleason, Steve McQueen, and Peter Boyle had all been considered. At the time, Hackman lacked the larger-than-life personality many thought the role required, and even he feared he was miscast. To prepare, he spent weeks on night patrols with police in Harlem. One of the film's key scenes, in which Doyle violently interrogates a suspect, didn't initially meet the intensity director William Friedkin envisioned. It was reshot at the end of filming, once Hackman had fully immersed himself in the role. Friedkin later recalled that it took 37 takes to capture the moment correctly.

"I had to arouse an anger in Gene that was lying dormant, I felt, within him—an anger he was ashamed of and didn't want to revisit," Friedkin told the Los Angeles Review of Books in 2012.

Hackman also hesitated before taking on the role that earned him his second Oscar. Initially, he turned down Clint Eastwood's offer to play Little Bill Daggett, the corrupt sheriff in Unforgiven. But he soon realized Eastwood was crafting a Western that critiqued violence rather than glorifying it. His decision paid off—his performance won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1993.

"To his credit, and my joy, he talked me into it," Hackman said of Eastwood in an interview with the American Film Institute.

Born Eugene Alden Hackman on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California, he grew up in Danville, Illinois, where his father worked as a pressman for the Commercial-News. His childhood was turbulent—his parents' frequent fights sometimes turned physical, with his father directing his frustrations at young Gene. Seeking escape, Hackman found solace in movie theaters, idolizing Errol Flynn and James Cagney.

At 13, his father left the family for good, a wound Hackman carried throughout his life. His mother, struggling with alcoholism, often clashed with her own mother, creating a volatile home environment. By 16, restless and eager to leave, Hackman lied about his age and enlisted in the U.S. Marines.

"Dysfunctional families have sired a lot of pretty good actors," he mused in a 2001 interview with The New York Times.

In 1956, Hackman married Fay Maltese, a bank teller he met at a YMCA dance in New York. They had three children—Christopher, Elizabeth, and Leslie—before divorcing in the mid-1980s. In 1991, he married Arakawa.

Outside of acting, Hackman had a passion for painting, stunt flying, stock car racing, and deep-sea diving. In later years, he transitioned to writing novels and settled on a ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he preferred the sweeping view of the Colorado Rockies to watching his old films on TV.

"I'll watch maybe five minutes of it," he once admitted to Time magazine. "And I'll get this icky feeling, and I turn the channel."

Hackman is survived by his three children.

Tributes Shared Online
Tributes from fans and figures in the entertainment industry began to pour in on social media after the news of Hackman and Arakawa's deaths broke.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, actor George Takei said, "We have lost one of the true giants of the screen. Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it.

"He could be everyone and no one, a towering presence or an everyday Joe. That's how powerful an actor he was. He will be missed, but his work will live on forever."

Comedian and TV presenter Dara Ó Briain called Hackman "the finest screen actor ever."

"Not a single duff performance, in a long, long career," he added.

"What an incredibly sad end to a remarkable life," said broadcaster Piers Morgan.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ge ... 0300&ei=41

[BigTex]

I would be looking at the dog for a murder-suicide.

[planosteve]

I would be looking at the dog for a murder-suicide.

I don't know. How old was the dog?

[Kiamichi]

Probably carbon monoxide.

[planosteve]

I think by 95 I'd be ready to go. Enough's enough.

[planosteve]

I think by 95 I'll be ready to go. Enough is enough. And women that age are like yuck !

[GRANDPA]

His wife, Betsy, was 65 years old. So not "yuck". BTW, my Mom is 95 & my Dad would disagree with you.

[planosteve]

His wife, Betsy, was 65 years old. So not "yuck". BTW, my Mom is 95 & my Dad would disagree with you.

Yeah, but all women lie about their age.