Gene Hackman (1930-2025)

Variety reports that Gene Hackman was found dead in his home yesterday afternoon along with his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa. No cause of death has been identified yet, though authorities have said there’s no indication of foul play. Hackman was 95 years old, Arakawa was 63.

Considered one of the great screen performers of the latter part of the 20th century, the tall, likable Hackman had an amiable grace, easy humor and a surprisingly wide range that made him equally believable in roles as lower-class losers and high-powered executives. Indeed, he played the president of the United States, albeit a homicidal one, in 1997’s Absolute Power and a former president in his final feature, Welcome to Mooseport.

Like the great character movie stars of an earlier era, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, Hackman transcended any limitations by the sheer force of his presence, becoming as identifiable and admired as some of his higher-paid contemporaries such as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman.

With a career spanning more than four decades, Hackman’s filmography is second to none in Hollywood history. Nominated for multiple Oscars, he won twice: “Best Actor” for his performance as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971) and “Best Supporting Actor” for his turn as Sheriff “Little” Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992). Some of Hackman’s other acclaimed roles include Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Conversation (1974), Superman (1978), Mississippi Burning (1988), The Firm (1993) and Enemy of the State (1998).

If I had to pick my favorite Hackman performance, though, it’d be the arrogant and rascally Royal Tenenbaum in 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums, arguably my favorite Wes Anderson film. Hackman’s wonderful performance perfectly captured the character’s narcissism and manipulative behavior even as he made Royal charming and even sympathetic. You loved to hate him, and in the end, you just sort of fell in love with him.

Tributes to Hackman have come pouring in from the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Hackman in The Conversation (which won top honors at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival) as well as Edgar Wright and Star Trek’s George Takei, to name a few.