Born January 30, 1930 in San Bernadino, California, Eugene Allen Hackman was raised primarily in Danville, Illinois where his family settled after several moves.  He joined the U.S. Marines at 16.

After being discharged from the Marines, he moved to New York where he worked in a number of menial jobs before studying journalism and television production on the G.I. Bill at the University of Illinois.

Hackman was over 30 when he enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse where he and his friend, Dustin Hoffman were voted least likely to succeed.

The actor made his film debut in an uncredited role in 1961’s Mad Dog Coll and had roles in episodes of numerous TV shows for the next few years.

Back in New York in 1964, Hackman was cast as the young suitor in Broadway’s Any Wednesday which led to a small role in that year’s Lilith starring Warren Beatty. That brought him roles is several films including Hawaii and A Covenant with Death.  Then Beatty cast him as his brother in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde which led to his first Oscar nomination.

It was back to TV roles until a trio of 1969 films, The Gypsy Moths, Downhill Racer, and Marooned brought him further recognition.  1970’s I Never Sang for My Father brought him his second Oscar nomination.  1971’s The French Connection brought him his third Oscar nomination and first win.  The decade provided him with some of his best roles in such films as 1972’s Prime Cut and The Poseidon Adventure, 1973’s Scarecrow, 1974’s The Conversation and Young Frankenstein, 1975’s Night Moves and French Connection II, and 1978’s Superman in which he played his first supporting role in years.

The 1980s were up and down for Hackman where he played a minor role in Beatty’s 1981 Oscar-winning opus, Reds, the lead in 1983’s Under Fire, 1985’s Twice in a Lifetime, and 1986’s Hoosiers.  That same year also saw the ending of his 30-year marriage to his first wife, which had produced 3 children.

In 1987, Hackman had one of his best villainous roles in No Way Out in support of rising star Kevin Costner.  In 1988, he received his fourth Oscar nomination for his lead role in Mississippi Burning.

In 1991, Hackman married second wife, Betsy Arakawa, thirty years his junior.  In 1992, he played a supporting role in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven which earned him his fifth Oscar nomination and second win.  Later successes include 1995’s Get Shorty, 1996’s The Birdcage and The Chamber, and 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums.

Hackman retired from acting in 2004 and spent his remaining years with Arakawa in Sana Fe, New Mexico, where he painted and wrote novels.

On February 27, 2025, Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were found along with that of one of their dogs.  It was later determined that Arakawa died of hantavirus on February 11 and Hackman of heart disease and advanced Alzheimer’s on February 25.  The dog, which was locked in a closet, died of starvation.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967), directed by Arthur Penn

Nominated for 10 Oscars and winner of 2, this groundbreaking film caused the forced resignation of long-time New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther who panned it, reviewed it a second time after it became a box-office sensation, panned it again and then was suggested to retire by the paper, which he did.  Five of the film’s ten nominations were for the performances of its principal actors, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Hackman, and Estelle Parsons who won playing Hackman’s wife.  Hackman himself won the Best Supporting Actor award of the National Society of Film Critics.

I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER (1970), directed by Gilbert Cates

Nominated for 3 Oscars, including one for Melvyn Douglas for his towering portrayal of a manipulative old man and one for Hackman as his tortured middle-aged son.  Estelle Parsons played Hackman’s sister in this one, and veteran stage actress Dorothy Stickney played his mother and Douglas’ long-suffering wife.  Their roles were played on Broadway by Alan Webb, Hal Holbrook, Teresa Wright, and Lillian Gish.  Hackman’s role ws significantly larger than Douglas’ but Douglas, already an Oscar winner for Hud, was the bigger star at the time and had a larger presence on screen so he was given star billing over Hackman.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1973), directed by William Friedkin

 Nominated for 8 Oscars and winner of 5, this exciting real-life crime drama was a sensation, outdoing the famous chase scene in Bullitt just five years earlier.  Hackman’s Oscar winning performance almost didn’t happen as he was cast only after actors from Steve McQueen to Jackie Gleason turned the role down.  His classic, no-nonsense approach to the role turned him from a much-admired character actor to a genuine star.  Director Friedkin, who also won an Oscar as did the film, operated the camera from the backseat of the car driven Hackman in the chase scene because he didn’t want to endanger the lives of the other cameramen.

UNFORGIVEN (1992), directed by Clint Eastwood

 Nominated for 9 Oscars and winner of 4, this classic western was only the third in its genre to win a Best Picture Oscar.  The first has been 1931’s Cimarron released when director-star Clint Eastwood and Hackman were both infants.  The second was just two years earlier when the revisionist 1990 western, Dances with Wolves won.  The film’s script had sat around Hollywood for twenty years until Eastwood convinced Hackman to play the sadisic sheriff for which he won his second Oscar while Eastwood won his first two for producing and directing.  He had also been nominated for Best Director losing to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman.

THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2330), directed by Wes Anderson

 Anderson’s typically idiosyncratic comedy about a dysfunctional family received just one Oscar nomination for his screenplay.  No actor in a film from the director has yet to receive an Oscar nomination for their performance despite being singled out by critics and other awards bodies.  Hackman had won the Best Actor award of the National Society of Film Critics and Chicago Film Critics Association for his portrayal of the eccentric family’s paterfamilias.  Other family members included Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson.  The cast also included Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, and Alec Baldwin among many others.

GENE HACKMAN AND OSCAR

Bonnie and Clyde (2067) – Nominated – Best Supporting Actor

I Never Sang for My Father (1970) – Nominated – Best Supporting Actor

The French Connection (1973) – Oscar – Best Actor

Mississippi Burning (1988) – Nominated – Best Actor

Unforgiven (1992) – Oscar – Best Supporting Actor