My all-time favorite thespian celebrates his 94th birthday on Jan. 30, 2024.
2-time Oscar Winner Gene Hackman retired from acting after playing the President of the United States in WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT.
After leaving films, Hackman turned to writing novels and designing homes.
He set up home base in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Word is he's more active than most 94-year-olds
He is seen about town biking, going to the theater, working on his property, buying Wendy's, etc.
Hack in March 2023 doing some yard work
Here is Hack with Sirius XM Radio Host Seth Rudetsky and SNL alum Ana Gasteyer
in May, 2022 after a performance of their show BROADWAY CONFIDENTAL in Santa Fe.
The Many Faces of Hackman
Popeye Doyle is maybe Hackman's best remembered role
5MxGzJE3XNY THE FRENCH CONNECTION trailer
BK10bJ3rSjQ FC II trailer
Gene's so cool, he doesn't need to hold his THE FC Oscar on the set of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE
http://youtu.be/sXGzO2aDDRU The funniest thing Gene Hackman has ever done
''Cigars!''
Francis Ford Coppola and Gene on the set of THE CONVERSATION 1974
http://youtu.be/VD_CAJHIIQE THE CONVERSATION trailer
My Top 5 Hackman Performances:
1. Popeye Doyle in THE FRENCH CONNECTION I & II
With John Frankenheimer shooting FC II
2. Harry Caul in THE CONVERSATION
3. Harry Mosbey in NIGHT MOVES
NIGHT MOVES trailer FvCvKQgyDZI
4. Sheriff Little Bill Daggett in UNFORGIVEN
5. The title patriarch in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS
Other must-see-Hackman includes:
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, MISSISSIPPI BURNING, GET SHORTY, SUPERMAN I & II, BONNIE AND CLYDE, I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER, SCARECROW, HEIST, HOOSIERS, BITE THE BULLET, CRIMSON TIDE, DOWNHILL RACER, UNDER FIRE, THE GYPSY MOTHS, PRIME CUT and more.
Hackman and Lee Marvin meat in Micheal Ritchie's PRIME CUT,
a juicy, wonderfully delicious piece of trashy pulp entertainment
Gene shows Micheal Rooker how to give a ballsy performance in
MISSISSIPPI: BURNING
2 classic scenes from MB
BONNIE AND CLYDE
With Melvyn Douglas in I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER
As SUPERMAN's arch enemy Lex Luthor
HOOSIERS
CRIMSON TIDE
UNDER FIRE
With Robert Redford in DOWNHILL RACER
Also: ANOTHER WOMAN, A BRIDGE TOO FAR, CISCO PIKE, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, ALL NIGHT LONG, REDS, TWICE IN A LIFETIME, NO WAY OUT, THE PACKAGE, RIOT, CLASS ACTION, THE CHAMBER, THE FIRM, LILITH, UNCOMMON VALOR and THE BIRDCAGE.
THE BIRDCAGE
NO WAY OUT
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE
Jim Brown and Gene cause a RIOT 1969
ktjM33ExvlQ RIOT
REDS with pal WB
Other choice Hackman big screen fare (if not for the film, for his performance) includes: The voice of Mandible in ANTZ, BAT 21, BEHIND ENEMY LINES, THE REPLACEMENTS, EUREKA, MARCH OR DIE, RUNAWAY JURY, TWILIGHT, EXTREME MEASURES, HEARTBREAKERS, THE SPLIT, THE QUICK AND THE DEAD, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, NARROW MARGIN, COMPANY BUSINESS, ABSOLUTE POWER (as The President of the United States), MAROONED, SPLIT DECISIONS, FULL MOON IN BLUE WATER, ENEMY OF THE STATE, HAWAII, WYATT EARP, POWER, TARGET, MISUNDERSTOOD and GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND.
With Terrence Hill in my favorite Hackman guilty pleasure
As Papa Earp in 1994's WYATT EARP
No box office gold for EUREKA
And the not-so-memorable-Hackman fare like:
ZANDY'S BRIDE, WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT, UNDER SUSPICION, A COVENANT WITH DEATH, FIRST TO FIGHT, DOCTORS' WIVES, BANNING, MAD DOG COLL, God's voice in TWO OF A KIND, and his 5 worst films in my opinion: LOOSE CANNONS, SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, LUCKY LADY, THE HUNTING PARTY & THE DOMINO PRINCIPLE.
Hackman's TV work before becoming a movie star includes:
THE DEFENDERS, NAKED CITY, TALLAHASSEE 7000, BRENNER, I SPY, IRON HORSE, THE U.S. STEEL HOUR, THE INVADERS, THE F.B.I., THE TRIALS OF O'BRIEN, HAWK, ROUTE 66, EAST SIDE/WEST SIDE, SHADOW ON THE LAND, INSIGHT, CBS PLAYHOUSE, LOOK UP AND LIVE and more.
BRENNER
With John Randolph in The Spores episode of THE INVADERS
Hack on the set:
With director Arthur Penn and producer/star Warren Beatty shooting
BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967
YglIqpMkf3A ''Whatever you do, don't sell that cow''
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Matt Dillon and Gene get some direction from Arthur Penn on the set of
TARGET 1985
TARGET trailer JPiVIdpPx5o
Gene and Clint Eastwood on the set of ABSOLUTE POWER 1997
5OzynRDuUf4 AP trailer
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Hackman and Arthur Penn shooting NIGHT MOVES 1975
Wes Anderson and Gene confer on the set of THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS 2001
http://youtu.be/w1zGQrybWi0 Classic scene between Hackman and Danny Glover in THE ROYAL T
William Friedkin, Hackman and Fernando Rey on location filming
THE FRENCH CONNECTION 1971
http://youtu.be/QgUwAG_OiTM The best line in THE FRENCH C
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Rebecca Pidgeon and Hackman on the set of
HEIST 2001
http://youtu.be/sQXv1umg7NY HEIST trailer a great flick
Filmmaker Richard Brooks goes over a scene with Ian Bannen & Hackman
on the set of one of the all-time best (and under appreciated) westerns of the 1970's--
BITE THE BULLET 1975
Z1x538JMWkA Classic fight scene in BULLET
Chatting with Sean Connery on the set of
A BRIDGE TOO FAR 1977
Did you know...?
Hackman's Broadway credits include A RAINY DAY IN NEWARK, ANY WEDNESDAY, POOR RICHARD and DEATH AND THE MAIDEN.
The all-star trio of MAIDEN:
Hackman, Glenn Close & Richard Dreyfuss
He has co-written 3 historical novels with Daniel Lenihan and his solo efforts include 2011's old west tale PAYBACK AT MORNING PEAK and the 2013 police thriller PURSUIT.
He was the voice of God in the John Travolta-Olivia Newton-John bomb TWO OF A KIND.
Hackman has won 2 Oscars, for THE FRENCH CONNECTION (Best Actor) and UNFORGIVEN (Best Supt. Actor).
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With fellow Oscar Winner Jane KLUTE Fonda at the 1972 Oscars
Dk0hMxRtHWA Gene wins for FC
Morgan Freeman and Hackman in Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN
Little Bill Daggett is one of the all-time greatest western screen villains
http://youtu.be/_bLR04OkC-I Duck of Death scene in UNFORGIVEN
5yA_VKhyd_w Gene wins his 2nd Oscar
Word is Hackman was wanted for the role of Mike Brady in THE BRADY BUNCH. Robert MANNIX Reed got the part.
Though only 7 years older than his old pal/roommate Dustin Hoffman, Mike Nichols cast Hackman as Mr. Robinson in THE GRADUATE. Hackman was fired in the 3rd week of rehearsal and replaced with Murray JAWS Hamilton, 14 years the senior of Hoffman.
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Hackman on losing the role:
"I got fired, I think, because I just didn't fulfill the director and writer's idea of what the part should have been," Hackman said. "The way we were all trained in the 1950s and 1960s, you needed to keep searching and kicking it around, so I was doing that and I just took too much time."
H & H finally worked together on 2003's RUNAWAY JURY
Mike Nichols and Hackman did end up working together: on the films POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE & THE BIRDCAGE and the play DEATH AND THE MAIDEN
Films that Hackman has reportedly turned down include CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, PEARL HARBOR, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, NETWORK, FIRST BLOOD and JAWS.
''Unforgiving!''
In 2012, Hackman slapped a homeless man in Santa Fe, New Mexico where Gene and his wife Betsy reside. Hackman told police that the homeless man became angry when he was refused money, verbally accosted him and his wife (word is the homeless fella, 63-year-old Bruce Becker, called Popeye's wife the C word!) and moved in close in a "threatening manner". The actor told officers that's when he slapped the man, to fend him off. No charges were filed as it was determined by police that Hackman acted in self-defense.
Becker has had frequent run-ins with Santa Fe Police. He had previously pleaded guilty for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, abandonment or abuse of a child, battery on a police officer and arson. Becker had spent 2 years in the Santa Fe County Jail. The guy is lucky he wasn't busted by Popeye's fist--the violence-hating Hackman kept his hand open.
Hackman with his wife Betsy Arakawa
Becker's mugshot
''The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways''
HOOSIERS
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More on my Favorite Actor:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hackman
Gene Hackman - IMDb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hackman
Gene Hackman - IMDb
My 3rd floor Batcave has a Hackman feel to it!
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