Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman (born Eugene Allen Hackman) was an Oscar-winning actor. Hackman wanted to act from an early age, but didn’t have the opportunity to pursue it as he spent much of his childhood moving. He joined the United States Marine Corps at 16, serving for almost five years before moving to California to begin his acting career.

Hackman first got his start acting in local productions, but he was largely discouraged from pursuing acting. He decided to move to New York (alongside aspiring actor Dustin Hoffman) where he worked restaurant jobs to support himself. The actor began landing minor roles both on screen and Off-Broadway before making his Broadway debut in the 1963 production Children From Their Games.

He began landing bigger screen roles shortly after, and his appearance in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His role as Popeye Doyle in 1971’s The French Connection won the actor his first Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actor, officially graduating to mainstream status.

He went on to give numerous highly acclaimed performances over the years. Some of his notable works include The Conversation (1974), Unforgiven (1993) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). Hackman confirmed his retirement from acting in 2008.

The actor is also a published author, and released his first book, Wake of the Perdido Star, in 1999.

Hackman married Faye Maltese in 1956. The couple welcomed three children, Christopher Allen (born in 1960), Elizabeth Jean (born in 1962) and Leslie Anne (born in 1966), before their split in 1986. He wed pianist Betsy Arakawa in 1991.

Hackman and Arakawa were found dead in their New Mexico home on February 26, 2025. It was later revealed that the actor died due to hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor. Arakawa’s cause of death was also ruled “natural” due to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.