Where Are They Now - March 21, 2014

Hello fans,

I have received many votes to catch up with actor Gene Hackman this week. I am happy to oblige! Hackman has had several impressive roles throughout his extensive acting career, many that have earned him accolades. What is he up to now? Read on to find out...

Take care,
Melissa

P.S. Did you miss an issue? You can read every issue from the Gophercentral library of newsletters on our exhaustive archives page. Thousands of issues, all of your favorite publications in chronological order. You can read AND comment. Just click GopherArchives

Questions? Comments? Email Melissa

*
View Past Issues: Where Are They Now Archives

*
--DEAD OR ALIVE?--
See if you know if the following celebrities have had a visit from the "Grim Reaper":

Alexander Godunov: Ballet dancer, member of the Bolshoi Ballet (1971-79). Actor, Witness (1985), Die Hard (1988).

Don Pardo: TV announcer; "The Price Is Right" (1956-63), "Jeopardy!" (1964-75), "Saturday Night Live" (1975-81, 1982-).

Morganna 'The Kissing Bandit': Entertainer; ran onto baseball fields during games and kissed star players

(Answer at the bottom)
*
Gene Hackman
Learn More About Gene Hackman on Celebrity Nooz

BIRTH DATE: January 30, 1930, San Bernardino, California

CLAIM TO FAME: Known for The French Connection, Superman the Movie, The Royal Tenenbaums

FAMILY LIFE: Hackman's first wife was Faye Maltese. They had three children, Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne. The couple divorced in 1986 after three decades of marriage. In 1991, Hackman married Betsy Arakawa. They live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

INFO: Hackman began pursuing an acting career in 1956 when he joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he became friend with fellow aspiring actor Dustin Hoffman. The pair were voted "The Least Likely to Succeed."

Hackman was determine to prove them wrong and headed to New York City, where he began performing in several Off-Broadway plays.

After co-starring in the play Any Wednesday with actress Sandy Dennis in 1964, Hackman finally proved himself enough to earn film work. His first role was in Lilith, with Warren Beatty in the leading role.

He earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role as Buck Barrow in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde. He appeared in a few television roles, and also accepted the role of Mike Brady in the TV series, The Brady Bunch, but declined as his agent's persuasion.

In 1971, Hackman earned another Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in I Never Sang for My Father. The following year, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as New York City Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection.

Hackman went on to star in 1972's The Poseidon Adventure and Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974). He also appeared as the blind hermit in Young Frankenstein.

In 1978, he played criminal mastermind Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie (1978), and reprized the role in its 1980 and 1987 sequels. In the 1980s, he earned another Best Actor nomination for Mississippi Burning, and appeared in 1987's No Way Out opposite Kevin Costner.

He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the sadistic sheriff "Little" Bill Daggett in the western Unforgiven directed by Clint Eastwood. During the 1990s, he was also seen in Geronimo: An American Legend, The Firm, The Chamber, Get Shorty, The Quick and the Dead, Crimson Tide, The Birdcage, Enemy of the State, and Absolute Power.

TRIVIA: Has a brother Richard.

His father operated the printing press for the Commercial-News, a local paper.

Left home at the age of 16 to join the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served four-and-a-half years as a field radio operator.

His mother died in 1962 as a result of a fire she accidentally set while smoking.

Competed in Sports Car Club of America races driving an open wheeled Formula Ford in the late seventies.

Drove a Dan Gurney Team Toyota in the 24 Hours of Daytona Endurance Race in 1983. He also won the Long Beach Grand Prix Celebrity Race.

His wife Betsy is co-owner of an upscale retail home furnishings store in Santa Fe called Pandora's, Inc.

In 2003 at the Golden Globes, he was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field."

WHERE IS HE NOW: Hackman's final film to date was Welcome to Mooseport (2004), a comedy with Ray Romano, in which Hackman portrayed a former President of the United States. In 2008, he confirmed he had retired from acting.

Aside from acting, Hackman has written three historical fiction novels along with undersea archaeologist Daniel Leniham: Wake of the Perdido Star (1999), a sea adventure of the 19th century, Justice for None (2004), a Depression-era tale of murder, and Escape from Andersonville (2008) about a prison escape during the Civil War. In 2011, he released his first solo effort, Payback at Morning Peak.

In 2011, Hackman appeared on the Fox Sports Radio show, The Loose Cannons, where he discussed his career and novels with Pat O'Brien, Steve Hartman and Vic "The Brick" Jacobs.

In October 12, Hackman made headlines for slapping a homeless man he knew in Santa Fe, which he claimed to have done in self defense. The actor told police that he had to fend off the man because he got angry when he was refused money and moved in a "threatening manner." No charges were filed. Hackman can regularly be seen as Jacksonville Jaguars games as he is an avid fan.

*
CREDITS:
2004 Welcome to Mooseport...Monroe Cole

2003 Runaway Jury...Rankin Fitch

2001 Behind Enemy Lines...Admiral Leslie McMahon Reigart

2001 The Royal Tenenbaums...Royal Tenenbaum

2001 Heist...Joe Moore

2001 Heartbreakers...William B. Tensy

2001 The Mexican...Arnold Margolese

2000 The Replacements...Jimmy McGinty

2000 Under Suspicion...Henry Hearst

1998 Enemy of the State...Edward Lyle

1998 Antz...General Mandible (voice)

1998 Twilight...Jack Ames

1997 Absolute Power...President Allen Richmond

1996 The Chamber...Sam Cayhall

1996 Extreme Measures...Dr. Lawrence Myrick

1996 The Birdcage...Sen. Kevin Keeley

1995 Get Shorty...Harry Zimm

1995 Crimson Tide...Capt. Frank Ramsey

1995 The Quick and the Dead...Herod

1994 Wyatt Earp...Nicholas Earp

1993 Geronimo: An American Legend...Brig. Gen. George Crook

1993 The Firm...Avery Tolar

1992 Unforgiven...Little Bill Daggett

1991 Company Business...Sam Boyd

1991 Class Action...Jedediah Tucker Ward

1990 Narrow Margin...Caulfield

1990 Postcards from the Edge...Lowell Kolchek

1990 Loose Cannons...MacArthur Stern

1989 The Package...Sgt. Johnny Gallagher

1988 Mississippi Burning...Agent Rupert Anderson

1988 Full Moon in Blue Water...Floyd

1988 Split Decisions...Dan McGuinn

1988 Another Woman...Larry

1988 Bat*21...Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton

1987 No Way Out...David Brice

1987 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace...Lex Luthor / Nuclear Man (voice)

1986 Hoosiers...Coach Norman Dale

1986 Power...Wilfred Buckley

1985 Target...Walter Lloyd / Duncan (Duke) Potter

1985 Twice in a Lifetime...Harry MacKenzie

1984 Misunderstood...Ned Rawley

1983 Uncommon Valor...Col. Jason Rhodes

1983 Two of a Kind...God (voice, uncredited)

1983 Under Fire...Alex Grazier

1983 Eureka...Jack McCann

1981 Reds...Pete Van Wherry

1981 All Night Long...George Dupler

1980 Superman II...Lex Luthor

1978 Superman...Lex Luthor

1977 March or Die...Maj. William Sherman Foster

1977 A Bridge Too Far...Major General Sosabowski

1977 The Domino Killings...Roy Tucker

1975 Lucky Lady...Kibby Womack

1975 Bite the Bullet...Sam Clayton

1975 Night Moves...Harry Moseby

1975 French Connection II...Doyle

1974 Young Frankenstein...Blindman

1974 Zandy's Bride...Zandy Allan

1974 The Conversation...Harry Caul

1973 Scarecrow...Max

1972 The Poseidon Adventure...Reverend Scott

1972 Prime Cut...Mary Ann

1972 Cisco Pike...Officer Leo Holland

1971 The French Connection...Jimmy Doyle

1971 The Hunting Party...Brandt Ruger

1971 Doctors' Wives...Dr. Dave Randolph

1970 I Never Sang for My Father...Gene Garrison

1970 Insight (TV Series)...Holt
Confrontation (1970)

1969 Marooned...Buzz Lloyd

1969 Downhill Racer...Eugene Claire

1969 The Gypsy Moths...Joe Browdy

1969 Riot...Red Fraker

1968 Shadow on the Land (TV Movie)...Rev. Thomas Davis

1968 The Split...Detective Lt. Walter Brill

1968 I Spy (TV Series)...Frank Hunter
Happy Birthday Everybody (1968)

1968 CBS Playhouse (TV Series)...Ned
My Father and My Mother (1968)

1967 Iron Horse (TV Series)...Harry Wadsworth
Leopards Try, But Leopards Can't (1967)

1967 The Invaders (TV Series)...Tom Jessup
The Spores (1967)

1967 Banning...Tommy Del Gaddo

1967 Bonnie and Clyde...Buck Barrow

1967 Community Shelter Planning (Short)...Donald Ross - Regional Civil Defense Officer

1967 A Covenant with Death...Harmsworth

1967 First to Fight...Sgt. Tweed

1967 The F.B.I. (TV Series)...Herb Kenyon
The Courier (1967)

1966 Hawaii...Dr. John Whipple

1966 Hawk (TV Series)...Houston Worth
Do Not Mutilate or Spindle (1966)

1966 The Trials of O'Brien (TV Series)...Roger Nathan
The Only Game in Town (1966)

1964 Lilith...Norman

1959-1964 Brenner (TV Series)...Police Officer in Squad Room
Laney's Boy (1964)
The Bluff (1959)

1963 East Side/West Side (TV Series)...Police Officer
Creeps Live Here (1963)

1963 Ride with Terror (TV Movie)

1963 The DuPont Show of the Week (TV Series)...Douglas McCann
Ride with Terror (1963)

1963 Route 66 (TV Series)...Motorist
Who Will Cheer My Bonnie Bride (1963)

1961-1963 The Defenders (TV Series)...Guard / Jerry Warner

1963 Naked City (TV Series)...Mr. Jasper
Prime of Life (1963)

1963 Look Up and Live (TV Series)...Frank Collins
The End of the Story (1963)

1959-1962 The United States Steel Hour (TV Series)...Ed / Reverend MacCreighton / Steve / ...

1961 Tallahassee 7000 (TV Series)...Joe Lawson
The Fugitive (1961)

1961 Mad Dog Coll...Cop (uncredited)

To see Then & Now pictures of Gene Hackman, visit: Celebrity Nooz

*
--Answers to DEAD OR ALIVE--
Alexander Godunov - DEAD (Excessive drinking)
Born: 11/28/1949 Died: 5/18/1995

Don Pardo - ALIVE
Born: 2/22/1918

Morganna 'The Kissing Bandit' - ALIVE
Born: 7/4/1954

*
WHO PASSED ON THIS WEEK...
3/19
Joseph Kerman, 89, British-born American musicologist.
Ethan Shelton, 110, American supercentenarian.
Robert Schwarz Strauss, 95, American politician and diplomat.
Joseph F. Weis, Jr., 91, American federal judge, kidney failure.

3/18
Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, 62, Nigerian academic and feminist ideologist, kidney failure.
Shahjehan Khan Akhundzada, 56, Pakistani judge (Peshawar High Court), cancer.
Jorge Arvizu, 81, Mexican voice actor.
Vernita Gray, 65, American gay rights activist, breast cancer.
Rex Harney, 84, Irish jockey.
D. K. Jain, 71, Indian manufacturing executive, founder and Chairman of Luxor, cardiac arrest.
Kaiser Kalambo, 60, Zambian football player and coach, prostate cancer.
Joe Lala, 66, American actor (Monsters, Inc., On Deadly Ground) and musician, lung cancer.
Ara Shiraz, 72, Armenian architect and sculptor, complications from a stroke.
Dokka Umarov, 49, Russian Chechen Islamist militant, President of Ichkeria (2006-2007), Emir of the Caucasus Emirate (since 2007).
Toni Zenz, 98, German sculptor.

3/17
Marco Anghileri, 41, Italian mountaineer.
Jim Compton, 72, American journalist (NBC News), suspected heart attack.
Jose Delicado Baeza, 87, Spanish Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Valladolid (1975-2002).
Mercy Edirisinghe, 68, Sri Lankan actress and singer.
Gene Feist, 91, American playwright and theatre director, co-founder of the Roundabout Theater Company.
Marek Galinski, 39, Polish cyclist, traffic collision.
Dominic Galluscio, 55, American racehorse trainer, pancreatic cancer.
Donald Michael Kraig, 62, American occultist author and practitioner.
Paddy McGuigan, Irish songwriter ("The Men Behind the Wire", "Boys of the Old Brigade") and musician (The Barleycorn).
Rachel Lambert Mellon, 103, American horticulturalist and arts patron.
Oswald Morris, 98, British cinematographer (Fiddler on the Roof, The Guns of Navarone).
Yerlan Pernebekov, 19, Kazakh road racing cyclist, stroke.
Mohamed Salah Jedidi, 76, Tunisian footballer (Club Africain).
L'Wren Scott, 49, American fashion designer and model, apparent suicide by hanging.
Egon Sendler, 90, German-born French Jesuit priest and art historian.
James E. Stowers, 90, American investment management executive and philanthropist, founder of American Century Investments.
Quinto Vadi, 92, Italian Olympic gymnast (1948, 1952).

3/16
Gary Bettenhausen, 72, American race car driver.
Marc Blondel, 75, French trade unionist, leader of the Workers' Force (1989-2004).
Markus Brüderlin, 55, Swiss art historian and curator.
Carlos Camus, 87, Chilean Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Copiapo (1968-1976) and Linares (1976-2003).
Mareike Carrière, 59, German actress, cancer.
Lapiro de Mbanga, 56, Cameroonian musician, political and social activist, cancer.
Joseph Fan Zhongliang, 95, Chinese Roman Catholic prelate and confined dissident, Bishop of Shanghai (since 2000).
Yukio Fujimaki, 54, Japanese politician, member of the House of Councillors (since 2012), hemorrhagic shock.
Eugene Isenberg, 84, American oil drilling executive, Chairman and CEO of Nabors Industries.
Sanjeewa Kavirathna, 47, Sri Lankan politician, member of the Central Provincial Council, MP for Matale District.
Azizul Islam Khan, Bangladeshi politician.
Mitch Leigh, 86, American Tony Award-winning composer (Man of La Mancha), complications from pneumonia and a stroke.
David Littlewood, 76, British sporting official and referee.
Yulisa Pat Amadu Maddy, 77, Sierra Leonean poet, playwright, novelist and political prisoner.
Frank Oliver, 65, New Zealand rugby player and coach.
Ann Murray Paige, 48, American cancer advocate and author, breast cancer.
Alexander Pochinok, 56, Russian economist, Minister of Taxes and Levies (1999-2000), Minister of Labor and Social Development (2000-2004), cardiac arrest.
Ravindranath, 63, Indian film director, heart attack.
Chuck Scherza, 91, Canadian ice hockey player (Boston Bruins, New York Rangers).
Nicholas Spaeth, 64, American lawyer, North Dakota Attorney General (1985-1992).

3/15
Scott Asheton, 64, American drummer (The Stooges), heart attack.
David Brenner, 78, American comedian, cancer.
Howard Callaway, 86, American politician, Secretary of the Army, member of the US House of Representatives for Georgia, complications from a brain hemorrhage.
Bob Cheyne, 86, American sports broadcaster (Arkansas Razorbacks), complications from pneumonia.
Huseyn Darya, 38, Azerbaijani rapper, traffic collision.
Clarissa Dickson Wright, 66, English celebrity chef and television personality (Two Fat Ladies).
Everett L. Fullam, 82, American Episcopalian priest.
Jesper Langballe, 74, Danish politician, MP for Viborg (2001-2011).
Lim Bee Kau, 58, Malaysian politician, MP for Padang Serai (1999-2009), ovarian cancer.
Sudhir Moghe, 75, Indian poet and lyricist, complications from a brain haemorrhage.
Luca Moro, 41, Italian race car driver, brain tumor.
Marie Nightingale, 85, Canadian food author and columnist, cancer.
Cesare Segre, 85, Italian philologist, semiotician and literary critic.
Karel Trinkewitz, 82, Czech journalist and poet.
Cees Veerman, 70, Dutch singer and musician (The Cats).

3/14
John Agoglia, 76, American television executive (NBC), instrumental in decision to replace Johnny Carson with Jay Leno, cancer.
Tony Benn, 88, British politician, Minister of Technology (1966-1970), Secretary of State (1974-1979), MP for Bristol South East (1950-1960, 1963-1983) and Chesterfield (1984-2001).
Otakar Brousek, Sr., 89, Czech actor.
Gary Burger, 72, American singer (The Monks), pancreatic cancer.
Cao Shunli, 52, Chinese human rights activist.
Richard Dermer, 74, American restaurateur, founder of Hideaway Pizza.
Hans Fogh, 76, Danish-born Canadian Olympic sailor.
Alec Gaskell, 81, English footballer.
Meir Har-Zion, 80, Israeli commando.
Gaso Knezevic, 60, Serbian academic and politician, Minister of Education (2001-2004).
Sam Lacey, 66, American basketball player (Cincinnati Royals).
Roger Leir, 80, American podiatric surgeon and ufologist.
Warwick Parer, 77, Australian politician, Senator for Queensland (1984-2000), Minister for Resources and Energy (1996-1998).
Justus Pfaue, 71, German author and screenwriter.
T. C. Teli, 50, Indian politician, Arunachal Pradesh MLA for Doimukh (1995-2004), liver cancer.
Bob Thomas, 92, American journalist (Associated Press) and biographer.
Manuel Torres, 83, Spanish footballer (Real Zaragoza, Real Madrid).
Ken Utsui, 82, Japanese actor (Super Giant).
Wesley Warren, Jr., 50, American scrotal elephantiasis victim, heart attack.

3/13
Reubin Askew, 85, American politician, Governor of Florida (1971-1979), member of the Florida House of Representatives (1958-1962) and Senate (1962-1971).
Bill Ballard, 67, Canadian concert promoter and sport franchise owner (Toronto Maple Leafs), cancer.
Cherifa, 88, Algerian singer-songwriter.
Angelo Martino Colombo, 78, Italian footballer.
Danter Espinoza, 26, Peruvian footballer (Walter Ormeno de Canete).
Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, 70, Northern Irish politician, member of the House of Lords, founder of the Norbrook Group, helicopter crash.
Paulo Goulart, 81, Brazilian actor, cancer.
Al Harewood, 90, American jazz drummer.
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, 82, Sierra Leonean politician, President (1996-1997, 1998-2007).
S. Mallikarjunaiah, 82, Indian politician, MP for Tumkur (1991-2009), Karnataka MLA for Tumkur (1971-1991), heart attack.
Icchokas Meras, 79, Lithuanian-born Israeli writer, recipient of the Lithuanian National Prize (2010).
Petar Milosevski, 40, Macedonian footballer (Enosis Neon Paralimni), traffic collision.
Abby Singer, 96, American film and television production manager, cancer.
Ralph Uwechue, 79, Nigerian diplomat, publisher and scholar, Ambassador to Liberia, Envoy to France.
Janusz Zablocki, 88, Polish politician and Catholic activist, MP (1965-1985).
John Zabriske, 74, American pharmaceutical executive, chairman and CEO of The Upjohn Company, throat cancer.