April 08, 2022

Hello Fans,

I have received many votes to catch up with actor Gene Hackman this week - and I am happy to oblige!

Hackman has had several impressive roles throughout his extensive acting career, many of them earning him some huge accolades.

Gene Hackman is one of our best actors...ever! Let's see what he's been doing these days...

And don't forget to vote early and often! I added NEW celebs to our celebrity suggestions list very recently so be sure to go to Celebrity Suggestions check out who's in the running and VOTE or send in your suggestions. Vote UP or DOWN on all of the listed celebrities. And vote as many times as you want!

Take care,
Steve

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Gene Hackman

Learn More About Gene Hackman, see Then & Now pictures, and find out What He's Been Up To on Celebrity Nooz

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

BIRTH NAME: Eugene Allen Hackman

CLAIM TO FAME: Gene Hackman is an American retired actor and novelist. In a career that has spanned more than six decades he is best know for roles in The French Connection, Superman: The Movie, and The Royal Tenenbaums.

FAMILY LIFE: Hackman married Faye Maltese in 1956. They had three children: Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne Hackman. The couple later divorced in 1986, after 30 years of marriage. In 1991, he married classical pianist Betsy Arakawa.

INFO: The son of Eugene Ezra Hackman and Anna Lyda Elizabeth.

He has one brother, Richard.

He has Pennsylvania Dutch, English, and Scottish ancestry.

Hackman decided that he wanted to become an actor when he was ten years old; he was influenced by the acting of James Cagney.

Left home at age 16 and lied about his age to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. He served four and a half years as a field radio operator.

He began a study of journalism and television production at the University of Illinois under the G.I. Bill, but left and moved back to California.

Hackman is a supporter of the Democratic Party, and was proud to be included on Nixon's Enemies List. However, he has spoken fondly of Republican president Ronald Reagan.

In the late 1970s, Hackman competed in Sports Car Club of America races, driving an open-wheeled Formula Ford.

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

Nominated for five Academy Awards, Hackman won Best Actor for his role as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the critically acclaimed thriller The French Connection (1971) and Best Supporting Actor as "Little" Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood's Western film Unforgiven (1992). His other nominations for Best Supporting Actor came with the films Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and I Never Sang for My Father (1970), with a second Best Actor nomination for Mississippi Burning (1988).

He is an avid fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars and regularly attended games.

In 2012, at 81-year-old, Hackman was riding a bicycle in the Florida Keys when he was struck by a pickup truck. He made a full recovery, and still remains an active bicyclist.

TRIVIA: Joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he befriended another aspiring actor, Dustin Hoffman; They were voted "The Least Likely To Succeed".

In 1964 he had an offer to co-star in the play Any Wednesday with actress Sandy Dennis. This opened the door to film work.

The supporting role, of Buck Barrow in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, earned him an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor.

He nearly accepted the role of Mike Brady for the TV series The Brady Bunch, but his agent advised that he should decline, which he did.

Hackman was nominated for a second Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in I Never Sang for My Father (1970).

In 1971, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as New York City Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection (1971).

He followed The French Connection (1971) with leading roles in the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974), which was nominated for several Oscars. That same year, Hackman appeared, in what would become one of his most famous comedic roles, as Harold the Blind Man in Young Frankenstein.

Has stated that his performance in Scarecrow (1973) is his personal favorite.

Hackman showed a talent for both comedy and the as criminal mastermind Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie (1978), a role he would reprise in its 1980 and 1987 sequels.

Hackman alternated between leading and supporting roles during the 1980s, with prominent roles in Reds (1981), Under Fire (1983), Hoosiers (1986) (which an AFI poll in 2008 voted the fourth-greatest film of all time in the sports genre), No Way Out (1987) and Mississippi Burning (1988), where he was nominated for a second Best Actor Oscar.

Turned down the role of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

In 1992, he played the sadistic sheriff "Little" Bill Daggett in the Western Unforgiven directed by Clint Eastwood and written by David Webb Peoples. Hackman had pledged to avoid violent roles, but Eastwood convinced him to take the part, which earned him a second Oscar, this time for Best Supporting Actor. The film also won Best Picture.

He also gained much critical acclaim playing against type as the head of an eccentric family in Wes Anderson's comedy film The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), for which he received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

In 2003, Hackman was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globe Awards for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field".

In 2008, while promoting his third novel, he confirmed that he had retired from acting.

He briefly came out of retirement to narrate two documentaries related to the Marine Corps: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima (2016) and We, The Marines (2017).

Together with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan, Hackman has written three historical fiction novels: 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 American Civil War. His first solo effort, a story of love and revenge set in the Old West titled Payback at Morning Peak, was released in 2011. A police thriller, Pursuit, followed in 2013.

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WHERE ARE THEY 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. And by all accounts, he lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Would it be amazing to see Gene Hackman back on the big screen? SURE! But at age 92, I think he's just going to continue enjoying his retirement to the fullest. And who can blame him?

CREDITS:

2006 Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut...Lex Luthor

2004 Welcome to Mooseport...Monroe Cole

2003 Runaway Jury...Rankin Fitch

2001 Behind Enemy Lines...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 / Brill

1998 Antz...Mandible (voice)

1998 Twilight...Jack Ames

1997 Absolute Power...President Richmond

1996 The Chamber...Sam Cayhall

1996 Extreme Measures...Dr. Lawrence Myrick

1996 The Birdcage...Senator Keeley

1995 Get Shorty...Harry Zimm

1995 Crimson Tide...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...Robert Caulfield

1990 Postcards from the Edge...Lowell Kolchek

1990 Loose Cannons...MacArthur Stern

1989 The Package...Sgt. Johnny Gallagher

1988 Mississippi Burning...Anderson

1988 Another Woman...Larry

1988 Full Moon in Blue Water...Floyd

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

1988 Split Decisions...Dan McGuinn

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

1985 Twice in a Lifetime...Harry MacKenzie

1984 Misunderstood...Ned Rawley

1983 Uncommon Valor...Colonel 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...Maj. Gen. Sosabowski

1977 The Domino Principle...Tucker

1975 Lucky Lady...Kibby Womack

1975 French Connection II...Doyle

1975 Bite the Bullet...Sam Clayton

1975 Night Moves...Harry Moseby

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 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (TV Series)...Guest Performer
- Steve Allen, John Wayne, Carol Channing, Charles Nelson Reilly, Terry-Thomas, Jo Ann Pflug, Gene Hackman (1972) ... Guest Performer
- Gene Hackman (1972) ... Guest Performer

1971 Cisco Pike...Officer Leo Holland

1971 The French Connection...Doyle

1971 The Hunting Party...Brandt Ruger

1971 Doctors' Wives...Dr. Dave Randolph

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

1969 Marooned...Buzz Lloyd

1969 Downhill Racer...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 Insight (TV Series)...Holt
- Confrontation (1968) ... Holt

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

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

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

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

1967 Bonnie and Clyde...Buck Barrow

1967 Banning...Tommy Del Gaddo

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) ... Herb Kenyon

1966 Hawaii...Dr. John Whipple

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

1966 Directions (TV Series)
- Marriage (1966)

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

1964 Lilith...Norman

1959-1964 Brenner (TV Series)...Officer Richard Clayburn / Officer Dick Clayburn / Patrolman Claiborne
- Unwritten Law (1964) ... Officer Richard Clayburn (uncredited)
- Laney's Boy (1964) ... Officer Dick Clayburn (uncredited)
- The Bluff (1959) ... Patrolman Claiborne

1963 East Side/West Side (TV Series)...Policeman
- Creeps Live Here (1963) ... Policeman

1963 Ride with Terror (TV Movie)...Douglas McCann

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

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

1961-1963 The Defenders (TV Series)...Stanley McGuirk / Jerry Warner
- Judgment Eve (1963) ... Stanley McGuirk
- Quality of Mercy (1961) ... Jerry Warner

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

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

1959-1962 The United States Steel Hour (TV Series)...Norman / Ed / Reverend MacCreighton / ...
- You Can't Escape (1962) ... Norman
- Far from the Shade Tree (1962) ... Ed
- Brandenburg Gate (1961) ... (rumored)
- Bride of the Fox (1960)
- Big Doc's Girl (1959) ... Reverend MacCreighton
- The Pink Burro (1959) ... Steve
- Little Tin God (1959) ... Joey Carlton

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

1961 Mad Dog Coll...Cop (uncredited)

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