- Gene Hackman died on Wednesday, alongside his wife, at the age of 95
- The late actor starred in several Hollywood classics across 40+ years
- Hackman was nominated for five Oscars, winning twice
As Hollywood pays its respects to the late Gene Hackman – who was tragically found dead in his New Mexico home, along with his wife Betsy Arakawa and their pet dog, on Wednesday – cinema fans have been fondly reminiscing over the great actor’s legendary body of work.
Starting in the late ’60s with his breakout, Oscar nominated performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde, Hackman became one of the most fiercely respected leading men in Hollywood, with a string of unforgettable roles throughout the ’70s in iconic films such as The French Connection, The Conversation, Night Moves and Superman.
The ’80s and ’90s brought more success and a second Oscar (following his first for The French Connection) with roles in Hoosiers, Under Fire, Twice in a Lifetime, No Way Out, Mississippi Burning, The Birdcage, Unforgiven, The Firm, Crimson Tide and The Royal Tenenbaums.
However, despite his multitudes of success, Hackman did still harbour a regret about his career, which he shared during a 1999 interview with Charlie Rose.
Hackman explained to Rose that he wished he had moved back to New York to work more in the theatre, saying, “Yes, I wish that maybe in the ‘80s, late ‘70s and early ‘80s that I had moved back to New York and kept more in touch with the theatre so that I could have maybe expanded my craft and kept more in touch with what acting means to me.
“I’d have to be comfortable,” Hackman said of returning to the stage at that time, “I’ve lived a soft life too long to camp out.”
Hackman’s career began on stage, in 1960, after he had served in the US Marine Corps between 1946-51. He trod the boards on and off broadway until 1967 in plays such as Any Wednesday and A Rainy Day in Newark. Hackman’s stage career would be briefly revisited in 1992 when he would take on the role of Roberto Miranda in Death and the Maiden at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway.
