Gene Hackman

Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – c. February 18, 2025) was an American actor. Considered one of the greatest actors of his generation and a paragon of the New Hollywood movement, Hackman's mainstream acting career spanned over four decades. He received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, one Silver Bear and four Golden Globe Awards. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama Lilith (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Best Actor for his role as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in William Friedkin's action thriller The French Connection (1971) and his second for Best Supporting Actor for playing a villainous sheriff in Clint Eastwood's Western Unforgiven (1992). He was Oscar-nominated for playing Buck Barrow in the crime drama Bonnie and Clyde (1967), a college professor in the drama I Never Sang for My Father (1970) and an FBI agent in the historical drama Mississippi Burning (1988). Hackman gained further fame for his portrayal of Lex Luthor in three of the Superman films from 1978 to 1987. He also acted in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Scarecrow (1973), The Conversation (1974), Night Moves (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Under Fire (1983), Hoosiers (1986), The Firm (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994), Crimson Tide (1995), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Get Shorty (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Absolute Power (1997), Antz (1998), Enemy of the State (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and Runaway Jury (2003). He retired from acting after starring in Welcome to Mooseport (2004), writing novels and occasionally narrating television documentaries until 2017.