GENE HACKMAN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Eugene Hackman is one of American cinema’s most versatile and well respected actors. His more than four decade long career included nearly every type of role, and his memorable characters earned him five Oscar nominations and two wins. The actor was born January 30, 1930 in San Bernardino, California. He moved around a lot with his mother, Lyda, and father, Eugene, before settling down with his maternal grandmother, Beatrice, in Danville, Illinois. Hackman left home at sixteen to join the U.S. Marine Corps, lying to them about his true age. He served for over four years as a radio field operator, and upon his return, moved to New York and spent the next several years performing a variety of odd jobs. He then decided to use his G.I. Bill to study journalism and television production at the University of Illinois. It wasn’t until his thirties however, that he decided to pursue a career in acting.
Hackman moved to California to join the Pasadena Playhouse and train to become an actor. Here he became close friends with another struggling actor, Dustin Hoffman. Ironically, they both were voted “The Least Likely to Succeed” by their classmates and left the Playhouse to find stage work in New York, where they both became friends with actor Robert Duvall. In addition to his roles in plays, Hackman began to familiarize himself with the screen with bit parts in the film “Mad Dog Coll” (1961) and a number of small screen productions like “The United States Steel Hour” (1959-62) and “The Defenders” (1961-63).
In 1964, Hackman was offered a starring role in the play “Any Given Wednesday” alongside Sandy Dennis. This turned out to be his ticket to Hollywood, and in the same year he nabbed his first substantial film role in “Lilith” (1964), starring Warren Beatty. At Beatty’s request, he co-starred with her in 1967’s “Bonnie and Clyde” as Buck Barrow. For his role, he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. After shining in the documentary-like Olympic picture “Downhill Racer” (1969), Hackman was again nominated for the same award three years later in “I Never Sang for My Father” (1970). In the movie he portrayed a professor trying to reconcile with his father after his mother’s death. The following year, he played tough cop Detective Popeye Doyle in the thrilling box office hit “The French Connection” (1971). For this role, the actor finally received his first Oscar win for Best Actor.
Now established as a prominent leading man, Hackman began to tackle a number of roles that showcased his star worthy versatility. He joined classic stars Red Buttons, Roddy McDowall, Shelley Winters, and Ernest Borgnine in the disaster film “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972). He partnered with Al Pacino in the road trip drama “Scarecrow” (1973), and then played a surveillance expert in director Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” (1974). Shortly following he showed his comedic skills as a blind hermit for the funny sci-fi flick “Young Frankenstein” (1974). He performed as Popeye Doyle once again for his next picture, “French Connection II” (1975).
By the mid to late 1970's, the actor’s career success began to slip, as he starred in box office flops like “Lucky Lady” (1975), “The Domino” (1977), and “March or Die” (1977). Although he appeared in the smash adventures “Superman” in 1978 and “Superman II” in 1980, his career continued to suffer and Hackman was ready to call his retirement. Warren Beatty convinced him to get back into the game and had him appear in the historical drama “Reds” (1981). However, his other pictures of the early eighties, like “All Night Long” (1980) and “Eureka” (1981), seemed to pass through the theaters virtually unnoticed. 1983’s drama “Under Fire” brought life back to the actor’s career, and its follow ups, “Uncommon Valor” (1983) and “Twice in a Lifetime” (1985), were also successes.
By the middle of the decade, Hackman’s career was rejuvenated and he was back into the craft with titles such as “Hoosiers” (1986), “Superman 4: The Quest for Peace” (1987), and “No Way Out” (1987). He earned another Academy Award nomination for his role in the civil rights era drama “Mississippi Burning” (1988). In the same year, he starred in four other major releases: Woody Allen’s “Another Woman”, war drama “Bat*21”, sport flick “Split Decisions”, and comedy “Full Moon in Blue Water”.
In 1990 Hackman encountered major health problems and had to undergo heart surgery. However, when he returned to acting, he had a steady stream of roles in movies like “Narrow Margin” (1990), “Postcards from the Edge” (1990), and “Class Action” (1991). In 1992 he joined director and star Clint Eastwood in the western “Unforgiven” as a corrupt small town sheriff. This part won the actor his second Academy Award. He played a corrupt lawyer soon after in “The Firm” (1993), a John Grisham novel adaptation with Tom Cruise. Hackman followed with other successful movies such as another John Grisham adaptation called “The Chamber” (1996), the Robin Williams comedy “The Birdcage” (1996), the Clint Eastwood crime drama “Absolute Power” (1997), and the Will Smith thriller “Enemy of the State” (1998). In 1998 he appeared in two other very different films, the mystery drama “Twilight” and animated feature “Antz”.
1999 marked the first year in awhile that he failed to appear in a film, but 2000 saw the crime drama “Under Suspicion” with Morgan Freeman and sports comedy “The Replacements”. His subsequent features include the Brad Pitt Julia Roberts comedy “The Mexican” and Sigourney Weaver Jennifer Love Hewitt comedy “Heartbreakers”, as well as the dramas “Heist” (2001), “Behind Enemy Lines” (2001), and “Runaway Jury” (2003). His final projects were the romantic comedy “Welcome to Mooseport” (2004) and the special video cut “Superman II” (2006).
In July 2004, Gene Hackman appeared on the Larry King show announcing his retirement, which he has remained in since. However, he stays present on television in voice overs for various commercials. For his involvement in the motion pictures, he has won over thirty awards and been nominated for over twenty more.
Filmography
2006 Superman II
2004 Welcome to Mooseport
2003 Runaway Jury
2001 Behind Enemy Lines
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums
2001 Heist
2001 Heartbreakers
2001 The Mexican
2000 The Replacements
2000 Under Suspicion
1998 Enemy of the State
1998 Antz
1998 Twilight
1997 Absolute Power
1996 The Chamber
1996 Extreme Measures
1996 The Birdcage
1995 Get Shorty
1995 Crimson Tide
1995 The Quick and the Dead
1994 Wyatt Earp
1993 Geronimo: An American Legend
1993 The Firm
1992 Unforgiven
1991 Company Business
1991 Class Action
1990 Narrow Margin
1990 Postcards from the Edge
1990 Loose Cannons
1989 The Package
1988 Mississippi Burning
1988 Full Moon in Blue Water
1988 Split Decisions
1988 Another Woman
1988 Bat*21
1987 No Way Out
1987 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
1986 Hoosiers
1986 Power
1985 Target
1985 Twice in a Lifetime
1984 Misunderstood
1983 Uncommon Valor
1983 Two of a Kind
1983 Under Fire
1983 Eureka
1981 Reds
1981 All Night Long
1980 Superman II
1978 Superman
1977 March or Die
1977 A Bridge Too Far
1977 The Domino Principle
1975 Lucky Lady
1975 Bite the Bullet
1975 Night Moves
1975 French Connection II
1974 Young Frankenstein
1974 Zandy's Bride
1974 The Conversation
1973 Scarecrow
1972 The Poseidon Adventure
1972 Prime Cut
1972 Cisco Pike
1971 The French Connection
1971 The Hunting Party
1971 Doctors' Wives
1970 I Never Sang for My Father
1970 Insight
1969 Marooned
1969 Downhill Racer
1969 The Gypsy Moths
1969 Riot
1968 Shadow on the Land
1968 The Split
1968 I Spy
1968 CBS Playhouse
1967 Iron Horse
1967 The Invaders
1967 Bonnie and Clyde
1967 Banning
1967 Community Shelter Planning
1967 A Covenant with Death
1967 First to Fight
1967 The F.B.I.
1966 Hawaii
1966 Hawk
1966 The Trials of O'Brien
1964 Lilith
1963 East Side/West Side
1963 Ride with Terror
1963 The DuPont Show of the Week
1963 Route 66
1963 Naked City
1963 Look Up and Live
1961 The Defenders
1961 Tallahassee 7000
1961 Mad Dog Coll
1959 Brenner
1959 The United States Steel Hour
