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IMDbPro

Gene Hackman

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Stunts
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00096
Gene Hackman at an event for The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2003)
Take a closer look at the various roles Gene Hackman has played throughout his iconic acting career.
Play clip1:24
Gene Hackman | Career Retrospective
79 Videos
99+ Photos
Eugene Allen Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, the son of Anna Lyda Elizabeth (Gray) and Eugene Ezra Hackman, who operated a newspaper printing press. He is of Pennsylvania Dutch (German), English, and Scottish ancestry, partly by way of Canada, where his mother was born. After several moves, his family settled in Danville, Illinois. Gene grew up in a broken home, which he left at the age of sixteen for a hitch with the US Marines. Moving to New York after being discharged, he worked in a number of menial jobs before studying journalism and television production on the G.I. Bill at the University of Illinois. Hackman would be over 30 years old when he finally decided to take his chance at acting by enrolling at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Legend says that Hackman and friend Dustin Hoffman were voted "least likely to succeed."

Hackman next moved back to New York, where he worked in summer stock and off-Broadway. In 1964 he was cast as the young suitor in the Broadway play "Any Wednesday." This role would lead to him being cast in the small role of Norman in Lilith (1964), starring Warren Beatty. When Beatty was casting for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), he cast Hackman as Buck Barrow, Clyde Barrow's brother. That role earned Hackman a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, an award for which he would again be nominated in I Never Sang for My Father (1970). In 1972 he won the Oscar for his role as Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection (1971). At 40 years old Hackman was a Hollywood star whose work would rise to new heights with Night Moves (1975) and Bite the Bullet (1975), or fall to new depths with The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Eureka (1983). Hackman is a versatile actor who can play comedy (the blind man in Young Frankenstein (1974)) or villainy (the evil Lex Luthor in Superman (1978)). He is the doctor who puts his work above people in Extreme Measures (1996) and the captain on the edge of nuclear destruction in Crimson Tide (1995). After initially turning down the role of Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992), Hackman finally accepted it, as its different slant on the western interested him. For his performance he won the Oscar and Golden Globe and decided that he wasn't tired of westerns after all. He has since appeared in Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994), and The Quick and the Dead (1995).
BornJanuary 30, 1930
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJanuary 30, 1930
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00096
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Won 2 Oscars
    • 33 wins & 39 nominations total

Photos684

Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, and Valerie Perrine in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
Gene Hackman and Christopher Hackman
Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
Gene Hackman and William Friedkin in The French Connection (1971)
Gene Hackman, William Friedkin, Roy Scheider, Eddie Egan, and Bill Hickman in The French Connection (1971)
Gene Hackman in Downhill Racer (1969)
Gene Hackman in Downhill Racer (1969)
Gene Hackman in Downhill Racer (1969)
Gene Hackman and Robert Redford in Downhill Racer (1969)
Gene Hackman in Downhill Racer (1969)

Known for

Gene Hackman and Marcel Bozzuffi in The French Connection (1971)
The French Connection
7.7
  • Jimmy Doyle
  • 1971
Bill Murray, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Jonah Meyerson, and Grant Rosenmeyer in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Royal Tenenbaums
7.6
  • Royal Tenenbaum
  • 2001
Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris in Unforgiven (1992)
Unforgiven
8.2
  • Little Bill Daggett
  • 1992
Ernest Borgnine, Gene Hackman, Leslie Nielsen, Red Buttons, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson, Carol Lynley, Pamela Sue Martin, Arthur O'Connell, and Eric Shea in The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
The Poseidon Adventure
7.1
  • Reverend Scott
  • 1972

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Terence Stamp, Christopher Reeve, Sarah Douglas, and Jack O'Halloran in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
    Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
    • Lex Luthor
    • 2006
  • Gene Hackman and Ray Romano in Welcome to Mooseport (2004)
    Welcome to Mooseport
    • Monroe Cole
    • 2004
  • John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, and Rachel Weisz in Runaway Jury (2003)
    Runaway Jury
    • Rankin Fitch
    • 2003
  • Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
    Behind Enemy Lines
    • Reigart
    • 2001
  • Bill Murray, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Jonah Meyerson, and Grant Rosenmeyer in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
    The Royal Tenenbaums
    • Royal Tenenbaum
    • 2001
  • Danny DeVito, Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo, and Rebecca Pidgeon in Heist (2001)
    Heist
    • Joe Moore
    • 2001
  • Sigourney Weaver, Gene Hackman, and Jennifer Love Hewitt in Heartbreakers (2001)
    Heartbreakers
    • William B. Tensy
    • 2001
  • Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts in The Mexican (2001)
    The Mexican
    • Arnold Margolese
    • 2001
  • Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, and Brooke Langton in The Replacements (2000)
    The Replacements
    • Jimmy McGinty
    • 2000
  • Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Monica Bellucci in Under Suspicion (2000)
    Under Suspicion
    • Henry Hearst
    • 2000
  • Will Smith and Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State (1998)
    Enemy of the State
    • Edward Lyle
    • Brill
    • 1998
  • Antz (1998)
    Antz
    • Mandible (voice)
    • 1998
  • Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, and Gene Hackman in Twilight (1998)
    Twilight
    • Jack Ames
    • 1998
  • Clint Eastwood and Melora Hardin in Absolute Power (1997)
    Absolute Power
    • President Richmond
    • 1997
  • Gene Hackman and Chris O'Donnell in The Chamber (1996)
    The Chamber
    • Sam Cayhall
    • 1996

Producer

  • Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Monica Bellucci in Under Suspicion (2000)
    Under Suspicion
    • executive producer
    • 2000

Stunts

  • Gene Hackman and Marcel Bozzuffi in The French Connection (1971)
    The French Connection
    • stunts (uncredited)
    • 1971

Videos79

Gene Hackman | Career Retrospective
Clip 1:24
Gene Hackman | Career Retrospective
The French Connection
Interview 1:36
The French Connection
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:33
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:08
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:02
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:51
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:19
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:03
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:06
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:10
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:41
Trailer
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer 4:27
Theatrical Trailer

Personal details

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  • Official site
    • Instagram
  • Alternative name
    • Eugene Alder
  • Height
    • 6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
  • Born
    • January 30, 1930
    • San Bernardino, California, USA
  • Spouses
      Betsy ArakawaDecember 1991 - present
  • Children
      Christopher Hackman
  • Parents
      Anna Lyda Elizabeth Hackman (Gray)
  • Relatives
    • Richard Hackman(Sibling)
  • Other works
    TV commercials (voice-over): Oppenheimer Funds.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 1 Portrayal
    • 1 Interview
    • 13 Articles
    • 3 Pictorials
    • 4 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    While at the Pasadena Playhouse, Hackman and a classmate were voted "Least likely to succeed". The classmate was Dustin Hoffman.
  • Quotes
    I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press.
  • Trademarks
      Raspy voice
  • Salaries
      The Quick and the Dead
      (1995)
      $1,300,000

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