Gene Hackman: An Appreciation

The star of many outstanding films passes away at 95 under unusual circumstances.

"Little" Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), in "Unforgiven." Many will miss the actor who played such iconic roles in the movies. Warner Bros.

American actor Gene Hackman and his wife, concert pianist Betsy Arakawa, along with one of their pet dogs, were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Wednesday, Feb. 26. He was 95 years old, and she was 63.

Local authorities have stated that the couple was dead for at least a day before being discovered, after police received a wellness check request from one of their neighbors.

Born in 1930 in San Bernardino, California, Hackman appeared in over 80 feature films, numerous stage productions, and various TV shows, in a career spanning from 1961 through 2004. He was held in the highest regard by his contemporizes, filmmakers, and movie fans the world over.

The Breakthrough

Hackman’s first credited screen role was in the 1964 psychological drama “Lilith” co-starring Warren Beatty. Beatty was also instrumental in getting Hackman cast in the 1967 biographical crime drama “Bonnie & Clyde.” As Clyde’s older brother Buck Barrow, it was the breakthrough role for Hackman. It resulted in him receiving the first of what would be five career Academy Award nominations.

Agent Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe, L) and Agent Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman), in "Mississippi Burning." Orion/MovieStillsDB

After a relatively short two-year dry spell, Hackman’s career shifted into high gear when he appeared in the following acclaimed productions: “I Never Sang for My Father,” “The French Connection” (for which he won his first Oscar playing a prickly police detective), “Scarecrow,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “The Conversation,” and an extended cameo as a blind man in the Mel Brooks comedy “Young Frankenstein.”

In 1978, Hackman flexed his comedic chops further by playing Lex Luthor, the archnemesis of the title character in the first, second, and fourth “Superman” movies.

‘Hoosiers’

For the next four years, Hackman appeared in 10 mostly forgettable dramas and action flicks. But in 1986, his career received a much-needed jump start as a basketball coach in the crowd-pleasing and critically acclaimed period drama “Hoosiers.”

Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) coaches an Indiana high school basketball team, in "Hoosiers." Orion Pictures/MovieStillsDB

Hackman followed “Hoosiers” with the espionage thriller, and another critical and box office success, “No Way Out” alongside Kevin Costner and Sean Young. The film saw Hackman playing his first dramatic villain as a corrupt and loathsome secretary of defense who attempts to pin the murder of his lover (Young) on a naval intelligence officer (Costner).

In 1988, Hackman received his fourth Oscar nomination in the controversial semi-fact-based period crime drama “Mississippi Burning,” which co-starred Willem Dafoe and Frances McDormand. Despite widespread calls to boycott the film, it more than doubled its budget cost at the box office.

Oscar Number Two

In the minds of many, Hackman delivered the finest performance of his already storied career playing another villain, this time as small-town sheriff Bill Daggett, co-starring director Clint Eastwood, in the 1992 western “Unforgiven.” The movie won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Hackman.

No longer having the need to prove anything to anyone, Hackman spent the rest of the ‘90s bouncing back and forth between drama and comedy, almost all of them big winners.

Some of these titles include, “The Firm,” “The Quick and the Dead,” “Crimson Tide,” “Get Shorty,” “The Birdcage,” and “Absolute Power” (also directed by Eastwood). In “Enemy of the State” he played a guy quite similar to his spy character in “The Conversation.”

Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is a surveillance expert who possibly overhears a murder, in "The Conversation." Paramount Pictures/MovieStillsDB

Hackman’s final great performance prior to his 2004 retirement was as the eccentric patriarch in the 2001 absurdist comedy “The Royal Tenenbaums,” directed by Wes Anderson.

Contrary to popular belief, Hackman didn’t retire because he was tired of acting. In a 2009 interview, he was told by his doctor that, because of heart issues, he no longer was physically capable of performing.

The actor also wrote. Between 1999 and 2013, Hackman wrote or co-authored five historically-based novels, a western, and a police thriller.

In addition to his two Oscars, Hackman also received two British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, four Golden Globes (one of them honorary), and one Screen Actors Guild Award.

Hackman’s passing didn’t come as much of a surprise as he was in failing health for at least the last decade. It is the fuzzy circumstances and unexplained nature of his death that is troubling.

Lt. Cmdr. Ronald Hunter (Denzel Washington, L) and Capt. Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman), in "Crimson Tide." Hollywood Pictures/MovieStillsDB

The Final Chapter

Authorities, according to the New York Post, said the deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation” after finding the door to the couple’s home was “unsecured and opened” and an open orange prescription pill bottle and pills scattered around the room where Hackman’s wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, and one of their German Shepherd dogs were discovered.

A married couple (and their dog) being discovered dead on the same day in close proximity to each other would, I think, raise multiple possible theories. The situation is currently beyond fluid, and it’s unlikely that all the pieces of this disturbing puzzle will come together in the next few days.

But whatever the cause, it’s a sad and bizarre end to the life and career of one of the greatest, most respected actors of our time.

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