Silver screen legend and legit Marine Corps veteran Gene Hackman turned 95 on January 30th! Throughout his highly versatile acting career, he earned two Oscars, two BAFTAs, four Golden Globes, and many more for his efforts and talents. Before all of his acting success, Hackman served in the Marine Corps from 1947 to 1951 and was stationed in China until 1949, when the Communist Revolution occurred. He was then transferred to Hawaii and Japan. He was a radio field operator and lied about his age at 16 so he could enlist. He rates the National Defense Ribbon, China Service Medal and Navy Occupation Service Medal and participated in Operation Beleaguer and the Occupation of Japan. He is most known for his Academy Award-winning roles in The French Connection as Popeye Doyle and as the villain Bill Daggett in fellow veteran Clint Eastwood’s great Western Unforgiven. He earned Oscar nominations for his work in Bonnie and Clyde, I Never Sang for My Father and Mississippi Burning as well. Hackman is known for famous roles such as Lex Luthor in the original Superman films with Christopher Reeve, The Poseidon Adventure, The Conversation, A Bridge Too Far, The Firm, The Quick and the Dead, Enemy of the State and Behind Enemy Lines.
Post-service, he studied journalism and TV production via his GI Bill at the University of Illinois, although he did not graduate. He moved to California to study at the Pasadena Playhouse and met future long-time friend and fellow industry star Dustin Hoffman. He struggled at the playhouse and then moved to NYC to keep pursuing his seemingly out-of-reach goal. In NYC, he met another fellow star and friend, Robert Duvall, also an Army veteran. He encountered much rejection, which motivated him.
He stated in March of 2004 for a Vanity Fair interview:
It was more psychological warfare because I wasn’t going to let those fuckers get me down. I insisted with myself that I would continue to do whatever it took to get a job. It was like me against them, and in some way, unfortunately, I still feel that way. But I think if you’re really interested in acting there is a part of you that relishes the struggle. It’s a narcotic in the way that you are trained to do this work and nobody will let you do it, so you’re a little bit nuts. You lie to people, you cheat, you do whatever it takes to get an audition, get a job.
He eventually found work on TV in such shows as The United States Steel Hour, Route 66, Naked City and in Off-Broadway plays. His Broadway debut came in 1963 in Children From Their Game and then appeared again on Broadway in A Rainy Day in Newark. He hit it big on stage with Any Wednesday in 1964 on Broadway. He finally leaped to film in Lilith which propelled him into more popular TV shows such as The F.B.I. and The Trials of O’Brien Hawk. He did many films during the period, most importantly Bonnie and Clyde. He bounced between stage and film through the late 1960s and almost was cast as Mike Brady for The Brady Bunch. He passed on it based on the advice of his agent. Gene Hackman as Mike Brady? The cast would have been intimidated by his presence haha. Not the exact feel for the show. Throughout the 1970s he enjoyed a continually rising level of acting success. Post his work in The French Connection he made 10 films including a cameo in Young Frankenstein, Scarecrow, with Al Pacino, Night Moves, Bite The Bullet, The French Connection II and Lucky Lady. He starred alongside fellow great actors such as Burt Reynolds, Mel Brooks, Roy Scheider, Shelley Winters, Candice Bergen and numerous more.
By the 80s and 90s he was a household name with starring roles in Uncommon Valor, Hoosiers, Bat*21, The Package, Under Fire, Class Action, The Chamber, Crimson Tide, Twilight and Get Shorty. His co-stars during the period included top-level talents such as Denzel Washington, Sharon Stone, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Faye Dunaway, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Rene Russo, John Travolta, Robin Williams and Sarah Jessica Parker. He worked in high-class dramas in the courtroom and one set aboard a US nuclear missile submarine. Many were big earners at the box office and others were decent films that garnered more award nominations. By the 2000s his career slowed yet he was still active with such films as Under Suspicion with Morgan Freeman, The Replacements with Keanu Reeves and The Royal Tenenbaums. He also worked with Dustin Hoffman on Runaway Jury. His final film role was in Welcome to Mooseport.
Hackman announced his retirement on Larry King in 2004 and has worked as a novelist. He did briefly unretire to do two USMC documentaries; The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima and We, the Marines. His novel works are historical fiction titled Wake of the Perdido Star, Justice for None, Payback at Morning Peak, Pursuit and Escape from Andersonville. He has largely remained out of the public eye for the last 20 years although was spotted getting gas in 2022. He is married to Betsy Arakawa and has three children from his first marriage to Faye Maltese. He enjoys Southwestern styles and mountain views in his Santa Fe, New Mexico, home. He also loves racing, fast cars, the Jacksonville Jaguars, cycling and architecture.