On This Day
Birthday of Gene Hackman
January 30th 1930
10:26 30 January 2024
American actor and novelist Gene Hackman was born on this day in 1930. Hackman's acting career began in 1956 when he joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Here he befriended another aspiring actor, Dustin Hoffman. The pair were seen as outsiders by their classmates and were voted "The Least Likely To Succeed". Determined to prove the doubters wrong, Hackman moved to New York where he shared an apartment with Hoffman and fellow struggling actor, Robert Duvall. He took odd jobs to support himself between acting work and after minor roles in TV and performing in Off-Broadway plays, he made his film debut in 'Lilith' (1964) starring Warren Beatty.
When casting for 'Bonnie and Clyde' (1967), Beatty chose Hackman to play Clyde's brother Buck Barrow, a role that earned Hackman a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination. After receiving a second Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for 'I Never Sang for My Father' (1970), he played Popeye Doyle in 'The French Connection' (1971), a role that graduated him to leading-man status, made him a Hollywood star and won him a Best Actor Oscar.
Hackman remained prolific for the next three decades with starring roles in among others 'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972), 'Scarecrow' (1973), 'The Conversation' (1974), 'Night Moves' (1975), 'French Connection II' (1975), 'A Bridge Too Far' (1977), 'Superman' (1978), 'Reds' (1981), 'Under Fire' (1983), 'Target' (1985), 'Mississippi Burning' (1988), 'Unforgiven' (1992), 'The Firm' (1993), 'Crimson Tide' (1995), 'Get Shorty' (1995), 'The Birdcage' (1996), 'Absolute Power' (1997), 'Enemy of the State' (1998) and 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (2001). His final role to date, after taking retirement from acting and focussing on a career as a novelist, was in 'Welcome to Mooseport' (2004).
Winner of two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spans six decades, Gene Hackman is quite possibly the greatest actor of his generation. Happy Birthday Gene.