Two Time Oscar Winner Gene Hackman Dead At 95

On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead following a welfare check in their New Mexico home, alongside their family dog (via Variety). He was 95 years old. As of this writing, no cause of death has been released, although authorities did note foul play was not suspected.

Hackman rose to prominence in the late 1960s and '70s with career-defining roles in "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967), "The French Connection" (1971), "Young Frankenstein" (1974), "Superman" (1978), leading to "Mississippi Burning" (1988) and "Unforgiven" (1992), which resulted in, among other awards, two Oscars, two BAFTAs, and four Golden Globes. Even though Hackman was best known for playing no-nonsense, "tough guy" roles, he displayed such unparalleled versatility and effortless, natural performances that he was loved equally by critics and audiences. Or as a 2011 GQ interview said, without hyperbole, Hackman had "not one bad performance" over 50 years.

This is all highly ironic, given, as the Independent tells us, that Hackman was voted "least likely to succeed" by his acting classmates at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Also on the docket for failure, as the class voted? Dustin Hoffman, with whom Hackman developed a friendship that led to rooftop bongo drum playing on breaks. Hackman, though, in a fashion true to his on-screen personas, said simply, "I wasn't going to let any f****** get me down." 

Born Eugene Alden Hackman in San Bernardino, California in 1930, Gene Hackman had a troubled young life with a father who "believed in corporal punishment" and walked out on him at age 13, per the Independent. By age 16, Hackman had dropped out of school and joined the Marines — he even lied about his age to get in. Within several months, as Military explains, he was shipped off to China where he served as a field radio operator for four years. Over the course of his career, he was demoted three times. "I have trouble with direction," he said, "because I have trouble with authority. I was not a good Marine." 

In his 20s, Hackman worked a variety of "miserable jobs" while living at the YMCA in New York and trying to break into Broadway. "No one starts at the top in the theatre," he said, "and the bottom is a very ugly place." Among other things, he drove trucks, was a door-to-door salesman, polished leather furniture, and worked at a drugstore, where "customers treat you like crapola." Hackman's acting teacher, George Morrison, who taught him method acting and "relaxation techniques," said, "Gene never knew whether he was an actor. He would have a part, and then go back to moving furniture." 

Hackman didn't get his first real break, 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde," until he was well into his 30s. From then on, nothing got in his way.

Hackman officially retired with 2004's "Welcome to Mooseport." Per Reuters, "I'm not going to act any longer. I've been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really don't want to do it any longer." He stated that he missed acting, but "the business for me is very stressful," and besides, as he said on ContactMusic, "At my age, they would have me playing grandfathers and great grandfathers. That's not a heck of a lot of fun." Roger Ebert reports that Hackman was "satisfied" with his career choices, and his only regret, it seems, is that his mother never got the chance to see him in film. As the Independent says, she passed away after a house caught fire when she dropped a lit cigarette.

In his later life, Hackman turned to writing. "I like the loneliness of it, actually," he explained. "It's similar in some ways to acting, but it's more private and I feel like I have more control over what I'm trying to say and do." He co-wrote a trio of military-themed books before turning to write western novels, as Empire Online says. He also, as Pop Life Art shows, turned to painting in his spare time, although this was a much more private venture.

Hackman is survived by his children Christopher, Elizabeth, and Leslie from his previous marriage.