RSS FEEDS
Send to friend
IBiography - Bookmark this page
Bio Email Updates
Print Article

Gene Hackman Biography

in full Eugene Alden Hackman

(1931– )

Related Works

  • 1993 The Firm
  • 1994 Wyatt Earp
  • 1995 Crimson Tide
  • 1995 The Quick and the Dead
  • 1995 Get Shorty
  • 1996 The Bird Cage
  • 1996 Extreme Measures
  • 1996 The Chamber
  • 1997 Absolute Power
  • 1998 Twilight
  • 1998 Enemy of the State
  • 2000 The Heist
  • 2000 The Replacements
  • 2000 Under Suspicion
  • 2001 The Royal Tenenbaums
  • 2003 Runaway Jury
  • 2004 Welcome to Mooseport
  • 1975 French Connection II
  • Films
  • 1961 Mad Dog Coll
  • 1967 Bonnie and Clyde
  • 1969 The Gypsy Moths
  • 1969 Downhill Racer
  • 1970 I Never Sang For My Father
  • 1971 French Connection
  • 1972 The Poseidon Adventure
  • 1973 Scarecrow
  • 1974 Young Frankenstein
  • 1974 The Conversation
  • 1976 The Domino Killings
  • 1977 March or Die
  • 1978 A Bridge Too Far
  • 1978 Superman
  • 1982 Superman II
  • 1982 Eureka
  • 1983 Under Fire
  • 1986 Hoosiers (UK Best Shot)
  • 1988 Split Decisions
  • 1988 Another Woman
  • 1989 Mississippi Burning
  • 1990 Narrow Margin
  • 1990 Postcards From the Edge
  • 1992 Unforgiven
» More

Related People

» More

Related Sites

Actor, writer. Born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California. An Academy Award-winning actor, Gene Hackman played nearly every type of role imaginable, from politicians to super cops to military leaders to criminal masterminds. As a child, he moved to Illinois with his parents where his father worked as a newspaper press operator. His father abandoned the family when Hackman was in his early teens.

When he was 16 years old, Hackman dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He lied about his age in order to enlist. During his time in the service, Hackman worked as a radio operator and finished his high school education. After being discharged in 1951, Hackman tried to find his way, living in Illinois and New York while working a variety of jobs. He studied journalism and TV production for a time as well.

Hackman eventually decided on acting and studied at the Pasadena Playhouse Theatre in the 1950s. Dustin Hoffman was one of his fellow students, and the two became friends and shared the dubious distinction of being voted “least likely to succeed” by their peers. Around this time, Hackman married Faye Maltese in 1956.

Returning to New York, Hackman landed his first off-Broadway role in Chaparral in 1958. He became friends with actor Robert Duvall and even had Dustin Hoffman as a roommate for a time. Struggling for several years, Hackman landed his first film role—only a bit part—in 1961’s Mad Dog Coll. He made his Broadway debut two years in the Children From Their Games, which was quickly followed a role in A Rainy Day in Newark later that year. Hackman was also part of the original cast of Any Wednesday with Sandy Dennis, which debuted the following year. After seeing him on Broadway, Director Robert Rossen cast Hackman in the drama Lilith (1964) with Warren Beatty.

Beatty proved instrumental in Hackman’s big career breakthrough. He helped Hackman land a supporting role in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which starred Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the infamous criminal couple. Hackman played Clyde’s brother, Buck Burrow, who joins his sibling and his lady on their bank robbery spree. The role brought Hackman a lot of critical attention and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Three years, Hackman garnered another Best Supporting Actor nod from the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences for his work on I Never Sang for My Father (1970).  In the film, he played a professor trying to forge a relationship with his estranged father (played by Melvyn Douglas) after his mother’s death. Hackman’s career really took off after starring in The French Connection (1971). He played the ultimate tough cop—Detective Popeye Doyle—in this big box office hit thriller directed by William Friedkin. For his work on the film, Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Most Popular Searches

Top Searches

Video Highlights

Video Highlights

advertisement

On TV

I Survived...

Sundays 9/8c

Shatner's Raw Nerve

Shop Biography

Barack Obama: Inaugural Edition DVD

Barack Obama: Inaugural Edition DVD

Get exclusives and hard to find titles only at the Biography Shop. Buy Now

May We Recommend...

Fascinating People

Game Room

Email Sign Up

Get email updates on your favorite BIO shows and what's new on bio.com!

– Bio.com news
– BIO shows
– Born On This Day

…and more! SIGN UP today!

Featured This Month

Johnny Depp Game

NEW GAME & PHOTOS

Check out our latest photo gallery and create your own character! Play Design Your Depp Game.

Johnny Depp

JOHNNY DEPP

Hollywood icon Johnny Depp stars in the new film Public Enemies about bank robber John Dillinger. Watch videos and more.

Farrah Fawcett

FULL BIO EPISODES

Find out about the lives of fascinating people. From Abraham Lincoln to Farrah Fawcett, check out our VIDEO GUIDE to see what's on!

Photo Galleries

Video Galleries

Celebrity Bookings



 
A&E Television Networks Biography.com The History channel History International History Espanol

© 1996-2009 A&E Television Networks. All Rights Reserved