GENE HACKMAN BIOGRAPHY

Date of Birth: January 30, 1930

The elder of his parents' two children, Gene Hackman was born at the onset
of the Great Depression in San Bernardino, California, and raised in rural Danville,
Illinois. His father left the family when Hackman was 13 by driving away without a
word - just a casual "so long" wave from the driver's seat.

In high school, Hackman mostly kept to himself when not at the gym, where his
height made him a natural for the school's basketball team. Feeling pressured by
his mother to be a father figure for his younger brother, the teen dropped out of school,
lied about his age and joined the Marine Corps. He served for six years and was
honorably discharged in 1952. Since he had successfully completed a high school
equivalency course while a Marine, he enrolled at the University of Illinois and majored
in journalism. He dropped out six months later.

Heading to New York, he then attended the School of Radio Technique which was
followed by radio jobs in Florida and Illinois. Unsuccessfully holding his interest, he
briefly returned to New York to study commercial art with the Art Students League.
Eventually, he drifted out to California, and enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse,
where he and classmate Dustin Hoffman mostly impersonated Marlon Brando and
were ultimately voted "least likely to succeed." Once more, Hackman headed back
to New York. In between off-Broadway roles, Hackman paid the rent by working as
a soda jerk, shoe salesman, furniture mover, waiter, truck driver, and doorman. He
also met and married bank teller Fay Maltese, by whom he eventually fathered three
children.

After several years of stage work and small TV and film roles, Hackman sounded
two important professional notes in 1964, when he had his first big hit on Broadway
with Any Wednesday, and delivered a small but arresting turn in the Warren Beatty
starrer Lilith. Beatty was so impressed that he offered Hackman a plum part in his
andmark 1967 crime drama Bonnie and Clyde. Playing the role of outlaw Buck Barrow,
brother to Beatty's Clyde, Hackman delivered a searing, shocking portrayal, playing his
extended death scene on all fours - he later claimed to have drawn inspiration for that
scene from seeing bulls die at bullfights. Hackman garnered the first Oscar nomination
of his career, paving the way for his true breakthrough performance four years later in
The French Connection for which he took home a Best Actor Oscar.

With roles in over 40 films during the next 20 years, Hackman polished his reputation
as both a powerful lead and a seamless supporting player, delivering particularly
excellent performances in The Conversation (1974), Superman (1978), Hoosiers (1986),
and Mississippi Burning (1988). During that period, he also endured a pair of personal
trials: His long-estranged father, with whom he never reached a full reconciliation, died
of a heart attack in 1973; and his nearly 30-year marriage to Maltese ended in divorce
in 1985.

Typecasting finally caught up with Hackman following his portrayal of a corrupt sheriff in
Unforgiven, which brought him the second Oscar of his career, in the Best Supporting
Actor category. By the late '90s, he had become one of Hollywood's most reliable screen
villains, playing a crooked lawyer in The Firm (1993); a murderous gunfighter in The Quick
and the Dead (1995); a nuke-happy sub commander in Crimson Tide (1995); an embittered,
unrepentant Klansman on Death Row in The Chamber (1996); a scheming, dangerously
experimental surgeon in Extreme Measures (1996); and an adulterous, violent-tempered
President in Absolute Power (1997). Even his largely comedic turns in 1995's Get Shorty
and 1996's The Birdcage had him playing slick, manipulative types.

Since 1981, Hackman has made his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, far from the bright
lights of Hollywood, where he indulges in impressionistic painting and stone sculpting.
While his hobbies may be a bit slower, the pace of his career certainly hasn't slackened:
He earned prominent roles in three major 1998 releases, Twilight, Antz (his first work in
an animated film), and the Will Smith thriller Enemy of the State, in which he departs from
his lately-established villainous persona to portray a sympathetic rogue intelligence agent.



Personal Information

Eugene Alden Hackman is the elder son of Eugene Ezra Hackman and Lyda Gray
Hackman. He was twelve when his younger brother, Richard, was born, and a year
later, his parents divorced. He wed Fay Maltese on 1 January 1956, and by 1963,
they had a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Christopher (b. 1960). Another daughter,
Leslie, followed later. They divorced in 1986, and in December of 1991, Gene wed
Betsy Arakawa, and the two have been together since.

When he was 16, Hackman lied about his age to join the Marines. He soon realised
it wasn't the right choice for him, but he stuck ou his three year tour before leaving.
He then moved to the city, where he decided to try his hand at acting. His first love
has always been live theater, but he has always excelled on the big screen. He
attended the Pasadena Playhouse, where he and was voted Least Likely to Succeed
along with younger classmate Dustin Hoffman. The first few years in Hollywood, he,
Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Duvall were great friends. In the 1990s, he did TV
commercials for both United Airlines and the Oppenheimer Funds, and in 1999, also
lent his voice to a radio commercial for CNN. He also co-authored Wake of the
Perdido Sea with Jack Lenihan. Brother of Richard Hackman.



Awards History

Academy Awards: Nominated in 1968 (supporting actor, for Bonnie and Clyde),
1971 (supporting actor, for I Never Sang for My Father), 1972 (lead actor, for The
French Connection), 1989 (lead actor, for Mississippi Burning), and 1992 (supporting
actor, for Unforgiven). He won in both 1972 and 1992.  American Film Institute: Won in
2001 (supporting actor, for The Royal Tennenbaums). Blockbuster Entertainment: Won
in 1997 (for The Birdcage), nominated in 1999 (for Enemy of the State). British Academy
of Film and Television: Nominated seven times, won twice in 1973 and once in 1993. Golden
Globes: Nominated eight times, won in 1972, 1993 and 2001 (supporting actor, for The Royal
Tennenbaums). Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Won in 1992 (for Unforgiven). National
Board of Review: Won in 1971, 1974, and 1988. National Society of Film Critics: Won in
1968 and 1993. New York Film Critics Circle: Won in 1971 and 1992.

GO TO THE SPECIAL AWARDS PAGE




GENE'S BIOGRAPHY CONTINUES HERE
Includes his Vital Stats & Hobbies



FILMOGRAPHY - CLICK HERE

TELEVISION APPEARANCES - CLICK HERE

GENE AS A NARRATOR - CLICK HERE