Oscar winner Gene Hackman’s road to Hollywood greatness was anything but conventional. A restless teenager, he lied about his age to join the Marines at 16, serving nearly five years as a radio operator in China. That early experience with communication would later come full circle in his acting career, though the path to stardom was far from easy.
After leaving the military, Hackman dabbled in odd jobs before enrolling at the Pasadena Playhouse in the 1960s. There, he and fellow student Dustin Hoffman were famously voted "least likely to succeed." Undeterred, the two aspiring actors moved to New York, sharing an apartment with another struggling performer, Robert Duvall. Hackman worked tirelessly to break into the industry, taking small stage roles and enduring what he later called his worst job—cleaning the Chrysler Building overnight.
His first film role came at age 34 in 1964’s Lilith, starring Warren Beatty, who later cast him as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). That performance earned Hackman his first Oscar nomination, but it was The French Connection (1971) that made him a household name. As the relentless cop Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, Hackman won his first Academy Award for Best Actor, proving himself a powerhouse on screen.
Over the years, he became one of Hollywood’s most reliable stars, delivering gripping performances in The Conversation, Mississippi Burning, and Unforgiven—the latter earning him another Oscar. He also embraced comedy, most notably as Lex Luthor in Superman and in Young Frankenstein.
In 2004, after a career spanning four decades, Hackman retired from acting, choosing to step away before the industry wore him down. "The business for me is very stressful," he admitted. But his legacy endures—proof that sometimes, the "least likely to succeed" can go on to achieve the extraordinary.
Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead at their New Mexico home on Wednesday afternoon, along with their dog, according to a report by the Santa Fe New Mexican. Further details on the cause of death are yet to be disclosed.