GENE HACKMAN, R.I.P.
My first real celebrity death of 2025 has hit me HARD, because this is one of my very favourite movie stars EVER, a man I've always regarded as one of the greatest American character actors of all time. Gene Hackman was, for me, always a man of integrity, grace, commanding presence and consummate skill, a perfect example of what a truly professional master of his craft should be. His passing is a true loss to cinema, and I think his absence will be felt for a long time indeed.
Like most youngsters of my generation, I'm sure, I of course first became aware of Hackman through his LEGENDARY turn as Lex Luthor, Clark Kent's ruthless criminal mastermind arch nemesis in what, for me, will ALWAYS be the superior movie version of Superman. He was every inch what that character should be, most of all because he knew not to take it TOO seriously and so he was clearly having HUGE FUN playing such a spectacular ROTTER.
But for me, the first role I saw him in that I REALLY came to truly appreciate him as an actor was in the criminally overlooked true story Vietnam war suspense thriller Bat*21, in which he excelled as the "titular" USAF Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton, who was shot down and forced to trek through miles of VC infested hostile jungle to reach rescue. He was awesome in the role, and this was a performance that made a hell of an impression on my eleven year-old developing movie-nut's mind. Safe to say I was a fan of his RIGHT AWAY.
Subsequently that love was solidified through another cruelly overlooked role as tough as nails Green Beret Master Sergeant Johnny Gallagher in The Package, a knuckle-whitening conspiracy thriller from Under Siege and The Fugitive director Andrew Davis, in which he held his ground playing opposite fellow true grit character actor Tommy Lee Jones. It's a genuine MASTERPIECE of the thriller genre, and deserves MUCH more love than it's had over the years ...
Hackman's star power was undeniable right from his early days. Before acting he served in the US Marine Corps, and it was clear from the beginning that it went a long way to inform his personal discipline and committed professionalism within the craft, as well as perfectly befitting his undeniably convincing bearing in his frequent military and military-adjacent roles. From the likes of Bonnie & Clyde (which landed him a best supporting actor Oscar nomination), MIssissippi Burning (another nom) The Conversation, A Bridge Too Far and The Poseidon Adventure to The Firm, Enemy of the State, Absolute Power, Behind Enemy Lines and Runaway Jury, he could always be relied upon to deliver TOP NOTCH performances, delivering stately gravitas and powerful presence no matter what the role, always going above and beyond to give his best even if the material didn't really deserve it.
Needless to say, he had incredible range, but in my experience many of his very best roles came when he played the villain, and there's no denying he gave truly GREAT Bad Guy. He produced genuine CHILLS in audiences as his dangerously arrogant and self righteous turn as nuclear submarine Captain Frank Ramsey in one of Tony Scott's very best films, Crimson Tide, in which he AGAIN held his own admirably against some truly BLINDING star power in the form of Denzel Washington.
He also played not one but TWO of the best Western villains EVER, first in his thoroughly well-deserved Oscar-winning turn as cruel small town sherriff Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood's spectacular revisionist western Unforgiven, and then in far more over-the-top archetypal style as monstrous outlaw-turned mayor John Herod in one of my favourite films from director Sam Raimi, The Quick & the Dead.
But he had too great a range and undeniable star power to be typecast purely a really great screen villain, and he certainly wasn't afraid to send up his image and run the risk of making himself look like a fool on occasion, which led to particularly memorable "oafish" turns in the likes of Get Shorty and the rightly beloved remake of The Birdcage.
But for me, I will always remember him MOST fondly for TWO truly exceptional performances in truly AWESOME roles. The first is one he is, likely, rightly destined to be most well remembered by EVERYBODY in the years to come - driven NYPD detective antihero Popeye Doyle in William Friedkin's masterpiece neo-noir crime thriller The French Connection ...
... and, for me personally, MY absolute favourite of his roles, effortlessly stealing the show from a whole BOATLOAD of similarly legendary acting talent in beloved indie comedy writer-director Wes Anderson's very best film, The Royal Tenenbaums, as perhaps THE WORST FATHER EVER in screen history, Royal Tenenbaum, delivering a tour de force performance that pulls off the truly astounding task of taking an unrepentently deplorable self-absorbed, hateful douchebag and actually making us LOVE HIM ins spite of his actions. Only Gene Hackman could have pulled this off so effortlessly ...
He officially retired from acting in 2004, and at the time it truly broke my heart because it seemed such a crying shame that we would never again get to see such an immense talent plying his trade on the big screen. I have since realised that, actually, he got out at JUST the right time, at the height of his talents, so he was able to leave behind an entirely unblemished career of incredible performances that ANY actor would be PROUD to look back on. But it still hurts, now ever more so as we have to say goodbye to one of the very best acting talents OF ALL TIME ...
Eugene Allen Hackman, January 30, 1930 - Febuary 26, 2025. Rest in peace.
