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Trivia
Birth name: Eugene Allen Hackman
Date of birth: 30 January 1930
Place of birth: San Bernardino, California, USA
Nickname: Gene
Height: 6' 2" (1.88 m)
Spouse: Betsy Arakawa (December 1991 - present),
Fay Maltese (1 January 1956 - 1986) (divorced) 3 children.
Was the first choice to play Mike Brady on "The Brady Bunch"
(1969).
He was the sixth choice to play Popeye Doyle in The French Connection
(1971).
He lied about his age to join the Marines at 16 but left as soon as his
initial 3 year tour was complete.
While at the Pasadena Playhouse, Hackman and a classmate were voted
"Least likely to succeed". The classmate was Dustin
Hoffman.
Was the first choice to play Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs
(1991).
Was also offered the chance to direct The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Turned down the part of President Franklin Roosevelt in Pearl Harbor
(2001), which went to Jon Voight.
Jailed as a teen (c. 1946) for stealing candy & soda pop from a
convenience store
One of the most sustaining actors of all time, he still averages 2 films
a year in his 70s, having starred in six in 2001 alone.
Has stated that his performance in Scarecrow (1973) is his personal
favorite.
Often says he wants to quit acting in films, but that every time he has
time off away from the set, he starts to miss it and wants to start
another film.
Revealed on "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994) that the two of
the most important factors in deciding on which films he will work on
are the script and the money.
Was involved in a road-rage incident when two young men attacked him for
hitting their car in Hollywood in 2001.
Father of Christopher Hackman from his first marriage.
Brother of Richard Hackman.
Has appeared in three films adapted from novels by John Grisham: The
Firm (1993), The Chamber (1996) and Runaway Jury (2003).
Was in the Marine Corps. Toured in China. Based his role in The
Conversation (1974) on one of his uncles and a fellow marine he had
known well. He characterized the marine as someone "who probably
became a serial killer."
Dustin
Hoffman came to New York after finishing his training at the
Pasadena Playhouse. The two of them roomed together in New York at
Hackman's one bedroom apartment on 2nd ½ and 26th Street. Hoffman slept
on the kitchen floor. Originally, Hackman had offered to let him stay a
few nights, but Hoffman would not leave. Hackman had to take him out to
look for his own apartment.
As roommates, Dustin
Hoffman and Hackman would often go to the apartment rooftop and play
the drums. Hoffman played the bongo drums while Hackman played the conga
drums. They did it out of their love for Marlon Brando, who they had
heard played music in clubs. They wanted to be like Brando and were big
fans of his.
Dustin
Hoffman asked for the part of Rankin Fitch in Runaway Jury (2003),
which had gone to Gene Hackman. Hoffman admits to asking, "Can't
you get rid of Gene and give me the part?"
Runaway Jury (2003) was the first time he and former roommate Dustin
Hoffman performed on the screen together.
Met actor Dustin
Hoffman in the first month at Pasadena Playhouse. Had several
classes with him.
Was admitted into the famed Pasadena Playhouse on the G.I. Bill. He
failed out of it after 3 months and moved to New York to continue being
a stage actor. Received one of the lowest grades the school had ever
given (1.3 out of 10). He headed to New York with the intention of
proving them wrong.
Was the subject of the song "Gene Hackman" by Hoodoo Gurus.
Turned down the lead roles in Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third
Kind (1977), and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
Appeared on "Larry King Live" (1985) on July 7th, 2004. Larry
King was surprised to find out that Hackman had no movies lined up, and
Hackman replied by saying that he thinks it is the end of his career.
Says watching his own films make him terribly nervous.
Reportedly turned down the role of Randall Patrick McMurphy in One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
Reportedly turned down one of the lead roles in Network (1976).
After he played Little Bill in Unforgiven (1992), Hackman vowed not to
appear in any more violent films. After he had been in violent films
dating back to Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The French Connection (1971)
(in a role refused by Peter Boyle for the same reasons), he said he was
fed up with them.
Along with Margot Kidder, Hackman was appalled at the way Alexander
Salkind and Ilya Salkind, the producers of the first three Superman
films and 1984's Supergirl (1984) film, had treated director Richard
Donner, who had directed the first Superman (1978) and most of the
second Superman film back-to-back before he was fired by the Salkinds
over creative differences. Hackman, who said he only did the first two
movies because of Richard Donner's persuasion, was so angry with the
Salkinds that he vehemently refused to reprise the role of Lex Luthor in
Superman III (1983), while Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane, only
appeared in a cameo role. Hackman was later persuaded to reprise the
Luthor role in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).
Enjoys painting and writing fiction.
Lives in New Mexico
As a young man, Hackman attended a showing of the movie A Streetcar
Named Desire (1951) and was impressed by the performance of Marlon
Brando due to his naturalism and the fact that he didn't look like what
a movie star typically looked like in the 1950s. After exiting the
theater, he told his father that he wanted to be an actor.
Even though he is no longer a cigarette smoker, he played the role of a
chain- smoker in Heartbreakers (2001). He was using a special kind of
cigarettes that only gives heavy smoke without actually smoking.
Turned down the lead role of Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third
Kind (1977) because he was in a troubled marriage and could not spend 16
weeks outside of Los Angeles on location shooting.
In a 2004 Vanity Fair story on he, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Duvall,
Hackman said one of the worst memories of being a struggling actor, was
working as a doorman in New York City. He recalled having seen former
Marine officers pass him by when opening the door for them, which one
had said "Hackman, you're a sorry son of a bitch."
While a struggling actor in New York City, he worked as a soda jerk in a
pharmacy and as a furniture mover.
After flunking out of the Pasadena Playhouse and moving to New York City
with fellow drop-out Dustin Hoffman, Hackman worked at the Howard
Johnson's restaurant in Times Square as a doorman. One day, a Pasadena
Playhouse acting teacher whom Hackman hated walked by him, stopped, and
told him that he had been right, that Hackman would never amount to
anything.
In Robert Osborne's "Academy Awards 1972 Oscar Annual,"
Hackman is quoted as saying Errol Flynn was his boyhood idol.
Suffered a severe heart attack in 1990, and underwent successful
angioplasty surgery.
Was voted "Least Likely to Succeed" in college.
Is one of only a few actors to win an Oscar for a supporting role after
winning an Oscar for a leading role.
In the Superman movies, he didn't like the idea of going bald for his
role as Lex Luthor. He was allowed to wear wigs instead, and was
convinced to wear a bald cap in only a few scenes.
Has played three fictional Presidents. He plays President Alan Richmand
in Absolute Power. His Superman character, Lex Luthor, became President
of the United States in the year 2000, in the DC Comics. He also played
President Monroe Cole in Welcome to Mooseport.
Hackman replaced George Segal in the role of Kibby in the notorious flop
Lucky Lady (1975). Possibly anticipating that the film would be a
turkey, Segal bailed out of the production and Hackman was brought in at
the last-minute. The desperate producers paid Hackman -- riding high
from the huge box office success of The Poseidon Adventure (1972), a
reported $1.2 million for his role, $500,000 more than Segal's
going-rate. Hackman knew Reynolds from starring in the first episode of
Burt's short-lived 1966 TV series "Hawk" (1966). The movie
about rum-runners in love with the same gal proved a wash-out at the box
office.
His performance as Harry Caul in "The Conversation" (1974) is
ranked #37 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time
(2006). |
