Rest in peace, Gene Hackman (1930 - 2025).

      This morning brings very sad news as it has been announced that the iconic American actor Gene Hackman has died at the age of 95. He was found deceased at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa and their pet dog. Although the cause of death has not yet been confirmed, police indicate that there is no suspicion of foul play at this time.

      Hackman, who was born in San Bernardino, California, began his acting career on stage in the mid-1950s and went on to achieve tremendous success in the following decades, earning numerous honors, including two Academy Awards and four Golden Globes.

      After taking on various television roles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Hackman transitioned to film, landing his first credited role alongside Jean Seberg and Warren Beatty in the 1964 movie Lilith. Just three years later, he received his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde. He received another nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1970’s I Never Sang for My Father, and the following year, he won his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection.

      Following his initial Oscar win, Hackman experienced the most prolific period of his career throughout the 1970s, starring in films such as The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Scarecrow (1974), The Conversation (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), French Connection II (1975), Night Moves (1975), and A Bridge Too Far (1977). He also played the iconic DC supervillain Lex Luthor in the 1978 film Superman: The Movie, starring opposite Christopher Reeve’s Superman, and reprised the role in 1980’s Superman II and 1987’s Superman IV: A Quest for Peace.

      Hackman continued to work consistently over the next thirty years, winning his second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Clint Eastwood’s classic Unforgiven (1992) and appearing in a variety of major films including No Way Out (1987), Mississippi Burning (1988), The Firm (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994), Crimson Tide (1995), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Get Shorty (1995), Enemy of the State (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and Runaway Jury (2003). His final film role was in 2004's Welcome to Mooseport.