Gene Hackman
Highest Rated: 100% I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
Lowest Rated: 0% Loose Cannons (1990)
Birthday: Jan 30, 1930
Birthplace: San Bernardino, California, USA
A remarkably prolific and versatile talent, Gene Hackman was a successful character actor whose uncommon abilities and smart career choices ultimately made him a most unlikely leading man. In the tradition of Spencer Tracy, he excelled as an Everyman, consistently delivering intelligent, natural performances which established him among the most respected and well-liked stars of his era. Born January 30th, 1930 in San Bernardino, CA, Hackman joined the Marines at the age of 16 and later served in Korea. After studying journalism at the University of Illinois, he pursued a career in television production but later decided to try his hand at acting, attending a Pasadena drama school with fellow student Dustin Hoffman; ironically, they were both voted "least likely to succeed." After briefly appearing in the 1961 film Mad Dog Coll, Hackman made his debut off-Broadway in 1963's Children at Their Games, earning a Clarence Derwent Award for his supporting performance. Poor Richard followed, before he starred in 1964's production of Any Wednesday. Returning to films in 1964, Hackman earned strong notices for his work in Warren Beatty's Lilith and 1966's Hawaii, but the 1967 World War II tale First to Flight proved disastrous for all involved. At Beatty's request, Hackman co-starred in Bonnie and Clyde, winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and establishing himself as a leading character player. After making a pair of films with Jim Brown, (1968's The Split and 1969's Riot), Hackman supported Robert Redford in The Downhill Racer, Burt Lancaster in The Gypsy Moths, and Gregory Peck in Marooned. For 1970's I Never Sang for My Father, he garnered another Academy Award nomination. The following year Hackman became a star; as New York narcotics agent Popeye Doyle, a character rejected by at least seven other actors, he headlined William Friedkin's thriller The French Connection, winning a Best Actor Oscar and spurring the film to Best Picture honors. Upon successfully making the leap from supporting player to lead, he next appeared in the disaster epic The Poseidon Adventure, one of the biggest money-makers of 1972. After co-starring with Al Pacino in 1973's Scarecrow, Hackman delivered his strongest performance to date as a haunted surveillance expert in Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 classic The Conversation and went on to tap his under-utilized comedic skills in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. Arthur Penn's grim 1975 thriller Night Moves and the Western Bite the Bullet followed before the actor agreed to The French Connection 2. While remaining the subject of great critical acclaim, Hackman's box-office prowess was beginning to slip: 1975's Lucky Lady, 1977's The Domino, and March or Die were all costly flops, and although 1978's Superman -- in which he appeared as the villainous Lex Luthor -- was a smash, his career continued to suffer greatly. Apart from the inevitable Superman 2, Hackman was absent from the screen for several years, and with the exception of a fleeting appearance in Beatty's 1981 epic Reds, most of his early-'80s work -- specifically, the features All Night Long and Eureka -- passed through theaters virtually unnoticed.Finally, a thankless role as an ill-fated war correspondent in Roger Spottiswoode's acclaimed 1983 drama Under Fire brought Hackman's career back to life. The follow-up, the action film Uncommon Valor, was also a hit, and while 1984's Misunderstood stalled, the next year's Twice in a Lifetime was a critical success. By the middle of the decade, Hackman was again as prolific as ever, headlining a pair of 1986 pictures -- the little-seen Power and the sleeper hit Hoosiers -- before returning to the Man of Steel franchise for 1987's Superman 4: The Quest for Peace. No Way Out, in which he co-starred with Kevin Costner, was also a hit. In 1988, Hackman starred in no less than five major releases: Woody Allen's Another Woman, the war drama Bat 21, the comedy Full Moon in Blue Water, the sports tale S
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | Superman: La Película | Actor | — | 2018 |
| 80% | I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale | Actor | — | 2009 |
| 88% | Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust | Narrator | — | 2004 |
| 13% | Welcome to Mooseport | Monroe Cole | $14.3M | 2004 |
| 73% | Runaway Jury | Rankin Fitch | $49.3M | 2003 |
| 80% | The Royal Tenenbaums | Royal Tenenbaum | $52.4M | 2002 |
| 37% | Behind Enemy Lines | Adm. Reigart | $58.8M | 2001 |
| 66% | Heist | Joe Moore | $23.3M | 2001 |
| No Score Yet | Heroes of Iwo Jima | Actor | — | 2001 |
| 53% | Heartbreakers | William B. Tensy | — | 2001 |
| 55% | The Mexican | Arnold Margolese | $66.6M | 2001 |
| No Score Yet | Heroes of Iwo Jima | Host | — | 2001 |
| 49% | Under Suspicion | Executive Producer Henry Hearst | — | 2000 |
| 41% | The Replacements | Jimmy McGinty | $44.1M | 2000 |
| No Score Yet | Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows | Actor | — | 2000 |
| 71% | Enemy of the State | Brill | — | 1998 |
| 93% | Antz | Gen. Mandible | — | 1998 |
| 60% | Twilight | Jack Ames | — | 1998 |
| 48% | Absolute Power | President Alan Richmond | — | 1997 |
| 12% | The Chamber | Sam Cayhall | — | 1996 |
| 56% | Extreme Measures | Dr. Lawrence Myrick | — | 1996 |
| 79% | The Birdcage | Sen. Keeley | — | 1996 |
| 87% | Get Shorty | Harry Zimm | — | 1995 |
| 88% | Crimson Tide | Capt. Frank Ramsey | — | 1995 |
| 57% | The Quick and the Dead | Herod | — | 1995 |
| 44% | Wyatt Earp | Nicholas Earp | — | 1994 |
| 75% | The Firm | Avery Tolar | — | 1993 |
| 48% | Geronimo - An American Legend | Gen. George Crook | — | 1993 |
| 96% | Unforgiven | Ma?y Bill Daggett Little Bill Daggett | — | 1992 |
| No Score Yet | Company Business | Sam Boyd | — | 1991 |
| 75% | Class Action | Jedediah Tucker Ward | — | 1991 |
| 58% | Narrow Margin | Robert Caulfield | — | 1990 |
| 84% | Postcards from the Edge | Lowell | — | 1990 |
| 0% | Loose Cannons | MacArthur Stern | — | 1990 |
| 64% | The Package | Sgt. Johnny Gallagher | — | 1989 |
| 83% | Mississippi Burning | Anderson | — | 1988 |
| 81% | Bat 21 | Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton | — | 1988 |
| 64% | Another Woman | Larry Lewis | — | 1988 |
| 27% | Full Moon in Blue Water | Floyd | — | 1988 |
| No Score Yet | Split Decisions | Dan McGuinn | — | 1988 |
| 91% | No Way Out | Defense Secretary David Brice | — | 1987 |
| 11% | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | Lex Luthor | — | 1987 |
| 89% | Hoosiers | Coach Norman Dale | — | 1986 |
| 50% | Power | Wilfred Buckley | — | 1986 |
| 71% | Target | Walter Lloyd | — | 1985 |
| 83% | Twice in a Lifetime | Harry MacKenzie | — | 1985 |
| 33% | Eureka | Jack McCann | — | 1984 |
| No Score Yet | Misunderstood | Ned | — | 1984 |
| 18% | Two of a Kind | Actor | — | 1983 |
| 56% | Uncommon Valor | Col. Rhodes | — | 1983 |
| 90% | Under Fire | Alex Grazier | — | 1983 |
| 90% | Reds | Pete Van Wherry | — | 1981 |
| 87% | Superman II | Lex Luthor | — | 1981 |
| 29% | All Night Long | George Dupler | — | 1981 |
| 94% | Superman | Lex Luthor | — | 1978 |
| No Score Yet | The Domino Principle | Roy Tucker | — | 1977 |
| 63% | A Bridge Too Far | Maj. Gen. Sosabowski | — | 1977 |
| No Score Yet | March Or Die | Maj. William Sherman Foster | — | 1977 |
| No Score Yet | A Look At Liv | Actor | — | 1977 |
| No Score Yet | America at the Movies | Actor | — | 1976 |
| No Score Yet | Lucky Lady | Kibby | — | 1975 |
| 78% | The French Connection II | Doyle | — | 1975 |
| 73% | Bite the Bullet | Sam Clayton | — | 1975 |
| 83% | Night Moves | Harry Moseby | — | 1975 |
| 94% | Young Frankenstein | Blind Hermit | — | 1974 |
| No Score Yet | Zandy's Bride (For Better, for Worse) | Zandy Allan | — | 1974 |
| 98% | The Conversation | Harry Caul | — | 1974 |
| 75% | Scarecrow | Max Millan | — | 1973 |
| 79% | The Poseidon Adventure | Frank Scott | — | 1972 |
| 64% | Prime Cut | "Mary Ann" | — | 1972 |
| No Score Yet | Cisco Pike | Officer Leo Holland | — | 1972 |
| 98% | The French Connection | Jimmy `Popeye' Doyle | — | 1971 |
| No Score Yet | Doctors' Wives | Dave Randolph | — | 1971 |
| 0% | The Hunting Party | Brandt Ruger | — | 1971 |
| No Score Yet | Hollywood Collection | Actor | — | 1971 |
| 100% | I Never Sang for My Father | Gene Garrison | — | 1970 |
| 86% | Marooned | Buzz Lloyd | — | 1969 |
| 84% | Downhill Racer | Eugene Claire | — | 1969 |
| No Score Yet | The Gypsy Moths | Joe Browdy | — | 1969 |
| No Score Yet | Riot | Red Fraker | — | 1969 |
| No Score Yet | The Split | Det. Lt. Walter Brill | — | 1968 |
| 86% | Bonnie and Clyde | Buck Barrow | — | 1967 |
| No Score Yet | Banning | Tommy Del Gaddo | — | 1967 |
| No Score Yet | First to Fight | Sgt. Tweed | — | 1967 |
| 67% | Hawaii | John Whipple | — | 1966 |
| No Score Yet | A Covenant with Death | Harmsworth | — | 1966 |
| 100% | Lilith | Norman | — | 1964 |
| No Score Yet | Mad Dog Coll | Cop | — | 1961 |
TV
| Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet |
American Masters 2001 |
Narrator |
1999 |
QUOTES FROM Gene Hackman CHARACTERS
Robert Caulfield says: You know why I like you? I like you because you're tall.
Brill says: Do they know me?
Robert Clayton Dean says: Who's them?
Robert Clayton Dean says: I don't know what you're talking about.
Brill says: You're either very smart... or incredibly stupid.
Jimmy `Popeye' Doyle says: Come on Erv what the hell is that!
Sam Clayton says: People some people marry.
Sam Clayton says: Racing for money ain't sport. It's war.
Sam Cayhall says: Save me. You don't look like you can save a turkey from Thanksgivin'.
Royal Tenenbaum says: Anybody interested in grabbing a couple of burgers and hittin' the cemetery?
Sam Cayhall says: If you spend half as much time tryin' to be a lawyer instead of tryin' to be Dick Tracy, I might not be dead in five days.
Sam Cayhall says: Save me. You don't look like you can save a turkey from Thanksgivin'
Royal Tenenbaum says: You know, Richie, this illness, this closeness to death... it's had a profound affect on me. I feel like a different person, I really do.
Richie Tenenbaum says: Dad, you were never dying.
Royal Tenenbaum says: But I'm going to live.
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle says: All right, Popeye's here! Get your hands on your heads, get off the bar and get on the wall!
Lex Luthor says: Do you know what the sun is? It is nothing more than a huge nuclear bomb.
Capt. Frank Ramsey says: Mr. Hunter, I've made the decision. I'm captain of this ship. NOW SHUT THE F**K UP!
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle says: Are you shitting me? That car is dirty!
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle says: Are you shitting me? That car is dirty!
Buck Barrow says: Hey, you wanna hear a story 'bout this boy? He owned a dairy farm, see. And his ol' Ma, she was kinda sick, you know. And the doctor, he had called him come over, and said, uh, "Uhh listen, your Ma, she's lyin' there, she's just so sick and she's weakly, and uh, uh I want ya to try to persuade her to take a little brandy," you see. Just to pick her spirits up, ya know. And "Ma's a teetotaler," he says. "She wouldn't touch a drop." "Well, I'll tell ya whatcha do, uh," - the doc - "I'll tell ya whatcha do, you bring in a fresh quart of milk every day and you put some brandy in it, see. And see. You try that." So he did. And he doctored it all up with the brandy, fresh milk, and he gave it to his Mom. And she drank a little bit of it, you know. So next day, he brought it in again and she drank a little more, you know. And so they went on that way for the third day and just a little more, and the fourth day, she was, you know, took a little bit more - and then finally, one week later, he gave her the milk and she just drank it down. Boy, she swallowed the whole, whole, whole thing, you know. And she called him over and she said, "Son, whatever you do, don't sell that cow!"
Harry Caul says: [upset, walking over to Martin seated] What are you doing here?
Martin Stett says: Take it easy I'm just a messenger. I brought you a drink
Harry Caul says: I don't want your drink. Why are you following me?
Martin Stett says: I'm not following you I'm looking for you. There's a big difference.
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: I'll see you in hell Bill Munny
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: I'll see you in hell Bill Munny.
Harry Caul says: I'm not afraid of death...I am afraid of murder.
Harry Caul says: I'm not afraid of death... I am afraid of murder.
Royal Tenenbaum says: to Pagoda: That's the last time you put a knife in me!
Royal Tenenbaum says: [to Pagoda] That's the last time you put a knife in me!
Stanley says: It's curiosity. Did you ever hear of that? It's just god-damned human nature.
Harry Caul says: Listen, if there's one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business is that I don't know anything about human nature. I don't know anything about curiosity. That's not part of what I do. This is my business.
Harry Caul says: It had nothin' to do with me, I mean, I just turned in the tapes...What they do with the tapes is their own business.
Blind Hermit says: [As the monster runs out the door.] Wait. Where you going? I was going to make espresso.
Blind Hermit says: [as the monster runs out the door.] Wait. Where you going? I was going to make espresso.
Clark Kent/Superman says: Is that how a warped brain like yours gets its kicks? By planning the death of innocent people?
Lex Luthor says: No, by causing the death of innocent people.
Lex Luthor says: [to Otis] Do you know why the number two hundred is so vitally descriptive to both you and me? It's your weight and my I.Q.
Clark Kent/Superman says: You don't even care where that other missile is headed, do you?
Lex Luthor says: Of course I do. I know exactly where it's headed. Hackensack, New Jersey.
Lex Luthor says: It's a wonder that brain can keep its his legs moving
Lex Luthor says: It's a wonder that brain can keep its his legs moving.
Lex Luthor says: You know why the number is important? I'll tell you. It's your weight and my IQ
Lex Luthor says: You know why the number is important? I'll tell you. It's your weight and my IQ.
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: This guy here is the Duck of Death...
W.W. Beauchamp says: Duke
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: Duck I say
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: I don't deserve this... to die like this. I was building a house.
Bill Munny says: Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.
Lex Luthor says: My mother lives on the east coast.
Lex Luthor says: This is Lex Luthor. Only one thing alive with less than four legs can hear this frequency, Superman, and that's you.
Rankin Fitch says: Trials are too important to be left up to juries.
Senator Keeley says: I don't understand.
Barbara Keeley says: He's a man, the're both men.
Senator Keeley says: Can't be, you can't be jewish.
Barbara Keeley says: No Kevin, Kevin, Kevin. This is a man.
Senator Keeley says: What?
Louise Keeley says: Don't you understand the're gay. They own the drag club downstairs, the're two men.
Senator Keeley says: I don't understand.
Royal Tenenbaum says: This is my adopted daughter, Margot Tenenbaum
Royal Tenenbaum says: This is my adopted daughter, Margot Tenenbaum.
Harry Caul says: "I'm not afraid of death, I am afraid of murder."
Harry Caul says: I'm not afraid of death, I am afraid of murder.
Mayor Tilman says: Do you like baseball, do you, Anderson?
Rupert Anderson says: Yeah, I do. You know, it's the only time when a black man can wave a stick at a white man and not start a riot.
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: Well sir, you are a cowardly son of a bitch. You just shot an unarmed man.
Bill Munny says: He should have armed himself....... if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend.
Col. Rhodes says: We'll need transportation... preferably four-wheel drive.
Wilkes says: Buy it or "borrow" it?
Wilkes says: Buy it or 'borrow' it?
Col. Rhodes says: Steal the fucker!
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: I'll see you in hell.
Bill Munny says: ......Yeah
Bill Munny says: Yeah.
Rankin Fitch says: Everybody loses, just not me.
Senator Keeley says: I don't really drink.
Agador says: Yeah, well now's the time to pretend.
David Brice Secretary of Defense says: strange ending,big time. Gene Hackman doesn't get charged or caught for his actions, weird to say the least.
David Brice Secretary of Defense says: Strange ending, big time. Gene Hackman doesn't get charged or caught for his actions, weird to say the least.
Rupert Anderson says: Did you smile Pell ?
Rupert Anderson says: Did you smile Pell?
Royal Tenenbaum says: You can't raise boys to be scared of life. You got to brew some recklessness into them.
Etheline Tenenbaum says: I think that's terrible advice.
Royal Tenenbaum says: Pagoda's in possession of a parcel containing my will and some instructions for the funeral including my epitaph, for when the time comes. Proofread it for me before they carve it on the headstone, okay?
Herod says: If that swede had been any slower he'd a had birds nesting in his hat
Herod says: If the swede had been any slower, he'd had birds nest in his hat.
Herod says: As soon as the rain ends I'm going to make an example out of you
Herod says: As soon as the rain ends I'm going to make an example out of you.
Herod says: It takes a lot to scare me and I love the sensation
Herod says: It takes a lot to scare me. I love the sensation.
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: duck of death, I sez
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: Duck of death, I says.
Reigart says: Burnett! Zero six, you are a combat naval aviator. Start acting like one. You've been shot down. Life is tough. I am very sorry. Now you pull yourself together. You do whatever it takes. Create some angles between you and your pursuers. Use your training. Use your head. Evade and survive, and we will bring you home. Do you understand? We will bring you home!
Robert Clayton Dean says: What the hell just happened?
Robert Clayton Dean says: What the hell is happening?
Brill says: I blew up the Building.
Robert Clayton Dean says: Why?
Brill says: Because you mad a phone call!
Brill says: Because you made a phone call!
Capt. Frank Ramsey says: What'd you think, son? That I was just some crazy old coot, putting everyone in harm's way as I yelled "YEE-HA!"?
Capt. Frank Ramsey says: What'd you think, son? That I was just some crazy old coot, putting everyone in harm's way as I yelled 'YEE-HA!'?
Rankin Fitch says: What do you hope to achieve if you win? You gonna bring Jacob Wood back to life? No. You just ensure that his wife goes to the cemetery in a better car, and that the heel that she snaps on the way to the graveside belongs to a $1,200 shoe. You get your name in the paper. But Jacob Wood and all the other gun violence victims remain rotting in their crypts.
Rankin Fitch says: Everybody has a secret they don't want you to find.
Bill Munny says: Little Bill: ...you just shot an unarmed man! Bill Munny: Well, he should have armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend!
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: You just shot an unarmed man!
Bill Munny says: Well, he should have armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend.
Royal Tenenbaum says: Henry Sherman, do you know him?
Richie Tenenbaum says: Yeah.
Royal Tenenbaum says: Is he worth a damn?
Richie Tenenbaum says: [emphatically] I believe so.
Margot Tenenbaum says: You probably don't even know my middle name.
Royal Tenenbaum says: That's a trick question. You don't have one.
Margot Tenenbaum says: Helen.
Royal Tenenbaum says: That was my mother's name.
Margot Tenenbaum says: I know it was.
Royal Tenenbaum says: I didn't think so much of him at first. But now I get it, he's everything that I'm not.
Royal Tenenbaum says: [after he faked a terminal illness, took residence in the house under false pretenses, tried to instigate a fight with his estranged wife's fiancé, generally lied to his family and was then found out] I know I'm going to be the bad guy here.
Royal Tenenbaum says: [after he faked a terminal illness, took residence in the house under false pretenses, tried to instigate a fight with his estranged wife's fiancee, generally lied to his family and was then found out] I know I'm going to be the bad guy here.
Chas Tenenbaum says: Are you okay?
Royal Tenenbaum says: Fuck do you care?
Royal Tenenbaum says: Hell of a damn grave. Wish it were mine.
Chas Tenenbaum says: I've had a rough year, dad.
Royal Tenenbaum says: I know you have, Chassie.
Royal Tenenbaum says: I got a pretty bad case of cancer.
Chas Tenenbaum says: [yawns] How long you gonna last?
Royal Tenenbaum says: Not long.
Chas Tenenbaum says: A month? A year?
Royal Tenenbaum says: About six weeks. Let me get to the point, the three of you and your mother are all I've got and I love you more than anything. [Chas scoffs and mock laughs]
Royal Tenenbaum says: Chas, let me finish here. I've got six weeks to set things right with you and I aim to do it. Will you give me a chance?
Chas Tenenbaum says: No?
Royal Tenenbaum says: Do you speak for everyone?
Royal Tenenbaum says: Let's shag ass.
Royal Tenenbaum says: Everyone's against me.
Pagoda says: It's your fault, man.
Royal Tenenbaum says: I know but dammit, I want this family to love me. How much money you got?
Pagoda says: I don't have.
Royal Tenenbaum says: What? You're broke? You gotta be kidding me! How are we gonna pay for this room?
Royal Tenenbaum says: All right, I'll think of something... Ow.
Royal Tenenbaum says: All right, I'll think of something. Ow.
Eli Cash says: I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum.
Royal Tenenbaum says: Me too, me too.
Royal Tenenbaum says: Let's shag ass.
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: Look son, being a good shot, being quick with a pistol, that don't do no harm, but it don't mean much next to being cool-headed. A man who will keep his head and not get rattled under fire, like as not, he'll kill ya. It ain't so easy to shoot a man anyhow, especially if the son-of-a-bitch is shootin' back at you.
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle says: When's the last time you picked your feet, Willy? Who's your connection, Willy? What's his name? I've got a man in Poughkeepsie who wants to talk to you. You ever been to Poughkeepsie?
Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett says: I'll see you in hell, William Munny.
Bill Munny says: Yeah. [Shoots Little Bill]