Gene Hackman has died (opens in new tab)

"French Connection" is truly great. Such a good chase scene.

>“The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress,” he added.

>He maintained his love for acting and missed it but the business had become too stressful for him.

Sounds like modern dev work.

I'd go with Unforgiven (1992).

He was perfect as the sherif. One of those morally ambiguous characters, that you warm to but know is really a bad guy (much like the Clint Eastwood's lead character).

(...to be honest it's a tough call between Popeye Doyle or Royal Tenenbaum too).

I won't say favorite, but who can forget his Lex Luthor in the original Superman!

Won't a favorite, but I recently watched Enemy of the State again, and was surprised by how much it held up over time, 27 or 28 years laster.

Heist (2001) - Directed by David Mamet

It's not very well known or particularly well reviewed. It just clicked with me, I've watched it probably a dozen times. It's about a jewel heist and the drama surrounding it

The Royal Tenenbaums

"Asshole dad reconciles with his estranged children."

Probably my favourite Wes Anderson film with an extremely talented cast. Gene Hackman does a great job of playing a well-meaning buy very flawed father figure.

The Royal Tenenbaums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Hbs0s6_sQ

French Connection, talk about nailing the role of a cop obsessed with getting his suspect. Even the sequel is not bad. Mississippi Burning, Hoosiers...

Didn't watch that one, seems interesting so I will check it out, thanks.

The Conversation is probably my favorite as well, but I always enjoyed Enemy of the State (1998) a lot. It has the same paranoid vibes as some of his work in the 70s, but with the subtlety replaced with sensational action. He was great in that film as a retired super spook, and his chemistry with Will Smith really elevated it.

The Quick and the Dead for me. His turn as the villian was the best part of that movie.

Enemy of the State is right up there too.

Never mind the story, the audio equipment was awesome :-)

https://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=vintage&m=224226

I have to go with The Birdcage. Just a silly movie, with Hackman playing a rather timeless portrayal of a politician. The meandering story about “purple mountains” always gets me for some reason.

The Conversation at 50: Why the paranoid thriller is more relevant than ever

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194188

"The Conversation" is a masterpiece of the golden age of 70s film. "The French Connection" would be on my list too, for similar reasons. Popeye Doyle is a classic 70s protagonist.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "The Birdcage" yet. Fantastic ensemble cast, and Hackman plays his part to perfection.

"Heist" and "Royal Tenenbaums" would finish out my list.

Crimson Tide - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112740/ Gene Hackman, and Denzel Washington with the always outstanding musical score of Hans Zimmer.

Night Moves is essential neo-noir

Enemy of the State

I really love Guy Ritchie's tip of the hat in The Gentlemen from Hugh Grant's character where when talking about watching a conversation through a telephoto lens he says, "But I filmed it, had it lip-read, translated, and transcribed. Rather like the classic 1974 film The Conversation starring Gene Hackman and John Cazale. You know, Coppola slipped that one out between the Godfathers. It wasn't really for me. It's a bit boring to be honest...."

I don't know why but that makes me laugh every time. (And I agree w/ The Conversation being underrated)

Hoosiers, for sure. "My team is on the floor" was such a flex as a coach, it is still difficult for me to separate the man he played in that movie and the actor, to me they're one and the same.

+1 for The Conversation, an underated, gripping, and creepy movie that is underrated indeed and that I came to watch or even know about only last year (featuring a really young Harrison Ford btw). It's ahead of its time, yet also vaguely reminiscent of 1960's avantgarde movies like Blow Up. I also loved Hackmann's comedy performances, like in French Connection II and in The Birdcage. RIP

Not my favorite (they’re all my favorites!), but maybe most underrated: Under Suspicion (2000).

The film’s only reason to exist is to put Hackman and Morgan Freeman in a room together sparring for 90 minutes. That’s more than good enough.

My favorite of his as well. Also in my top 10 movies of all time. Just a unique script, great cinematography, and a fantastic performance by Hackman. Love the sound editing. Special guests: Robert Duvall and Harrison Ford.

Young Frankenstein 1974

Boy, “it has layers” is an understatement. Go watch this movie, it’s fantastic.

This is my favorite of the films I've seen him in also. It is surprising how rarely the film gets brought up, considering its quality and it having been written and directed by Coppola.

All I seen are but I'd highlight his role in the Get Shorty, because it rarely mentioned. So perfecly played small person in a big game character, an other testament to his talent.

Superman!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(1978_film)

I actually like Welcome to Mooseport. It's nothing special, but it's a pretty tame comedy from the start of the end of the, imo, golden comedy era.

Scarecrow (1973) is a little-known Gene Hackman and Al Pacino movie that's kind of great

I absolutely adored him in Crimson Tide and Enemy of the State. Brilliant movies.

BAT21

Enemy of the State

Dick Van Dyke just did a music video with Coldplay where he danced, pretty wild https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSeaHfkd3M8

The 4k remaster of the conversation that came out in theatres was so good. I hadn’t seen it before and I was blown away by the end. Super recommend people go to the cinema these days they are doing lots of 4k remasters of classics like this.

I had a weird dream in the wee hours of the morning that all the headlines read "Jack Nicholson dead at 95, days after SNL appearance."

I checked my phone out of curiosity, and Gene Hackman was at the top of Google News.

Wild to think of Mr. Van Dyke as an avid Amiga user as well.

Not when responders arrived according to this article, https://abcnews.go.com/US/actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead...

    The Academy Award-winning actor was found on the floor in the mud room, according to the search warrant. It appeared he fell suddenly, and he and his wife "showed obvious signs of death," the document said.

    Arakawa was found lying on her side on the floor in a bathroom, with a space heater near her body, according to the search warrant.

    Her body showed signs of decomposition, the document said. There was mummification to her hands and feet, the document said.

    A German shepherd was found dead about 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa, the document said.

    But two other dogs were found alive. One healthy dog was near Arakawa and the other was located outside, according to the search warrant.

    The Santa Fe City Fire Department found no signs of a possible carbon monoxide leak or poisoning, the document said. If there was carbon monoxide at the scene, it could have vented out of the home through the open front door before responders arrived.

    New Mexico Gas Company also responded and "as of now, there are no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence," the document said.

> The local gas provider, the New Mexico Gas Co, was involved in the investigation alongside the Santa Fe county sheriff’s department, Associated Press reported, raising speculation that carbon monoxide poisoning lay behind the deaths

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/27/gene-hackman-ca...

Friendly reminder that “most CO detectors use a sensor with a defined, limited lifespan, and will not work indefinitely.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_detector

The article I read said no gas leak or CO was found.

However I don't believe that one person being found dead near an open door is evidence of no gases. I would take it as the opposite. Something happens, one of them almost makes it out but either blacks out at the open door before getting fresh air or, like in the CO case, once exposed the damage is done.

That said, the bigger curiosity is one dead dog and two small, live ones. If you have people poisoned by food, and one animal with food anxiety, that's a recipe for one dead dog and multiple dead people and other household animals wondering what the hell just happened. If you have people and animals poisoned by a gas... Unless it was lighter than air it should have affected the small dogs as well, unless they were napping somewhere outside of the immediate danger.

(The GSD could also have died from eating the prescription pills on the ground and it's only a coincidental death rather than common cause)

That was my first thought too, but only 1 of their 3 dogs was found dead

Like Weird Al’s folks and those poor people at the Bahama’s Sandals.

I always remember him in this role. Such a great film.

That background may have informed Hackman's portrayal of a military character in ''Bat*21'', a suspenseful film set during the Vietnam War based on the real escape of USAF Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton after being shot down.

Oi, his role as a USNavy admiral in the film Behind Enemy Lines now makes sense.

That's what I thought of. "Weird Al" Yankovic's parents were both found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning about 15 years back in a very similar fashion.

CO poisoning during cold still weather is not uncommon in old/poor houses heated by gas or oil here in western Europe. What is the weather like in, I assume California, now?

I bought my parents a few CO detectors for Christmas a few years ago. I reminded them that they don't have any gas appliances, but they do heat with wood.

Err… what?

Because the comments aren’t as toxic