A child of a broken home, Gene Hackman left home at 16 for a three-year hitch with the Marines. Moving to New York after being discharged, he worked in a number of menial jobs before studying journalism and television production on the G.I. Bill at the University of Illinois. Hackman would be over 30 years old when he finally decided to take his chance at acting by enrolling at the Pasadena Playhouse in California (legend says that Hackman and Dustin Hoffman were voted "least likely to succeed"). Hackman next moved back to New York, where he worked in summer stock and off-Broadway. In 1964 he was cast as the young suitor in the Broadway stage play "Any Wednesday." This role would lead to him being cast in the small role of Norman in Lilith, starring Warren Beatty. When Beatty was casting for Bonnie and Clyde, he cast Hackman as Buck Barrow, Clyde's brother. That role earned Hackman a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, an award for which he would again be nominated in I Never Sang for My Father. In 1972 he won the Oscar for his role as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection. At 40 years old, Hackman was a Hollywood star whose work would rise to the heights with Night Moves and Bite the Bullet or fall to the depths with The Poseidon Adventure and Eureka. Hackman is a versatile actor who can play comedy (the blind man in Young Frankenstein) or villainy t(he evil Lex Luthor in Superman). He is the doctor who puts his work above people in Extreme Measures and the captain on the edge of nuclear destruction in Crimson Tide. After initially turning down the role of Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, Hackman finally accepted it as a different slant on the western that interested him. For his performance he won the Oscar and Golden Globe and decided that he wasn't tired of westerns after all. He has since appeared in Geronimo: An American Legend, Wyatt Earp and The Quick and the Dead.


The Quick and the Dead (1995): $1,300,000
Superman (1978): $2,000,000
Lucky Lady (1975): $1,250,000
The French Connection (1971): $100,000

Was the first choice to play Mike Brady on "The Brady Bunch" (1969). He lied about his age to join the Marines at 16 but left as soon as his initial 3 year tour was complete. Was the first choice to play Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Turned down the part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Pearl Harbor (2001), which went to Jon Voight. One of the most sustaining actors of all time, he still averaged two films a year in his 70s, having starred in six in 2001 alone. This all changed however in 2004, when he last acted in Welcome to Mooseport (2004). He has not appeared in anything since. 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. 2001: Was involved in a road-rage incident when two young men attacked him for hitting their car in Hollywood. Brother of Richard Hackman. 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.". 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. Runaway Jury (2003) was the first time he and former roommate Dustin Hoffman performed on the screen together. 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 1 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. Turned down the lead roles in Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Says watching his own films makes him terribly nervous. Reportedly turned down one of the lead roles in Network (1976). 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 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). Lives in New Mexico. 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. In a 2004 Vanity Fair story on him, 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, of which one had said "Hackman, you're a sorry son of a bitch." 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. 1990: Underwent successful angioplasty surgery after nearly suffering a severe heart attack. Is one of only a few actors to win an Oscar for a supporting role after winning an Oscar for a leading role. (Others to do so are Jack Nicholson, Maggie Smith and Helen Hayes). Has played three fictional Presidents: he plays President Alan Richmand in Absolute Power (1997). His Superman (1978) character, Lex Luthor, became President of the United States in the year 2000, in the DC Comics. He also played President Monroe "Eagle" Cole in Welcome to Mooseport (2004). His performance as Harry Caul in The Conversation (1974) is ranked #37 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Appeared on Richard Nixon's infamous "List of Enemies" during the 1972 presidential election, the only time Hackman was publicly involved in politics. During an interview on "Larry King Live" (1985) in July 2004, Hackman stated that although he is a Democrat, he liked President Ronald Reagan, who had died the previous year. Studied journalism and TV production at the University of Illinois. Is a Dallas Cowboys fan. Turned down the role of Sheriff Teasle in First Blood (1982). Turned down the leading role in Sorcerer (1977) that went to Roy Scheider, Hackman's co-star in The French Connection (1971).